Dolphins-Cardinals Week 8 Halftime Observations

The offense shows some life in Tua's return to the lineup.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) throws the football against the Arizona Cardinals during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins' Week 8 game against the Arizona Cardinals?

We'll start with the inactive list, highlighted by a trio of defensive players out because of injuries:

• DT Zach Sieler (eye)
• CB Kader Kohou (neck)
• CB Storm Duck (ankle)

Also inactive were:

• LB Mohamed Kamara
• TE Tanner Conner
• RB Jeff Wilson, Jr.
• OL Andrew Meyers

With only Tua Tagovailoa and Skylar Thompson on the active roster, no player was designated as the emergency third quarterback.

Cornerback Cam Smith, the team's first pick in the 2023 NFL draft, was active for the first time this season after being activated from injured reserve earlier in the week.

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FIRST QUARTER

The Dolphins got the ball on offense first after the Cardinals won the toss and deferred, meaning we wouldn't have to wait to see what the offense would look like with Tua.

While there were a couple of hiccups, it was about as good an opening drive as any Dolphins fan could have hoped for, complete with two third-down conversions.

Most of the throws were safe, with short completions for Tua, but the offense looked more lively and efficient than when Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle, or Tyler Huntley were at quarterback.

The two hiccups on the drive came when Robert Jones allowed Dante Stills penetration, allowing Stills to swipe the ball out of Tua's hands. Then there was the fumble by Julian Hill, whose season has been about penalties, though Jones recovered it.

The first defensive series for the Dolphins was about batted balls, with Jalen Ramsey and Calais Campbell doing the honors. Ramsey's knockdown came on a blitz, something he's done so well all season for Miami.

The most notable aspect of the Dolphins' second drive was that they had Tua throw on third-and-1, the first time in 10 such situations this season they haven't run the ball. Tua connected with Jonnu Smith for a 4-yard gain.

The Dolphins wasted a down on this series when Tua fumbled a snap from Aaron Brewer, though he was able to fall on the loose ball.

This drive featured no pass attempts to Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle and ended with a 53-yard field goal by Jason Sanders.

Arizona cut into the lead on the second drive, and this one was all about Kyler Murray.

The drive began with a beautiful throw downfield between defenders in zone coverage, which resulted in a 25-yard gain for Marvin Harrison, Jr.

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SECOND QUARTER

Murray's quickness in the pocket came into play twice when he escaped Ramsey on the blitz, first for a 7-yard completion to former Dolphins draft pick Elijah Higgins and the second on his 6-yard touchdown pass to Michael Wilson on third-and-goal.

Great penetration by Benito Jones helped the Dolphins stuff James Conner for no gain on second-and-goal from the 1. The Dolphins stuffed Conner all first half.

Jonnu Smith made a bad drop on the next drive on a crosser on second-and-9. It looked like he was too concerned with the defender coming his way.

On third-and-9, Tua went deep for the first time, but his attempt to Hill down the left side was way underthrown.

Cornerback Kendall Fuller had a great pass breakup on Arizona's next drive on third-and-7 from the Miami 42 and saved some points. While Fuller has been pretty quiet, it says here he's been just as good as Xavien Howard was the past two seasons.

The Dolphins began their final drive of the first half at their 5-yard line and Tua came up with a key third-down conversion on third-and-9 because a miss would have given Arizona the ball in great field position with the opportunity to score before halftime.

Tua then had his best throw of the first half when he tear-dropped a perfect ball to Hill down the right sideline to the Cardinals' 36 for 30 yards. That's a play the Dolphins couldn't have with any of their backup quarterbacks.

The play set up Jason Sanders' field goal right before the half, which made it 13-7, capping what was overall a pretty solid first half for the Dolphins.

Of course, the field goal came after the Dolphins went for a fade to Hill on third down, which is always a pretty low-percentage play.

Safety Jevon Holland sustained a knee injury in the second quarter and was listed as questionable to return.

Tua ended the half 19-for-25 for 162 yards and a 92.4 passer rating.