The Miami Dolphins defeated the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 34-31 on Sunday. The win is Miami’s fourth straight, pushing the team to 5-3. The Cardinals fall to 5-3 with the loss.

The start of a new era.

It is undeniable now, that this is the beginning of the turnaround Dolphins fans have been dreaming about. These wins aren’t “Miracles” like in 2018 vs New England, or last-second flukes, like in 2016 against Cleveland.

This is what great football looks like.

Down by seven in the third quarter, rookie Tua Tagovailoa commanded a 93-yard drive to tie the game, finishing it with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins to tie the game. The Dolphins would get the ball back, tied at 31-31, and Tua would find Gesicki and later Grant to put them in range of a field goal. Jason Sanders, the absolutely automatic machine, would drill the 50-yarder to give the Dolphins a three point lead.

As the game neared its end, the Dolphins were at a pivotal 3rd & 1 situation. Tagovailoa ran a quarterback sneak up the middle, getting across for the first down.

Dagger. Ballgame.

After the game, head coach Brian Flores gave praise to the entire team.

“We had a lot of guys play well, the offensive line, backs, tight ends, a lot of guys contributed,” Flores said. “It was a team victory, we made plays on all three sides of the ball and that’s what you need to win a game like that against an opponent like that.”

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was great this game.

Media members and fans alike were worried after his first professional start, in which he threw only 93 passing yards. In that game he completed only one pass beyond 10 yards, and the offense was extremely conservative.

In this game, he looked like a veteran. The rookie finished going 20/28, 248 yards, 2 touchdowns and an additional 35 yards on the ground. He finished with a passer rating of 122.3.

Tua did not play conservative this game. He was 8-for-11 on passes beyond 10 yards. He led the team to a 50% third down conversion rate. He connected with Preston Williams on several keys plays, including a beautiful 35-yard pass and a 9-yard touchdown pass.

His late-game touchdown to Hollins was placed near the pylon, just over top of the defender. Earlier in the game, on a great play call by Chan Gailey, he went through several reads causing misdirection and confusion in the defense, to find Durham Smythe for a 19-yard gain.

One of Tua’s better plays on Sunday was a 17-yard scramble, where he bounced around the pocket, narrowly avoiding a sack and was able to scramble for the first down.

After the game, Tagovailoa said his teammates reactions on the run motivated him.

“They were very excited, and I was excited that they were excited,” Tagovailoa said. “It was just one of those things where you just have to go out there and play. We knew what we were up against. They’re a great defensive team, a great offensive team.

Overall, Tua was terrific in this game. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar.

Among Tua’s weapons, receiver Preston Williams was having the best performance offensively. He finished the game with 60 yards and a touchdown, and was doing a great job at separating from his man. Unfortunately, he would leave the game in the second quarter, appearing to injure his foot while celebrating with Christian Wilkins. It’s also possible that he sustained the injury while diving towards the end zone.

He had x-rays taken, which came back negative.

Receiver DeVante Parker was also heavily involved, leading the team in targets and yards. He finished the game with 6 catches for 64 yards.

Running back Jordan Howard, who was a healthy scratch from the last three games, received the bulk of the carries, filling in for Myles Gaskin and Matt Breida. Sadly though, it was another uninspiring game from Howard, who lacks explosiveness and just looks slow. He had 10 carries for 19 yards and a touchdown.

Rookie Salvon Ahmed was featured heavily in the preview piece. Ahmed would lead the Dolphins in rushing yards with 38, and an average of 5.4 yards per carry. Ahmed was by far the most dynamic of the backs, showcasing a terrific burst and ability to bounce runs to the outside. Ahmed also laid a beautiful block that allowed Tua to convert on cross body pass to DeVante Parker.

The offensive line could have been better in this game. Tackle Austin Jackson returned, filling in his role as the left tackle. He allowed his first sack of the season, and had a few moments that showed some rust. Jesse Davis also had some bad moments. The offensive line took an interesting turn when Austin Jackson was at left tackle, Robert Hunt was at right, and Jesse Davis moved over to guard. ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe tweeted that it appeared guard Solomon Kindley was benched for Davis. It’s still unknown whether the team is still experimenting or this was a planned shift.

The beginning of this game looked like the defense fans had been seeing for the past three games. On the Cardinals first drive, Kyler Murray was stripped by Emmannuel Ogbah, and Shaq Lawson was able to recover the ball for the score. Ogbah now has seven sacks on the season. He has six sacks over the last five games, and has back to back games with a strip sack leading to a score.

For Ogbah, it’s no longer a matter of whether he is one of the better players on the team… it’s whether he’s up among the top in the league at his position.

The Dolphins were having success sending their usual barrage of blitzes, typically using cover-0 with no-one covering over the top. At the beginning of the second quarter, this came back to bite the team as Murray hooked up on a 56-yard touchdown pass to Christian Kirk. Kirk appeared to burn Byron Jones who was tasked with covering him.

At that moment, the Dolphins seemed more weary of sending so many on blitzes. This opened the door for Kyler Murray to have more success.

The pressure wasn’t as frequent, and when it was, Murray was impossible to get a hand on.

Before discussing more about the Dolphins defense, I have to applaud Kyler Murray. The guy is terrific, showcasing elite-level speed and elusiveness while still having an incredible arm. This isn’t a Lamar Jackson situation, where people will question his ability to throw. As mentioned in the preview, Murray is the definition of a dual-threat quarterback and he was phenomenal today.

He would finish the game with 283 passing yards, 3 passing touchdowns, 106 rushing yards, 9.6 yards per carry and one rushing touchdown.

Christian Kirk torched the defense. He finished the game with five catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. Most of those appeared to be on Byron Jones. Jones also nearly had an interception in the end zone, but the ball was pulled out of his hands, resulting in a touchdown by Darrell Daniels. That sums up Jones’ night.

DeAndre Hopkins was covered by Xavien Howard for most of the night and was neutralized. He finished the game with only 30 yards. Howard has several defensive pass interference calls against him while covering Hopkins, but one in the third quarter was completely egregious and led to a touchdown for Arizona. Howard had his head turned around with great positioning to make a play on the ball, and was called for DPI.

In my preview, I projected that running back Chase Edmonds would have a huge night, which did not happen. Edmonds received a high volume, totaling 28 touches. The defense did a great job at limiting his production, holding him to under three yards per carry. They also made a massive play on 4th & 1, stopping Edmonds for no gain and getting the offense the ball back.

Takeaways

The Dolphins are not the underdogs anymore. I know this may be hard to fathom, after years and years, fans have seen pre-game analysts vote against the team. Against Jacksonville, every media member voted against the Dolphins. Against the Rams, same story. On Sunday against the Cardinals, it was no different. Yet here we are. The Dolphins are a legitimate competitor, capable of beating any team if they play well. There shouldn’t be many more games where they are the consensus pick to lose.

Tua’s decision making is incredible for a rookie. Now, everyone will point his near-interception as he was trying to throw the ball away in the first quarter, but aside from that one play, Tua plays extremely secure with the ball. Some will complain that he hasn’t taken enough chances, but I applaud him from avoiding those risks and playing mistake-free. In a game that was so heavy on offense, every possession was valuable. He made the most out of each one, and he won his team this game.

Even after this game, my thoughts on the defense haven’t changed. Miami’s defense is still good. Kyler Murray is a special player. Eventually the Dolphins will need to learn how to contain a player like him, considering there are other solid running QBs in the AFC like Lamar Jackson, Cam Newton and Josh Allen. But I’m confident that more often than not, this defense will be a very tough challenge for an opponent. Even Murray, one of the game’s most electric runners, was narrowly escaping the onslaught of pressure Miami brought. The defense can’t be lights out every week, and it’s unfair for us to expect any team’s to be. With that being said,I’m not panicking about this unit in the slightest.

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