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Things we learned in Miami Dolphins’ 70-20 historic victory over the Denver Broncos

Chris Perkins, Steve Svekis, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·9 min read

MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins established a franchise record for points in Sunday’s 70-20 shellacking of the visiting Denver Broncos. The previous mark was 55 established on Nov. 24, 1997 vs. St. Louis.

Yeah, coach Mike McDaniel, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, in their second season together, did something that Shula-Marino-Clayton and Duper could never do.

That’s impressive.

Let’s not discount running backs Raheem Mostert or De’Von Achane (203 yards rushing). They were also huge.

And the defense was also impressive.

In fact, the Dolphins could give quite a few game balls out for this performance.

But the big thing is this sets up one heck of a showdown next week in Buffalo.

Offensive explosion

The Dolphins approached the NFL record for points, which is 72 established by Washington in 1966.

The overall record is 73 by Chicago, but that was in the playoffs in the 1940 championship game.

This was absolutely amazing, and a great statement by the Mike McDaniel-Tua Tagovailoa offense. — Chris Perkins

Tua on fire again

Tagovailoa completed his first 16 passes before ending 23 of 26 for 309 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 155.8 passer rating (158.3 is perfect).

Tagovailoa completed 12 consecutive passes at one point last season.

In a nod to the offensive line, Tagovailoa wasn’t sacked Sunday for the second game. He’s only been sacked once in three games.

Tagovailoa has been magical this season. For the season he’s 72 of 101 for 1,024 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.

Tyreek 2K

On the third play of the game Tagovailoa went over the middle to hit wide receiver Tyreek Hill on a 54-yard touchdown reception.

Hill kept it going and didn’t stop until he had nine receptions for 157 yards and one touchdown. Hill had six receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown on the first half.

Hill now has 25 receptions for 412 yards and four touchdowns for the season.

Hill is averaging 137.3 yards per game, and at this pace he’ll end with 2,335 yards.

Hill started the year with a 215-yard performance against the Los Angeles Chargers. He had five receptions for 40 yards last week against New England.

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Mostert running better than last week, or last year

Running back Raheem Mostert, who, at 31-years old, was a bit of a concern to some due to his age and injury history, is off to a great start with 240 yards rushing and six touchdowns through three games.

Mostert had an 82-yard rushing performance Sunday to go along with seven receptions for 60 yards and one touchdown.

Mostert had 10 carries for 74 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the first half.

Mostert had a 121-yard outing at New England last week.

Mostert had a career-best 891 yards rushing last season and averaged 4.9 yards per carry.

Combine Mostert’s performance this season with the 203 yards from rookie running back De’Von Achane and it’s looking as though the Dolphins didn’t need running back Dalvin Cook (Minnesota, now with N.Y. Jets) or Jonathan Taylor (Indianapolis), two players that drew their interest during training camp.

Apple replaced … even in dime package

The Dolphins weren’t kidding when they said they were looking at “all options” regarding cornerback Eli Apple, the former starter in the nickel (five defensive backs) defense.

Cornerback Justin Bethel started in the slot in the nickel with cornerbacks Xavien Howard and Kader Kohou on the boundary and safeties Jevon Holland and DeShon Elliott on the back end. In the dime (six defensive backs) package, cornerback Parry Nickerson came on with Howard, Bethel, Kohou, Holland and Elliott.

Apple said last week he thought he was playing “solid” football.

Worse, Apple left in the fourth quarter after just a few plays and was being evaluated for a concussion.

Julian Hill plays … all rookies have now played

Tight end Julian Hill made his debut against the Broncos. All the rookies on the 53-man roster that have been with the team since training camp have now make their debut, which includes cornerback Cam Smith (second-round pick from South Carolina), Achane (third-round pick from Texas A&M), Hill (undrafted from Campbell), running back Chris Brooks (undrafted from BYU) and defensive lineman Brandon Pili (undrafted from USC) all playing. Smith, who was inactive Sunday, hasn’t yet played from scrimmage.

Achane explodes

Achane had a cool-looking touchdown on a 4-yard no-look shovel pass from Tagovailoa in the second quarter. But that was just the beginning.

Achane ended with 203 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 18 carries in his second game (he debuted last week).

The no-look shovel pass was a highlight but not the only one. Achane had an impressive end-around for 40 yards and another shovel pass touchdown.

On the no-look shovel pass, Tagovailoa dropped back to pass, and as he reached the third step of his dropback he shovel-passed it to Achane, who was right in front of him.

Achane also had a 23-yard touchdown run negated by a holding penalty by center Connor Williams.

Another thing to watch for with Connor Williams

Center Connor Williams, who left the game with a groin injury in the third quarter and didn’t return, had two holding calls on the second-quarter touchdown drive that gave the Dolphins a 21-7 lead. His first holding call wiped out a 17-yard completion from Tagovailoa to Hill, and his second wiped out a 23-yard touchdown run by Achane.

Williams had a few botched snaps in the first two games although it’s not clear which ones were his fault and which were Tagovailoa’s fault.

Liam Eichenberg took Williams’ spot at center after he was injured.

McDaniel comes up short on 4th-and-1 … and it’s no problem

McDaniel attempted a 4th-and-1 from the Dolphins’ 34-yard line late in the second quarter while holding a 21-10 lead with 4:52 left. The Dolphins didn’t get it. Fullback Alec Ingold was stopped for no gain.

No problem.

The defense held Denver to a three-and-out. And then the Dolphins marched down 86 yards in six plays, consuming a mere 1:20 off the clock, and scoring on a 20-yard touchdown run by Mostert for a 28-10 lead.

McDaniel might have been figuring his defense would hold, and even if they didn’t that his offense was good enough to score if Denver scored quickly.

Protection change on extra points

Last week’s blocked field goal attempt from the right side seems to have prompted a change in extra point protection. The flank blocking spot on the right side used to be manned by defensive lineman Christian Wilkins but Sunday it was occupied by right tackle Austin Jackson and then tight end Durham Smythe.

Wilkins shifted over to the left side of the formation.

The Dolphins didn’t attempt a field goal but most likely the blocking is the same for that.

Mostert’s touchdown-run distance in back-to-back games hasn’t been seen by a Miami back in a while

Raheem Mostert blazed through the Patriots for a 43-yard back-breaking touchdown last Sunday night and then began his touchdown-fest against Denver with a 20-yarder around right end. That represents the first time a Dolphins running back has had consecutive games with a touchdown run of at least 20 yards since Ricky Williams turned the trick in 2002, when he hit paydirt from 45 and 55 yards at Buffalo on Dec. 1, and then bust loose for 63 yards on Dec. 9 at home against the Bears. — Steve Svekis

Dolphins get rare 3-0 start with two road wins

Sunday marked the ninth time the Dolphins have taken a perfect record into Week 4 with the majority of the victories away from South Florida, though it is only the second instance in the past 31 seasons. Now, the 2023 Dolphins have a chance to be the fourth team in the franchise’s 58 years to have a 4-0 record with three road wins, with a trip to Orchard Park, N.Y., coming next week. The other years with the road-heavy 3-0 starts: 2018, 1992, 1984, 1982, 1981, 1979, 1977, 1972, with 1992, 1981 and 1972 the years Miami started 4-0 with three away from home.

Kevin Harlan has been a Mike McDaniel-era Dolphins good-luck charm

Sunday was the 10th Dolphins game with Tua Tagovailoa starting that has been called by CBS baritone play-by-play man Kevin Harlan. In those games in 2020 and 2021, all on the road, Miami was 1-4, getting outscored 149-79. However, the Dolphins success massively flipped since the beginning of the 2022 season with Harlan on the microphone, going 5-0 with a 204-143 scoring margin.

— 2020: Dolphins at Broncos, 20-13 loss; 2020: Dolphins at Bills, 56-26 loss; 2021: Dolphins at Patriots, 17-16 win; 2021: Dolphins vs. Jags (London), 23-20 loss; 2021: Dolphins at Titans, 34-3 loss; 2022: Dolphins at Ravens, 42-38 win; 2022: Bills at Dolphins, 21-19 win; 2022: Dolphins at Bears, 35-32 win; 2023: Dolphins at Chargers, 36-34 win; 2023: Broncos at Dolphins, 70-20 win

The Broncos brought a lot of Broward’s best back to South Florida

Denver brought five alumni from Broward County high schools to the game at Hard Rock Stadium: Nik Bonitto, St. Thomas Aquinas; Jerry Jeudy, Deerfield Beach; Brandon Johnson, American Heritage; Fabian Moreau, Western; Pat Surtain II, American Heritage. In addition, St. Thomas Aquinas receiver Phillip Dorsett is on Denver’s practice squad.

On deck: At Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m.

In the 2022 season, the Dolphins came as close to winning in Buffalo as they have since 2016, with two field goal losses. Early on, Josh Allen has been running less, with his fewest carries (nine) and fewest rushing yards (43) in his career over a season’s first two games.