Dolphins 2021 Week 16 Report Card
The Miami Dolphins made it seven victories in a row when they defeated the New Orleans Saints, 20-3, at the Caesars Superdome on Monday night.
Here's the weekly breakdown on how each position group performed:
Quarterbacks
This was a solid rebound performance by Tua Tagovailoa after his sub-par outing against the Jets. Tua again completed a high percentage of his passes, going 19-for-26, though it has to be noted that there were a lot of short throws, including some shovel passes. Tua had one touchdown pass and one pick, and his best pass was the 40-yard completion to Mack Hollins. Tua scrambled once, but failed to get down in time to avoid a big hit from safety P.J. Williams. Grade: B
Running backs
This game figured to be a lot more difficult for the running backs than the game against the Jets because the Saints are so much better against the run. The rushing averages against the Saints were ugly, and the one run of note was a 10-yard pick-up by Duke Johnson when he bowled over a defender. Myles Gaskin had one catch for 6 yards on three targets. The backs admittedly didn't get much help from the offensive line. Grade: C
Wide receivers
Back after missing the Jets game because of his COVID-19 issues, Jaylen Waddle had another very productive game with 10 more catches for 92 yards. He scored the Dolphins' only offensive touchdown on that shovel pass and again was a big factor on third down. The only other catches by wide receivers were Hollins' 40-yard catch and Tommylee Lewis' 7-yard pick-up off another shovel pass. DeVante Parker did not have a single catch and wasn't even targeted outside of one play when there was a penalty. There were no drops in this game. Grade: B-
Tight ends
Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe each caught three passes, though the longest gain was only 13 yards. Gesicki tried hurdling a defender after a catch, a habit he might be well advised to quit. Given the lack of success in the running game, it's not like we can bump up the grade because of contributions in that area. Grade: C-
Offensive line
We've been defending the work of the much-maligned offensive line for a few weeks now, but it's impossible to do after this performance. To put mildly, this was rough. The Dolphins O-line faced a tough challenge after a very good Saints front and flat-out didn't get it done, either in run blocking or pass protection. Jesse Davis was beaten way too easily on the Cameron Jordan and Michael Deiter, Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg all were flagged for holding — though the call on Eichenberg was bogus. Still, this wasn't nearly good enough. Grade: D+
Defensive line
While we need to remember the diminished lineup the Saints were fielding, starting with rookie QB Ian Book, it doesn't change how dominant the Dolphins defense. And that applies at all three levels. Up front, Emmanuel Ogbah, Zach Sieler and Christian Wilkins, as well as Raekwon Davis all dominated up front and make big plays. Grade: A
Linebackers
Same as with the offensive line. Jerome Baker and Andrew Van Ginkel made plays all night, starting with Van Ginkel tipping the pass that ended up as Nik Needham's pick-six. Elandon Roberts had a big third-down stop on the Saints' only meaningful drive of the game. Grade: A
Secondary
If we want to get picky, the Dolphins got a cheap 56-yard completion when Lil' Jordan Humphrey adjusted to an underthrown pass ahead of Byron Jones and safety Jevon Holland took a bad angle on the play, but there was so much more good than bad. The highlight, of course, was the pick-six, but there also was a sack by Brandon Jones, a pick by Jones and a sack by Xavien Howard (when Ian Book scrambled out of bounds at the line of scrimmage). Grade: A-
Special teams
There wasn't a whole lot of significance that happened in the kicking game. Michael Palardy put three of his six punts inside the 20, including one at the 1-yard line. Jason Sanders was 2-for-3 on field goal attempts, but the miss was from 59 yards out when he was wide right. The Dolphins didn't have any long returns but gave up a 17-yard punt return. Grade: C+
