Miami Dolphins-New England Patriots Week 17 Halftime Observations

January 1, 2023January 1, 2023 Admin

Here’s what caught our eye during the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday night.

— We’ll start with the inactive list, which brought a whole lot of bad news for the Dolphins, with Xavien Howard, Terron Armstead and Bradley Chubb joining QB Tua Tagovailoa as Dolphins players out for the game. The other Dolphins inactives were WR Erik Ezukanma, T Eric Fisher and TE Tanner Conner.

— Among the active players were newly signed offensive lineman Kendall Lamm, and the two players elevated from the practice squad Saturday, LB Brennan Scarlett and DT Josiah Bronson.

— Rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson erved as Teddy Bridgewater’s backup at quarterback.

FIRST QUARTER

— The Dolphins got the ball first and opened with a starting offensive line of Lamm at left tackle, Liam Eichenberg back in the starting lineup at left guard, and the same other three — Connor Williams, Robert Hunt and Brandon Shell.

— The Dolphins got a quick first down Bridgewater hit Tyreek Hill over the middle for 15 yards.

— Miami then caught a major break on a Raheem Mostert run when he fumbled upon contact in the hole, but the officials ruled forward progress had been stopped. While the drive ended with a punt, the bad call saved a turnover in Miami territory.

— The drive ended when Hill couldn’t get both feet down in bounds after catching a floater from Bridgewater.

— New England’s opening drive was kept alive on third-and-5 when CB Keion Crossen was flagged for DPI against Nelson Agholor, a play where there was a lot of contact but sometimes goes uncalled.

— Two plays later was a similar play to the Hill incompletion and the Dolphins seemed to have a shot at getting a 24-yard completion overturned after challenging the ruling, but the call was upheld.

— Another defensive penalty on third down kept the drive alive, this one a holding penalty against Kader Kohou on third-and-2 from the Miami 16. Kohou has been a revelation as a rookie free agent this season, but he’s been too handsy and has gotten his share of holding penalties.

— The drive ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Tyquan Thornton against Noah Igbinoghene in coverage after Thornton ran behind tight end Hunter Henry after he ran up straight into Igbinoghene at the snap. This drive, however, was about the two third-down penalties.

— The Dolphins’ second possession was, well, interesting.

— After Bridgewater scrambled for 6 yards on third-and-7 (taking a shot at the end of the play instead of sliding), Mike McDaniel made the decision to go for the first down, only to have Robert Hunt commit a false start. But then the Pats ran into punter Thomas Morstead, making it fourth-and-1 again and the Dolphins again went for it and converted with a 2-yard run by Jeff Wilson.

— After Bridgewater converted a third-and-6 with a short pass over the middle to Wilson, he threw a nice sideline pass to Tyreek Hill for 19 yards and then threw his best pass of the game to date to fit the ball to Mike Gesicki for a 14-yard gain to the 5-yard line.

— The quarter ended with Mostert’s 3-yard run setting up a second-and-goal from the 2.

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FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM

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SECOND QUARTER

— The Dolphins wasted little time to even the score with Bridgewater throwing a backward pass to Hill, who took advantage of nice blocking by Trent Sherfield for what officially became a 2-yard touchdown run. He, of course, punctuated the score by doing a back flip in the end zone.

— New England’s next drive featured some big plays allowed but also big plays made, and it ultimately ended with a punt in the end zone.

— Props to Kohou for fighting off a block to drop Jakobi Meyers for a 1-yard loss on a wide receiver screen.

— But then Eric Rowe got beat by tight end Hunter Henry for a 29-yard gain, a play that saw Jevon Holland leave with a left arm/wrist injury.

— Christian Wilkins sacked Mac Jones after initial pressure by Jaelan Phillips, but the Dolphins then allowed an 18-yard run on second-and-19 when Phillips and Verone McKinley both missed open-field tackles.

— Elandon Roberts ended the drive when he went directly at Jones after a fake handoff and sacked him for a 13-yard loss.

— Mostert then got the ball five straight times to start the next Dolphins drive, gaining first downs on two pass plays. The second was a massively impressive 25-yard pick-up off an outlet pass where he broken about five tackles in the open field.

— The promising drive ended very disappointingly after the Dolphins gained only 3 yards on two running plays and Bridgewater then threw behind Jaylen Waddle on third-and-7.

— That brought on Jason Sanders, who was wide right on a 51-yard field goal attempt, making him 1-for-5 from 50 or beyond on the season. With all their injuries, the Dolphins don’t have a great margin for error, so those misses are very costly.

— The Dolphins produced a three-and-out on defense, and there was even better news with Holland back in the game.

— Wilkins’ pressure forced an incompletion.

— Elijah Campbell was flagged for holding on the punt return by Cedrick Wilson Jr.

— Bridgewater checked down for two passes that gained 9 yards and Wilson got a big hole up the middle on an 11-yard run, the team’s longest of the first half.

— But on the final play before the two-minute warning, the pocket collapsed on Bridgewater and he was sacked for a 12-yard loss. The drive ended with a 17-yard completion to Waddle on a short crosser on third-and-22.

— On the final drive of the half, Noah Igbinoghene had great coverage on Thornton when New England took a deep shot on second-and-1 from its 22.

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