After re-watching the Dolphins’ 29-21 victory over the Chargers, pouring over the stats, analyzing the film and speaking with the coordinators, here’s what jumped off the tape in Week 10.
1. Coach Brian Flores and defensive coordinator Josh Boyer are pushing all the right buttons right now. During L.A.’s second drive, the Chargers were threatening near midfield, facing third-and-3. The Dolphins stacked the box with seven defenders and sent everybody. Not a single Miami player actually gets near Herbert following the snap, but he appears frightened from the pressure and overthrows a wide-open Keenan Allen in the flat. Herbert certainly had time to assess the defense — wide receiver Jalen Guyton also was wide open down the middle — and throw a more accurate pass, but when Miami is constantly applying effective pressure, this type of pass rush can mess with a quarterback’s head and make even the hottest players look pedestrian. Per multiple advanced analytic sites, Herbert entered Sunday’s game as the most accurate quarterback when facing pressure in the NFL. After throwing for at least 250 passing yards in every game, Sunday was undoubtedly Herbert’s worst outing of the season. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 187 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
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“Each week we look at what we have available to us and we look at what our opponent’s trying to do,” Boyer said. “And, as always, any time that we can put pressure on the offensive line, put pressure on the quarterback, which hopefully in turn puts pressure on the coordinator, just to get them a little bit off-balance — that’s always the goal. Some weeks that’s by scheme, some weeks it’s by varying fronts, some weeks it’s by varying coverage.”
2. The Dolphins got off to a terrific start thanks to cornerback Nik Needham’s sack on the opening drive, which resulted in a 13-yard loss and set up third-and-20 for the Chargers. On the play, linebacker Kyle Van Noy — who was activated from the COVID-19/reserve list prior to the game — does an excellent job at jumping the snap and he swiftly beats veteran right tackle Bryan Bulaga. With Van Noy across the line of scrimmage right after the snap, Chargers running back Kalen Ballage needs to assist Bulaga in blocking, which creates an open lane for Needham to get to Herbert untouched. Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, the team’s sack leader with eight, also broke free on the play and caused havoc for L.A.’s offensive line, a constant sight throughout the game.
“Watching film every week, you could see that Herbert was throwing to Keenan Allen on the go-to situations,” Needham said. “We were just trying to make sure in the game plan that we would limit him as much as possible and make him throw to some of the other guys. I think we did a pretty good job with that. That’s what helped us execute and limit him out there.”
3. Myles Gaskin is eligible to return from the injured reserve list next week, which is a good sign for the Dolphins, but will the starter role still be his whenever he’s ready to come back? Salvon Ahmed, an undrafted rookie who is actually best friends with Gaskin — they both played together at the University of Washington — took off with his opportunity and produced one of the best performances by a Dolphins running back this season. For the second week in a row, Ahmed flashed a combination of burst and patience, which resulted in multiple carries of 10-plus yards. He finished with a game-high 85 rushing yards on 21 attempts with one touchdown, his first career score. Could it have been a coincidence that Jordan Howard was waived just one day following Ahmed’s breakout performance? He’ll need to show more consistency, but the early sample size from Ahmed is promising.
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“The first thing that stands out is when he comes in the room, he’s ready to go,” running backs coach Eric Studesville said. “He’s got good eyes. He’s got good feet. He’s continuing to develop. We’re just trying to maximize those things when he’s in there.”
4. Cornerback Xavien Howard feels like he’s playing the best football of his career right now and it’s showing on tape. Howard recorded his fifth interception when he picked off Herbert in the fourth quarter. Howard displayed outside technique and kept his eyes on Herbert the entire play to jump Mike Williams’ out route and secure the football. His five interceptions are second in the NFL behind New England’s JC Jackson (six). Miami has a takeaway in 15 straight games, best in the NFL. Howard has always shown a knack for disrupting passes and finding the ball. After undergoing knee surgery in the offseason, he has played in every game this season He needs just two more interceptions to tie his career high in a single season. Howard also has 25 tackles and 10 passes defensed.
“With everything working together and everybody making plays, that’s what it’s all about on the defense,” Howard said. “This is the best football I’ve been playing.”
5. Zach Sieler deserves his own section for his vicious hit on Ballage. Sieler was actually pretty far from making the play since he pressured Herbert, but he ran uphill full speed and laid out Ballage to stop the screen play from picking up any yards. Sieler had five tackles, including two for losses. He continues to be one of the better surprises and most improved players, and he was rewarded with a 3-year extension on Monday.
“Zach is a dog,” Ogbah said. “He’s a hard worker. He plays hard. We love him when he’s out there. He’s stepping up big this year for us.”
6. Thanks to Miami’s defense and special teams, Tagovailoa didn’t need to be elite; the rookie quarterback needed to do just enough to keep his team in the game and that’s exactly what he did. Since taking over as the starter, Tagovailoa is 3-0 and has thrown five touchdowns with no interceptions. That makes him tied for the third-most passing touchdowns in a quarterback’s first three starts without throwing an interception since 1950, according to ESPN Stats and Information. Tagovailoa is looking more comfortable with each game. One of his most impressive sequences occurred with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter with the Dolphins facing third-and-goal from L.A.’s 2-yard line. Tagovailoa motions tight end Durham Smythe from the right to left side, but as he moves, Tagovailoa observes Chargers safety Nasir Adderley shadowing Smythe’s every step. Tagovailoa immediately calls a timeout and walks toward the sideline to chat with several coaches. Following the timeout, the Dolphins come back in the exact same personnel and Tagovailoa once again motions Smythe right to left. Adderley follows Smythe, but after the snap, he loses track of him as Tagovailoa fakes a handoff to Ahmed, while Smythe runs back the other direction and finds nothing but grass in the far right part of the end zone. Credit Tagovailoa for noticing a disruption he didn’t like pre-snap and to Gailey for the misdirection play, another evolution in the offensive play calling this season.
“It’s hard to coach accuracy,” Gailey said of Tagovailoa. “I can’t get a guy more accurate than he is.”
7. Earlier in the game, during Ahmed’s goal-line rushing touchdown and again during the Smythe touchdown, rookie offensive lineman Solomon Kindley lined up at fullback. Yes, the 340-pound(!) Kindley lined up in the backfield and paved the way for Ahmed. Kindley picked up the initial block and sealed the left side for Ahmed to run in seamlessly. With fullback Chandler Cox on the inactive list, Gailey got creative with his insertion of Kindley at fullback.
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8. With Christian Wilkins, the Dolphins’ top draft pick from 2019, on the COVID-19/reserve list, rookie Raekwon Davis filled in admirably. The 6-foot-7, 330-pound defensive lineman consistently pushed back his opponent, causing a frequent disturbance at the line of scrimmage. Against the Chargers, there wasn’t a noticeable drop-off from Wilkins to Davis, who earned an 89.6 grade from Pro Football Focus, which led all NFL defensive tackles in Week 10.
“When you turn on the film, Raekwon, he’s been working extremely hard at practice and I think there were some good things,” Boyer said. “I think the thing we’re striving for is consistency on a play-in, play-out basis. We’re working towards that. That’s really what you want as a coach, is when a guy is given an opportunity, you really want them to make the most of it. And I know it’s important to all of our guys because you see the work and the time that they put into it.”
9. After a rough first season, Flores is showing he’s got many traits of a good football coach in Year 2. He has created a team-first culture in Miami and has the Dolphins exceeding expectations. At 6-3, the Dolphins are primed to make a run for a playoff spot, and the AFC East title isn’t out of the picture, either. Flores will continue to preach the week-by-week, day-by-day approach, but it’s hard not to look ahead. Miami’s next three opponents (Broncos, Jets and Bengals) have a combined record of 5-21.
“I think guys have worked together,” Flores said. “I think we have a team full of guys who football is important to them, competing is important to them, communicating is important to them. And I think they bought into the — let’s call it working together as a team and working hard and preparing and giving ourselves an opportunity to compete. We’ve seen some good results from that and they continue to buy into those things.”
(Top photo of Nik Needham sacking Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert: Mark Brown / Getty Images)