Big First Half Lifts Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins took care of business early against the struggling Houston Texans on Sunday, but the game at Hard Rock Stadium somehow turned into something less than totally satisfying.
The Dolphins ended up with a comfortable 30-15 victory that moved their record to 8-3 on the season, but this was a game where they led 30-0 at halftime.
The second half was pretty lackluster from a Dolphins performance standpoint, but more problematic was the injury that knocked left tackle Terron Armstead out of the game late in the second quarter.
Armstead left the game with a pectoral injury and was ruled out of the game after halftime — a clearly ominous sign. And then Austin Jackson, back as the starting right tackle for the first time since Week 1, left the game in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury — though it wasn't revealed whether it was to the same ankle he injured back in September.
After Armstead left the lineup, Tua Tagovailoa was sacked four times — he was sacked two times in the previous four games combined — before Mike McDaniel pulled him in favor of backup Skylar Thompson with the Dolphins comfortably ahead 30-6 late in the third quarter.
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PASSING GAME, DEFENSE KEY HUGE FIRST HALF FOR DOLPHINS
While the Dolphins got nothing going offensively in the second half, their lead was so big they were able to hang on.
While his streak of games with 300 passing yards and three touchdown ended at three, Tagovailoa still put up good numbers with 299 yards and one touchdown — a 4-yard connection with tight end Durham Smythe that gave Miami a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
It was the defense that blew the game open in the second quarter, with Andrew Van Ginkel returning an interception to the 3-yard line to set up Jeff Wilson Jr.'s 3-yard touchdown run and Xavien Howard returning a fumble 16 yards for another touchdown that made it 27-0.
Jason Sanders added three field goals, including one on the final play of the half, for the Dolphins' 30-0 lead.
The Dolphins did most of their damage offensively through the air, which certainly seems surprising after their 195-yard performance against Cleveland in their previous game and the fact that Houston came in with the worst rushing defense in the NFL.
Wilson did have his touchdown run, but he gained only 39 yards on 13 atempts. Raheem Mostert was inactive because of a knee injury.
Along with the two takeaways, the Dolphins defense came up with five sacks — one each by Jerome Baker, Jaelan Phillips, Duke Riley, Elandon Roberts and newcomer Bradley Chubb. The sack by Riley really was produced by initial pressure from Melvin Ingram.
The sack by Baker slowed Houston's comeback attempt of the second half, coming on third-and-13 from the Texans 38 with 5:40 left after the Dolphins lead had dwindled to 30-15.
Rookie safety Verone McKinley III applied the final blow on Houston's next possession when he picked off Kyle Allen's deep pass not long before the two-minute warning.
The victory put the Dolphins back atop the AFC East, tied with Buffalo at 8-3 but holding the tiebreaker because of their victory against the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 3, and that's the good news.
The not-so-good news are the issues along the offensive line, which comes at a bad time with the Dolphins about to embark on their challenging three-game road trip against the 49ers, Chargers and Bills.
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