Miami Dolphins eliminate Washington Redskins from Tua race
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have taken a big step to eliminate the Washington Redskins from the Tua Tagovailoa tank formula.
When the Miami Dolphins took the field today, many believed they would play themselves out of potentially landing the top pick in the NFL Draft. After three-quarters of play, they showed that they were not quite ready to take themselves out.
Washington entered the game with an 0-5 record and now head back home with a victory that could be a deciding factor in who may hold the top pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Currently, there are three teams who have yet to win a football game in 2019. The Dolphins, the Jets, and the Bengals. The Jets play the Cowboys this afternoon.
Miami has been linked to a “tank” campaign since they jettisoned players off the roster to gain draft capital and salary cap space ahead of next year’s 2020 season.
The game today was one of the worst in terms of entertainment value. The two teams traded early punts and at one point it appeared the game could be headed towards a tie. Josh Rosen helped the Redskins with two interceptions on the day. At the start of the 4th quarter, Miami replaced Josh Rosen with Ryan Fitzpatrick despite only a 17-3 lead.
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Washington punched in a touchdown midway through the 2nd quarter and Miami added a field goal at the end of the first half. Washington would put 10 on the board in the third quarter but failed to score in the 4th. The Dolphins had a shot however
Without Xavien Howard, Miami’s secondary struggled to contain the edge receivers and eventually, the defense collapsed in the face of second-half pressure.
The defense overall didn’t play horribly. They were left with short fields and even shorter bench time due to the inability of the offense to sustain drives, a weekly problem for the team.
Josh Rosen’s interceptions, the inability to get first downs has left Miami’s offense one of the worst in team history. This year the Dolphins offense has produced a total of 42points.
Miami did, however, score their first points of the second half this season on a short two-yard run by Kalen Ballage. The touchdown also marked the first rushing touchdown of the season.
Miami for the second time this season attempted an onside kick only to have an offsides penalty called on the Dolphins thus negating the successful attempt. Miami at least kept it close today but they still have a long way to go before they turn this around.
Regardless of the way the team played for 59:50 seconds of the game, they scored their final points with 10 seconds left to bring the game into a potential tie. Brian Flores opted to go for the win instead and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s quick pass was dropped ending any chance of a victory.