The Miami Dolphins defeated the New Orleans Saints 20-3 on Monday night at Caesars Superdome to extend their winning streak to seven games and give them the seventh seed in the AFC for now.
With Sean Payton’s team missing 22 players due to COVID-19, they were forced to start rookie quarterback Ian Book with multiple backups up and down their depth chart. Book’s struggles started early when he threw an interception to Nik Needham on his second pass attempt of the night that Needham returned for a touchdown.
The night didn’t get much easier for the fourth-round pick, as he was sacked eight times and threw another interception. Miami’s Christian Wilkins, Jerome Baker, and Emmanuel Ogbah all had three quarterback hits each, with Ogbah recording two full sacks.
They were able to bring the extra pressure when they wanted to, but the Dolphins only brought four or five rushers on many plays and were still able to get after Book, as New Orleans’ backup tackles were not helping their rookie signal-caller.
On the offensive side, Miami wasn’t great. Their offensive line continues to be a problem. They allowed Tua Tagovailoa and Jacoby Brissett to be sacked three times, were called for multiple holding penalties, and didn’t give either quarterback a ton of time to let plays develop.
Tagovailoa completed 73% of his passes for 198 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The pick came on an unnecessary shot down the middle of the field when he could’ve hit an open receiver who was roughly 15 yards closer.
Jaylen Waddle continued to be Miami’s best offensive player, as he recorded 10 receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown. Waddle broke the team’s rookie receiving record (883 yards) that was previously held by Chris Chambers. He’s also just five receptions away from tying Anquan Boldin for the most receptions by a rookie in NFL history (101).
The running game didn’t exactly have the same punch that they had against the Jets in Week 15. The Dolphins running backs only carried the ball 29 times for 85 yards – a 2.9 yards per carry average. Duke Johnson and Phillip Lindsay both split the top carries with 13 each. It seems like that will continue for at least the last few weeks of this regular season.
Most would’ve liked to see the Dolphins win by more, but they were still able to come out on top and hold New Orleans to just a field goal. Miami controls their own destiny going forward, and if they defeat the Tennessee Titans next week, they have a 63% chance of making it to the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. What a turnaround it’s been.
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