Jerome Baker shines as the player of the game in loss to Bengals

Even though Miami lost in a terrible way on Sunday, I need to recognize strong play by Miami’s defense specifically Jerome Baker, who is my player of the game for this week.

Miami lost in heartbreaking fashion against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The offense looked poor throughout the second half and didn’t complement a strong outing by Miami’s defense. In a loss like this, it’s hard to give out a player of the game award, but I believe it’s important to give some credit where credit is due and recognize how the defense played for most of the game.

So, to recognize some young talent that performed well on Sunday, my player of the game goes out to Jerome Baker.

Drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Baker worked hard to earn a starting linebacker spot in the preseason and has played well so far as a rookie. Today, though, he started to make his presence known to opposing quarterbacks as he notched his first two sacks of his career. With Cameron Wake out this week, it was important for somebody to step up and put some pressure on Andy Dalton.

Baker did just that. He ended the day with 2 sacks and 7 total tackles. Overall, Miami’s defense was able to put together some good drives keeping the high scoring Bengals offense to 13 points. A lot of that can be attributed to the entire defense, but Baker making plays when he needed to helped them get off the field and kept the Dolphins in the game.

The Dolphins losing this game after leading by 17 with about 9 minutes left in the third quarter is going to be painful for a while. Focusing on the play of the defense, and in particular Baker’s performance, should give Dolphins fans hope that their defense can make plays when necessary.

Let me know your player of the game in the comments below.