On a day that Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas were inducted to the Dolphins ring of honour it would figured the Dolphins hold on to win an ugly game with a defensive stand. Ryan Tannehill played another solid game in which he had a 112 QB rating the highest of his career but it was the defense which was the real star of this ugly win.
Despite giving up 462 yards to a pretty average St Louis defense this bend but don’t break unit was able to hold St Louis to a measly 14 point. St Louis had their opportunities but 3 missed field goals ended up really costing, which is a feeling the Dolphins fans know all too well.
The Dolphins were completely outplayed in the 1st half yet got out to a 10-6 lead, the inability to finish drives kept the Dolphins in the game and despite the fact Ryan Tannehill didn’t have any help from his run game today he was able to make the proper adjustments at the line and lead his team down the field.
Tannehill was poised again and while he wasn’t spectacular he was able to manages the offense and seem to always make sure to hit the open receivers which included a deep ball to Marlon Moore. The Dolphins run game couldn’t get anything going and Brian Hartline was all but invisible and didn’t even find himself on the stat sheet.
A nice surprise from this game was Olivier Vernon who had 2 huge sacks which both were momentum changing plays. Vernon offered the first resembles of a pass rush outside Cam Wake who continued his dominance with a sack and another what should have been strip sack but was ruled an incomplete pass due to the tuck rule.
It is important to note while the Dolphins won a sloppy game where they got a break with the St Louis rookie kicker missing 3 kicks, there were a couple of missed calls by the refs that didn’t go the Dolphins way including what should have been a fumble by Chris Givens instead called an incomplete pass keeping the balls with the Rams.
The unsung hero of the game is Dolphins punter Brandon Fields who continued to be an all pro out there smashing the ball every time it hit his foot. Fields deserves to be recognized more and is a real weapon and field position changer for the Dolphins.
With the win the Dolphins now head into the bye week 3-3 and in a tie for 1st place in the division. The arrow certainly seems to be pointing up in Miami.
Reggie Bush who has been banged up and not himself the past couple of weeks can definitely use the rest and hopefully Jabar Gaffney can find himself a spot in the lineup as the much needed third option for the Dolphins passing game.
It was ugly but a win is a win !
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