Dolphins Run Over Browns And Into Bye Week With Best Start Since ‘01

What if I told you...the Miami Dolphins could be dominant running and throwing the football in the same game in which they played decent defense?

Formerly only the province of a 30 for 30 on the 1972 Dolphins (congrats on another year holding the title btw), that’s exactly what fans were gifted with Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium. Only another soul sucking performance from his special teams unit kept Mike McDaniel from finally being able to celebrate that complete team win he’s been looking for all season, as the Dolphins bludgeoned the Browns in a 39-17 rout.

Miami is now 7-3, and for the moment in sole possession of first place in the AFC East thanks to a Jets bye and whatever in the world Josh Allen was thinking on that doomed final pass in overtime against the Vikings. It’s the most impressive start by a Dolphins team since 2001- Year One of a dismal twenty-one year stretch without a playoff victory. That team was led by a brilliant defense, supported by an offense that was capable of doing just enough to win more games than they lost.

Obviously, the reverse is true for these 2022 Dolphins.

Starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leads the league in QBR, wide receiver Tyreek Hill leads the league in receiving yards, teammate Jaylen Waddle is fourth, and now comes a combined 195-yard rushing performance from Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. Yes, the Browns are terrible at stopping the run. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Dolphins actually seem to be improving every week offensively. At the very least, ten games into the season, no one has figured out a way to stop the Dolphins when Tua is under center.

Which would be huge because, unfortunately, injuries are again a major issue for this defense. DE Emmanuel Ogbah went down with a season-ending injury, and both Keion Crossen and Justin Bethel appeared to be nicked up in this one. Admittedly, Ogbah had been having a down season, but a second half resurgence with Chubb drawing more attention from opposing offenses was one of the few reasons for hope there were for this defense getting significantly better down the stretch. As for any injury in the secondary, the horror show just continues back there, and it should come as no surprise if Miami uses the bye to bring in multiple new defensive faces for auditions.

Special teams wise...another day, another big kick return that led to an easy score. Jason Sanders missed two extra points, and at this point remains employed solely because of his ridiculously large and lengthy contract. He hits free agency in 2027 folks. Get comfortable sweating those under 40-yd and over 50-yd kicks for the duration.

Offensively though? All feel good. Tagovailoa turned in his third consecutive 3 TD, 0 INT game, and did so while completing 78% of his passes to eight different receivers. And yet...a case can be made that still wasn’t enough for player of the game honors. In his second game with the team since being the other trade deadline acquisition Miami made at the deadline, Wilson Jr. carved up Cleveland for 119 yds and a score. Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold had a better day at the office receiving wise (4/45/1 TD) than Amari Cooper did for the Browns (3/32/0).

Good at football Cleveland is not. But they were the best team Miami had played in four weeks, and this was Miami’s most impressive win since Week 3 against Buffalo. Fans have every right to be very excited right now. As of this writing, FiveThirtyEight gives the Dolphins a 90% chance to make the playoffs for just the third time since that 2001 squad did.

Before this season started, making the playoffs would likely have been enough for most fans, with maybe that first playoff victory of the 21st century to show for it.

Very quickly now, that lofty goal is becoming the floor for Tua and the Dolphins in 2022.