Dolphins-Steelers Five Biggest Storylines ... And How They Played Out
In this story:
The Miami Dolphins ended their three-game losing streak when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-10, at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night.
It was a game filled with many off-the-field storylines, including the return of former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores to Miami and the halftime celebration of the 50th anniversary of the only perfect season in NFL history.
In our weekly ranking and breakdown of the top five storylines heading into the game, though, we focused on on-the-field issues, and now it's time to revisit those to see how they played out.
1. Can Tua Pick Up Where He Left Off?
BEFORE THE GAME: The big story of the 2022 season for the Dolphins so far has been the emergence of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in his third year in the NFL, but he hasn't played in more than three weeks following that scary-looking injury he sustained in the Week 4 Thursday night game at Cincinnati. Tagovailoa leads the NFL in passer rating, and head coach Mike McDaniel said this week there wasn't a major concern about his passing, only about going through the weekly routine. What will be interesting to see is whether Tua finally shows the willingness to give up on a play if something is not there instead of holding on to the ball until the last possible second — and sometimes too long.
DURING THE GAME: It's too bad the game didn't end after the first drive because Tua and the offense were humming on the opening 71-yard touchdown march. Tua wasn't necessarily right on target with his throws, but he was getting the ball out quickly, his receivers were open and then made the catches. Unfortunately, Tua couldn't sustain the early momentum and it ended up being a very uneven performance for him. While we've seen social media suggest there were four dropped interceptions against him, let's just say that might be a tad exaggerated, though two of them were clear dropped picks. Maybe worse, Tua twice took on defenders after lowering his shoulder instead of protecting himself as he should and simply sliding, first down or no first down. So, while this will go down as a victory on his won-loss record (for those who place way too much importance on that), it's pretty clear this was not a great outing for him.
2. Armstead and the Pass Protection
BEFORE THE GAME: This figures to be a weekly topic because Terron Armstead is that important to the offensive line, as we saw after he left the game against the New York Jets in Week 5 and again in Week 6 when he was inactive against the Minnesota Vikings. The reality is the Dolphins pass protection wasn't nearly good enough the past two games, and it needs to improve, especially with Tua coming back after being injured. Armstead practice Thursday for the first time since Week 3 but sat out again Friday, and his availability for the Pittsburgh game likely won't be determined until game day. This also is where we should mention that the Steelers, while without 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, employ the current NFL sack leader, Alex Highsmith with 6.5.
DURING THE GAME: It's pretty startling how much of a difference Armstead makes on the offensive line, isn't it? Tua wasn't sacked against the Steelers and, though he did get rid of the ball very quickly in the first quarter, this spoke more of the work of the offensive line in pass protection. Think about it: Did anybody notice Alex Highsmith on Sunday night, you know the NFL sack leader coming into Week 7? No, right? That speaks to the kind of job the pass protection did.
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3. Plans for Pickett
BEFORE THE GAME: The Dolphins will be facing another quarterback coming back from a concussion, Steelers rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett, who was injured in the 20-18 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday. It will be the first time this season the Dolphins face a rookie quarterback, but they went 4-1 in such circumstances in 2021, defeating Mac Jones twice, and Zach Wilson and Ian Book, while losing against first overall pick Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. Pickett has completed more than 66 percent of his passes so far this season, but it's been mostly short passes (his longest is only 29 yards) and he's got one touchdown and four picks in his three appearances. So maybe this is the game the Dolphins can end their streak (at three) of games without a defensive takeaways.
DURING THE GAME: This indeed was the game where the Dolphins ended their streak of games without takeaways, and they did it in style with a hat trick. There was some luck involved, to be sure, notably on the first pick by Justin Bethel when intended receiver Chase Claypool fell after incidental contact with Bethel, but the other two were byproducts of Pickett's inexperience and decision-making. The Dolphins threw some different coverages at him, but that probably was as much the result of their cornerback injuries as anything else. The difference in the game, actually, was the defense's ability to take advantage of their turnover opportunities where the Steelers failed to capitalize on theirs.
4. Minkah Back in Miami
BEFORE THE GAME: With Watt on IR because of a pectoral injury he sustained in Week 1 against Cincinnati, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is the marquee player on the Steelers defense (with a nod to defensive lineman Cameron Heyward) and Dolphins fans clearly are familiar with him. Fitzpatrick has been dealing with a knee injury, which limited him against Buffalo in Week 5 and had him inactive in Week 6, but he figures to play against the team that made him the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Fitzpatrick is a very good playmaker in the deep secondary (he's got three picks on the season, including a pick-six) and Tagovailoa will have to be aware of him when he's throwing the ball downfield.
DURING THE GAME: If we accept the premise of four dropped interceptions by the Steelers secondary, it makes all the more remarkable that Fitzpatrick wasn't involved in any of them. It overall was a very quiet game for Fitzpatrick, who was credited with six tackles and one assist. His one noteworthy play came on the Dolphins' second drive when his big hit on Raheem Mostert at the goal line because the running back to drop a third-down pass from Tua and forced the Dolphins to settle for a field goal. But the bottom line is that he didn't really impact the game very much.
5. An Eye on the Special Teams
BEFORE THE GAME: Yes, this has become a common refrain for the Dolphins, particularly because the Steelers got an 89-yard kickoff return from Steven Sims in their victory against Tampa Bay last Sunday. Sims already has been ruled out for the game because of a hamstring injury, but the point remains the same. The Dolphins have gotten no long returns all season and Jason Sanders has struggled making field goals of 50 yards or more. If this becomes a close game, a key play on special teams here or there could end up making the difference, and it would be nice if the Dolphins ended up on the right side of the kicking game battle for a change.
DURING THE GAME: There wasn't very much happening on special teams in this game, with neither getting a kickoff return longer than 28 yards or a punt return longer than 10 yards, but Sanders sure did his job on this night, converting all three of his field goal attempts. That put his mark this season on field goals inside of 50 yards at 10-for-10.
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