Instant analysis from Dolphins’ road victory vs. Lions
The Miami Dolphins went into Ford Field on Sunday afternoon and came out with their fifth victory of the 2022 campaign, defeating the Detroit Lions 31-27.
While Miami earned the win, this game wasn’t necessarily a pretty one, as penalties were the main story for the aqua and orange. The Dolphins had seven penalties accepted for 55 yards and another nine that were declined. Those mistakes, mostly unprompted, need to be cleaned up because they won’t be able to overcome those against better opponents.
Offensively, Mike McDaniel’s group was pretty efficient, as they were able to move the ball up and down the field for most of the game and found the end zone four times despite not getting the benefit of any turnovers from their defense.
Tua Tagovailoa completed 80.6% of his passes for 382 yards and three touchdowns, and while CBS’ broadcast team of Andrew Catalon and James Lofton were quick to point out his underthrows, he only had seven incompletions in the entire game.
Running back Raheem Mostert continued his strong season, rushing for 64 yards on 4.6 yards per attempt, which is roughly his average so far in his first year with Miami.
Defensively, the Dolphins started off poor, allowing Jared Goff and company to score early and often, as the Lions scored 27 points in the first half. However, they improved drastically after the break, holding Detroit scoreless for the final two quarters.
There were just a few miscommunications and instances of poor tackling that really kept them back in the early parts of the game, including plays for 58 yards and 43 yards by T.J. Hockenson and Khalif Raymond respectively.
On the injury front, Miami had a couple of players go down throughout the game. Defensive lineman Raekwon Davis exited the game at one point, but he didn’t miss too much time. The more serious injury appeared to be to left guard Liam Eichenberg, who was carted off of the field in the third quarter due to a knee injury. He was replaced by Robert Jones.
The Dolphins have now won two games in a row and are undefeated in contests that Tagovailoa has finished.
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Statistical Breakdown: How the Dolphins and Lions stack up before Week 8
