Miami Dolphins defense stifles Baltimore in late night victory

The Miami Dolphins have two wins in a row thanks to a stellar defensive effort on Thursday night that kept the Ravens guessing.

For the first two quarters of the game, the Miami Dolphins looked possessed on defense. They gave up an opening drive field goal but then kept the Ravens from advancing the ball for almost the entire game. The Ravens missed a field goal attempt and scored a late touchdown. The score, 22-10 was one of the bigger wins against the Ravens and snaps a three game blowout streak.

It appeared as though Brian Flores took over defensive play calling and if that is true, he should remain doing so the rest of his career in Miami. The defense looked more like the Patriots Super Bowl defense against the Rams. Baltimore came in to the game as one of the top three offenses in the league but it was Miami’s defense that smothered them.

Miami harassed Lamar Jackson all night and sacked him four times. They took away all his running lanes and most of his passing lanes.

Offensively, the Dolphins couldn’t do much. Jacoby Brissett was barely effective but he did engineer three scoring drives and did not turn the ball over. After a leg injury took him out of the game, Tua Tagovailoa and his broken finger came onto the field. He wasn’t much better but did produce a late touchdown on a one yard drive.

Last nights victory was a total team effort that included a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by Xavien Howard who has been pretty quiet in recent weeks.

The biggest factor may have been the crowd. The Dolphins enjoyed one of their largest crowds this year and those in attendance called it an electric feeling that vibrated the stadium the entire night. Of course, it helped that the team on the field was playing so well that the fans had something to cheer about.

Miami came into the game as 9-point underdogs but played like they were the best team in football.