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At first glance, the scoreboard hints that it was a hard-fought game between two evenly matched teams, but, as the old adage states, “never judge a book by its cover.”

Upon further review, however, it wasn’t even close.

Carson Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts rode into Hard Rock Stadium and stampeded over the Miami Dolphins, en-route to their first victory of the season, while handing the Dolphins their third consecutive loss of the season.

Head Coach, Brian Flores did not mince words after the game, “I think we played bad across the board. Offensively, defensively, in the kicking game, drops, penalties, turnovers. I mean, we played poorly really across the board, so we got a lot we got to fix, a lot of things we got to correct.”

Before the game, Miami received a bit of good news, when the Colts placed All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson on injured reserve due to a high-ankle sprain. With the Colts starting Right Tackle, Braden Smith, already ruled out; the Dolphins run defense enjoyed a sigh of relief before facing a Colts offense that was averaging 103.0 yards per game. Midway through the third quarter, however, that sigh of relief transformed into a large collective yawn from the 64,571 Dolphins faithful that were on hand for their second consecutive home loss by double digits.

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The Dolphins drew first blood in the first quarter after securing the first takeaway of the game. After failing to convert on a 3rd and 14 from their own 32-yard line, long snapper Blake Ferguson recovered a muffed punt from Indianapolis RB Nyheim Hines, extending Miami’s takeaway streak to 26 games, the longest active mark in the NFL. The fumble recovery was the fourth of the season for Miami, tied for the second-most in the NFL.

Jason Sanders connected on a 38-yard field goal and Miami led 3-0.

After both teams struggled to gain any traction in the first half – with a pair of drives ending in punts by both sides – the Colts took the lead with 2:47 to go in the half on 23-yard touchdown run by RB Jonathan Taylor, capping off a 10 play, 80-yard drive that consumed 5:14 of the clock. Taylor finished the afternoon with 103 rushing on 16 carries.

The Colts rode into halftime with a 10-7 lead.

When asked about his offense’s performance in the first half, Coach Flores responded, “Offensively just couldn’t get anything going. Got it going a little bit late, but, you know, too late, and it’s not enough, so we got to do a better job earlier in the game, which we’ve talked about, but we’re not — we’re still not able to do it.”

After the intermission, it seemed as if only one team came out of their locker room ready to play, and it was the home team that looked like fish out of water – out of their element.

Frank Reich’s Colts took the opening kick-off of the second half and proceeded to take control of the clock and consequently the game. Wentz led the Colts on an 11 play, 84-yard drive that took 6:31 off the clock and culminated with a 3-yard toss to receiver Mo Alie-Cox, for a 20-3 Indianapolis lead.

Wentz, who did not play last week (Week 3), because of two sprained ankles that he had suffered against Los Angeles Rams during their Week 2 loss, did not look like he was at 100%, nevertheless, he was healthy enough to lead the Colts offense, as he was looking for his first win with his new team.

Wentz engineered a pair of drives that led to Rodrigo Blankenship field goals (34 and 43 yards) that extended the Colts’ lead to 17 points, with the score 20-3 in favor of the visiting team.

Jacoby Brissett and the Dolphins had to wait until there were less than 11 minutes left to play in the game before they scored their first touchdown. Brissett, the former Colts quarterback, found tight end Mike Gesicki, for a touchdown on 4th and 1. It was his 12th touchdown reception in his past 25 games and his first of the season, and the Dolphins were down 20-10.

“You just have to go out there and make the most of the opportunities when they present themselves, and that’s kind of what it was there. Had a couple of opportunities to make a play, and I was able to do so,” said the four-year pro from Penn State.

Gesicki’s 12 touchdowns in that span (since Nov. 20, 2019) is the fourth-most by a tight end in the NFL and tied for 13th among all NFL players. Gesicki finished the game with five receptions for 57 yards (11.4 avg.) a week following a 10-reception performance at Las Vegas in Week 3.

Even without two of their starting offensive linemen, the Colts were able to pound the rock on the ground. Indianapolis won the time of possession battle by an ample margin, 37:09 to 22:51, and crushed the Dolphins’ hope of a comeback with another long touchdown scoring drive (8 plays, 60 yards, 4:25), capped by Wentz’s second touchdown of the game to Mo Alie-Cox, this time for 11 yards and a 27-10 lead. The NFL picks next week will surely not favor the Dolphins on the road in Tampa bay after a 1-3 start to the season.

Wentz finished the afternoon with 228 yards passing and a pair of TD passes to Alie-Cox.

The Colts rushed for 139 yards on the afternoon averaging over 4 yards per carry.

Miami added a touchdown with 4:24 left to play, when Brissett found WR Devante Parker for a 3-yard score. It was the first touchdown of the season by Parker, who now has 14 touchdown receptions since the start of the 2019 campaign.

Brissett finished the afternoon, with 199 yards passing and two TD’s, but it was not enough to defeat his former team. “It for sure is frustrating, and it’s all on us, and we’re putting our defense in bad situations and things of that nature. Yeah, it’s frustrating, you know, and we just have to find a way to stop the bleeding and focus and concentrate and really just start to take it one play at a time and repeat that cycle over and over again.”

Up next for the Colts, a Monday Night Football matchup against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, while the Dolphins travel to face their intrastate rivals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.