The Miami Dolphins secured their eighth win of the season, and fifth in a row, as they defeated the Houston Texans, 30-15, on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
Mike McDaniel’s team has primed themselves for a tough stretch starting in Week 13 with a matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on the road that kicks off a string of competitive games. With that being the case, winning a game against a team that has just one win on the year was extremely important.
Here’s what we learned from Miami’s victory:
Terron Armstead is arguably the most valuable player on the roster
Right before the end of the first half, Armstead exited the contest and headed back to the locker room with trainers. It was reported after the game that the left tackle is dealing with a pectoral strain that will cause him to miss time.
After Armstead left, Miami’s offense struggled to do much of anything. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was getting pressured and sacked constantly, and the run game couldn’t build much momentum.
Having two backups playing on the left side isn’t ideal. The Dolphins will need to get Armstead back if they have hopes of making any type of run.
Jason Sanders bounced back
The last time we had seen Sanders, he was continuing his poor performance on the season. However, after a week off, he came back and hit all three of his field goal attempts (long of 45 yards) and all three of his extra points.
He now is up to 80% on the field goals and 90.9% on extra points.
Sanders also passed Fuad Reveiz (161) for the fifth-most extra points made in team history.
Defensive ferocity is still there
With how Miami’s defense has played this season, many had been wondering whether or not they were missing the experience and leadership of former head coach Brian Flores.
This week, Miami allowed the front to really get after Kyle Allen, unleashing their impressive pass rushers at the career backup, as they earned seven tackles for a loss and five sacks.
Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb and Melvin Ingram continue to prove themselves as one of the best units in the game.
Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb and Melvin Ingram combined for 10 QB pressures, 7 QB hits and 2 sacks today
This trio is getting better every week.
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) November 28, 2022
Mike McDaniel's decision-making can still be questioned
Miami’s head coach has been impressive in his first 11 games, drawing up a number of plays and concepts to get his players open and putting Tagovailoa in the best position to succeed.
However, there have been times this year when it makes sense to question his choices. In other games, it’s been his time management when it comes to scoring at the half.
In Week 12, it was the play-calling and allowing Taogvailoa to stay in the game. After Armstead was knocked out, it was clear that the quarterback wasn’t getting any protection. Despite being up 30 points, McDaniel allowed Tagovailoa to stay in the game and get hit.
On top of that, when Skylar Thompson came in, the Dolphins weren’t running the ball to kill the clock. They were trying to complete these slow-developing plays, but they didn’t have the blockers to get it done.
