Dolphins’ game management shines in 34-31 win over Cardinals
The Miami Dolphins needed all hands on deck to survive a second-half onslaught from Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals — but that’s exactly what they got. A tight ends coach playing quarterback coach, a career punt gunner catching his first pass with the team for a game-tying score and one of Miami’s best cover options filling against the run to force a critical 4th-down. All examples of how Miami extended beyond their comfort zone to help pull out their fifth win of the 2020 season. And Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores was quick to praise them for it in the postgame press conference.
“I talked about our mental toughness last week, I think that showed up again today,” said Flores.
“(This is a) Hard-fought victory, players stepping up, coaches stepping up, we had assistant and strength coaches coming in, Kaleb Thornhill came in there and was helping us from a coaching standpoint. We had a lot of people step up and help and it was definitely a team victory.”
Indeed it was. But Brian Flores deserves his slice of the credit as well. In a tightly contested football game, it was Flores’ decision making and aid in game management that proved to be the difference. How? Miami’s drive to close the first half provided the difference in the final score. After forcing the Cardinals’ first and only punt of the day with just under a minute remaining in the first half, the Dolphins managed to jet 26 yards in 6 plays, with a well-placed timeout in the middle, to see Jason Sanders boot a 56-yard field goal to push Miami’s lead to 24-17. Flores showed complete trust in his rookie quarterback to execute the two-minute drill and the offense obliged by positioning to kick the field goal.
Then again, late in the 4th-quarter with the Dolphins winning 34-31, Flores and the Dolphins managed to kill the game. Arizona had been spurned by their short yardage attack on 4th-down earlier in the quarter, setting up Miami’s eventual game-winning kick on a short field. But Miami nonetheless committed to ice the game with the run. With 1:05 remaining on the clock at their own 48-yard line, Tagovailoa dropped under center and the Dolphins pressed ahead with a game-winning quarterback sneak to reset the chains and win the game.
A critical 4th-down short yardage stop. A critical quarterback sneak. A 2-minute drill to close the half and claim points. These are the things spectacular wins are built upon. And Miami got them all against Arizona in Week 9 — proving to be the difference.
