It felt like forever, but the Miami Dolphins finally played a game of football. The Dolphins also won, as they won their fifth straight game against the Houston Texans in convincing fashion, 30-15. With their win, the Dolphins improve to 8-3 and are back in first in the AFC East. Here are my immediate takeaways.
1. First Half Offense was PERFECT.
Give Tua the NFL MVP award already. Tagovailoa is the Miami Dolphins, and he showed why in the first half, in which Miami scored on six of their seven first drives.
Despite having some bye week rust with some dropped passes and four sacks, Tua still went 22-of-36 passing for 299 yards and a touchdown pass. In the beginning of the second half, Tua was pulled for Skylar Thompson, who only went 1-of-5 passing for six yards.
In the first quarter, receiver Jaylen Waddle broke the franchise record for the most receiving yards (1,926) in the first two seasons of a career, passing Jarvis Landry.
2. Defense Showed Up and was SUPERB.
Another reason why the Dolphins won big Sunday was the defense.
They forced three turnovers total. Two of those led to scores and the final one was on Houston’s last drive.
The first came when LB Andrew Van Ginkel intercepted Texans QB Kyle Allen (his first of two) deep in Texans territory and returned the ball to the 3-yard line. Running back Jeff Wilson punched it in a few plays later. In the second quarter, Eric Rowe forced a fumble, which Xavien Howard returned for a touchdown.
3. Some Milestones and Rare Occurrences.
The Dolphins went up into halftime, 30-0, which is the largest halftime lead since a 41-0 halftime lead against this same Houston Texans team back in 2015. It’s also the second-largest halftime lead in the last 30 seasons.
The Dolphins also punted in the second quarter for the first time since November 6th against the Bears. It was rare, as Miami only did it once on their first six possessions.
Next up for both teams, it’s a couple of reunions.
Miami travels to Mike McDaniel’s roots, as they play in San Francisco. Houston welcomes former QB Deshaun Watson (Tua is better and Chris Grier was smart for not getting him) and the Cleveland Browns, who let Tom Brady blow it late.