Miami Dolphins end preseason with a big win and tough choices

The Miami Dolphins have wrapped their 2022 exhibition season against the Philadelphia Eagles at Hard Rock Stadium and it was a blowout.

Miami entered the game with a lot of questions but more importantly, a lot of roster positions potentially up for grabs but in the end, Miami won big and the players put up a bigger fight to make the roster.

At running back, Salvon Ahmed and Myles Gaskin both made strong cases for the Dolphins to keep both of them along with Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds. Mostert saw his first action of the year.

Mostert rushed twice for 29 yards, 26 coming on his second run and subsequently last of the night.

Ahmed and Gaskin ran extremely strong with Gaskin rushing 6 for 39 and Ahmed running 4 times for 30 yards. Both players are hoping to land one of the final roster spots. Even Gerrid Doaks got in his licks as well. He posted an 11-carry 67-yard night.

Miami combined for 204 yards rushing on the evening which blew away their struggling run game over the last two weeks. It was the first glimpse of what Mike McDaniel’s offense could look like.

If the running game was on fire, so was the passing game. Miami’s trio of QBs combined for four TDs. Three from Skylar Thompson and one from Tua Tagovailoa who went 6/7 for 121 yards.

Thompson continued his strong preseason with a 7/10 outing for 103 yards and three scores. Teddy Bridgewater added 74 yards on 4 of 10 completions.

At wide receiver, fans got their first glimpse of Tyreek Hill. He caught two passes for 64 yards including a 51-yard reception.

The star of the night belonged to River Cracraft who made a strong case for a roster spot as well. He caught 4 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown and showed off some blocking ability as well. Lynn Bowden, Jr. who hopes to make the roster turned his lone reception into a 39-yard touchdown.

Not having a good night was Preston Williams. Williams failed to catch his only target and muffed a punt that resulted in an Eagle recovery and field goal. He is on the bubble and looks to be an odd man out.

Defensively, most of the roster played extremely well making the final decisions on who makes the team tougher. Porter Gustin made a strong case for a backup role as a defensive tackle. He finished strong with three total tackles but he has had a strong camp and has looked good. He is likely going to be a practice squad addition.

The Dolphins finished the night with one of their biggest offensive outputs and they were helped by a pick-six interception by Elijah Campbell. In the end, Miami put 48 points on the board to the Eagles 10.

Next up? Final roster cuts will be on Tuesday and the next game will now the regular season opener against the Patriots on September 11th.