Time for Ingram Move to Pay Off

INGRAM WAS BIG FACTOR IN 2022 VICTORY

It's no secret that the  Dolphins have had a hard time with Allen since the Bills QB entered the NFL in 2018, with just two wins in 11 meetings.

One of those wins came in September 2022 at Hard Rock Stadium, and Ingram played a major role in it.

In only his third game with the Dolphins after signing in the offseason, Ingram set up Miami's first score when he recovered an Allen fumble caused by a hit from Jevon Holland on a blitz, had two sacks and was in on the tackle of wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie on the last play of the game when he and Emmanuel Ogbah kept McKenzie from reaching the sideline, allowing the clock to run out with the ball at the Miami 41-yard line to secure the 21-19 victory.

That performance helped Ingram earn AFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for September.

That 2022 game wasn't the first time that Ingram got to Allen. He also had 1.5 sacks against him in Allen's first career start in 2018 when he was a member of the L.A. Chargers.

CAN MELVIN INGRAM FIND HIS GROOVE?

Now 34, Ingram clearly isn't the same player he once was, but the Dolphins clearly believe the former first-round pick can still produce, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered signing him to essentially replace another veteran, Jason Pierre-Paul, who they waived after he appeared in two games.

Having not played the entire season, it figured it might take some time for Ingram to find his groove and that perhaps explains his minimal production (two tackles on running plays in 37 snaps) over his first two games.

This would be an ideal time for the old Ingram to surface.

He likely will be part of a rotation at outside linebacker with Ogbah and Cameron Goode — Andrew Van Ginkel figures to play as many snaps as he can handle on one side — so this will be more about quality of snaps than quantity.

And the Dolphins really could use Ingram coming through the way he did in that September 2022 game.