Even as Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw for 469 yards and a franchise record-tying six touchdowns, it solely led to a come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Ravens as a result of the Dolphins protection clamped down for late stops towards quarterback Lamar Jackson, who torched Miami via three quarters.
“The last four offensive drives we had were touchdowns, and in that span, there was 3 points given up,” coach Mike McDaniel mentioned after the Dolphins’ beautiful 42-38 victory on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. “That’s complementary football when your team needs it the most. It doesn’t happen without a complete effort by everyone to press forward.”
The Ravens’ 4 possessions after Dolphins fourth-quarter touchdowns: A fourth-and-1 cease for turnover on downs; a punt after a minute was taken off the clock by Baltimore with a 7-point lead; a subject purpose after the Dolphins tied it; and the ultimate Hail Mary try that fell quick as time expired.
“You have to play four quarters of football,” mentioned cornerback Xavien Howard, who practically had a pick-six that he dropped when Miami was down a landing. “We played four quarters of football, especially in that second half. We made adjustments and made plays.”
Although the Ravens dominated a lot of Sunday afternoon, whereas they had been complacent late, Tagovailoa threw fourth-quarter touchdowns to Jaylen Waddle for the profitable rating, two deep balls to Tyreek Hill and an earlier one to River Cracraft to get the comeback going.
“Once the offense scored and we made a stop, then that’s kind of like the slight little spark that we got,” mentioned security Eric Rowe, who had six tackles on Sunday. “Then a couple of deep balls to Tyreek and our defense said to ourselves, ‘We’ve got to hold it down.’ The momentum started shifting.”
Added defensive sort out Christian Wilkins, who led Miami with eight tackles, two for loss: “It was a gritty win on both sides of the ball and on special teams. We stuck together when we needed to and made plays when it mattered. We still gave up a lot of plays and a lot of yards, but when we needed them, we had them.”
Jackson completed with exceptional numbers: 21-of-29 passing for 318 yards, three passing touchdowns, plus a 79-yard dashing landing as a part of 119 yards on the bottom. Miami blitzed Jackson closely early, together with a cornerback blitz with Howard, and Jackson was discovering the open receiver constantly.
“Both sides of the ball knew what happened last game,” mentioned McDaniel. “They knew that there could be completely different preparation, and our protection knew that they couldn’t shock the fellows. To [Jackson’s] credit score, he took benefit. He positively rectified, he can put to mattress these points he had final yr.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be the same formula. Some situations did come up where we audibled to some of the pressures, and they took advantage of us. Good for them. That’s to their credit. They did a great job with that, and I’m just happy that the guys got this learning experience. Fortunately, you can end up winning the game, as well, but I know our guys learned a lot from this game.”
Armstead, Wilkins play
The Dolphins had Wilkins, left sort out Terron Armstead and slot receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. all play on Sunday after coming into with damage considerations.
Armstead (toe), Wilkins (again) and Wilson (toe) all entered Sunday questionable. Running again Salvon Ahmed (heel) was additionally lively towards the Ravens after moving into questionable.
Instead of Ahmed, Myles Gaskin was a wholesome inactive working again in Baltimore. Other inactives had been rookies in linebacker Channing Tindall, broad receiver Erik Ezukanma and quarterback Skylar Thompson and tight ends Cethan Carter and Hunter Long.
Tindall was added to the sport standing report early Sunday morning with an sickness, initially listed as uncertain earlier than being dominated out 90 minutes forward of kickoff. Carter (concussion) and Long (ankle) had been already deemed out coming into Sunday — Carter on Friday after lacking the week of follow in concussion protocol and Long on Saturday, when he was downgraded from questionable.
The Dolphins began Armstead at his regular left sort out publish after he missed Wednesday’s follow and was restricted for Thursday and Friday drills with the toe damage. Miami’s three-time Pro Bowl free-agent acquisition solidified one aspect of the offensive line in every week the place the staff positioned proper sort out Austin Jackson on short-term injured reserve with an ankle damage.
Greg Little began in Jackson’s place. Practice squad sort out Larnel Coleman was elevated to the game-day roster on Saturday for reserve duties.
Wilkins’ again problem and Wilson’s toe restricted them for Thursday and Friday practices. Wilson additionally missed Wednesday’s session.
Wilson left Sunday’s recreation with an damage to his ribs within the fourth quarter. Hill left the sport momentarily within the second half with cramps however returned to catch two late touchdowns within the come-from-behind effort.
Meanwhile, the Ravens had cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey (groin) and Marcus Peters (knee) begin towards the Dolphins broad receiver corps. Fellow cornerback Brandon Stephens (quadriceps), although, was inactive. All entered Sunday questionable.
Humphrey and Peters have 5 Pro Bowls and three All-Pro picks between the 2 of them. Peters performed for the primary time since 2020. The Ravens, who surrendered career-high passing yardage and landing totals to Tagovailoa, had been already with out cornerback Kyle Fuller on injured reserve.
Running again J.Ok. Dobbins (knee) didn’t make his 2022 debut for Baltimore as he was among the many staff’s six inactives, as had been offensive sort out Ronnie Stanley (ankle), defensive sort out Travis Jones (knee), broad receiver James Proche II (groin) and tight finish Nick Boyle.
Stanley was a second left sort out that was out for the Ravens with Ja’Wuan James on injured reserve. Stanley and Proche had been uncertain for Sunday. Fullback Patrick Ricard (calf), who entered Sunday questionable, was accessible for the Ravens.
On Saturday, Baltimore signed cornerback Daryl Worley to the lively roster and elevated broad receiver Raleigh Webb. In addition to Coleman, Miami elevated broad receiver River Cracraft for the second time in two weeks.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com