The Miami Dolphins’ seven-game winning streak was snapped Sunday afternoon against the Tennessee Titans. The final score of this game was 34-3. With this loss, the Dolphins are eliminated from playoff contention, while Tennessee clinched a playoff berth. This was a game where the Dolphins just could not get their offense on track in the rain. Furthermore, the Titans’ offensive line did a great job at protecting Tannehill and giving him time to throw against a tough Dolphins defense. This article will recap the Miami Dolphins Week 17 game against the Tennessee Titans.
Tua Tagovailoa did not play his best gameÂ
Tagovailoa did not play great at all in this game. He was 18/38 passing with 205 passing yards and had one interception. He did not seem to have the best grip on the ball at times as he fumbled a couple of snaps during this game. The first fumbled snap cost the Dolphins dearly as the Titans recovered and had a short field to work with.
Photo Courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel/ USA TODAY Sports
The Dolphins quarterback also threw a lot of bad passes into double and triple-covered receivers. A couple came close to getting picked off and probably should have. The pass that was intercepted was tipped by Mike Gesicki and went into the hands of Titans’ linebacker David Long. Furthermore, the passes that were not in danger of being intercepted were a lot of the time high and off-target. This was more than likely due to rainy and slippery conditions. Tagovailoa also did not get a lot of help from the receivers. Multiple Dolphins’ receivers dropped passes throughout the game. Not to mention, he was sacked four times in this game, as he was under pressure a lot of the day. This was a game to forget for Tagovailoa and he will need to get things corrected before their next game against the Patriots as they will be playing for pride.
Dolphins’ receivers and running backs
Mike Gesicki had the most amount of yardage in this game as he had 51 yards on seven targets. He made a couple of key first downs when the Dolphins needed it. Unfortunately, his play only yielded the Dolphins three points the entire game. Jaylen Waddle did not have his most productive receiving day. Tagovailoa threw a lot of bad passes to him but the ones he did catch he made the most of. He did have the best play of the game for this Dolphins offense. This was a 45-yard bomb from Tagovailoa that put the Dolphins in a good position to score. Waddle averaged 15.7 yards a reception and ended the day with 47 receiving yards and no touchdowns.
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The Dolphins running backs did not produce much in this game. This has been the case all season with this team. Overall, they had 74 yards rushing with Duke Johnson getting the most carries and yardage. He got a couple of good bursts through the middle at times. He finished the day with 49 yards. Myles Gaskin also had 23 yards on the day with his long being for eight yards. This is an aspect of the Dolphins’ game that needs to be improved on for next year, as the lack of consistent running backs makes the offense one-dimensional.
The Dolphins’ Defense
This was also a disappointing game for the defense. They gave up 34 points and could not stop Titans’ running back D’Onta Foreman who burned them for 132 yards and one touchdown. If it was not Foreman rushing the ball then it was the Titans’ offense utilizing the play-action passing attack, which has worked for them for a few years now.
The Dolphins also could not get the same pressure blitzing like they have the past several games. Miami only recorded one sack during this game, which was made by Jerome Baker. He has been on fire lately as he was named the defensive player of the month in the AFC. The leading tackler in this game for the Dolphins was Christian Wilkins. He had 11 total tackles with one being for a loss. This was a game to forget for Miami and they will have a chance to redeem themselves with one more game against the Patriots before the season ends. This concludes this Miami Dolphins’ Week 17 game recap.
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