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Sleep on the Miami Dolphins at your own risk! The Miami Dolphins have now won their fourth consecutive game and fifth in six contests — and this is the Dolphins’ most impressive win yet. Miami hit the road for a tough test against the previously 5-2 Arizona Cardinals and exit with a spectacular 34-31 victory; moving the Dolphins to 5-3 on the season. The pundits seemed to universally trend towards the Cardinals in the pre-game process, but this Dolphins team simply refuses to bow to the expectations from the outside.
Miami jumped on top of young Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray early, creating another defensive touchdown to steal possession and move the team into an early lead, which Miami would go on to carry into halftime (24-17). But the Cardinals’ resiliency at home allowed them to climb into the lead going into the 4th quarter, outscoring the Dolphins 14-0 in the third quarter.
But a few timely stops by the Dolphins’ defense and a markedly improved encore for rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa allowed Miami to climb back into the game with a 10-0 run in the final quarter. Tagovailoa looked much more like the quarterback the Dolphins expected when drafting him No. 5 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft — passing for 248 yards and two touchdowns while adding an additional 35 yards on the ground and breaking out of the pocket on several key pressure situations to move the chains and avoid negative plays.
Tagovailoa wasn’t flawless. He nearly threw an interception along the sideline on a throwaway and was called for intentional grounding when throwing away a screen pass. But he was splendid nonetheless; the Dolphins engineered three touchdown drives on offense and each of them strung together long drives. Miami’s three offensive touchdown drives lasted:
- 10 plays, 75 yards
- 8 plays, 80 yards
- 10 plays, 93 yards
Whether you’re looking for offensive shootouts, defensive struggles, terrific special teams plays, or anything and everything in between, the Miami Dolphins have shown it all in the first 8 games of the 2020 season. And with this win, Miami has equaled their win total from the 2019 season in half the amount of games. It wasn’t perfect. CB Xavien Howard struggled at times with coverage against WR Deandre Hopkins. The Dolphins’ pass rush struggled to slam the door shut on QB Kyler Murray in the pocket and conceded over 100 yards on the ground. But when the Dolphins needed their defense to stand up, the unit provided a number of big plays. CB Byron Jones stuck Murray on a scramble to keep him short of the sticks on a critical second-half possession. DL Zach Sieler stood up the Cardinals at the point of attack to help force a turnover on downs.
This isn’t the same old Dolphins. Not by a long shot. This team, down five assistant coaches on the sideline due to the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols and without several key offensive weapons in the second half (including WR Preston Williams, who suffered a foot injury after scoring a touchdown), outscored Arizona 10-0 in the final quarter and prevailed to move two games above .500 on the season and facing a very winnable stretch of games.
Perhaps this will be the win that forces the pundits and oddsmakers to quit sleeping on the Dolphins. But even if it doesn’t, the Dolphins couldn’t care less. They continue to put their heads down, forge forward and command respect on the field. By any means necessary.