The Miami Dolphins are back in the win column following a 23-15 victory on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams. The win moved the team to 3-6, and while their postseason chances are still slim, they at least kept the season alive.
Miami beat the Rams through an unexpected avenue — its defense. The Dolphins kept the Rams out of the end zone and forced multiple turnovers, bailing out an offense that had an uneven performance.
The Dolphins have several winnable games coming up, including next week’s against the Las Vegas Raiders. Let’s examine the tape to see how Miami’s defense dominated the Rams and some of the key takeaways from the offense.
Dolphins All-22 Review vs. Rams
Generating Pressure
The defense’s performance on Monday was such a surprise because the unit had suffered back-to-back second-half collapses against the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals.
We covered how Josh Allen and Kyler Murray shredded the Dolphins’ blitz, something they were forced to do because of injuries to key defenders. Well, Zach Sieler and Jevon Holland returned to the lineup on Monday night, and the Dolphins blitzed a lot less.
Miami generated a season-high 17 pressures against the Rams — topping its previous high of 16 — while only blitzing Matthew Stafford on four of his 49 dropbacks. That’s the fewest blitzes since Miami’s loss to the Titans.
Those 17 pressures were a combination of creative scheming from Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, and great individual plays from players across the defense.
Let’s start with the individual plays, including this sack fumble forced by edge rusher Quinton Bell.
Great rush by Quinton Bell for the sack fumble. pic.twitter.com/4px9XVjIHr
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 12, 2024
Bell wins with speed off the snap and a chop-rip move, blowing by left tackle offensive tackle Alaric Jackson. This was a huge play at the end of the first half, as it prevented the Rams from having a chance to score a touchdown before getting the ball back in the third quarter.
This was Bell’s first sack of the season, and he has just two total pressures this year. Reps like this are when you know the defense is going to have a good night.
There were plenty of other 1-on-1 wins, but let’s pivot to some of the designed pressures Weaver cooked up last night. This pressure was interesting because it was one of the few times Miami actually blitzed on Monday.
Rams slide the OL left — Dolphins overload the right and Holland gets the sack. pic.twitter.com/vM5EENoWxp
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 12, 2024
The Dolphins walked seven defenders up to the line of scrimmage, including both inside linebackers and safety Jevon Holland. You could hear Stafford sliding his protection to the left on the broadcast.
That makes sense, given the Dolphins are threatening to send four from that side, as opposed to just three from his right. Plus, he has a tight end and running back to his right to help out.
However, when the ball is snapped, Walker and Ogbah drop into coverage to the left. Because the Rams are sliding that way, one offensive lineman (the right tackle) and the running back must block three defenders. That’s a huge advantage for the defense, and it ends with Holland getting the sack.
This was a third and 7 at the end of the third quarter on one of the Rams’ better drives. This call forced them to kick one of their five field goals.
Chop gets home on what was supposed to be a stunt with Campbell. pic.twitter.com/XgORyZTdTh
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 12, 2024
Ironically, Miami’s first pressure of the game combined a good call and good individual play. Chop Robinson picked up his second sack of the season early in the game, using his inside quickness to beat right tackle Joseph Noteboom.
If you watch how Calais Campbell rushes on this snap, it looks like this was supposed to be a stunt. Robinson was supposed to crash inside, allowing Campbell to loop around outside and generate pressure.
When Robinson went to crash down, he realized Noteboom had overset, giving him a free path to the quarterback. Robinson had his best game of the season on Monday night, continuing a trend of consistent improvement.
His speed was an issue for the Rams all night, and he generated a few other pressures, including another off a typical stunt and one where he just folded the pocket into Stafford’s lap.
If the Dolphins can get this level of play from the defensive line moving forward, this defense can become a legitimately scary unit.
A Super Odd Night For Tua
As mentioned above, the Dolphins offense wasn’t great on Monday. It managed 238 yards of offense, comprised of just 207 yards through the air and 67 on the ground. Tua Tagovailoa was a big reason for the team’s struggles.
He took a few bad sacks, had a rough interception, fumbled the ball on another sack, had two other interceptions dropped, and was largely struggling in every facet. Tua finished the game completing 20-of-28 passes for 207 yards, one touchdown, and the two aforementioned turnovers.
His advanced stats didn’t look much better either:
However, there was one area of the game where Tua looked mostly solid last night, and it’s the last one you’d expect — outside of structure. The Rams baffled Tua by taking away the middle of the field, but he made several key second-reaction plays that helped the Dolphins ice the game.
None were better than this spin out of pressure to find Raheem Mostert and convert a third and long.
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 12, 2024
Tua was credited with 86 passing yards outside the pocket on Monday, which was the most of his career. He was 5-for-5 on passing attempts outside the pocket, including this clutch throw to Odell Beckham Jr., which helped the Dolphins run the clock and go back up by two scores.
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 12, 2024
Tua felt pressure from his right, escaped, and did a nice job sitting OBJ down in open space to convert right around the sticks. These two throws were incredibly clutch and not something Tua has done throughout his career at all.
Miami’s quarterback making plays out of structure is odd enough, but when you combine that with why he struggled, things get weirder. Tua held the ball way too long on several occasions against the Rams.
His offensive line still can’t hold up past the play’s initial progression, but Tua was incredibly indecisive all game. He turned down outlets and in-rhythm throws a few times. He also made an awful decision on his INT to throw across his body while on the move, something he never does.
Adding the INT because I need it for the article lmao. pic.twitter.com/7TSVugp9NK
— Dante Collinelli (@DanteCollinelli) November 12, 2024
Tua — one of the NFL’s best in-structure QBs — had almost all of his worst plays come within the structure of the offense, while most of his best plays came outside of structure, where he hasn’t played well since his Alabama days.
It was a bizzaro performance for Tagoavailoa. To be fair, the Rams should get some credit for Tua’s struggles. They had a good coverage plan to press and cover the middle of the field. They also did an excellent job bottling up Miami’s running game.
Should this game change the narrative on Tua? I don’t think so. The odds that this is an outlier are much better than the odds that Tua has suddenly become a more dynamic quarterback.
The bigger picture is what’s more important. Tua hasn’t really ascended to making big plays in big moments against good teams for the Dolphins. There have been flashes, but last season was primarily highlighted by Tua failing in scenarios. The Eagles, Bills, and Chiefs games all stood out.
Regardless of whether Tua’s out-of-structure play is sustainable (again, I don’t think it is), seeing him rise above a bad offensive performance to make a few clutch plays against a solid team is a good sign.
I’ve been hard on Tua for not making those plays in previous seasons, so it’s only fair to credit him when he does, even if the rest of the game wasn’t pretty.
