Dolphins win to stay mathematically alive

The Miami Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens today and in doing so have kept a mere sliver of hope for the post-season.

Reality says the Dolphins are out of the hunt for the playoffs but mathematics say otherwise so let’s leave it at that. What did happen today is that the Dolphins beat a Ravens team that they seemed to desperately want to hand a victory to.

Miami played strong on defense picking Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub twice including a pick-six. When they were not picking him off they were hitting him hard sacking him three times. Schaub still managed to throw for 308 yards and a touchdown and the Ravens ran for 94 yards as a team.

While the defense stepped up and played hard, especially late in the game, the offense sputtered yet again. Apparently Bill Lazor wasn’t the biggest issue with the offense.

Ryan Tannehill opened the game with six incomplete passes and finished the day a horrible 9/19 for 86 yards. What the Dolphins did do well was run the ball. Something that Dan Campbell stressed all week.

The Dolphins Lamar Miller carried the ball 20 times for 113 yards on the ground. Jay Ajayi added four carries for 12 yards. Overall Miami obviously ran the ball much better than they have in recent weeks but the Dolphins once again were pathetic on 3rd down converting four of 13 opportunities. In the second half, Miami simply took the field for several three and outs until the 4th quarter when they finally got a 3rd down conversion which allowed the team run time off the clock.

While Miami came away with a win, they can thank Raven’s kicker Justin Tucker for missing a 51 yard field goal late in the game. Miami was able to drive the ball into Baltimore territory with time running down but a miserable call on 3rd and short left Tannehill sitting on the ball for a 5 yard loss. The play forced Miami to punt leaving about 24 seconds for the Ravens. The Ravens who played worst offense than the Dolphins couldn’t do anything with it.

The Dolphins didn’t have many highlights on offense but DeVante Parker’s three catches included a beautiful 38 yard touchdown. Jarvis Landry finished the day with two receptions for five yards. His lowest production of the season.

The Dolphins now move within two games of .500 and will face the New York Giants in Miami next weekend. The Giants have lost to the Redskins last week and the Jets this week in overtime.