Five Miami Dolphins week 3 defensive game balls after win

The Miami Dolphins defense stepped up on Sunday and found strength and energy despite long drives by the Bills, in the end, they were ready.

I still can’t figure out how the Dolphins’ defenders managed to find their mojo late in the game with the Bills’ offensive line clearly wilting in the Florida sunshine. This is reminiscent of the old Don Shula Dolphins teams that practiced in the relentless south Florida heat to the point they were so conditioned, it didn’t matter to them.

On Sunday, it apparently didn’t matter to the Dolphins’ defenders. There were plenty of plays left on the field. Several players including Brandon Jones, Xavien Howard, and Jevon Holland had shots and game-defining interceptions but they all dropped them. Still, in the end, it was brute strength and will that won the game.

Christian Wilkins

Whatever went on in the bottom of the pile late in the game was enough that Josh Allen was pretty ticked off about it. It led to a personal foul penalty against the Bills at the worst possible time. Allen told media after the game that it was “football stuff”. Wilkins was once again dominant in the game.

Jevon Holland

The biggest dissrespect a player like Holland can get is that he isn’t nationally recognized by the league. Holland is a beast and one of the Dolphins best draft picks of the last 20 years. On Sunday, he was again, everywhere. He notched a whopping 9 tackles and one assist and was credited with 1.5 sacks. His sack of Allen in the first hald led to a game-tying TD after he Allen fumbled on the hit. Holland has developed into a captain on the field and on Sunday, he was nearly perfect.

Melvin Ingram

Ingram continues to impress and it makes you wonder why he was a free agent for so long. Off the edge he was physical and had to be accounted for. He posted a stat line of only 3 tackles but two of them were sacks. He continually made Allen move around and not have a clean pocket to throw from. Ingram also made one of the plays of the day when he forced Allen out of the pocket and had to dump the ball off. Ingram chased the running back down and tackled him in bounds. It would be the final play of the game as the clock ticked off.

Jerome Baker

If you were impressed with the Holland stats, then the 9 tackles and four assists is just as impressive. He was credited with a .5 sack but on the day, Baker was sideline to sideline in his pursuit and made sevaral big hits and tackles when the Dolphins needed a stop.

Keion Crossen

Crossen didn’t have a great stat line. He didn’t get credit for a tackle, sack, or even an assist. We could have given this to Zach Sieler, Duke Riley, or couple of others but Crossen made the biggest play of the game when he stripped the ball out of Gabe Davis’ hands in the endzone for what would have been a game-changing touchdown. The strip by Crossen would lead to a field goal and keep the game 17-14 as opposed to 21 to 14.