Miami Dolphins vs. Dallas Cowboys, the 5 Instant Takeaways
MIAMI GARDENS — The Dolphins are headed to the NFL playoffs.
Miami beat Dallas, 22-20 at Hard Rock Stadium in a thriller on Sunday.
Tua Tagovailoa led the Dolphins on the game-deciding drive in the final four minutes after Dak Prescott put the Cowboys ahead by 1 point.
Jason Sanders won the game with a 29-yarder as time expired. It was his fifth field goal of the game on five tries.
This is a statement win for the Dolphins (11-4), who entered play 0-3 against teams with winning records.
Like Miami, Dallas (10-5) is a Super Bowl contender.
The Dolphins ended the game in second place in the AFC, behind only Baltimore (11-3). Miami plays at Baltimore next week.
Tagovailoa had 293 passing yards, 1 touchdowns and 0 turnovers.
Tyreek Hill had 9 catches for 99 yards.
Andrew Van Ginkel had 10 tackles, 4 quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks for Miami.
Jason Sanders delivers from 50+
Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders made field goals of 57 and 52 yards in the first half.
The 57-yarder was a career long.
Then he drilled another field goal, from 54 yards, in the third quarter.
This was a huge breakthrough for Sanders, who had struggled from that distance in recent years. He’s the first Dolphins kicker ever with three 50+ kicks in a game.
Sanders entered the game 2-for-4 from that range this season and only 6-for-16 over the previous three years.
Sanders has heated up at the best possible moment.
Miami coach Mike McDaniel passed on a shorter field goal try in the second quarter, going for it on 4th-and-5 from Dallas’ 5-yard line.
This was a failed fade pass attempt from Tua to Cedrick Wilson.
Offensive Line depth shows again
The Dolphins had right tackle Austin Jackson on the active roster for this game, but because of his oblique injury, they started reserve Kendall Lamm.
Miami also had backups at left and right guard, Lester Cotton and Robert Jones, and center, Liam Eichenberg.
In the first half, Tua was not sacked.
What an amazing job Miami’s offensive linemen and their position coach, Butch Barry, have done this season.
Tua was finally sacked in the fourth quarter, as a defender split Cotton and Eichenberg.
Conversely, the Dolphins created massive pressure on Dak Prescott.
In the first half alone, Andrew Van Ginkel, Bradley Chubb and Zach Sieler all had sacks. Chubb and Van Ginkel were all over the field on Sunday.
Covering CeeDee Lamb
Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has generally allowed cornerbacks to stay on one side of the field and not shadow an opposing star receiver.
Miami strayed from that strategy against the Jets because Xavien Howard was out and Garrett Wilson so so clearly their best receiver.
Jalen Ramsey shut down Wilson. This week, Ramsey was chippy when asked about the potential of shadowing Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb.
In the first half on Sunday, Miami was burned by Lamb for a 49-yard touchdown in the second quarter. On the play, Kader Kohou yielded his coverage to DeShon Elliott and Brandon Jones, neither of whom had the required angle or footspeed.
One advantage to allowing Howard, Ramsey and Kohou to stay in familiar positions is they are not as likely to be fatigued from constantly moving all around. Consider Lamb generally moves all over the field, too.
But in choosing not to shadow Lamb with Ramsey, Miami did leave themselves open to criticism. Miami slowed Lamb after the first quarter, though he had a key third-down conversion when covered by Nik Needham in the fourth quarter.
Then, Lamb converted a key third-down, covered by Howard.
Injury woes linger
Dolphins’ star receiver Jaylen Waddle sustained both eye and shin injuries in this game. Waddle was not on the field at the end of the game.
With Tyreek Hill battling through an ankle injury, this was a big issue.
Waddle has been banged up too often for anyone’s liking this season.
The Dolphins dressed Robbie Chosen over River Cracraft. Chosen made a big first-half catch but was then ruled out following a concussion evaluation.
In this game, Raheem Mostert caught a touchdown pass but also missed time with a possible lower-body injury. No injury was immediately available in the press box.
Mostert was not on the field with the game on the line. That assignment was reserved for rookie De’Von Achane.
This & That
Safety Jevon Holland (knees) missed his fourth consecutive game… Melvin Ingram played his first game for Miami since last season… Christian Wilkins and Micah Parsons each had personal foul penalties for hitting the quarterback. Wilkins’ was highly questionable. Parsons’ was borderline dirty, as he hit Tua in the back… Brandon Jones recovered a fumble for Miami… Xavien Howard allowed a 45-yard pass to Jalen Tolbert.
Joe Schad is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on social media platforms @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe’s free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing.
