Dolphins lose to Ravens 28-13

Dolphins lose to Ravens 28-13

By Dedrick D. Henry, Sr.

Ravens LB #58 Elvis Dumervil was the best player on the field Sunday, and Ravens’ QB #5Joe Flacco was a close second. The Ravens’ defense, despite losing two more cornerbacks ( #CB 37 Gorrer and S#41 Le-vine), only gave up three points in the final three quarters. Dumervil dominated Miami’s Dallas Thomas for 3.5 sacks, stopping multiple drives.LB#55 Terrell Suggs added 1.5 sacks. Miami’s QB #17 Ryan Tannehill  held the ball too long again on several possesions, getting knocked to the ground nine times.

Flacco has played near flaw-less football the last few games. WR #82 Torrey Smith was very limited due to injury, but Flacco converted on several third downs with throws on the run to WR #89 Steve Smith, WR #14 Marlon Brown, WR #11 Kamar Aiken and TE #84Phillip Super-naw. Flacco is playing like a top-10 quarterback.

Ryan Tannehill’s inability to throw deep is the Achilles’ heel of the Miami offense. The Dolphins built a 10-0 lead in the first quarter with short passes and nice runs by RB#28  Lamar Miller, but the Ravens laid on the short stuff. Tannehill still takes too long in his progression and finding secondary receivers and dump off, too often looking like a statue and standing in the pocket.

The Dolphins don’t even try to throw deep, which is absurd with the core of receivers they have WR#18 Matthews, WR#82 Hartline,WR#14 Landry andWR#11 Wallace.

Ravens’ offensive line was very impressive in Flacco’s pass protection. Miami was praised to have a great pass rush, but they had literally one hit all day on Flacco. As bad as the Dolphins’ rush defense has been of late, the lack of pressure from Miami’s strong front four has been even more costly.

RB #29 Justin Forsett and the Ravens’ running game was bottled up for much of the day but exploded down the stretch to finish with 183 yards. Baltimore scored touchdowns on four of their last five drives before running out the clock. They are keeping a weak defense off the field. Gary Kubiak has completely revamped this offense.

Now 7-6, Miami will probably have to win in New England next week to keep their playoff hopes alive. Joe Philbin’s team has lost some close games to good teams, but they were outclassed Sunday.

The 8-5 Ravens have a favorable schedule down the stretch. With Cincinnati losing Sunday, they are very much in the mix to win the division.