Dolphins trade for Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell paid off on Sunday
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are in a position that they haven’t been in since week 9 of the 2014 season. Above .500 and two players stood out to make that happen.
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When the Dolphins traded their 8th overall pick to the Philadelphia Eagles Miami acquired linebacker Kiko Alonso and cornerback Byron Maxwell. Questions came with both players. Alonso had an injury history while Maxwell didn’t come close to playing up to his 2015 free agent contract for the Eagles. Yet Miami made the move nonetheless.
Clearly Alonso has been the better of the two for the Dolphins. He has yet to perform close to his rookie season but he has played better than many expected. Maxwell on the other hand has had his shares of ups and downs throughout this season and on Sunday, his day was about the same.
Maxwell was horrible in coverage against San Diego at times and then he was in position to make plays at other times. Two critical penalties on Maxwell extended drives and allowed the Chargers to hang on to a close game but when it mattered, Maxwell delivered one of four fatal blows to the Chargers chances of winning.
Tony Lippett’s two interceptions were huge in Miami’s victory on Sunday but the pick-6 interception by Kiko Alonso sealed the win for Miami as the clock began to tick to 1:00 minute remaining.
The touchdown for Alonso was his first touchdown at any level of playing the sport. College, high-school, and anything before that. Alonso’s touchdown and the final interception by Lippett put Miami over the even mark.
At times both players have struggled and Maxwell in particular has been benched in favor of youth but on Sunday both players stepped up and made the plays when they were needed for the Dolphins. And the guy Miami drafted at Philadelphia’s 13th spot? Laremy Tunsil? Yeah he had a pretty darn good day as well.