Breaking Down the Five Biggest Plays in the Dolphins' Week 2 Loss

During the Miami Dolphins’ 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1, there were at least enough positive flashes to delude yourself with.

It wasn’t as easy to get lost in the positives in Week 2.

Despite moving the ball into San Francisco territory early and often, the game quickly unraveled for Miami in the second half. A manageable 14-6 halftime deficit became 35-6 after the 49ers scored three touchdowns in a span of exactly 10 minutes.

Here were the five plays that defined Miami’s 35-13 loss.

1. Brock Purdy escapes pressure on third down

Facing third-and-5 and from Miami's 33 yard line, San Francisco was one step away from potentially having to settle for a long field goal attempt.

Instead, Brock Purdy rolled to his left with Zeek Biggers and Jordyn Brooks nearly hunting him down, before he managed to escape and set his feet to complete a pass down the sideline to Mike Evans for a first down. Second-year cornerback Jason Marshall was playing tight coverage, but the veteran managed to pull in the contested grab.

The entire drive was set up by Riley Patterson’s missed 51-yard field goal, which sailed wide right with 10:32 left in the first quarter and gave San Francisco the ball at its own 41.

Christian McCaffrey’s 1-yard rushing touchdown with 4:20 left in the first quarter capped San Francisco’s opening 12-play, 59-yard drive.

Although the 49ers would score plenty more times throughout the game, that first touchdown put Miami in catch-up mode almost immediately.

2. George Kittle’s 40-yard catch

On the first play of the drive, Kittle found himself wide open up the seam for a 40-yard reception, then broke Michael Taaffe’s tackle attempt to tack on additional yardage.

Kittle, who wasn’t targeted in the first half, suddenly had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown on the opening possession of the second.

3. George Kittle’s 12-yard touchdown

With 13:13 remaining in the third quarter, Brock Purdy found George Kittle for a 12-yard touchdown to extend San Francisco’s lead to 21-6.

The 49ers lined up in a two-tight-end set with both tight ends to the left. Luke Farrell’s route held Jason Marshall inside, while Kittle pressed vertically, shifted his shoulders toward the middle and got Willie Gay IV to dramatically bite before breaking outside with nobody between him and the end zone.

Miami had crossed into San Francisco territory on each of its three first-half possessions and reached the red zone on the final two, but came away with only six points.

There was still some reason for hope entering halftime, but that quickly went away after this.

4. Kyle Juszczyk 6-yard touchdown

With 5:51 remaining in the third quarter, Purdy found Kyle Juszczyk for a 6-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 28-6.

San Francisco ran a modified flood concept, with Mike Evans occupying Chris Johnson Jr. with an out route near the goal line while Juszczyk motioned across the formation and sprinted into the flat. Zayne Anderson initially bit on the play-action, leaving him in recovery mode while chasing Juszczyk.

Before the touchdown, the 49ers marched down the field at will.

They had gains of 17, 21 and 17 yards on the possession before Juszczyk finished it.

“Marched down the field” is a phrase we’re going to keep using here because there really isn’t a better metaphor for what San Francisco was doing to Miami.

The 49ers barely even needed to reach third down. They faced only two in the entire first half and converted both, before eventually finishing 5-for-7 for the game. They also scored touchdowns on each of their first five possessions.

5. Bradley Pinion’s disaster

The Dolphins kept sliding down the avalanche that was their disastrous third quarter.

We still aren’t quite sure how this happened.

With Miami trailing 28-6, Bradley Pinion seemed to cleanly receive the snap before simply losing control of the ball. By the time he recovered it, Brayden Willis had clobbered him at the Dolphins’ 28-yard line and taken over on downs.

Two plays later, McCaffrey punched in a 1-yard touchdown to make it 35-6.

We mentioned marching, right?

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