Four positive takeaways from the Miami Dolphins loss to the 49ers

The Miami Dolphins 33-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday was a sobering one for sure. Coming off five straight wins and scoring 30-plus points in the last four games, a double-digit loss to one of the NFL’s elite teams amplifies the inevitable questions surrounding Miami right now. Is Tua Tagovailoa an elite quarterback? Can the Miami offense perform against elite playoff teams? Is this team good enough to make a deep run in the postseason?

It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity after a loss, but it’s almost important to keep perspective. The Dolphins weren’t caught with their pants down. It was a six-point game early in the fourth quarter and the 49ers were down to their third-string quarterback. There were plenty of positive takeaways for Miami.

Tyreek Hill is still elite!

The Dolphins acquired wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the offseason to be the focal point of their passing attack. Even while the rest of the offense had its struggles, Hill kept up his end of the bargain, hauling in nine catches for 145 yards and a touchdown. He was the second-highest-graded receiver according to Pro Football Focus with a grade of 90.4, sitting just behind Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams’s grade of 92.3.

Hill’s biggest play of the game came in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. With Miami down 23-10 and in desperate need of a spark, Hill snagged a deep pass from Tagovailoa for a 45-yard touchdown. After the 49ers seemed to have bottled up the Dolphins’ offense all game, save for one long pass at the beginning of the game, Hill cut the deficit to six points in the fourth quarter. His ability to change the game was on full display on Sunday.

Christian Wilkins continues to impress!

Fourth-year defensive tackle Christian Wilkins has become the foundational piece for Miami’s defense, and he showed why against San Francisco. He finished with a season-high 12 tackles, including seven solos and one tackle for loss.

Wilkins’ ability to clog the middle of the line of scrimmage was evident in the 49ers’ inability to run the ball as efficiently as they’re accustomed to. Even while averaging 4.3 yards per carry and having a dynamic running back like Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco was only able to scrounge 121 yards on the ground with a 3.6 yards-per-carry average.

For the season, Wilkins has 66 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks. PFF ranks him 10th among interior defensive linemen with a grade of 75.5, coming just shy of Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s grade of 75.6. He’s due to begin contract extension talks with the team this offseason, and Miami will have to pay up sooner or later.

The replacement offensive tackles weren’t a disaster!

With starting tackles Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson being out with injuries for Sunday’s game, there was much discussion surrounding their backups. Replacement offensive tackles Greg Little and Brandon Shell, while not up to the starters’ level, both performed adequately.

Among all eligible offensive linemen in week 13, PFF ranked Shell 25th and Little 49th with grades of 73.9 and 67.5, respectively. The two only allowed one sack, one quarterback hit, and two quarterback hurries combined.

With Jackson being placed on injured reserve this week and Armstead being questionable going forward, Shell and Little will continue to be tested, but facing an imposing defensive front like San Francisco’s and not having the bottom completely fall out is a good sign.

Fourth down playcalling!

The score is 23-17 San Francisco. It’s fourth down with one yard to go. The Dolphins have the ball on their own 19-yard line with about 10 minutes to go. Instead of punting the ball and hoping the defense makes a stop, head coach Mike McDaniel decides to roll the dice and go for it.

McDaniel has been lauded for his play-calling all season, but what he drew up here was a thing of beauty. The call is a run-pass option that Tagovailoa keeps and he moves to his left. The play worked so well that he didn’t only have one good option, he had three.

There was easily enough running room for Tagovailoa to run for the first down, the fullback Alec Ingold was open right on the first down marker, and Hill found the soft spot in the coverage about eight yards downfield. Tagovailoa chose to throw to Hill, arguably the most difficult of the three choices, but the fact that there were three good options to choose from shows how good of a play caller McDaniel is.

Then almost three minutes and 50 yards later, the Dolphins faced another fourth down, this time a fourth and two on the 49ers’ 36-yard line. Tagovailoa zips it to tight end Mike Gesicki on the sideline. The initial call on the field is a catch and Miami converts another fourth down, but it’s overturned on replay when it’s shown that Gesicki didn’t have full control of the ball.

Take the results out of the equation. The fact that McDaniel, a first-year head coach, is comfortable making those calls and then can draw up the right plays to convert them is a big deal. Too often, NFL coaches are either too hesitant to pull the trigger on a fourth-down call or, if they’re brave, choose a run up the middle that is stuffed or some other play call that leaves the audience scratching its head. McDaniel is good at play calling in the big moments against the best teams, and that’s something to be optimistic about.