Miami has pieced together two wins in a row for the first time all season, in what can only be described as an unexpected victory against a foe who typically destroys Miami. Winning on National TV. This is always a good feeling, and boy, oh boy, did this feel good.

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Here are the takeaways from Miami’s victory against the Ravens

  • The Dolphins Defense from 2020 is back: Miami’s defense has quietly been great over the past three weeks, and this was they were coming out game. After a horrendous start to the year, they gave the Bills trouble, completely shut down the Texans, and wreaked havoc on Lamar Jackson & the Ravens. Brian Flores has been inept on the offensive side of the ball, but the defensive side is still his specialty, and on this night, he had a hell of a game plan. They were disguising blitzes and coverages all game, leaving Lamar no time to throw the ball, shut down the run game completely & get off the field on 3rd down, which they’d struggle to do all year. They even produced a game-changing fumble six courtesy of Xavien Howard. This was eerily similar to how they completely stunned Sean McVay & the Rams last year.
  • Jevon Holland & Jaelan Phillips are two building blocks: Jevon Holland has had an under-the-radar great defensive rookie year; well, in the national spotlight, he looked like the best player on the entire Dolphins team. He was designed to blitz the majority of the game and resembled Jamal Adams in the way he attacked the QB whilst also being a safe tackler and disrupting a pair of passes. Him reading Lamar’s eyes on a deep throw to Marquise Brown and knocking it away won’t make the highlight reels, but it was a huge play early on in the ball game. Meanwhile, Jaelan Phillips, who’s had an up & down rookie year, had one of his best performances to date; he showed off his freakish athleticism on one play as he ran across the field and forced Lamar Jackson out of bounds, and also added half a sack in this one. Both rookies were constantly making plays; they should be around for a long time.
  • A 9-fingered Tua is better than a healthy Brissett: A big part of the Dolphins disappointing season has been the play of backup Jacoby Brissett, and today’s performance was no different. He’s slow in the pocket and holds the ball for too long, something that you can’t get away with this terrible O-Line. After what seemed to be a serious injury to his knee, Tua was forced to go in despite having a fractured finger, and then Jacoby turned out to be fine, but Flores still went with Tua. Truth be told, this was a mess, as is typically the case when it comes to how Flores handles the QBs. Still, despite the fact Tua was clearly not 100%, the Dolphins’ offense moved better, and when they desperately needed something, they scored and put the game away. 
  • Mike Gesicki struggles: For the 2nd time all year, Mike Gesicki finished the game with 0 receptions, and an early drop rattled him. He failed to bring in any of his first seven targets (most not his fault), but something felt off with him. He wasn’t his usual energetic self. It was apparent it was a point of emphasis by the Ravens to take him out of the game, and that’s precisely what they did.
  • Albert Wilson has decided to show up: The Dolphins Training Camp darling has finally arrived. After what can only be described as a very slow start to the season, Miami seemed to implement Albert Wilson into the game plan. He looked dynamic & fast, similar to how he looked in 2018. Most importantly, he came up with a 64-yard grab late in the 4th quarter, which put Miami in a good position to seal the game. Hopefully, he keeps this level of performance up.

 

  • Red Zone Penalties:  Despite the fact Miami came away with the win, there is still a lot of cleaning up to do. Especially when it comes to the red zone, as Miami settled for three field goals, despite being inside the 5 for all 3. Penalties & poor execution prevented Miami from putting up more points on the board when they were severely needed (thankfully, the Defense came up big).