More up-tempo for Tua plus other Dolphins takeaways that jumped off the tape

Dec 6, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) celebrates after passing for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
By Josh Tolentino
Dec 9, 2020

After re-watching the Dolphins’ 19-7 victory over the Bengals, pouring over the stats, analyzing the film and speaking with the coordinators, here’s what jumped off the tape in Week 13.

1. In his first game back from his thumb injury, rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the offense stalled multiple times in the first half. Then, suddenly, a spark was lit. Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey made the biggest adjustment of the game during halftime when he decided the Dolphins would increase their tempo and also incorporate no-huddle in the second half. It worked to near-perfection, at least during Miami’s eight-play, 75-yard opening drive in the third quarter. Tagovailoa utilized his creativity and ability to decipher defenses on the fly to double his total yardage in the third quarter, completing 13 throws for 167 yards. For comparison, he completed just 12 throws for 111 yards with zero touchdowns in the first half.

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Tight end Mike Gesicki was a key beneficiary, finishing with a career-best nine receptions, 88 yards and one touchdown. The Dolphins still need to improve their efficiency in the red zone — finishing 1-for-10 on third down is unacceptable — but the mid-game adjustments were an encouraging sign for Tagovailoa’s working relationship with Gailey and his surrounding personnel. We can expect more up-tempo play calling moving forward.

Said Gailey: “I think we will continue to use (up-tempo offense and no-huddle). How much? I think it will depend on the game, it will depend on the situation. I think as time goes on, we’ll just have to see how much of it we’ll use or what direction it goes. It was obviously good for (Tagovailoa) and for us. It will be a part of what we do, I’m pretty sure, from here on out . . . he’s learning the subtleties of looking with his eyes or moving his shoulders instead of moving his eyes and doing things like that. I think he’s coming along in that.”

Said Tagovailoa: “I need to help our guys start a lot faster offensively. . . . I think, when you’re on the ball and you’re going fast, it confuses the defense because they need to get lined up. They can’t get their right call in at times. Then when you have guys motioning, it confuses up their call, if they have a blitz on or what coverage they’re going to run. So I think the up-tempo things that we did in the second half really helped us to get the ball rolling.”

2. Running back Myles Gaskin performed well in his return from a four-game absence from his sprained MCL injury, finishing with 141 all-purpose yards. With Miami’s tailback position depleted due to multiple injuries, Gaskin’s return couldn’t have come at a better time. Despite fumbling in the second half, Gaskin provided the Dolphins with a much-needed spark on the ground with a game-best 90 rushing yards on 21 carries. Gaskin is clearly the team’s lead tailback with 477 rushing yards on 121 carries. Matt Breida has 47 carries for 168 yards, and Salvon Ahmed has 40 rushes for 166 yards.

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Along with Gaskin, rookie wide receiver/running back Lynn Bowden Jr. should receive more snaps moving forward. Bowden is a nice weapon with deceptiveness in his movements. He also has a very intriguing stutter step.

Said Gailey: “Lynn got a chance and did some good things. That’s what you have to do in this league is you have to take advantage of your opportunities, and he did that last week. I think we will continue to try to use him and let him get some touches, along with some of these other guys that we think can make plays for us.”

3. It doesn’t sound like the Dolphins will be telling Jakeem Grant to calm down his aggressiveness on punt returns anytime soon. Zac Taylor’s Bengals took an aggressive approach in attempting to limit Grant on Sunday, including recklessly tackling him twice before he had an opportunity to field the ball. Thanks to his top-end speed, Grant is one of the most explosive players on the team and he leads the league in punt return yardage. Following the second hit on Grant by Bengals receiver Mike Thomas, a brawl broke out between the teams with Dolphins players and coaches standing up for Grant. Receivers DeVante Parker and Mack Hollins were ejected from the scuffle after coming to Grant’s defense.

Said special teams coordinator Danny Crossman: “I think there is always a fine line. We’re going to be aggressive — but we’re also trying to be smart and understand and manage the situation. Every punt is a different opportunity. There are a lot of things that are involved in those decisions. The bottom line as a punt returner, the No. 1 job of that guy is making good decisions. We’ll just continue with our rules and how we want to play it, and make the right decisions hopefully each time. . . . I think the player’s safety should always be No. 1 at the top of anything — any rule and more importantly how it’s judged on the field. But again, that’s not necessarily my department. We coach our guys on both sides of it of what the rules are and again, at game speed, everybody has to make those decisions.”

4. In addition to the two separate scuffles, there were multiple injuries suffered by players from both teams, resulting in multiple stoppages throughout the game. Here’s a list of each player who endured an injury.

Bengals

Dolphins

Flowers was wiped out and rolled from behind on a Tagovailoa scramble, and he needed to be helped off the field before being carted to the locker room. Flowers never returned, and in his place, rookie Solomon Kindley shifted from right to left guard while Jesse Davis was inserted at right guard. According to a source, Flowers avoided serious injury and is expected to return at some point this season, but there’s a possibility he might miss the upcoming game against the Chiefs. Following consecutive poor performances in Weeks 11 and 12, the Dolphins’ offensive line rebounded nicely against the Bengals. Tagovailoa wasn’t sacked and was only hit twice. This comes after he endured a season-high six sacks and eight quarterback hits a couple of weeks ago against Denver.

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Coach Brian Flores said: “(Flowers) is getting treatment. He’s getting evaluated. We’re still kind of working through that process. He’s a tough guy. He wants to be out there. I know he’s going to do everything he can to get back out there as quickly as possible. . . . I’m not going to talk about anyone’s medical situation until we have all of the information ourselves. That’s where Ereck is.”

5. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy enjoyed his best game of the season. He finished with a game-high eight tackles, including three sacks. Near the end of the fourth quarter, Van Noy tipped a pass and the ball was intercepted by cornerback Nik Needham to secure the victory for Miami. Van Noy has battled through multiple issues this year, including injuries to the hand, groin and foot, plus a short stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He has improved as the season progressed, and that’s exactly what Miami needs from one of its team captains. He leads the Dolphins in tackles for loss (10.5) and his six sacks are just short of his career high (6.5 set in 2019) with four games left.

Said linebackers coach Anthony Campanile: “I think that’s always extremely valuable when you have somebody who knows the system as well as Kyle does and is as conscientious and works that hard at it throughout the week, based on what we’re trying to do with checks and stuff like that within the system. I think he does a great job with that . . . he’s a big help for everybody when he’s on the field.”

Unfortunately, Van Noy hasn’t had the best relationship with reporters since his arrival to South Florida from New England. After fielding only four questions, including sidestepping at least two, during his postgame availability Sunday — his first time speaking to the media since Sept. 30 — Van Noy joined the Pat McAfee Show on Monday and suggested Xavien Howard isn’t being considered for Defensive Player of the Year because Miami media “needs to be better.”

6. After a rough start to his rookie season, including being benched, Noah Igbinoghene (first round, No. 30 overall) filled in admirably for the disqualified Howard in the second half. The Dolphins outscored the Bengals, 10-0, in the third quarter, while Miami outgained Cincinnati 181 yards to minus-4. That’s a huge testament to Miami’s defensive effort coming out of halftime, including Igbinoghene’s work at outside cornerback.

Said defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander: “Noah has done a really good job. Noah is in a very unique situation — he’s a high-round draft guy playing behind two of the more elite corners (Howard and Byron Jones) that are in the National Football League, that are playing at a high level. So he’s able to really kind of lock in and get valuable practice reps. I think the things that he’s improved on over the course of the season is, especially as a corner, is just his footwork. This is still a guy who was a very athletic prospect coming in but doesn’t really have a lot of the banked reps as a corner as a guy that’s asked to play at this level right now.

“Something as small fundamentally as his patience and his footwork at the line of scrimmage, which he works diligently on every single day and being able to take practice reps against DeVante Parker and Jakeem Grant. So when he gets thrust into action like he was on Sunday . . . it’s been a long time since that Buffalo Bills game, but now he’s worked himself into continuing to develop as we had planned for him all along. This guy was always going to be a developing prospect with great skill.”

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Added Flores: “(Igbinoghene) is a guy who’s been practicing very well. Those things don’t go unnoticed. He’s young. He just turned 21 years old last week. I think he’s getting better. Like I’ve said, developing players and watching them improve is something that we always have an eye on, and I’ve seen that in practice and he got an opportunity (Sunday). I thought he played well.”

7. Pour a glass of bubbly upstairs in heaven, coach Don Shula. It’s once again time for the 1972 Dolphins to party. They remain the only team in NFL history with an undefeated season after the Steelers (11-1) were upset by the Washington Football Team on Monday evening. Former Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka posted a video on Twitter of him celebrating Washington’s victory.

(Photo of Tua Tagovailoa celebrating after passing for a touchdown against the Bengals during the second half Sunday: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)

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