By Byler Henry
With Sunday’s 22 to 12 win Miami now is 9-5 on the season, still clinging to the number 7 spot in the playoffs. The race to acquire the wildcard spot is on, and there are now two games left this season. Although the Patriots no longer have the stranglehold on the AFC East as they have for the last 19 years, this was still a tough rivalry game. With Sunday’s loss the Patriots are now eliminated from playoff contention, the first time they’ve missed the playoffs since 2008.
The run game for Miami worked really well as they were able to gain 250 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Salvon Ahmed led the way for the run game with 122 yards rushing and Matt Breida had 86 yards rushing almost getting to 100. When you’re able to run effectively and possess the ball longer than your opponent, there’s a good chance you’re going to win the ball game;.Miami’s time of possession was 37:26 (37 minutes and 26 seconds) to the patriots 22:34 (22 minutes and 34 seconds). Head Coach Brian Flores has done a good job coaching this team ,having a winning record in his second year as head coach.
The Dolphins scored all 22 of their points in the second half after being down 6 to 0 at halftime, here’s Flores’ thoughts on the resilience of this team. “I think we overcame a tough first half. That just speaks to the resiliency and the mental toughness of this team. Didn’t play great in the first half, got down into the red zone, turned it over. This team, we don’t go in the tank. We just keep playing. We just battle through. And that’s what they did. Came in at halftime, made some adjustments. I think (Offensive Coordinator) Chan (Gailey) made some adjustments. (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) made some adjustments. (Special Teams Coordinator) Danny (Crossman) made adjustments. They went out there and executed. I’m excited for our players and we’re going to enjoy this one.”
Miami’s defense also played really well sacking Cam 3 times and not allowing the Patriots to score any points either on the ground or through the air, they were only able to put up 3 points after their drives. Raekwon Davis Miami’s defensive tackle was able to explain how the defense was able to keep the Pats from scoring, “Just stopping the run, keeping Cam (Newton) out of the pocket, keeping him from running the ball, keeping him from throwing the ball, quarterback runs and stuff like that, just keeping him in the pocket basically. That’s about it.” Miami’s defense was able to pressure Cam and make him uncomfortable all game.
The regular season is almost over but there are still two more games to play. Dolphins have to win their last two games to make it in, they hold the tiebreaker over the Ravens who are also 9-5. The remaining games for Miami are two road games against the Raiders and the Bills. If Miami can continue to play the way they have been playing they have a good chance to win out. I’m predicting the Dolphins to finish the season at 11-5, making it back to the playoffs. We will have to wait and see what happens at the end of the regular season.
