The Miami Dolphins earned their fourth victory in a row, and seventh on the season, on Sunday, as they defeated the Cleveland Browns at Hard Rock Stadium.
Head coach Mike McDaniel’s team put together their most complete win of the year, as they got some great performances on offense and defense in the same contest. That’s not something that’s happened in any of their other wins.
Here are some players that deserve some credit for the win and some who had a bit of a tougher day:
WINNER: QB Tua Tagovailoa
Tagovailoa has another impressive day, completing 78.1% of his attempts for 285 yards and three touchdowns with a 135 passer rating. He hasn’t thrown an interceptions since Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals, however, he did miss two games in that stretch.
Right now, there’s a real case for Tagovailoa to be in the MVP discussion. He’s doing everything he needs to put his team in a position to succeed. And, if you want to take the words “most valuable” literally, the former Crimson Tide quarterback is undefeated in games that he’s finished, while the Dolphins are winless without him.
LOSER: K Jason Sanders
The kicker continues to struggle this year. While he made both of his field goal attempts, he was just three-for-five on his extra points. On the year, Sanders is hitting just 76.5% of his field goals and 90% of his extra points.
In games that will be much closer than this one, Sanders’ inconsistency could be a huge problem. This needs to be fixed.
WINNER: Front seven
Sunday was a dominant performance from Miami’s front which added outside linebacker Bradley Chubb at the deadline. The unit put constant pressure on Brissett, sacking him three times and hurrying him much more than that. They also held Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to a minimal impact outside of the former’s 33-yard touchdown run.
LOSER: DE Emmanuel Ogbah
Ogbah left the game in the second quarter with the training staff. He was evaluated in the blue medical tent before heading back to the locker room. After the game, it was revealed that Ogbah has a torn triceps and will miss the rest of the season.
He finishes the first season of his new contract with just nine games played. In those games, he recorded just 11 tackles, seven quarterback hits and one sack.
WINNERS: Jeff Wilson Jr. and Raheem Mostert
Miami clearly tried to establish the run in this matchup, as Cleveland hasn’t been stout against running backs this season. Wilson and Mostert continued their success from their first game together, as the duo combined for 184 yards on 25 carries (7.4 yards per attempt) with two touchdowns. They also added another 46 yards on six receptions in the passing game.
The pair appears to be much more fruitful than Mostert and Chase Edmonds were before the trade deadline.
