Dolphins Outlast Cardinals: The Five Biggest Plays

Breaking down the five plays that most helped decide the outcome in the Dolphins' 34-31 victory against the Arizona Cardinals

The Miami Dolphins improved their record on the season to 5-3 with a thrilling 34-31 victory against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium in Week 9, and we break down the five biggest plays of the game.

1. Jason Sanders' 50-yard field goal: This obviously stands out and needs to be mentioned in conjunction with Zane Gonzalez's failed 49-yard attempt after the two-minute warning. Both head coaches decided to bypass going for it on fourth-and-1 late in the game, and the Dolphins won that contest because they had the better kicker. Then again, nobody has been better than Jason Sanders this season.

2. The fourth-down stop: There's little question the game might have had a different outcome if not for the Dolphins stuffing Chase Edmonds on fourth-and-1 from the Dolphins 40-yard line. Zach Sieler deserves the most credit for making the play for the Dolphins defense, though one has to question why Kliff Kingsbury would have anybody other than Kyler Murray try to make the play  there.

3. Tua's TD pass to Mack Hollins: Mack Hollins' first reception as a member of the Dolphins — he arrived last December — capped an absolutely brilliant 93-yard drive engineered by Tua Tagovailoa. On the touchdown, Tua made a nice throw, but major kudos to Hollins for making the tough catch with a defender right on him.

Watch your head. 🤕 pic.twitter.com/JJweSPLRnS

— Mack Hollins (@mackhollins) November 9, 2020

4. Tua's strike to DeVante Parker late in the third quarter: It should not get lost that the 93-yard drive easily could have been a three-and-out instead because the Dolphins faced a third-and-9 from their own 8-yard line. This was a crucial play because the Dolphins were down 31-24 at the time and a punt from there would have put Arizona in position to take a two-score lead. But instead Tagovailoa made what was his best throw of the game, a strike to Parker for a 14-yard gain to beat good coverage by cornerback Patrick Peterson.

5. Tua's 35-yard pass to Preston Williams: What the Dolphins did so well in this game was answer when Arizona seemed to gain momentum, and a great example came after Murray threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-14. On the very next snap from scrimmage, Tua connected with Williams for a 35-yard gain that started a touchdown drive that put the Dolphins back on top. More importantly, it was another signal that Tua and the Dolphins weren't going away in this game.