The Miami Dolphins beat the New York Giants on Sunday. Here are Miami’s positional grades from the Week 13 game:
QB: B+
Second-year quarterback Tua Tagovailoa registered a solid performance on Sunday. Although several of his short and intermediate yardage completions already were designed to have predetermined targets, the Alabama product protected the football well. Tagovailoa completed 71% of his passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. After suffering an injury earlier in the season, and having to adjust to two new offensive coordinators, Tagovailoa is demonstrating an understanding of the offense.
RB: C-
Second-year starter Myles Gaskin wasn’t able to find many creases behind Miami’s troubled offensive-line. The Washington product totaled just 44 yards on 15 attempts, an average of 2.93 yards per carry. Backup Salvon Ahmed averaged a nearly-identical 2.87 yards per carry, carrying the ball eight times for 23 yards.
WR/TE: A+
Rookie Jaylen Waddle continues to silence the doubters that criticized Miami’s decision to select the speedster 6th overall this year. Waddle hauled in nine passes for a total of 90 yards. The Alabama product already has 86 receptions in 13 games, and is on pace to shatter Anquan Boldin’s rookie receiving record of 101 catches.
After being activated from the IR, veteran DeVante Parker had a solid outing. Parker caught all five passes thrown his way for a total of 61 yards.
Although Isaiah Ford may not be a familiar name to casual Dolphins fans, Ford is surprisingly one of the few remaining players from Adam Gase’s tenure with the team. In his fourth season, Ford has finally reached the end zone for the first time in his career. After scoring against Atlanta in October, Ford snagged his second career touchdown on Sunday.
Offensive Line: C
Aside from his receiving heroics a few weeks ago, Robert Hunt has solidified himself as Miami’s most reliable offensive lineman. Hunt didn’t allow a single sack or quarterback hurry on Sunday.
Miami’s offense is centered around the concept of getting the ball out of Tagovaiola’s hands quickly, leaving little room for error from the offensive line. Miami allowed just two sacks and just three quarterback hits.
Defensive Line/Linebackers: C
Despite having some early struggles adjusting to the complexity of an NFL defensive scheme, Jaelan Phillips has shined as of late. The University of Miami product totaled two sacks, making that six in the past three games.
Miami was able to generate a great deal of pressure on backup quarterback Mike Glennon, hurrying him 15 times. Miami’s defensive line was able to clog any running lanes available to Saquon Barkley, with linebackers Jerome Baker, Andrew Van Ginkel and Elandon Roberts all tallying tackles for a loss.
Defensive Backs: B+
Miami’s defensive backs sitting atop the charts of their leading tacklers has been a common theme this season. Eric Rowe and Byron Jones were the team’s leading tacklers.
Ball-hawk Xavien Howard picked off Mike Glennon, who registered a QB rating of 53.
Rookie safety Jevon Holland strengthened his campaign for Defensive Rookie of the Year, with five tackles and two passes defended.
(Featured image by Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)