If you’re a fan of football you couldn’t have scripted a Monday Night Football game in Miami any better.
Unless, that is you’re a fan of the Miami Dolphins.
If you walked into Sun Life Stadium on Monday night you would think that you were in a time machine. If you’re a fan of words like retro, vintage and throwback then this was the event for you. The Sun Life Stadium field was painted vintage that it even made Don Shula smile. The football game plan was that of a throwback reminiscent of a 1970’s game back when Earl Campbell and Walter Payton used to run with no mercy.
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The game plan was simple, give the football to Lamar Miller and let him go to work. Miller led the way for the Dolphins as he gashed the New York defense for 89 yards and two touchdowns, only on 12 carries. The entire team though ran for 128 yards including 24 rushing yards from their quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
“I was feeling pretty good. The offensive line was doing a great job of just getting moving. I was just being decisive and getting the ball in open space,” said Miller. “I was just trying to make a play. Make a couple guys miss and just try to get in the end zone.”
Defensively for Miami, the good news is there was only one person that they needed to stop. The bad news was though everyone in the NFL has been looking for a way to stop him. It was going to take heaven and Earth being moved in order to stop Odell Beckham Jr. The Giants wide receiver was ready to explode for his primetime Monday Night Football matchup against Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes.
For most of the night, Beckham was held in check until he scored his first touchdown. The throw was an absolute dime by Eli Manning and Beckham tippy toed his way into another signature catch of his career.
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With that being said, the Dolphins have to find an answer to their problems in the secondary because Grimes is looking like he’s losing a bit of a step. One of the biggest highlights of the game was watching the battle between Beckham and Grimes. The Dolphins corner Grimes who was honored as one of only three active members to the Miami Dolphins 50th Year Anniversary team kept showing to fans why he deserved to get mentioned on the team. But this battle ended up in the hands of Beckham as he finished the game with 5 catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
“Beckham is a hell of a player. We did a lot of things to try to stop him, to take him out. (We tried to) poach him underneath. It really didn’t stop him” said Dolphins head coach Dan Campbell.
The bright spot of the game was that it was entertaining to watch. Since this game marked the first time that the Giants scored more than 20 points against Miami, it only signaled that Miami would have to step up on offense in order to compete. Often known for having an anemic offense, Miami brought it against New York. Even in their 31-24 defeat, it marked the fourth time Miami scored at least 20 points in a game this season.
***The throw that got them over 20 points was an absolute dart from Ryan Tannehill to wide receiver Kenny Stills.***
Ryan Tannehill to Kenny Stills for a 47-yard Dolphins touchdown pic.twitter.com/TfIzEWji9M
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) December 15, 2015
Coming into the game New York had the upper hand winning the all-time series record 5-2. Furthermore, the Giants won the last two meetings against the Dolphins. So seeing Miami play with a personal edge against a team that does historically well was great to see.
D’Joumbarey A. Moreau covers sports in Miami-Dade & Broward County. You can follow him on Twitter@DJoumbarey.
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