Miami Dolphins vs. Ravens is ’what you live for,’ Bradley Chubb says
BALTIMORE — One team very much aware of what’s at stake in the standings, the other putting blinders on to avoid it.
One quarterback soaring to the top of the charts for league MVP, the other standing firm among the leaders all season.
One hot defense … check that, two hot defenses.
If you’re looking for storylines for Sunday’s showdown between the Dolphins and the host Baltimore Ravens, you won’t need a magnifying glass. Everywhere you turn, there’s intrigue. Everywhere you turn, you’ll find a case to be made that above all else, this is the place where this game could be decided. And nobody could argue.
If there’s one game on the Dolphins’ regular-season schedule that sells itself, this is it. The Ravens are 12-3, the Dolphins, 11-4. They’re 1-2 in the AFC standings — the only teams in the conference that clinched playoff berths entering Week 17 — with a solid chance they’ll finish as the top two teams in the conference when it’s all over, the only question being, which team is No. 1, earning a week off for wild-card weekend?
“This is what it’s all about,” Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb said. “Just being in a big moment with two great teams that are going at it. This is what you live for.”
The list of potential seeding slots where the Dolphins land could fill a book, so suffice it to say if they win their final two games — including the finale at home against Buffalo either next Saturday or Sunday — Miami will be the No. 1 seed. The last time that happened, Dan Marino was throwing for an NFL-record 5,084 yards in 1984.
Everything in the previous paragraph, however, is verboten around the Dolphins’ training facility, where coach Mike McDaniel laid down the law two weeks ago by giving players the green light to tell anyone broaching the subject to “F off … with all due respect.” McDaniel later clarified it by saying such questions aren’t necessarily out of bounds — but expecting players to spend time thinking about rewards rather than the process is.
Kyle Hamilton says Ravens have discussed rewards at stake
That’s not how the Ravens are operating under John Harbaugh.
“We were kind of talking about it in the defensive meeting (that) we get a two-for-one special this week,” said safety Kyle Hamilton, the reigning AFC defensive player of the week. “If we get a win, we win the division and we win the conference. It doesn’t get much bigger than that. … (We’ve) got everything in this game, and I know that next week, obviously, is a big game against Pittsburgh.”
On the flip side, no South Florida reporters asked Dolphins players this week about the Bills game, for fear of inviting an F-bomb, sans due respect.
The contrasts don’t stop there. There’s that little matter of Sept. 18, 2022, when the Dolphins recorded their second-largest comeback win ever by overcoming a 21-point deficit in the second half to shock the Ravens 42-38 in Baltimore. Tua Tagovailoa had a career day, throwing for 469 yards and six touchdowns, including the winner to Jaylen Waddle from 7 yards out with 14 seconds remaining. The Dolphins outscored Baltimore 28-3 in the fourth quarter.
“What I remember from that game was it was a hard-fought game,” Tagovailoa said this week. “Our team last year, we were able to not let the (potential) win or let the score dictate how we wanted to finish and how we wanted to continue to play that game. Obviously, the result was a win, but it’s a new year.”
Yes, but …
“The people there, they haven’t forgot about that,” said running back Jeff Wilson, whose runs all but sealed the Dolphins’ 22-20 comeback to beat the Cowboys last week.
Referring to last year’s meeting, Harbaugh said, “It was a massive comeback. Obviously, it was a tough pill to swallow for us, and all credit to them for the way they executed and made those plays. We learned a lot. We learned a lot about ourselves, our coverages.”
Ravens’ beat-down vs. 49ers was an eye-opener
They’re still learning, and learning well. The Ravens are coming off a 33-19 victory over the 49ers in Santa Clara on national TV that saw them overtake San Fran as the popular favorite to win it all. They made five interceptions, including four against Brock Purdy, essentially knocking him out of the MVP race. The favorites now, in order, are Lamar Jackson, Christian McCaffrey, Josh Allen and Tagovailoa.
Unsurprisingly, neither Jackson nor Tagovailoa have any desire to wax poetic about MVP honors.
“I’m just focusing on trying to win,” said Jackson, although the identical sentiment could be attributed to Tagovailoa without any push-back.
What we did learn this past week is the level of respect the two QBs have for one another. Tagovailoa traced it back to a message of encouragement Jackson posted to him on Instagram while Tagovailoa was at Alabama. Jackson traced it to Tagovailoa’s winning relief performance for the Crimson Tide in the 2017 title game.
“After that, I was like, ‘He’s amazing,’ ” Jackson said. “I just fell in love with his game then and his poise in the games in situations. I believed he was going to win the Heisman one year. I messaged him and I was like, ‘You need to win a Heisman. I voted for you.’ His game is great. He’s a phenomenal quarterback. He just has to keep doing what he’s doing — just not this week.”
Jackson, the former Boynton Beach High standout, was the 2019 league MVP and playing at a comparable level now, throwing for 3,357 yards and rushing for 786. When it was pointed out to veteran defensive coordinator Vic Fangio that he has faced his share of mobile quarterbacks over the years, he shot back, “Fair share of mobile quarterbacks, yes. And then there’s Lamar Jackson.”
It says something that Chubb admitted he has been working on telling himself to finish plays “and not get frustrated.”
Tua Tagovailoa: Late comebacks a different feeling of satisfaction
It’s not just finishing plays, but finishing games, that should give the Dolphins confidence. Last year in Baltimore, it was a 68-yard drive that began with 2:12 left. Last week against Dallas, it was a 12-play, 67-yard drive in the final 3:27 to win it.
“I would say when you’re able to do that, it does feel a little different,” Tagovailoa said.
Tagovailoa now has six fourth-quarter comeback wins in his career, not far behind Marino’s 10 at the same point in his career. Marino finished with 33 fourth-quarter comebacks and 47 game-winning drives.
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All season, McDaniel has preached to players to learn from each game, win or lose. The Cowboys game was another teaching moment.
“That’s just championship football and especially coming down this stretch and going to where we want to go, you’re going to have to win these games like that,” Wilson said. “It’s not going to be always easy. It’s not going to be peaches and cream. Sometimes we’re going to have to get down and dirty. Sometimes we’re going to have to come back. Sometimes we’re going to have to put our foot on people’s necks and end the game.”
This might be one of those down-and-dirty games. Not only do the Ravens lead the league in takeaways (26), but Miami’s injury situation suggests this could be a defensive struggle. The three biggest components of Miami’s league-leading passing attack (Tagovailoa, Waddle and Tyreek Hill), all appeared on the injury report this week, although Waddle is the only one ruled out. That would suggest a game tailor made for Raheem Mostert, who along with McCaffrey leads the NFL with 21 touchdowns. Mostert has knee and ankle issues but is expected to play.
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Welcome to December football, where the Dolphins listed 14 players on their injury report and the Ravens, 12. Another yardstick — how the teams compare in important statistical categories — shows hardly any blemishes and an overwhelming number of areas in which they both rank in the top five offensively and defensively.
“This is the football that you really love as a kid, you dream about, you fantasize about,” Wilson said.
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on social media @gunnerhal. Click here to subscribe.
