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Here are five takeaways from the Dolphins' 20-12 loss to the Texans

C. Isaiah Smalls II, Miami Herald on

Published in Football

This one goes out to the Miami Dolphins defense.

Despite the Dolphins’ 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans, the Miami defense came to play.

Case in point: the Texans only mustered 181 yards of offense on the day. The Joe Mixon-led rushing attack managed 77 yards — 35 of them on a fake punt. Quarterback CJ Stroud completed roughly 69% of his passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked four times.

The Dolphins defense even forced a turnover.

But when you turn the ball over as much as Tua Tagovailoa and the offense did, it’s difficult to still eek out a win.

Here are four other takeaways from the Dolphins’ Week 15 loss to the Texans:

Turnovers

Tagovailoa had four turnovers.

Those turnovers led to 10 points. The Dolphins lost by eight. See a pattern here?

The Miami Herald tried to tell you about the Texans’ pass rush. And by the midway point of the second quarter, the unit had made their presence felt as Will Anderson dragged down Tua Tagovailoa for the sack. Tagovailoa dropped the ball and Anderson later recovered.

The strip sack gave the Texans the ball on the Miami 28. A few plays later, the Texans had a touchdown.

Then came Tagovailoa’s interception just before halftime. Calen Bullock baited the Dolphins signal caller into a bad throw which the Texans safety picked off and returned 68 yards. The Texans would kick a field goal just as time expired.

By far the worst turnovers came in the fourth quarter. Down 20-12 with the momentum in the Dolphins’ favor as the team drove to the Houston 20, Tagovailoa fired off a ball to Tyreek Hill that cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. easily stepped in front of to secure the interception.

On the Dolphins’ final offensive play, Tagovailoa once again tried to find Hill who was once again 1-on-1 with Stingley. Although Hill actually jumped and caught the ball, Stingley wrestled it away to secure his second interception of the day.

This was the Texans’ ninth game in a row with a turnover.

 

Third-down conversions

The Dolphins came into Sunday converting 39% of their third downs.

Well, they went 4 of 13 against the Texans.

Good teams convert on third downs yet the Dolphins couldn’t manage to do so.

APB on elite receivers

Jaylen Waddle went down with a right knee injury midway through the second quarter. He never returned and did not record a catch.

Hill, however, played the whole game. His first catch didn’t come until midway through the third quarter.

After a phenomenal Week 14 game against the New York Jets in which the duo combined for 19 catches, 214 yards receiving and a touchdown, the pair was virtually nonexistent against the Texans. Hill finished with two grabs for 36 yards while Waddle didn’t catch any of his two targets.

Offensive penalties

Offensive holding and false start.

Those two penalties really hampered the Dolphins all day, as they accounted for five of Miami’s eight infractions on the day.

It’s hard not point fingers at the offensive line, who accrued four of those five penalties. Self-inflicted wounds will forever be difficult to overcome.

Guards Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg each drew a holding call while the latter added a false start in the fourth quarter. Tackle Jackson Carman, whom the Dolphins inserted in the starting lineup today after Kendall Lamm couldn’t play, recorded a hold in the third quarter. Hill added a holding call as well.

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©2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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