Breaking Down Five Key Plays in the Dolphins' Week 4 Loss

The Miami Dolphins entered at one point as 10.5-point underdogs against the Minnesota Vikings. This game reflected the opposite of that spread, with the Dolphins holding the Vikings out of the end zone with a resilient defensive performance. Ultimately, Miami fell short, losing to the Vikings 15-10 and falling to 0-4 on the season.

There are plenty of plays that could have changed the trajectory of this game, with these five ultimately being the deciding factors.

THE FIVE BIGGEST PLAYS

Chris Bell's huge touchdown brought back

Facing a third-and-4, Malik Willis escaped former Dolphins edge defender Andrew Van Ginkel, ran to his right, and found Chris Bell, who was behind the defense and ran to the end zone for a touchdown. In stellar fashion, Miami seemingly had its first lead of the season. However, upon further review, it was determined that Bell's foot was out of bounds, resulting in the refs throwing a flag for illegal touching, which wiped out the play and forced a punt.

This seems to be a theme so far early in the year. Whenever the Dolphins offense has a big play, a majority of the time it never stands due to a flag being thrown. Hopefully this can be corrected as the season progresses.

The Austin Jackson Problem Continues

Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley said that conversations were being had regarding making a lineup change. One that definitely needs to be had is having Austin Jackson at right tackle from here on out.

Jackson was beat badly by Dallas Turner, who knocked the ball out of Willis' hand with the Vikings falling on the football. At first, it was ruled to be an incomplete pass. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell decided to challenge the ruling, and it was shortly ruled a fumble.

The Dolphins defense ended up holding the Vikings offense to no points, but the large part of the story is that in a low-scoring game where points are hard to come by, these plays cannot happen.

Replay Assistance Kills a Dolphins Drive

After being forced off the field on a three-and-out, punter Bradley Pinion's plant leg was hit and roughing the kicker was called by the officiating crew. That appeared to be a 15-yard penalty in favor of Miami, which would have extended the drive.

Instead, replay assistance was involved and showed that the punt was tipped, negating the penalty, which led to the Vikings getting the ball back. At that moment, it was a 6-0 game, and the Dolphins had a chance to get points before the half. What happened instead was the Vikings drove the ball into Miami territory and kicked another field goal to extend the lead to 9-0, making it a two-possession game.

Ollie Gordon II was a fingertip away

Ollie Gordon II was beginning to find his way in the ground game, breaking a 53-yard run that set the Dolphins up for their first points of the game.

In the third quarter, Gordon fell on a run but still continued the play as he felt as if he was not touched by a Vikings defender. Gordon was on track to gain another chunk play and potentially a touchdown. Before the Dolphins snapped the ball on third down, the replay showed Gordon was touched by Blake Cashman's finger, which killed the play. The drive was then shut down after Jaylen Wright was tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 3.

Willis wishes he can have one back

The Dolphins were in a rare position that they had not had this season, being one drive away from taking a late lead with a chance to win the game.

On a crucial third-and-8, Brian Flores sent his signature blitz package at Willis, who threw it up for grabs, hoping Bell would bring down a tough catch. The play resulted in an incompletion, and the Dolphins never got the ball back for the remainder of the game.

Though pressure got to him quickly, if Willis looked to his right, he would have seen Kevin Coleman wide open and he easily would have picked up the first down and then some. This could have set up a signature moment for Willis to have a potential game-winning drive against one of the best defenses in football.

Willis has made plays that were unfortunately called back, but when the reads are there to make, those throws have to be made.

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