Dolphins Winning Streak Ends in San Francisco
The Miami Dolphins again had their share of big plays on offense against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on Sunday, but they weren't consistent enough to extend their winning streak.
Tua Tagovailoa threw touchdown passes of 75 yards to Trent Sherfield and 45 yards to Tyreek Hill, but he also turned the ball over three times when the Dolphins (8-4) sustained a 33-17 loss that stopped their winning streak at five games.
Quarterback Brock Purdy threw two touchdown passes for the 49ers after replacing injured starter Jimmy Garoppolo, and linebacker Dre Greenlaw returned a fumble for a touchdown for the final score.
DOLPHINS HAD CHANCE IN FOURTH QUARTER
This was a game dominated by the 49ers, who had the ball for 40:34, but as with their previous three losses, the Dolphins had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter after falling behind and the final score wasn't totally reflective of how the game went.
The Dolphins were behind 23-10 in the fourth quarter before Hill, who had another big outing with nine catches for 146 yards, got behind the 49ers secondary for his 45-yard touchdown.
The Dolphins then marched to the 49ers 36-yard line and facing a fourth-and-2 on a drive when they went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 19 and converted.
But they couldn't get it done this time with an apparent completion to tight end Mike Gesicki near the sideline was overturned after a 49ers challenge when replays clearly showed the ball loose on the ground after it was hit by Greenlaw.
San Francisco then put the game away with a 48-yard field goal by Robbie Gould, his fourth of the game, that was followed by Greenlaw's touchdown off of Nick Bosa's third sack of the game.
The Dolphins offensive line played without starting tackles Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson, and yet the pass protection was adequate for the most part — Bosa's sacks aside.
Tagovailoa ended the game with 18 completions in 33 attempts for 295 yards with the two touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 79.7, his lowest of the season in a game he finished.
Tua simply didn't show the efficiency and accuracy that made him an NFL MVP candidate, missing open receivers like he hadn't all season.
A GREAT START FOR THE DOLPHINS
It didn't start off that way obviously, with Tua hitting Sherfield down the seam on the very first snap of the game before Sherfield took advantage of a bad angle by the 49ers secondary to race to the end zone.
Tua's two interceptions came in the third quarter after San Francisco took a 17-10 lead on Christian McCaffrey's short touchdown catch in the final seconds of the first half.
San Francisco converted both of the takeaways into field goals to make it 23-10.
With the Dolphins having only 45 plays on offense to San Francisco's 79, they never were able to establish a running game. Raheem Mostert had seven carries for 30 yards, while Jeff Wilson Jr. gained 3 yards on his only rushing atttempt.
Jaylen Waddle dealt with a lower-leg issue and ended up with only one catch, though he was targeted five times.
Defensively, Christian Wilkins had another big game with 12 tackles; Xavien Howard came up with his first interception of the season (which also was the defense's takeaway on the road); and the defense had four sacks (one by Bradley Chubb, one by Melvin Ingram, and half for Jerome Baker, Zach Sieler, Jaelan Phillips and Andrew Van Ginkel).
The loss dropped the Dolphins out of first place in the AFC East and took away their chance of grabbing the first playoff position in the AFC in the aftermath of the Kansas City Chiefs' three-point loss at Cincinnati.
The Dolphins will play their second of three consecutive road games next Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, who dropped to 6-6 with a 27-20 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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