The Miami Dolphins misplaced to the San Francisco 49ers 33-17 Sunday at Levi’s Stadium; listed below are some issues we realized:
Dolphins wrestle to run the ball — once more
Acquiring working again Jeff Wilson Jr. has offered a lift to the Dolphins working recreation, however not as a lot because it wants but. Wilson and Raheem Mostert, each ex-49ers, mixed for 33 yards dashing on eight carries. The Dolphins, who entered the sport twenty eighth within the league in dashing at 94.8 yards per recreation, rushed for 13 yards on 5 carries within the first half. The quick passing recreation turned the de facto run recreation. The Dolphins, who rushed for 66 yards final week towards Houston, must discover a run recreation, particularly with left deal with Terron Armstead (pectoral) ailing and move safety struggling.
Third downs had been problematic
Midway via the third quarter the 49ers had been 8 of 19 on third downs whereas the Dolphins had been 0 of seven. The Dolphins had been 0 of 5 on third downs within the first half. San Francisco was 4 of 8 within the first half. The Dolphins entered the sport twelfth within the league on third downs, changing 40.8% of the time. The 49ers had been fifth at 45.7%.
Dolphins couldn’t cease Christian McCaffrey
San Francisco working again Christian McCaffrey was the reply to the query, “Which 49ers offensive player will cause the most headaches for the Dolphins?” McCaffrey totaled 146 yards from scrimmage (66 dashing, 80 receiving). He had 102 yards from scrimmage at halftime between 70 yards receiving and 32 yards dashing. Among the candidates for which offensive participant would do probably the most injury to the Dolphins had been quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, broad receiver Deebo Samuel and tight finish George Kittle.
Tua is now 14-3 in his final 17 begins
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa , with Sunday’s loss, is now 14-3 in his final 17 begins, a span that covers the time since he returned from a finger harm on his throwing hand on Nov. 21, 2021, towards the New York Jets. That .875 profitable proportion since that date was tied for the most effective amongst beginning NFL quarterbacks (minimal 5 begins) together with Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts. Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (.833, 15-3 file) is third and Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins (.722, 13-5) is fourth. Tagovailoa (18 of 33, 295, two touchdowns, two interceptions, 79.7 passer ranking) began the 49ers recreation properly, then hit a lull earlier than heating up once more late. Tagovailoa started play Sunday with a 21-9 file, and a .700 profitable proportion, which ranked third amongst quarterbacks with no less than 20 begins since 2020. Tagovailoa is now 15-2 within the final 17 video games he has performed and completed wholesome.
Tua’s club-record passes with out an INT vs. the NFL file
Tagovailoa noticed his club-record streak of passes with out an interception snapped at 193, when the 49ers’ Jimmie Ward acrobatically snared a third-quarter toss. How does that unimaginable run evaluate with probably the most prolonged in NFL historical past? The longest streak in a season with out an interception in NFL historical past is held by the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, who had a 402-pass stretch with out a pickoff in 2018. Unbelievably, Tagovailoa threw an interception on his subsequent move, too.
Tyreek Hill nonetheless in race for Dolphins file
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s 146 receiving yards towards Houston put him at 1,379 for the season, gaining floor Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson atop the NFL leaderboard. He wants solely 11 to set the Dolphins file (1,389 by Mark Clayton in 1984) and 586 to interrupt the NFL file (1,964 by Calvin Johnson in 2012). To break Johnson’s mark, he would require 117.2 yards a recreation, and 146.5 to interrupt it on a 16-game body.
Tua’s long-distance passes, Part I
Tagovailoa didn’t have his finest recreation towards San Francisco, however he had two lengthy landing receptions that saved the Dolphins afloat. The first was a 75-yard landing move to broad receiver Trent Sherfield on the primary play from scrimmage and the second was a 45-yard landing move to broad receiver Tyreek Hill. The 75-yarder is the Dolphins’ longest landing reception of the season, and the 45-yarder is tied for seventh.
Terron Armstead’s actually bizarre streak continued
For the seventh season in a row, standout left deal with Terron Armstead needed to sit out his workforce’s twelfth recreation of the season. The streak began in 2016 whereas with New Orleans. Interestingly, in every year of the streak, Armstead has come again to make no less than yet one more begin, and he’s anticipated to return this season as properly.
Christian Wilkins continues to be ballin’
Dolphins defensive deal with Christian Wilkins had one other sturdy recreation Sunday, totaling a team-best 12 tackles whereas standing sturdy towards the run and making use of good strain towards the move. Wilkins had 9 tackles and a compelled fumble within the first half. Wilkins, ranked 18th amongst inside defensive linemen by Pro Football Focus, has been a beast all season.
Dolphins WRs aside from Hill and Waddle might be harmful
Dolphins broad receiver Trent Sherfield had a 75-yard catch-and-run landing reception, the workforce’s longest play of the season, on the sport’s first play from scrimmage, exhibiting different broad receivers apart from Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle could make huge performs. Before the Sherfield play, Hill and Waddle had the Dolphins’ 13 longest move performs, beginning with Hill’s 64-yard reception at Cincinnati from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The longest earlier landing reception was a 60-yard from Tagovailoa to Hill at Baltimore. The earlier longest move play from a receiver aside from Waddle and Hill was a 32-yard reception by Sherfield from Tagovailoa towards Pittsburgh.
Oh, no! Another stunning day for soccer
Those who fear in regards to the Dolphins performing properly in inclement playoff climate (chilly, rain, snow, and many others…) take be aware. You might need a legit concern if the Dolphins earn a postseason berth. Sunday turned out to be a completely attractive, sunny day at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., with no rain in sight, extending the Dolphins’ streak of taking part in in stunning climate this season. Perhaps that turns into an element within the playoffs, maybe not. Forecasts a number of days earlier than Sunday’s Dolphins-49ers recreation referred to as for as a lot as an 80% likelihood of rain. The solely Dolphins video games that had a practical risk of dangerous climate had been Chicago, the place excessive winds shut down each O’Hare and Midway airports for a number of hours the day earlier than the sport, and San Francisco, the place the anticipated rain by no means got here. The Dolphins’ finest remaining probabilities for dangerous climate are at Buffalo on Dec. 17 or 18, and at New England on New Year’s Day. The different remaining highway recreation is subsequent Sunday evening on the Los Angeles Chargers. Previous highway video games at Baltimore, Cincinnati, the New York Jets and Detroit (recreation performed in a dome) featured nice climate.
Jaelan Phillips left his tepid September behind
On Sept. 25, after the 21-19 Dolphins win over the visiting Buffalo Bills, we wrote this:
“The former University of Miami standout has played six games in September as a pro. In those approximately 220 defensive snaps, Phillips has logged no sacks and only one knockdown of the quarterback and one hurry. Dolphins Hall of Fame defensive end/linebacker Jason Taylor, though, has shown the value of patience for a thinner, angular edge pass-rusher. Taylor began his career with only 17 sacks in his first 46 games. And, none of those sacks forced a fumble, a play he became known for, as, over the next 125 games, he terrorized offenses for 100 sacks and 34 fumbles forced, scoring six touchdowns and three safeties. Still, it is an early truth that the season’s first month as been dry for Phillips.”
Phillips has since turn into a Pro Bowl-caliber terror. Starting 4 days later in Cincinnati and over the eight video games after the Buffalo victory, the 18th decide within the 2021 draft has grabbed all of his 4.5 sacks in 2022 and, based on Pro Football Focus, 25 of his 32 hurries, all seven of his quarterback hits and 7 video games with a PFF grade of over 70. By comparability, in 2021, Phillips had 8.5 sacks (once more, all of them after Week 3) and PFF gave him a grade over 70 in solely 4 of his 17 video games with 22 hurries and 7 QBHs the complete season.
Pass safety with out Armstead is horrifying
In the 8 1/2 video games Terron Armstead has performed for the Dolphins, the move safety has been close to pristine. Entering the Texans contest, the Dolphins had allowed solely 11.5 pressures and 1.25 sacks a recreation within the eight video games wherein the high-priced import from New Orleans had performed. Those numbers exploded within the Jets and Vikings video games with 33.0 pressures and 4.5 sacks a recreation. Lest one consider that maybe New York and Minnesota had been simply higher pass-rushers than the opposite eight groups, that very same kind of dichotomy performed out in microcosm throughout the tilt towards Houston. In 28 dropbacks final Sunday with Armstead, Tagovailoa was pressured 4 instances, with zero sacks. In the 11 Tagovailoa dropbacks after Armstead left, he was sacked 4 instances — and it might have been 5, however a participant grabbed the Dolphins quarterback’s facemask. Then, the 49ers annihilated the Dolphins’ Armstead-less move safety but once more.
Waddle’s depth of goal has greater than doubled (however his drops have jumped)
Second-year receiver Jaylen Waddle has juiced his common depth of reception from his 5.5 yards of rookie yr to greater than double that this season (to a ninth-best-in-the-NFL 11.4 yards per catch getting into the 49ers recreation). On the flip facet, he has additionally seen his dropped passes take a leap up. Among his 112 catchable passes final yr (receptions plus drops), Waddle mishandled eight for a 7.1% dropped-pass price. This season, getting into the 49ers matchup, he had dropped seven of 63 catchable balls for an 11.1% price, a 56.3% uppage.
Tagovailoa struggling towards profitable groups
The matchup in Santa Clara towards the 8-4 49ers represented the thirteenth begin for Tua Tagovailoa towards a workforce that completed with a profitable file in 2020 and 2021, or at present owns one now. With the 18-of-33, 295-yard efficiency with two landing passes and two interceptions for Tagovailoa, it leaves the Dolphins passer a profession at 240 for 399 for two,762 yards, 16 landing passes and 13 interceptions for a passer ranking of a 80.8 towards groups above .500. By comparability, Tagovailoa’s profession passer ranking towards groups with dropping data is 106.0.
Speaking of profitable groups…
The Dolphins put one profitable workforce of their difficult closing six video games behind them on Sunday, however the remaining schedule is sort of simply as arduous. The subsequent 5 opponents have a profitable proportion of .541: At Los Angeles Chargers (6-6), At Buffalo Bills (9-3), Green Bay (5-8), At New England Patriots (6-6) and New York Jets (7-5)
Tua’s long-distance passes, half II
Through the top of October, the Dolphins’ offense had ripped off eight performs of no less than 40 yards (all passing performs). In the three ensuing video games, the Dolphins hadn’t had such a play. Then, they received two in Santa Clara.
On deck: At Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
The Dolphins keep in California and can battle Justin Herbert, whom they handed on in favor of Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth choice within the 2020 draft, and a Chargers workforce that, regardless of having been wracked with accidents, has remained within the playoff race.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com