Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler earned our ‘Player of the Game’ honors after his unrelenting performance in his team’s 31-16 victory over the New York Giants.
Sieler recorded six tackles and two sacks on the day with half of his tackles game coming behind the line of scrimmage.
Buy Dolphins TicketsSieler was one of the focal points for the Miami defense, who looked terrific all game. Both of Sieler’s sacks came on big third-down plays, forcing the Giants to settle for field goals when driving into Miami territory.
His first sack came late in the second quarter with the Dolphins up 14-0. On third-and-9 from Miami’s 25-yard line, Sieler beat Giants guard Mark Glowinski to sack Daniel Jones, forcing the Giants to take the field goal. This put an end to a drive where the Giants’ offense was starting to find a rhythm.
Sieler’s second sack came in the fourth quarter, shortly after Tyrod Taylor came into the game for the injured Jones. The Giants were down 31-13 in search of a last-gasp effort to make a comeback.
On third-and-10 at the Dolphins’ 30-yard line, Sieler once again swerved past Glowinski to bring Taylor down. The Giants cut the lead to 31-16, but that’s as close as they got.
The Giants didn’t score a single offensive touchdown on the day and only reached the red zone twice.
Miami’s front totaled seven sacks against a beat-up offensive line for the Giants. This is an ongoing issue for New York, and it seemed like Vic Fangio’s defense understood the importance of causing disruption for Jones in the pocket.
Jones left the game in the final quarter with a neck injury, and his backup was unable to spark a comeback as the Miami front seven did not let up.
The performance of Sieler and the Dolphins’ defense was imperative considering the offense turned the ball over three times. It was a great rebound game for Fangio’s unit after almost nothing went well in the previous week against the Bills.
Sieler has almost matched his career high in sacks through the first five games of this season. The former 2018 seventh-round pick is coming off a 2022 campaign in which he started a career-high 15 games for the Dolphins. He’s started all five games so far this season.
Sieler is an underrated piece to this defense which is common among defensive tackles. Leading up to this game, he’d primarily made his impact against the opposing rushing attack. There’s no denying the credit that he deserves after this performance.
Sieler plays an important role lined up front and center of a 3-4 defense. He hasn’t backed down from the challenge and is a player to watch moving forward for the Miami defense.
