The Miami Dolphins earned their 11th victory of the season on Sunday, as they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 22-20 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Mike McDaniel’s team struggled to play their best ball on offense and had some costly penalties on defense, but when it mattered most, they drove down the field and set their kicker up with an opportunity to win the game for them, and he delivered.
As we do after every game, let’s take a look at some of those who deserve credit and some who deserve criticism. for their performances against the Cowboys.
STUD: K Jason Sanders
Sanders made all five of his attempts on Sunday, including a game-winner and three that were from beyond 50 yards. With this performance, Sanders moved his make percentage up to 84.6% on his field-goal attempts on the year, which is his best mark since he made 92.3% in his All-Pro 2020 season.
DUD: Team health
Miami continues to see key players drop out throughout these games down the stretch. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and running back Raheem Mostert both dealt with shin injuries. The former never returned to action, while the latter did so sparingly.
The Dolphins also lost wide receiver Robbie Chosen after he was evaluated for a concussion and ruled out.
STUD: WR Tyreek Hill
Hill missed last week’s battle with the New York Jets, but he was good to go in this one. While he started slow, he finished with a team-high nine receptions for 99 yards, including two catches on the final drive to help set up Sanders’ field goal.
The Cheetah now needs 359 yards in his final two games to hit the 2,000 mark and 324 yards to break Calvin Johnson’s record.
DUD: Vic Fangio's gameplan for CeeDee Lamb
There was a lot of talk about how the Dolphins would cover Lamb leading up to this matchup with many wondering if Jalen Ramsey would shadow the wideout. However, Fangio had his own idea.
Lamb finished the day with six receptions for 118 yards and a 49-yard score.
While those numbers may look impressive, there was a long stretch where Lamb wasn’t targeted, so it wasn’t a total bust. However, if Ramsey were assigned to him, they may not have needed a last-second field goal to win.
STUDs: LBs Bradley Chubb and Andrew Van Ginkel
When Jaelan Phillips went down with a torn Achilles a few weeks back, there were obviously fears that Miami’s pass-rush would fall off.
Luckily for the Dolphins, Chubb and Van Ginkel have played very well.
In this one, Chubb recorded four tackles (one for a loss), three quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks. Van Ginkel had a team-high 10 sacks (one for a loss), four quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks and a pass defensed.
