Miami Dolphins: 10 observations from Sunday’s victory over Steelers

10 observations from Miami Dolphins win over Steelers

8. When in doubt…Tyreek

It was not his biggest or most productive game of the season, but Tyreek Hill showed his importance to the offense with some crucial catches when the Dolphins needed first downs and a bit of momentum.

Perhaps the biggest positive attribute that Hill possesses is his ability to turn nothing into something, and the Dolphins are using it to their advantage as much as possible. When it felt like Miami couldn’t get anything going on offense, Tagovailoa was often able to hit the All-Pro wide receiver on crossing routes and give Miami some semblance of a pulse in tough situations.

9. Special teams haven’t been special all season

They haven’t been particularly terrible, but there has been nothing special about the Dolphins special teams so far this season. It seems that there is an unclear rotation of players that the uses to return punts, a unit that they have gotten nothing out of in 2022. Through the first seven weeks of the season, Miami has just 15 total punt return yards, and at least a pair of muffed catches that they were lucky to get back.

The kickoff returners haven’t been outstanding either, but the punt returning is abysmal, even by comparison.

10. Tua was clearly unhappy after the game…and I love that

There were a lot of smiles around the Miami Dolphins players after the game, as there should be after any victory in a league as tough as the NFL. But there was one player who was noticeably somber and perhaps even upset.

Tua Tagovailoa felt like he had a lot to prove in his first game back since the infamous injury, and it was obvious in his post game interviews that he was not happy with his performance. The game could have gone drastically different if the Steelers were able to capitalize on Tua’s mistakes, and he seems to be keenly aware of that fact.

He didn’t do much smiling during his on-field interview and in his press conference, and it seems as though he knows he has plenty to work on for the season going forward.