Dolphins Preseason Finale: 10 Things to Watch ... How They Played Out

The Miami Dolphins routed the Philadelphia Eagles, 48-10, in their preseason finale at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night to cap a rather unique week that include the cancellation of the second of two days of joint practices between the teams.

As always in these preseason games, the final score wasn't nearly as important as the evaluation of the players and positional units.

With that in mind, we listed 10 things/players to watch for the Dolphins, and now it's time to revisit that list to see how things played out.

THE LINEUP

BEFORE THE GAME: Yes, that's always going to be first and foremost in any preseason game, maybe even more so in a preseason finale. The decision-making process for this particular preseason finale was made even more complicated for Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel after "more than a couple" of players came down with a stomach bug that prompted that cancellation of the Thursday joint practice. Whoever has any kind of lingering issue related to that obviously won't be playing Saturday, but we don't know who got sick in the first place. Taking that out of the equation, McDaniel kind of suggested in his media session Thursday that he wanted to give the players battling for a roster spot a really good look in this game. Combining all the factors, we just would be a tad surprised to see many of the Dolphins' projected starters playing against the Eagles.

DURING THE GAME: Well, we certainly were off on that one because the Dolphins wound up using most of their projected starters even, as in the case of Tyreek Hill, it was just for a little bit. Being that the Eagles sat out 33 players for the game, we'd suggest that using Tua Tagovailoa and company at the start of the game was as much as anything about trying to build confidence and momentum heading into the regular season, and on that count it certainly was mission accomplished.

QB SKYLAR THOMPSON

BEFORE THE GAME: While there's a lot of uncertainty when it comes to Tua Tagovailoa and even Teddy Bridgewater regarding the plans for the preseason finale, it should be a given that Thompson will play — and potentially a lot — in this game. As we've suggested in our last two roster projections, Thompson looks like he's destined to be on the 53-man roster, but he could solidify his case even more with a third consecutive strong outing. For those who are interested in such thing, Thompson has a 121.8 passer rating in the 2022 preseason, and that currently stands as the second-best by a Dolphins QB with at least 35 pass attempts in the preseason since 2000 behind only Ryan Tannehill's 121.8 in 2015.

DURING THE GAME: On a night when the Dolphins moved the ball at will on offense, Thompson just continued his magnificent preseason work and wound up easily surpassing Tannehill's 2015 passer rating with a final mark of 138.4. While he actually didn't even make as many wow throws as he did against the Raiders, Thompson was very good again and finished with three touchdown passes in the second half. With that said, no, he still shouldn't supplant Teddy Bridgewater as the No. 2 quarterback because preseason is preseason and the regular season is the regular season.

THE RUNNING GAME

BEFORE THE GAME: Yes, it's only the preseason finale and it's expected that the Eagles are going to be keeping a lot of their starters out of this game, but it still would be nice to see the Dolphins running game experience some kind of success heading into the regular season. The current 2.7 per-carry average so far is troublesome regardless of the circumstances. Fullback Alec Ingold is expected to make his preseason debut in this game, so perhaps his addition to the lineup could help in this department.

DURING THE GAME: Well, guessing there aren't quite as many Dolphins fans freaking out about the state of the running game now — even if we need to keep the performance against the Eagles in context based on their personnel use. Regardless, it obviously was big-time encouraging to watch all six running backs used have a degree of success in the game, though nothing could top watching Raheem Mostert turning on the speed to get outside.

THE OFFENSIVE TACKLES

BEFORE THE GAME: One of the big questions involving the Dolphins as they head into their preseason finale is whether they should be concerned (or panicking?) about the backup situation at tackle behind Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson, particularly given Armstead's lengthy injury history. While Robert Hunt and Liam Eichenberg both have tackle experience, McDaniel already has said he'd prefer not moving players around in the event of an injury. The two second-team tackles on the depth chart are Larnel Coleman, who already has gotten extensive work in the preseason, and Greg Little, who has yet to appear. A strong outing by one or both of them would be a welcome sight, without question.

DURING THE GAME: Greg Little indeed made his preseason debut against the Eagles, and by all appearances he acquitted himself quite well, as did Coleman when he entered the game in relief. The only problem here is it's difficult to gauge exactly what they meant because the Eagles not only rested so many players, they also played very basic defense.

TE MIKE GESICKI

BEFORE THE GAME: He has to be included here, right? There's not a player on the roster who's probably more under the microscope these days — and, yes, that includes Tua — in light of the unexpectedly high volume of snaps he's gotten so far in the preseason and, of course, the report suggesting his name has come up in trade discussions. It'll be interesting to see how much Gesicki plays Saturday, how he fares in the blocking department, and whether the Dolphins make it a point to showcase him in the passing game — though any team interested in making a deal for him already should know what kind of receiver he is.

DURING THE GAME: Well, Gesicki didn't play very much as it turned out, getting only eight snaps on offense, easily the lowest number among the team's tight ends. If we're trying to read into what the snap count might mean in terms of Gesicki and the trade speculation, we might suggest it means the Dolphins aren't looking to trade him — unless they get blown away by an offer obviously — because if that were the case, it would have made a lot more sense to simply have him sit out the preseason finale.

TE HUNTER LONG

BEFORE THE GAME: Maybe it was pure coincidence, but it was interesting nonetheless that the Gesicki report came not long after McDaniel praised Long for having his best week of practice the week of the Tampa Bay game. And could one suggest that the Dolphins would entertain the idea of trading Gesicki based on their confidence that Long is a better fit for the McDaniel offense? However you look at it, the Dolphins want and need to see more and more consistency from Long after they spent a third-round pick on him last year.

DURING THE GAME: This was a very eventful evening for Long, who not only got extensive playing time on offense and on special teams, but found himself catching two touchdown passes that were reviewed. While we'll maintain he got doubly screwed on the first one that saw his catch overturned while also being flagged for a weak offensive pass interference penalty, at least he went 1-for-2. More importantly than the results, though, Long did good work in the passing game and as a blocker in this one.

WRs LYNN BOWDEN JR. AND RIVER CRACRAFT

BEFORE THE GAME: We've suggested in every one of our roster projections that if the Dolphins decide to keep a sixth wide receiver behind our expected five of Hill, Waddle, Wilson, Ezukanma and Sherfield, it would come down to Bowden or Cracraft. And based on practice and preseason games, there's an argument to be made for either. A strong performance by either player in this game maybe, just maybe, could end up as a tiebreaker.

DURING THE GAME: If a roster spot between those two indeed came down to the Philly game, then Bowden is going to be out of luck. And, yes, that's even despite his fourth-quarter touchdown, which came on a 39-yard reception after Thompson dropped the snap and after it looked like the Eagles defense fell asleep on the field. What matters more is that this was the only target for Bowden, who also lost 2 yards on his only punt return after fielding the ball inside the 10-yard line. Cracraft, meanwhile, was targeted a team-high seven times, all in the first half, and caught Tagovailoa's touchdown to end the first drive. Cracraft also got snaps on special teams, an area where he also could contribute as a sixth wide receiver.

CB NOAH IGBINOGHENE

BEFORE THE GAME: Yes, we've had Igbinoghene included in this story for every preseason game, though that's what you would expect when dealing with a third-year former first-round pick still trying to develop as a defensive player. It's still almost impossible to see a scenario where the Dolphins end up waiving Igbinoghene (because of financial considerations), it still would be nice to see him come up with a big effort to provide some comfort and confidence that he could get the job done on defense if he's called on at some point during the regular season.

DURING THE GAME: As with everything else in this game, we have to remember that the Eagles were fielding their B team, but it still was an encouraging night for Igbinoghene. He had great coverage downfieled against wide receiver Deon Cain on an early second-and-1 play and broke up the pass, setting the stage for Zach Sieler to stuff running plays for no gain on both third and fourth down. While it remains to be seen whether Igbinoghene plays any kind of significant role on defense, this outing certainly helped it cause.

CB KADER KOHOU

BEFORE THE GAME: Kohou isn't the only rookie free agent with one more chance to make his case to land a spot on the 53-man roster, but there probably wasn't a longer shot heading into camp considering he played at Texas A&M-Commerce. Kohou certainly hasn't looked out of place in practice, though he's got to clean up his penchant for getting handsy and drawing penalties. But it doesn't look like it's out of the question he could earn a roster spot, and that clearly would require a strong performance Saturday.

DURING THE GAME: Nothing that happened in this game should have changed anybody's mind about Kohou being a legitimate prospect coming out of Division II Texas A&M-Commerce. While he gave up a couple of completions, there was nothing egregious in the passing game. His biggest lowlight (to use that term) actually came on the Eagles' 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter when both he and Elijah Hamilton failed to prevent Jason Huntley from getting outside and being able to tightrope along the sideline on his way to the end zone — though it appeared Hamilton might have a been a bigger culprit. Bottom line: As a final audition, this wasn't bad for Kohou.

LBs CHANNING TINDALL AND CAMERON GOODE

BEFORE THE GAME: The two Dolphins defensive rookie draft picks have had their moments in practice and the preseason games, but the question remains as to whether it'll be enough for either to get significant snaps on defense as opposed to being strictly special teams players as rookies. From this vantage point, Goode actually has looked the more impressive of the two, but both should get a long look Saturday and more chances to show what they can do defense.

AFTER THE GAME: There was good and bad for Tindall, who ended an Eagles drive with a sack on fourth down (though it was more of a team effort than a great individual play), but then missed a tackle at the line of scrimmage on Huntley's 67-yard touchdown run. Tindall met Huntley in the hole and appeared to be in perfect position but he couldn't bring down the running back, who bounced off him. As for Goode, his one notable play came in coverage when he dropped a running back in the open field after a short reception. Goode appears to have done everything right in his quest to make the 53-man roster, but he certainly won't be helped by the addition of veteran edge defender Trey Flowers.