Dolphins-Eagles: 10 thoughts on Miami’s 31-17 loss

If this was a test of where the Miami Dolphins are, the Philadelphia Eagles’ 31-17 win said plenty.

Philadelphia took control of the game early, the Dolphins offense couldn’t get going and so they fall to 5-2 — and 0-2 against teams with winning records.

Here’s 10 thoughts on the game:

1. Stat of the Game: Philadelphia was 4-for-4 on converting fourth downs. That’s thanks to the dreaded “Tush Push.” I don’t like the play. If it’s illegal for defensive players to assist each other, why is it legal for the offense? That said, what Philadelphia does is something other teams can’t emulate. It converted fourth downs from its 26- and 37-yard lines on a fourth-quarter drive that put it up, 31-17. The play is straight out of Australian Rules football. Quarterback Jalen Hurts takes the center snap and patiently waits to be pushed across the line of scrimmage by the scrum of teammates around him. Beyond the fourth downs, Hurts also scored an early touchdown with it.

2. The Dolphins defense showed it’s moving forward Sunday night. Sure, you can look at Philadelphia’s points and say there’s a long way to go. But it matched the physicality of a top-end Eagles offensive line. And big plays? Bradley Chubb stripped Hurts in the first quarter at the Eagles 22 (leading to a field goal). Kader Kohou tipped Hurt’s pass on a blitz, leading to a Jerome Baker interception for a touchdown. Jaelan Phillips registered the first sack against star Philadelphia right tackle Lane Johnson since 2020. Linebacker David Long Jr. had his best game until an unfortunate second-half collision with Jevon Holland that put both out for a while (Long didn’t return, Holland did). So, what you have to envision with this defense is what it looks like when Vic Fangio has Jalen Ramsey and Xavien Howard (out Sunday) on the back end. And you now what? Come December, it should be right where lots of people said it would never be back in September.

3. OK, now for the Dolphins offense. The they-just-beat-up-weak-defenses argument got bolstered Sunday. Look at what happened here. The Dolphins defense scored a touchdown and set up a field goal. So that left the offense to essentially having one touchdown drive. Philadelphia has a dominant front seven. The Dolphins found some rhythm as the game went on, but nothing like they have this season in behind held to 244 yards of offense. And all those receivers running wide open much of the game against some of the lower defenses this season. That didn’t happen Sunday. That said …

4. A game against Philadelphia’s strong defensive line makes it hard to continue masking health problems on the offensive line. Mike McDaniel’s schemes, Tua Tagovailoa’s quick reads and Tyreek Hill’s speed have gone a long way to covering for them this season. But when left guard Isaiah Wynn left Sunday’s game early on, that meant three starting offensive linemen were out against one of the league’s top defensive lines. Missing left tackle Terron Armstead and center Connor Williams is problematic enough considering with right guard Robert Hunt they’re the sure things on this line. You saw what happened Sunday night when Wynn’s replacement, Lester Cotton, got called for holding to take away first-quarter touchdown — and it’s good he held or Tagovailoa might have been flattened. Philly had four sacks and held the Dolphins to 45 yards rushing.

5. The Dolphins got slapped with a delay-of-game penalty before their first play, and that started some problems they’d put behind the most of this season. Ten penalties for 70 yards on Sunday. You can quibble with some — or some that weren’t called on Philadelphia like an obvious facemask penalty deep in Philadelphia territory in the third quarter. That helped the Eagles to zero penalties. Still, the Dolphins had 10 penalties. That’s too many in a big game. Some of that’s backups stepping in for injured players, some of it’s a loud road venue.