The Miami Dolphins are streaking.
After starting off 1-7 in the first eight weeks of the season, the Dolphins have rattled off five straight victories, including their 20-9 defeat of the New York Giants in Week 13.
The game wasn’t pretty, but Brian Flores’ team did what they needed to do to walk out of Hard Rock Stadium with their sixth win of the season.
Miami’s offense went stretches without putting up points, as they only scored in the second and fourth quarters. Tua Tagovailoa completed 30-of-41 pass attempts for 244 yards and two touchdowns that were hauled in by Mack Hollins and Isaiah Ford.
The Dolphins entered the game without Phillip Lindsay due to an ankle, and they lost Patrick Laird to a knee in the first quarter. From there, the burden fell on Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed. They remained committed to the run game despite not seeing much success, rushing 23 times with the backs for 67 yards, just 2.9 yards per carry.
Lindsay’s return will probably help the efforts, but it hasn’t been good for the Dolphins this whole season.
Jaylen Waddle and Mike Gesicki were still Tagovailoa’s favorite targets even though DeVante Parker made his return to the lineup this week. They both were targeted 11 times, bringing in 16 receptions for 136 yards. Parker was no slouch himself, recording five receptions for 62 yards, including a clutch grab on one of the final offensive drives.
Defensively, Miami didn’t look like themselves early. They were giving up plays underneath, and not getting a lot of pressure. Josh Boyer’s unit had only given up three points in the first half, but it felt more like the Giants had missed opportunities rather than the Dolphins shutting them down.
The only big play they really had early was Xavien Howard’s fourth interception of the year. He and Jevon Holland ran stride for stride with the Giants’ receiver, and Mike Glennon took a risk that Howard made them pay for. Other than that, there wasn’t much going for them.
Later in the game, the defense started to find their rhythm. They got into Glennon’s face, forcing incompletions and getting sacks. Adam Butler brought the quarterback down once, and Phillips did so twice, on back-to-back plays.
All of the losses earlier in the season definitely put the Dolphins in a bad spot, but at this point, they’ve won five in a row and are just one game back of being a .500 team. The team goes into the bye week feeling good, and they have a chance to get some rest before facing the Jets again.
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