Dolphins Week 2 Loss: The Five Biggest Plays
The Miami Dolphins' home opener was about as ugly as it gets, as turnovers, dropped passes and the injury to starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa helped lead to an embarrassing 35-0 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.
We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:
1. The fourth-down failure where Tua Tagovailoa was injured
This one ranks at the top for a couple of reasons, and not just because Tagovailoa was knocked out of the game with his rib injury. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the decision to go for the first down on fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 47 given the field position and the fact the Dolphins figured they'd need a lot of points to win this game. But what happened on the play was a microcosm of the game when the Dolphins offense was on the field, with the line incapable of protecting and the quarterback getting pounded.
2. Devin Singletary's 46-yard touchdown run
It was bad enough that the offense gave up two sacks on the opening drive of the game, but then to give up a long touchdown run right up the gut on the Bills' second offensive play just made it worse. It was like a punch in the gut — to use the same word again.
3. Jakeem Grant's fumble
As poorly as the game began, the Dolphins had a chance to get right back in it when they had a red-zone opportunity early in the second quarter and faced a third-and-6 from the 11 after Albert Wilson dropped a second-down pass. Jacoby Brissett hit Grant just shy of the first-down marker on third down and maybe the Dolphins would have gone for the first down again, but they never got the chance. Instead, Grant fumble while being tackled and Buffalo recovered to end the threat.
4. Malcolm Brown's failed fourth-down run
The Dolphins had yet another chance to cut into their 14-0 deficit after Xavien Howard made his spectacular interception, but they faced a fourth-and-2 from the 16 after a second-down sack put them behind the chains. Malcolm Brown got the handoff on an RPO, but guard Solomon Kindley allowed too much penetration and that forced Brown to have to make an outside cut and cornerback Dane Jackson was able to come in from the outside to make a low tackle on Brown 1 yard shy of a first down.
5. Jacoby Brissett's interception
This one came late in the first quarter, again with the Dolphins trailing 14-0 when Brissett thought he'd have an easy completion to tight end Mike Gesicki after a double move. The only problem was that deep cornerback Levi Wallace sniffed out the play and let go of Jaylen Waddle right as the ball was thrown. The fact that Brissett put air under the ball gave Wallace plenty of time to get over there and make the easy pick. What made the play more painful is it came on a first-and-10 from the Buffalo 30-yard line.
