Dolphins-Broncos Week 3 Complete Observations

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' historic Week 3 home opener against the Denver Broncos at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

-- As always, we start with the inactive list, which included a couple of surprises, rookie cornerback Cam Smith and second-year wide receiver Erik Ezukanma. Also declared inactive were WR Jaylen Waddle, RB Salvon Ahmed, T Kion Smith and TE Tyler Kroft.

-- Waddle, who was downgraded to out Saturday after spending the week in concussion protocol, Ahmed (groin) and Kroft (back) all were dealing with injuries.

-- The big news with the inactive list, though, was who wasn't on it, starting with tackle Terron Armstead now in line to make his first start of the 2023 season. Also active for the first time this season will be WR Cedrick Wilson Jr., DB Elijah Campbell and rookie TE Julian Hill.

-- Wide receiver Robbie Chosen and outside linebacker Cameron Goode both were active after being elevated from the practice squad Saturday.

-- Skylar Thompson again was designated as the third quarterback, allowing him to be uniform and come into the game (but only if Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White both were injured).

FIRST QUARTER

-- The game started, as it usually does with a (yawn) touchback and what followed was something we're also getting accustomed to seeing — the Dolphins offense striking quickly.

-- After Alec Ingold's lead block helped spring Raheem Mostert for a 6-yard gain on first down, Tua let tight end Durham Smythe get open behind a linebacker for a 15-yard completion.

-- Then came the big play after a Denver safety came up to cover Robbie Chosen across the middle, leaving Tyreek Hill wide open also across the middle but behind him, and the result was an easy 54-yard touchdown.

-- The Dolphins defense then pitch a three-and-out, thanks in large part to the work of Kader Kohou.

-- On second-and-8, he made a sure tackle of rookie Marvin Mims Jr. on a jet sweep to limit his gain to 3 yards and then he provided deep coverage against Courtland Sutton on third-and-5 on a ball that Sutton bobbled as he was falling out of bounds.

-- It was more of the same for the Dolphins offense the second time they got the ball, the only difference being that this drive covered 81 yards and not 75.

-- It started iwth a 15-yard run by Raheem Mostert wide to the left where Ingold again blew Patrick Surtain II out of the way, followed not long after by a 26-yard run by rookie De'Von Achane following a great lead block by Armstead.

-- Achane capped the drive with his first NFL touchdown when he took another pitch from Tua, broke a tackle at the 3-yard and went in for an 8-yard score.

-- Denver came back to close the Dolphins lead to 14-7 with a 75-yard touchdown drive that began with a 15-yard completion from Russell Wilson to Jerry Jeudy in front of Xavien Howard.

-- Howard also was on the wrong end of the 12-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton on third-and-6, but this play was about Wilson moving around the pocket to buy more time.

-- Actually, the worst play on defense on the drive came when linebackers David Long Jr. and Jerome Baker failed to bring down Jevonte Williams after a screen pass, which turned what should have been a short gain into a 17-yard pick-up.

-- The Dolphins' next series didn't start off well after a high shotgun snap preceded Mostert getting tackled for a 6-yard loss.

-- No worries, though, because on second down, Tua floated a pretty throw over the linebacker to Hill for a 19-yard gain and another first down.

-- And then the quarter ended with Denver edge defender Randy Gregory being flagged for a neutral zone infraction.

SECOND QUARTER

-- Different quarter, same awesome production by the offense on the first drive.

-- It was a rough drive for Connor Williams with two holding penalties, though he did have a great lead block on Mostert's 17-yard gain up the middle.

-- The Dolphins did catch a break when Mostert very clearly grabbed the facemask of defensive tackle D.J. Jones after catching a short pass from Tua on first-and-20 from midfield. Instead of being first-and-35, it wound up being second-and-15 and the Dolphins eventually converted on an 11-yard pass from Tua to Braxtion Berrios.

-- The Dolphins made it 21-7 with an awesome touchdown where Tua looked at Tyreek Hill as he ran behind him on an apparent end-around, then flicked a Magic-like no-look shovel pass to Achane for the 4-yard score.

-- Denver came back to get a field goal to cut the lead to 21-10, but not before the Broncos had an apparent touchdown pass nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on a pick play that sometimes gets called and sometimes doesn't.

-- Early in the drive, Bradley Chubb (pressure) and Christian Wilkins (bat down) combined to force an incompletion.

-- Two plays later, Andrew Van Ginkel got around the corner and nailed Wilson, but not before he unleashed a 38-yard completion to Mims down the middle ot the Miami 10-yard line.

-- Then on first-and-goal, Van Ginkel sniffed out a tight end screen, which led to Wilson throwing the ball into the ground.

-- The Dolphins' next drive, up 21-10, was one to forget.

-- After Achane gained 8 yards on first down, it was a disaster after he was stopped for 1 yard on second down and Ingold was stuffed for no gain on both third and fourth down.

-- That Mike McDaniel gambled on fourth-and-1 from his 34 should come as no surprise because he's done it many times before, but the handoff to Ingold was blown up from the start after DE Zach Allen got around rookie TE Julian Hill and got a hand on Ingold in the backfield.

-- The defense bailed out the failed gamble, thanks in part to some aggressive defensive play-calling and a false start on first down.

-- Pressure on first down forced Wilson to dump it off for a 1-yard, before Van Ginkel (again) made a play on second down by dumping Williams for a 3-yard loss, though Justin Bethel, who's playing opposite Howard in nickel packages had sealed off the edge.

-- On third down, Howard and cornerback Parry Nickerson both blitzed for the outside, leading to a long incompletion.

-- The Dolphins went back to the air after getting the ball back and quickly moved from their 14 to the Denver 35 at the two-minute warning.

-- Tua remained perfect and on point, with completions of 15, 8, 15 and 13 yards to Hill, Mostert and River Cracraft, who was injured on his 13-yard reception.

-- The Dolphins finished off the drive with their fourth touchdown when Mostert followed a pancake block by Robert Hunt, broke two tackles at the 10-yard line and went in from 20 yards out to make it 28-10.

-- The Dolphins defense got a turnover on the next drive when Jevon Holland slapped the ball away from Sutton and Van Ginkel recovered the loose ball and returned it 29 yards to the 3-yard line.

-- On the very next play, Mostert scored again on a 3-yard run to make it 35-10.

-- The Dolphins defense wasn't able to keep Denver from adding a late score before halftime, in large part due to a great low catch by Courtland Sutton but also a defensive breakdown that allowed Mims to get wide open in the middle of the field for a 30-yard gain to the 6-yard line.

-- The Dolphins did hold Denver to a field goal after Sutton left a second-down pass go right through his hands, making it a 35-13 game at the half.

-- Worth noting that Christian Wilkins wasn't on the field for Denver's final drive after heading to the locker room.

THIRD QUARTER

-- Wilkins was back on the field to start the second half, but River Cracraft was ruled out with a shoulder injury and Jaelan Phillips was listed as a questionable with an oblique issue.

-- Denver quickly moved from its 25 to its 46 on two plays, but the Dolphins defense stiffened when Justin Bethel dropped Williams for a 2-yard loss and Long and Baker teamed on third-and-3 to meet Jaleel McLaughlin in the backfield for another 2-yard loss.

-- The Broncos then decided to punt on fourth-and-5 from their 42, perhaps strange considering the score and the fact the Dolphins moved the ball at will against them in the first half.

-- Sure enough, the Dolphins went 90 yards for yet another touchdown.

-- The big play of the drive was a 40-yard run by Achane on an end-around, which came one play after the Dolphins converted a third-and-3 when Tua got great pass protection and eventually found Berrios over the middle for a 22-yard gain.

-- The touchdown came on fourth-and-goal from the 1 when Mostert went in on the left side for his third touchdown of the game, making the score 42-13.

-- The only negative on the drive was Connor Williams leaving the game with a leg injury on Achane's long run.

-- Denver had something going on its next drive, but Holland came up big again with his second forced fumble of the game.

-- This was again came against Sutton but was a clearer punch-out of the ball after what looked like a 30-yard gain. Kader Kohou fell on the loose ball to give Miami the ball again up 29 points.

-- It's another touchdown drive for the Dolphins, as not even an illegal peel-back against Liam Eichenberg that puts them in a first-and-22 is a problem.

-- The touchdown comes on a 19-yard swing pass to Mostert, who is able to get outside a defender near the sideline thanks to a nice seal block by Julian Hill. Mostert's fourth TD of the game makes it 49-13.

-- After a — get ready for the shock — the first kickoff return of the season in a Dolphins game — Da'Shawn Hand gets his hand (yep, it happened like that) on Wilson's pass at the line of scrimmage and Emmanuel Ogbah is right there to snag his first career interception and put the Dolphins at the Denver 8-yard line.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- The quarter begins with a second-and-goal from the 10, and it's another easy score on a shovel pass, Achane scoring his third touchdown of the game to make it 56-13, as the Dolphins break their franchise record for points in a game of 55, which had been set on Thanksgiving Day 1977 in a 55-14 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.

-- While the Dolphins take Tua out of the game in favor of backup Mike White, Russell Wilson stays in for Denver, but the Miami defense still produced consecutive three-and-outs.

-- After the Dolphins run the ball on first and second down as they did in White's first series, White this time goes deep to Robbie Chosen, who easily gets behind star cornerback Patrick Surtain II with a double move. The result is a 68-yard touchdown that makes it 63-13.

-- It didn't matter in this game because of the blowout, but the special teams issues show up again on the ensuing kickoff when Mims starts to the right on his return, cuts all the way to the left and outruns everybody for a 99-yard touchdown. And the score is now 63-20.

-- The Dolphins get the ball back after a touchback and after Achane runs for 8 yards on first down, he finds a gaping hole on the left side of the line and his speed does the rest on a 67-yard run that puts him over 200 yards for the day and helps hiim match Mostert with his fourth touchdown. It's now 70-20 and the Dolphins are within striking distance of the NFL record for most points in a game (72 for the regular season, 73 counting playoffs).

-- For some reason, Wilson remains in the game for the Broncos and his 46-yard completion to Jerry Jeudy after he gets behind Campbell puts them in the red zone.

-- The defense holds, though, after Ogbah sacks Wilson on third down after being given a free run to force a fourth-and-15 that produces an incompletion.

-- Rookie free agent Chris Brooks gets a third series at running back and it's now his turn to break a long one, though this one goes to the right. By the time he's done with his 52-yard run, the Dolphins are at the Denver 23 with 2:31 with the NFL scoring record very much in view.

-- After three more runs go nowhere, it's now fourth-and-14 from the Denver 27 where the Dolphins can't just let the clock run out, so Mike McDaniel has to choose between running a play or having Jason Sanders attempt a 45-yard field goal. McDaniel decides to have White take a knee to turn the ball over on downs.

-- One more Denver running play and the clock runs out on the second-most lopsided victory in franchise history with the 70-20 final score.

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