Dolphins 'Close the Book' on Saints

Ian Book was sacked early and often, and the offensive struggles were a common theme for the Saints in the loss to the Dolphins on Monday night.

Author:
John Hendrix
Updated:
Dec 27, 2021 11:27 PM EST
Original:
Dec 27, 2021

NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints had a great opportunity going into Monday Night Football against the Dolphins, and it was just a disastrous game for the black and gold. Ian Book's first start was highlighted by poor blocking and bad decisions, while the defense did what they could to keep them into it. In the end, it led to the Saints losing 20-3 and falling to 7-8 on the year.

Game Recap

The Dolphins started with the football after the Saints won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half kickoff. Cam Jordan and Alvin Kamara were the two captains out for it, with Kamara leading the Who Dat chant. Miami came out with a pretty decent drive to start, aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Marshon Lattimore from his tackle out of bounds on Jaylen Waddle.

The New Orleans defense did their job by responding afterwards, forcing Miami into a punt situation. It took three plays on offense for the Dolphins to get on the board, as Ian Book completed his first pass on the second play of the opening drive only to be followed up by a pick six to Nik Needham. The Dolphins went up 7-0 quickly with 10:25 to play.

The Saints responded by having a three-and-out drive, with Book being sacked on 3rd-and-6. Miami did the right think by sending pressure, and it proved to be too much for the rookie. The Dolphins put together a long 12-play drive that went 39 yards and took 6:42 off the clock to get their next points on the board, a 48-yard Jason Sanders field to goal, to take a 10-0 lead with 2:09 to play in the opening frame. Marcus Davenport ended the drive in a big way by having a strip-sack on Tua Tagovailoa.

New Orleans continued to struggle offensively, as their run attempts with Alvin Kamara went 4 yards in two plays, and the 3rd-and-6 saw Book running for his life, managing to escape one sack only to get brought down as he ran to the right sideline. The quarter eventually ended after the Dolphins ran off one play. Their drive ended shy of midfield, as they had Jacoby Brissett stopped by Cam Jordan on a 3rd-and-1 play to force a punt and get it back in the hands of the offense with 12:14 left until halftime.

The Saints offense looked a little better, as Book started the drive off connecting with Marquez Callaway for a 17-yard gain to open. However, things would stall out in a bad way and then Alvin Kamara picked up a personal foul unnecessary roughness penalty after the 3rd-and-3 play to push the Saints back 15 yards.

As the Dolphins took over with 9:51 left until the half, they ran a three-and-out of their own, as the Saints defense did their job to keep the team in it. The offense finally responded, putting together an 8-play, 55-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard Brett Maher field goal to make it 10-3 with 2:45 left until halftime. The Saints started off the drive going to Callaway, which worked again. Book found Alvin Kamara on a nice screen play, and got an extra 15 yards from a roughing the passer penalty. New Orleans had a 3rd-and-2 chance from the Dolphins' 15-yard-line, but Kamara was bottled up for no gain.

The Dolphins had an interesting two-minute drill, which was highlighted by a controversial catch that saw the ruling on the field stand, a lot of Jaylen Waddle, and an eventual killer sack by Cam Jordan that forced a 59-yard field goal attempt for Jason Sanders with little time on the clock. New Orleans called timeout on the first attempt, which was perfect by Sanders, but the second attempt was wide right and things stayed 10-3 at the half.

Second Half

As the Saints received the kickoff to open the third quarter, and their first drive saw it go quickly with another three-and-out. Miami returned the favor by turning the ball over after three plays, as Marshon Lattimore got a big interception on Tua Tagovailoa. The Saints had a few things moving on their drive, with the Book-Callaway connection cooking, but the drive stalled out and ended with a fifth sack on Book to force a punt.

The Dolphins took over at the 9:40-mark of the third quarter, and they'd go on a touchdown drive to extend their lead to 17-3 after piloting a 9-play, 86-yard drive that took 4:34 off the clock. Tagovailoa connected deep with Mack Hollins for a 40-yard play, and then followed it up by hitting Jaylen Waddle for a 20-yard completion via a flea flicker. Waddle would finish the drive from a yard out after the Saints got flagged for two penalties on the same play.

New Orleans would pick up a first down on the first play of their ensuing possession via an Alvin Kamara run, but that was about all she wrote on that drive. Miami took back over with 2:48 to play in the third quarter, but were stopped quickly on their offensive series and punted back to the Saints as the third quarter came to a close.

The Saints would go super aggressive on their next series, opting to go for it on a 4th-and-1 from their own 38-yard-line that saw no one open and Book throwing it out of bounds. The Dolphins ran off 6 plays for 22 yards and ended up cashing in on a 34-yard Sanders field goal to make it 20-3 with 12:05 left in the game.

The offense continued to struggle, and the Dolphins defense ended up picking up their eighth sack of the night after Book wasn't even given a chance to do anything. New Orleans went aggressive after being backed up on a 3rd-and-20, seeing Alvin Kamara pick up 19 yards and then going for it on 4th-and-1 to keep things going. Book would get sacked on back-to-back plays, and the Saints would just have to punt the ball away.

Miami ran off a few plays, eating the clock up, eventually punting back to the Saints with 4:32 to play. New Orleans got their best offensive play of the night, which obviously came too little, too late. Book threw it up to Lil'Jordan Humphrey, who made a great catch and had some nice YAC to help push the Saints into Dolphins territory. However, the drive ended with Book throwing his second pick of the night after having no time whatsoever to throw.

The Dolphins were able to just run the clock down, and the Saints offense ran out the clock with just a field goal to show for. Miami handed New Orleans their 8th loss on the season. New Orleans is still alive in the postseason race, but they're going to need a miracle to help keep it alive. They come back home next Sunday in a flexed late kick against the Panthers in Week 17.