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Things we learned in Miami Dolphins’ 42-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers

chris perkins, steve svekis, south florida sun-sentinel
·9 min read

MIAMI GARDENS — The outcome of the Miami Dolphins’ 42-21 victory over the winless Carolina Panthers was never in doubt, even when the Panthers took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Dolphins improved to 5-1 on the season, and 9-2 at home under coach Mike McDaniel with the victory.

Carolina didn’t do much in the final three quarters of the game, and the Dolphins played a fairly crisp, efficient, clean game.

The victory was well-timed considering the Dolphins honored Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas and have a showdown at NFC East leading Philadelphia next week. Here are some other takeaways from Sunday’s game:

Tyreek 2K

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who has a stated goal of having an NFL-record 2,000 yards receiving this season, ended the Carolina game with six receptions for 163 yards and one touchdown.

Hill now has 814 yards for the season, an average of 135.6 yards per game.

Hill needs to average 118 yards per game to get 2,006 yards.

Hill’s day on Sunday was highlighted by a 41-yard touchdown.

Hill went to the locker room due to cramps midway through the third quarter after a 47-yard reception. But he quickly returned to the game. — Chris Perkins

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No Achane, no problem … Mostert is here

Running back Raheem Mostert continued showing the Dolphins run game is strong this season, and he did so with a 115-yard-yard performance. This was a welcome relief considering rookie running back De’Von Achane, who was second in rushing at 460 yards when play began Sunday, is on injured reserve.

Mostert, who had 17 carries and two touchdowns, started play Sunday 14th in the league in rushing (314 yards) and his seven rushing touchdowns were tied for the league lead with San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey.

The Dolphins rushed for 16 yards, 4.9 yards per carry.

Focus on Carolina (or Philly?)

The Dolphins fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter, leaving plenty of room to question whether they focused on the winless Carolina Panthers (who entered 0-5). This was after coach Mike McDaniel told said the Panthers would be a bit dangerous because they’re winless. Apparently, his own players might not have believed him early in the game.

But the Dolphins got things in order fairly quickly, taking a 21-14 halftime lead.

And, no, the Dolphins say they weren’t looking ahead to next week’s showdown at Philadelphia.

Entering Sunday’s games, the Dolphins were 9-2 under McDaniel against teams with a losing record (teams that finished last season with a losing record and now have a losing record). Last season they were 6-2 against teams with a losing record.

Tua jiu-jitsu training (perhaps) surfaces

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was hardly touched by Carolina, but he was shoved backwards in the third quarter by linebacker Brian Burns after throwing a pass, and Tagovailoa tucked his head and rolled backward just as he said he was likely taught during offseason jiu-jitsu training.

Tagovailoa (21 of 31, 262, three touchdowns, no interceptions, 126.0 passer rating) entered Sunday’s game with just six sacks in five games.

Last season he was asked 21 times in 13 games.

Penalties are down

The Dolphins entered the game with 32 penalties and on pace for 119, which would eclipse their league-leading 118 penalties in 18 games (including the wild-card playoff round) last season.

On Sunday, however, the Dolphins totaled three for 25 yards.

A defensive illegal substitution penalty (Dolphins had 12 men on the field when the Panthers were on their offensive formation) on third-and-3 from the Dolphins’ 13-yard line gave the Panthers a first-and-goal at the 8-yard line. Carolina scored a touchdown two plays later for a 14-0 lead.

Hill drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for his touchdown celebration late in the second quarter. But things stayed under control penalty-wise.

Van Ginkel starts over Phillips

Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel started over edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, but it’s tough to know whether it was performance-related or injury-related. Van Ginkel had a team-best 4.0 sacks when play started Sunday. Phillips had missed three games due to injury (one due to a back injury, two due to oblique injury).

Slight tweak in dime package, nickel stays same

Cornerback Parry Nickerson played as the sixth (dime) defensive back while cornerback Eli Apple continued coming into the game as the fifth (nickel) defensive back. It’s another in a series of tweaks to the nickel and dime packages.

Technically, cornerback Kader Kohou, one of boundary starters in the base defense along with fellow cornerback Xavien Howard, plays the slot in the nickel package and is considered the nickel/slot. Apple plays the boundary in the nickel.

In the dime package Nickerson regained his job that he lost to veteran Justin Bethel. Curiously, Bethel, a special teams specialist, had previously taken Apple’s job as the fifth/nickel defensive back.

Bethel currently doesn’t have a role in the nickel or dime.

Dolphins go heavy, throw bad lateral

The Dolphins got cute and paid a small price early in the game. Miami had a two-tight end formation with a fullback on third-and-1 at its own 34-yard line in the first quarter. Instead of running up the middle, which the formation suggested, Tagovailoa stepped backward and threw a lateral pass to Mostert.

The problem is the pass was high and sailed by Mostert, rolled around free for a second or two and then went out of bounds for a fumble/loose ball and a 9-yard loss.

The Dolphins, who entered the game with 10 fumbles, tied for third in the league, punted one play later.

Eichenberg at center

Liam Eichenberg made his second start at center and it went much better than his first start, which was at Buffalo. Eichenberg seemed to make good snaps to Tagovailoa and it seemed there was less confusion about blocking assignments.

It’s unclear whether starting center Connor Williams (groin) will play next week at Philadelphia. Williams has now missed two-plus games considering he came out during the Denver game.

Pass rush, pass protection

The Dolphins entered Sunday’s game with 17 sacks, tied for third in the league, and they added four against Carolina. Perhaps better, the Dolphins didn’t allow a sack.

The Dolphins now have 21 sacks entering and 11 the past two weeks considering the seven they had last week against the New York Giants.

Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins had 2.0 sacks and now has 3.5 for the season, on pace for about 9.0, which would be a career-best — and earn him lots of money. Wilkins is in the final year of his contract.

Edge rusher Bradley Chubb and defensive tackle Zach Sieler each had one sack.

The pass protection unit did an admirable job, especially on linebacker Brian Burns, who had 12.5 sacks last season.

Mostert tracking down Clayton, eyeing Tomlinson?

The Dolphins record for touchdowns in a season has stood at 18 for 39 years, when Mark Clayton set the record in 1984. Raheem Mostert, on pace for 31 scores, may toast that mark by Thanksgiving after his hat trick against the Panthers put him at 11 after six games. There has been only one player in NFL history with as many as 31 touchdowns in a season: The San Diego Chargers’ LaDainian Tomlinson set the NFL mark in with 31 in the 16-game 2006.

Mostert is also in play to smash two personal bests. Heading into this season, his top total-yardage season was last year, when he rolled up 1,093 such yards. With 574 after six games in 2023, he is on pace for 1,626. Also last year, Mostert established a career best with 212 touches (runs and receptions). With 93 thus far in 2023, it extrapolates to 263 over 17 games. — Steve Svekis

Dolphins’ home performance harkens back to Miami’s Super Bowl years

Miami improved to 15-2 in their past 17 home games (dating back to Nov. 7, 2021) with their win over the Carolina Panthers. The last time the Dolphins had at least 15 wins over a run of 17 home games was in 1983-86 seasons as Miami went 21-1 from Oct. 30, 1983 in the Orange Bowl all the way through the Dolphins’ first-ever home game at what is now Hard Rock Stadium. The current run has been facilitated by the 15 wins coming against an opponent win percentage of .384, heading into Sunday’s play.

Dolphins turn their attention to what was a 2022 Achilles heel

Last year in five games against quarterbacks with a career average per carry of at least 5 yards a carry, Miami went 3-2, with all five games having a margin of four points or fewer, however the mobile passers had their way on the ground, with Justin Fields, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen combining for 441 yards on 46 carries (9.6 yards per carry) with two touchdowns, with a two-point conversion added in. The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts entered Week 6 with a career 5.0 yards per run.

That was a first under the new coaching regime

That was the Dolphins’ first first-possession three-and-out in Mike McDaniel’s 11 home games as a head coach. The previous time Miami hadn’t gotten at least one first down on its opening possession at Hard Rock Stadium was against the Jets on Dec. 19, 2021, which was also the most recent instance of the Dolphins starting with their first two possessions as three-and-outs or worse. Against the Jets, those Dolphins threw an interception on the first play of their second drive.

Unbothered Tua is lethal Tua

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa improved his record when sacked once or not at all to 16-4. When he has been sacked at least two times, Miami has gone 10-10.

Miami has piled up explosive quarters

The Dolphins have had an incredible eight quarters (of their 24) with at least 14 points scored.

The Kevin Harlan meter

Since the beginning of the 2022 season with CBS’ Kevin Harlan on the microphone, Miami has gone 6-0 with a chunky 246-164 (41-27 per game) scoring margin.

Tagovailoa’s record fumble pace needs to dry up

Tagovailoa, primarily beset by a number of center-QB exchanges, has been tagged with six fumbles, a pace for a club-record 17. Five of them have come away from Hard Rock Stadium, and four of the next six games will be played outside of South Florida. Matt Moore owns the ignominious club record with 14 in 2011.

On deck: At Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, Sunday, 8:20 p.m.

The Dolphins play the defending NFC champion and their stout run defense in what will be the first test since the Bills game. Miami will have that further challenge of a running quarterback in Hurts, but the Eagles cornerbacks had issues with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and company in intersquad scrimmages last year.