The Miami Dolphins returned from their Week 10 bye on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium and dealt the Las Vegas Raiders their first loss under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, as Miami’s defense was key in the 20-13 win.
Mike McDaniel’s team gets to 7-3, still holds a 1.5-game first-place lead in the AFC East division and heads into a short week with a Black Friday matchup at MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets in five days.
With a four-game stretch of very winnable games ahead, the Dolphins needed this momentum to start the second half of their 2023 season.
Before getting ahead to that Week 12 matchup, here’s a look at some of the news, notes and nuggets from Miami’s win over Las Vegas.
The Dolphins Defense Never Rests
- The Dolphins defense held the Raiders to 4-for-14 on third-down conversion attempts (29%) and 0-2 on fourth-down conversion attempts.
- Sunday was the fifth game out of the last six that the Dolphins defense has allowed less than 300 total yards of offense and the third in a row.
- Vic Fangio’s unit allowed only two first downs on the ground.
- The defense held the Las Vegas’ rushing attack to 36 net yards, 2.3 per rush.
- The Dolphins defense had five different players create a tackle for loss, including two from Jaelan Phillips on his sacks. Phillips had another quarterback hit and an interception. Other tackles for loss came from Xavien Howard, Jevon Holland, Kader Kohou and Christian Wilkins. Wilkins had two quarterback hits as well.
- The unit recorded eight passes defended with Andrew Van Ginkel and Jalen Ramsey getting multiple with two. Ramsey’s were interceptions. Others came from Howard, Phillips, Kohou and Zach Sieler.
- Miami held Aidan O’Connell to 24-for-41 (58.5%) passing for 271 yards, a score and a trio of interceptions. Miami held the rookie to a passer rating of 56.0.
- Van Ginkel played a lot of inside linebacker Sunday, while Phillips and Bradley Chubb were on the field.
- Howard is within a renaissance, so to speak. He’s recorded a pass defensed in four of his past five games with one Sunday against the Raiders. Three of these games have been with Ramsey opposite him.
Jaelan Phillips surging the last four games
- Phillips has a sack in four straight games and five in his last four overall. He also recorded his first career interception Sunday against the Raiders.
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Phillips had three quarterback hits against the Raiders for the second time in his career. The last time was Week 18 of last season against the New York Jets, which was also a win.
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He’s one of three players currently with an active sack streak of at least four games along with the Baltimore Ravens’ Justin Madubuike (six) and the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett (five).
Jalen Ramsey making immediate and massive impact for Miami
- Ramsey had two career games with a pair of interceptions before Sunday. One with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018 and one with the Los Angeles Rams back in Week 18 of last season. His third was the first time he’s won a game when he had two picks.
- Dating back to last season, Ramsey has six interceptions in his last six games played.
- Over his last 10 games, three of which being with the Dolphins, Ramsey has 43 tackles, six interceptions, 12 passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Christian Wilkins continues to prove his worth
- Wilkins had two quarterback hits, a tackle for loss and three overall tackles. He was also heavily responsible for helping his teammates rack up statistics per usual.
- He has at least one quarterback hit in eight of his 10 games played this season.
Tua Tagovailoa continues his strong season despite minor bumps on Sunday
- In a game in which there were a few bad throws, ultimately, Tagovailoa had a fine performance, going 28-for-39 with 325 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, a 103.0 passer rating and a win.
- Tagovailoa spread the ball around and hit nine different pass targets against the Raiders.
Raheem Mostert carried the Miami rushing attack
- For the first time in his regular-season career, Mostert rushed the ball over 20 times, totaling 22 carries against the Raiders.
- He gained 86 yards and took the reins when De’Von Achane went down.
- Mostert once rushed 29 times in a 2020 playoff game for the San Fransisco 49ers.
- He’s essentially Miami’s third MVP on offense this season.
Tyreek Hill simply unstoppable
- Hill has a receiving touchdown in eight of Miami’s 10 games this season, including five of the past six.
- He now has 1,222 receiving yards this season, which is the most in the Super Bowl era by any NFL player through his team’s first 10 games.
- Hill’s average 2023 game line at Hard Rock Stadium is 8.2 receptions 151.8 yards and a touchdown.
- He’s now topped 100 receiving yards 13 times in his Dolphins career, surpassing Nat Moore for the fourth-most in team history.
- Hill has recorded six-plus receptions for 60-plus yards in each of his past six games.
Dolphins Dominant at Hard Rock Stadium
- With Sunday’s win, the Dolphins have now won 17 of their past 19 home games. That’s the team’s best 19-game home stretch in the history of Hard Rock Stadium, which opened in 1987.
- They’re 5-0 at home this season and are one of only three teams to remain perfect at home this year, along with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys
- Since Nov. 7, 2021, Miami’s .895 home win percentage is the best in the NFL.
Dolphins offensive line continues to impress
- Liam Eichenberg started at right guard on Sunday, which makes him only the second active NFL player to start at all five offensive line positions in a career, joining Daniel Brunskill of the Tennessee Titans.
