The Miami Dolphins pulled off their best victory of the 2021 campaign on Thursday night by defeating the Baltimore Ravens 22-10 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Brian Flores’ team won this game with their third stellar defensive performance in a row. However, this time, they did it against a great opponent, and they did it for the full 60 minutes.
While Miami’s offense didn’t do anything spectacular, when they needed a touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game, they were able to get into the end zone.
Here are some guys who needed to be credited for their performances and some who need to be blamed.
WINNER: S Jevon Holland
There might not have been a player with more of an impact on this game than the safety out of Oregon. Holland set the tone early with a big hit on Devin Duvernay that got the wideout out of bounds.
Throughout the night, Holland was flying around the field and forcing Jackson into errors, including putting the pressure on him that caused the game-sealing interception.
It’s been a great past few weeks for the rookie.
LOSER: HC Brian Flores
Flores finds himself on this side of the list for two reasons. The first reason stems from Tua Tagovailoa not getting the start. Jacoby Brissett went down in the third quarter, and Tagovailoa came in and made all of the throws he needed to, including a pass 45 yards in the air to Jaylen Waddle.
The second reason to be down on Flores is the play of the defense. It was great, and that’s the problem. Since the game against Buffalo when Xavien Howard said that defense went back to 2020 coverages, the defense has held two above-average offenses to sub-par days. Why were they playing any other way, and why were they doing so for seven weeks?
WINNER: WR Albert Wilson
Heading into the Thursday night matchup, Wilson had done next to nothing all year. He had brought in just eight receptions for 56 yards after receiving some hype in the preseason and training camp.
Against the Ravens, Wilson recorded four receptions for 87 yards with 64 of those yards coming on a broken play down the left sideline. If Wilson can provide some depth to this receiving corps, the Dolphins will be in better shape going forward.
LOSER: QB Jacoby Brissett
It was a tough night for Brissett on Thursday. The quarterback led his team to just six points through the first half before taking a sack to end the first drive of the second half that had him screaming in pain and holding his knee.
Brissett came out of the game under his own power and went into the medical tent. Upon exiting, he jogged around to test out his knee before seemingly telling the team he was good to go. Despite that, coach Flores held him back and allowed for Tagovailoa to enter.
WINNER: DE Emmanuel Ogbah
It’s every week for Ogbah now. He’s just been a consistent force. Whether it’s pressuring the quarterback or getting up the field to prevent a screen pass, everything that the edge rusher is doing is working.
Ogbah’s performance this year should earn him a pretty large payday this offseason.
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