Final NFL Week 10 Observations ... With Dolphins Angles
Week 10 of the 2022 NFL season began with another ho-hum Thursday night battle, this one between the Falcons and Panthers, and ended with an upset on Monday Night Football that helped preserve Dolphins history.
Not that there should have been major cause for concern for the 1972 Dolphins, but another season officially will come and go without another team being able to match their accomplishment of a perfect season.
Despite getting outplayed most of the night, the Philadelphia Eagles had chances to pull out a comeback victory against the Washington Commanders, only to be done in but a brutal no-call, a fumble and a really bad penalty, where the punishment seemed much harsher than the crime but had to be called nonetheless.
But the missed facemask penalty showed once again — at least from this vantage point — why going through all the game interruptions of instant replay to get calls right (and that doesn't always happen anyway) is a monumental waste of time when penalties or missed penalties can't be reviewed.
So officials looked at the replay late in the fourth quarter to determine whether tight end Dallas Goedert, who sustained a shoulder injury on the play, fumbled before he hit the ground and whether the Washington defender who recovered the ball was touched while on the ground before he got up and ran into the end zone.
But nothing could be done about calling a late facemask penalty — even though that was the most obvious thing on replay — because that's not in the rules.
OK, instant replay rant over, let's move on to games involving future Dolphins opponents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOSH ALLEN AND THE AILING BILLS
The biggest takeaway from the Buffalo Bills' loss against the Minnesota Vikings in that wild game at Highmark Stadium was that Josh Allen is becoming a bit careless with the football — going back to his earlier NFL days — but there are other issues at play that should be of major concern to Bills fans and should be monitored heading into the Week 15 showdown with the Dolphins.
Namely, it's about health issues in the Buffalo secondary. As loaded as the Bills appeared to be heading into the 2022 season, the defensive backfield actually might have been where they had the most talent. But starting safety Micah Hyde is on IR and done for the season, Pro Bowl cornerback Tre'Davious White — like Byron Jones with the Dolphins — has yet to play all season as he recovers from an injury, and safety Jordan Poyer has missed the past two games with an elbow injury that kept him from practicing.
Even though they still should have won, the Bills gave up 357 passing yards to Kirk Cousins and that's clearly not a good sign for them as they move closer to facing the Dolphins' explosive passing game.
As for Allen, he should not get dinged for his first red zone interception because it came on fourth down and pressure from the Vikings got to him quickly, so a pick wasn't any different then than a sack or a throw-away. But the other two turnovers, the mis-handled snap in the end zone and the game-ending interception when he badly forced a throw on second-and-10 from the Minnesota 20 definitely were on him.
And Dolphins fans will remember (or should) that this wasn't the first bobbled snap that proved costly for Allen and the Bills. There also was the one at the end of the first half in Week 3 when Allen was going to spike the ball but couldn't do it after he bobbled the snap because, by rule, a spike has to be one continuous motion of getting the snap and throwing the ball into the ground.
TAKING THE TEXANS BY LAND
The Dolphins running game broke out in the 22-point victory against Cleveland, which raises all kinds of possibilities heading into their next game against the run-defense-challenged Houston Texans.
In falling to 1-7-1 on the season, the Texans gave up 191 rushing yards to Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants, pushing their season average to 181.8 rushing yards allowed per game.
Yes, that's dead last in the NFL. The Texans are 29th in yards allowed per carry at 5.24.
What's going to be the over/under for rushing yards for the Dolphins in that Nov. 27 game at Hard Rock Stadium.
49ERS, CHARGERS AND THE CALIFORNIA SWING
The Sunday night game featured two teams the Dolphins will face in back-to-back weeks pretty soon, the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Even though it was a close game, the 49ers pulling out a 22-16 win, it sure does look like San Francisco has a much bigger chance of success this season despite each team having the same 5-4 record.
As seems to be the case every year, the Chargers continue to be decimated by injuries. They faced the 49ers without their two starting tackles and two starting wide receivers, and then lost two defensive tackles to season-ending injuries during the game.
Justin Herbert continues to have a pedestrian season statistically, but he's operating behind a line that routinely gets overwhelmed. The evidence came on the Chargers' last two offensive plays — a failed fourth-down attempt followed by a play after San Francisco's last field goal — when Herbert was hit as he threw the ball, resulting in an off-target throw for an incompletion and another off-target throw for a game-sealing interception.
The 49ers, meanwhile, got very little production out of Christian McCaffrey, who averaged only 2.7 yards on 14 carries and had four catches for 39 yards. But, hey, that trade worked out great for the Dolphins because it led San Francisco to dealing Jeff Wilson Jr. after he requested a trade because his playing time was going to be reduced.
As it was, it was Elijah Mitchell (89 rushing yards) who made the running game go in that Sunday night game against the Chargers.
QUICK HITTERS
-- The Jets and Patriots were among the teams with a bye this past weekend as they prepare to face off at Gillette Stadium in their rematch after New England won at MetLife Stadium.
-- Maybe the Christmas Day game against the Packers won't be a cakewalk after all for the Dolphins. That was an impressive performance by the Green Bay offense against a very good Dallas defense to overcome a 28-14 deficit and win in overtime. Aaron Jones rushing for 138 yards wasn't shocking, but rookie Christian Watson having 107 receiving yards with three scores most definitely was. The question now is whether that was the start of something bigger for Watson or just a one-game outburst.
-- Maybe it will make Dolphins fans feel better that Justin Fields had another huge game running the ball for the Bears against the Detroit Lions. The one big difference in his performance was a bad decision that led to a pick-six by Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah. But Fields clearly is handful for any defense these days, and that includes the Dolphins.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.
