Dolphins-Vikings Week 6 Complete Observations

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' 24-16 Week 6 loss game against the Minnesota Vikings Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which we knew would include QB Tua Tagovailoa even after he was cleared out of the concussion protocol Saturday but also unfortunately included starting left tackle Terron Armstead, who continues to deal with a nagging toe injury.

-- Cornerback Xavien Howard is back in the lineup after missing the Jets game in Week 5, and that's clearly huge news given the talent the Vikings have at wide receiver with Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen.

-- One last note on the inactive list involves Durham Smythe, who's probably the best run-blocking tight end on the roster and whose absence could mean (finally) a bigger role in this game for Mike Gesicki.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The defense pitched a three-and-out to start the game after Andrew Van Ginkel helped stuff Dalvin Cook for no gain on second-and-2 and tight coverage by Xavien Howard on Justin Jefferson forced an incomplete on third down after Kirk Cousins rolled out.

-- The Dolphins avoided disaster on the ensuing punt after Jevon Holland made a bad choice and tried to catch a punt with a Vikings player on top of him. He muffed the punt, but Jaelan Phillips was able to recover the fumble.

-- The Dolphins' first offensive possession showed promise, but the pass protection wasn't good enough and ended up short-circuiting it when Liam Eichenberg failed to pick up a twist up front on a third-down sack.

-- Thompson was 3-for-5 on his first drive, including a dart over the middle good for 18 yards. There was another receiver in the vicinity and Thompson only knows who he his target was, but the end result was a great play.

-- One of the incompletions was a batted pass at the line.

-- Thompson also converted a third-and-7 with a nifty 9-yard scramble after pressure was collapsing the pocket.

-- Tight end Hunter Long missed a block on Raheem Mostert's second run and the result was a 1-yard loss.

-- Good job by Justin Bethel catching Thomas Morstead's first punt at the Minnesota 6-yard line.

-- Andrew Van Ginkel made another play on the Vikings' second drive, meeting Dalvin Cook at the line to force him to bounce the play outside, where he was pushed out of bounds by Jerome Baker.

-- On third down, Trey Flowers got to Cousins in the end zone to force an incompletion on a play that easily could have been called intentional grounding.

-- The next drive because with a 30-yard completion from Thompson to Jaylen Waddle running a deep crosser and was followed by a 16-yard run outside by Mostert where Long this time got a good block at the line.

-- After the drive got to a first-and-10 at the Minnesota 24-yard line, all hell broke loose with the Dolphins committing five penalties over the next seven plays.

-- The most egregious was by center Connor Williams for being illegally downfield when he was nowhere near the play.

-- Liam Eichenberg was flagged for holding to nullify a gorgeous completion by Thompson while he was rolling to his right.

-- All the penalties left the Dolphins in a third-and-28 hole at the Vikings 42 and Tyreek Hill dropped Thompson's wide receiver screen when he tried to get running before he caught the ball.

-- And just before that, rookie Tanner Conner had another drop on a short pass, his second drop in two weeks.

-- The first quarter ended with back-to-back good plays by Xavien Howard, who had tight coverage on Adam Thielen on an incompletion, then pushed K.J. Osborn out of bounds after only a 3-yard pick-up.

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SECOND QUARTER

-- The second quarter began with the Dolphins defense completing their third consecutive three-and-out when pressure forced a quick throw into traffic by Cousins.

--The offense then had a three-and-out after Thompson was incomplete on a deep pass to Hill while he was double-coverage and then was hit by blitzing linebacker Jordan Hicks on third down.

-- And because this is way things are going for the Dolphins right now, Thompson injured his right hand (possibly thumb) on the play when he hit the helmet of a Vikings defender.

-- Keion Crossen came up with a great special teams play when he tackled returner Jalen Reagor after no gain after a 54-yard punt by Morstead.

-- And the defense continued its great work, pitching a fourth straight three-and-out after Jaelan Phillips and Elandon Roberts took advantage of great coverage to split a sack of Cousins on second down.

-- With Thompson now listed as questionable to return with a thumb injury, Teddy Bridgewater takes over at quarterback and on his second play throws a dart to Mike Gesicki over the middle for a 17-yard gain.

-- But then would come six consecutive running plays, although the last probably wasn't planned because Bridgewater tripped over the foot of Robert Hunt as he was dropping back to pass and that forced him to adjust and scramble. And then he gained 1 yard and took a hard shot on the tackle, a scary sight considering he's now the only QB left.

-- Thanks to a couple of 7-yard runs by Mostert, the Dolphins were able to move into field goal range and took a 3-0 lead when Sanders nailed a 44-yard attempt.

-- On the next play, the Dolphins finally allowed a first down on a 14-yard completion to Adam Thielen, but the problem there was the lower leg injury sustained by Nik Needham, who was carted off the field.

-- Justin Jefferson later got his first reception when Howard played off him and Cousins hit him on a deep slant for 20 yards.

-- The defense somehow lost Jefferson in coverage on third-and-6 from the Dolphins 26, leading to an easy catch-and-run to inside the 5, after which Cousins threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Irv Smith Jr. off a play-action fake.

-- The Dolphins got to start their next drive near the end of the first half in great field position after a 25-yard kickoff return by Mostert with a facemask penalty tacked on.

-- The pass protection continued to be an issue, though, with Bridgewater hurried on first and second down before he finally had enough time on third down to connect with Hill for a 19-yard gain.

-- The drive fizzled after that, though, before Jason Sanders missed a 52-yard field goal attempt with replays showing that Sanders' plant foot slipped before he made contact with the ball.

-- The defense stepped up to make sure the miss didn't hurt at the end of the half, with Elandon Roberts coming through untouched on first down to sack Cousins.

-- The Dolphins went aggressive after getting the ball at their 11 with 28 seconds left and things started off well enough with a 14-yard completion to Waddle, but on second down Waddle bobbled a pass over the middle and the tip was picked off by Harrison Smith at the 40.

-- And then on first down, Noah Igbinoghene lost track of the ball and held Adam Thielen for a 20-yard DPI that set up Greg Joseph's 33-yard field goal to end the half.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The second half began with a really disappointing effort when Mostert was stuffed for no gain on third-and-1 and then the Dolphins tried a little trickery by having up-back Clayton Fejedelem take the snap in punt formation, only for the Vikings to be all over the play to stuff it.

-- The defense stepped up big time to make sure the gamble didn't backfire, and it was Christian Wilkins leading the way.

-- First, he got great penetration on first down to bust up a shovel pass to Jefferson and drop him for a 6-yard loss, then stuffed Cook for a 1-yard loss.

-- The Dolphins' next possession ended in a three-and-out after left tackle Greg Little was beaten by Patrick Jones for a third-down sack.

-- After the defense forced another three-and-out, the offense again failed to get a first down and the bad play in the sequence was a misfire by Bridgewater over the middle when Waddle had a step.

-- The special teams gave up a 25-yard punt return following that possession, but that was due in part to Thomas Morstead outkicking his coverage (62 yards).

-- Igbinoghene came up with a really good play in coverage against Adam Thielen, forcing an incompletion.

-- Raekwon Davis ended that drive for Minnesota when he bull-rushed the Vikings offensive lineman into Cousins.

-- The Dolphins managed the first first down of the third quarter for either team on their next drive on a nifty 21-yard completion to Hill on a deep out, but that followed by a sack by Za'Darius Smith after Little bumped into Hunter Long as he started his backpedal and by an intentional grounding penalty on third-and-4.

-- The third quarter ended with Minnesota getting a huge play when Jefferson took advantage of a rub route to gain separation against Xavien Howard and then turned upfield to catch a 47-yard pass to the Dolphins 8-yard line.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- On the second play of the quarter, Cousins had plenty of time in the pocket and Thielen eventually broke free of Howard across the back of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown that made it 16-3 after Greg Joseph missed the extra-point attempt.

-- The Dolphins responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive as Bridgewater began to find his groove.

-- The best play was a 28-yard pick-up by Hill off a broken play after Bridgewater moved around in the pocket to avoid pressure.

-- Bridgewater also contributed a 10-yard scramble in the drive, one play before he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki after he sat in the end zone between two defenders.

-- The defense gave the offense the ball right back with yet another three-and-out, thanks to some great coverage by backup cornerback Justin Bethel against Adam Thielen to force an incompletion on a short pass on third-and-1.

-- The game-defining drive began with a 25-yard completion to Hill over the middle, but Smith got to Bridgewater for another sack that made it third-and-19.

-- After a short pass to Chase Edmonds gained 14 yards, the Dolphins went for it on fourth-and-5 and Hill turned a completion just past the sticks into a 14-yard gain after his usual great work after the catch.

-- Then came the biggest play of the game — on second-and-14 from the Vikings 42 — when Waddle caught a pass over the middle around the 30-yard line but lost it when he was stripped by Harrison Smith, with the Vikings recovering.

-- Bunched at the line to stop the Vikings run, the Dolphins watched Dalvin Cook shoot through the line and find an opening all the way to the end zone for a 53-yard touchdown that made it 24-10 after a two-point conversion.

-- Two plays later, Bridgewater threw a sideline pass into traffic and Patrick Peterson read it sitting in zone coverage and picked it off, a play that was costly for no other reason than to force the Dolphins to spent their three timeouts before the Vikings punted the ball again.

-- Down 24-10 with 2:37 left and out of timeouts, the Dolphins began their desperation drive with a 49-yard catch-and-run by Waddle that moved the ball to the Minnesota 34.

-- Two consecutive 14-yard completions put the ball at the 6-yard line, but a penalty for an ineligible man downfield and yet another sack brought the game to the two-minute warning and meant the only path to victory would involve recovering an onside kick.

-- After Bridgewater's second touchdown pass to Gesicki, Mike McDaniel decided to go for a two-point conversion, a decision not worth debating once the Vikings recovered the onside kick to clinch their victory.

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