Defense helps Dolphins stun Baltimore

The Miami Dolphins' strange quarterback situation elicited the most conversation Thursday night, but it was the play of the defense that deserved the spotlight.

With their most dominating performance of the season, the Dolphins frustrated MVP contender Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens offense all night to pull off a stunning 22-10 victory at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Dolphins (3-7) have now won two in a row heading into a game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 21.

The Dolphins defense sacked Jackson four times, held him to 23 rushing yards and even got into the end zone when Xavien Howard returned a fumble for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Fittingly, the game ended with Dolphins kneel-downs after cornerback Justin Coleman picked off Jackson in the end zone.

Tua Tagovailoa started a second consecutive game as a backup, but came off the bench to throw a 35-yard pass to rookie Jaylen Waddle and later produce a career-long 64-yard completion to Albert Wilson in the fourth quarter.

Tagovailoa clinched the Dolphins victory shortly after when he scored a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak.

The defensive performance was every bit as good as anything the Dolphins showed during their 10-win season of 2020, if not better given the competition.

The Dolphins blitzed throughout the night and made Jackson uncomfortable, with the Ravens unable to  take advantage of a lot of single coverage downfield.

The Dolphins kept Baltimore out of the end zone until 4:12 remained in the fourth quarter when Jackson threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews to cap a 99-yard drive. The drive featured two roughing-the-passer penalties, a clear call against Jerome Baker and a highly questionable call on rookie safety Jevon Holland.

It didn't start off very well for the Dolphins defense, which gave up a field goal drive to start the game and then watched Baltimore move into field goal position on its second drive before Justin Tucker missed a 48-yard attempt.

But the Dolphins shut the door from that point until late in the fourth quarter.

Tagovailoa starting the game in a backup role for the second consecutive game led many analysts to question why he didn't start if he was considered healthy enough to be active.

Things got weirder — if that was possible — when Tua entered the game in the third quarter on the series after Jacoby Brissett was injured on a third-down sack.

But FOX sideline reporter Kristina Pink reported that Brissett was cleared to return to the game to start the that Dolphins series, only to be told by head coach Brian Flores that the switch was being made to Tagovailoa.

And, to complete, the weirdness, Tua threw a 35-yard completion to Jaylen Waddle on the last play of the third quarter, kind of contradicting this notion that Tua couldn't start because his finger injury was keeping him from throwing downfield.

That drive reached the Baltimore 1-yard line, where the Dolphins had a first-and-goal following a defensive pass interference penalty by Marlon Humphrey.

But the Dolphins were forced to settle for a field goal after guards Austin Jackson and Robert Hunt were flagged for a false start and illegal touching, respectively. Hunt's penalty actually provided comic relief as he caught a screen pass intended for running back Myles Gaskin and rumbled for what would have been a touchdown — had he been an eligible receiver.

But the Dolphins increased their lead on the next possession when Howard stripped the ball away from wide receiver Sammy Watkins after a short completion and returned the fumble 49 yards for a touchdown to make it 15-3.

After Baltimore made it 15-10, the offense needed to respond and it did just that with a 75-yard touchdown highlighted by the long completion to Wilson.

This victory, though, belonged to the Dolphins defense.