The Miami Dolphins went into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night and were outlasted by the Philadelphia Eagles 31-17 to drop to 5-2 on the season.
Miami’s offense started off struggling, especially on the ground. They entered the game without left tackle Terron Armstead (injured reserve) and center Connor Williams (inactive with a groin injury), and they lost left guard Isaiah Wynn to a quad injury rather early.
The inability to provide any push early kept the Dolphins to -7 yards on the ground in the first half. While they found more success in the second half, it wasn’t enough to open up a lot of holes downfield for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to hit his top targets.
Tagovailoa finished the night with 216 yards, one touchdown and one interception with an 87.5 passer rating and while completing 72% of his passes.
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle also battled an injury of his own, leaving the game due to back pain. He was still able to put up 63 yards on six receptions. Tyreek Hill recorded 11 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown and probably should’ve had another.
Cedrick Wilson Jr. even made some contributions, bringing in two passes for 48 yards, including an incredible 29-yard pass on a key third down.
Defensively, Vic Fangio’s unit came into the game without cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey (injured reserve) and Xavien Howard (inactive with groin injury). Despite that, they actually looked somewhat decent considering.
They got some pressure on Jalen Hurts, sacking him three times, and cornerback Kader Kohou tipped a pass into Jerome Baker’s hands for a pick-six.
On top of that, they slowed down one of the league’s top rushing offenses, as the Eagles rushed for just 99 yards on 2.9 yards per carry.
Linebacker David Long had been active early in the game, but he was taken out of the game due to an evaluation for a concussion.
The story of the game, however, may have been the penalties, as the Dolphins had 10 accepted penalties for 70 yards. While some were questionable, there were false starts, offsides and delay of game penalties that were simply inexcusable.
Miami will now have to deal with the narrative that they can’t be good teams, as they still are yet to win a game against a team with a winning record.
