Dolphins-Cardinals Week 8 Instant Takeaways

Tua is impressive in return, but a late collapse sends the Dolphins to another defeat.

Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane (28) runs with 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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GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

We obviously have to start with Tua Tagovailoa and his very good first start since his concussion. He had a couple of big-time throws, the teardrop to Tyreek Hill the obvious highlight, but more importantly, he executed the offense very smoothly.

It's probably not a coincidence that the offense was much better on third down.

The biggest issues for the offense involved a couple of snap problems, including the one that led to an Arizona safety. The Dolphins have to eliminate this kind of sloppy stuff if they're going to get back into playoff contention.

We can probably declare now that De'Von Achane is RB1, and we have seen why. This was the kind of performance we got accustomed to from him as a rookie. Achane also was a factor in the passing game.

A key coming into this game was how well the Dolphins' defense could contain James Conner, and the mission was accomplished there.

The problem on defense was keeping tight end Trey McBride in check as he went over the 100-yard mark.

In the end, the short-handed defense couldn't close the deal, and the Dolphins, even after Tua's return, found themselves on the wrong end again.

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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 nine because a miss would have given Arizona the ball in great field position and the opportunity to score before halftime.

Tua then had his best throw of the first half when he teardropped 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. This goal capped 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.

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THIRD QUARTER

Linebacker David Long, Jr. was left in coverage against tight end Trey McBride on the first snap of the second half, and that was a bad mismatch that the Cardinals took advantage of for 37 yards. Long is great against the run, but he's not particularly impressive in coverage, and the Dolphins need to protect him in that department.

Achane showed off his explosiveness on the first Dolphins offensive play of the second half. He followed Alec Ingold's lead block but then faked the cornerback out of his shoes, cutting back inside on his way to his 47-yard run.

Jaylen Waddle has got to catch that low pass from Tua. Period.

It's smart of Tua to slide at the end of his 13-yard scramble on the touchdown drive, though this really should always be a no-brainer.

The 12-yard touchdown pass to Achane was the kind of play you wonder the Dolphins couldn't pull off the last time. Yes, Tua is a different level of quarterback from his backups, but this wasn't exactly high-difficulty stuff for the quarterback. Just wondering.

This is how it's gone all season for the Dolphins, who got a stop after their touchdown and got the ball back, leading 20-10. The high shotgun snap from Aaron Brewer, Tua can't handle it, then bats the ball out of the back of the end, and it's an Arizona safety, and now it's 20-12.

Long had another forgettable play when he came in too hot after a short completion to WR Greg Dortsch on third-and-6 to turn a short gain into a 9-yard completion.

The touchdown came when Murray had plenty of time in the pocket, allowing Marvin Harrison, Jr. to get behind Jalen Ramsey on a crossing route in man coverage.

Great job by Jordyn Brooks to bring down Conner when he tried to dive over the top on the two-point conversion to preserve Miami's 20-18 lead.

Tua had a 20-yard completion to Waddle when he threw the ball immediately just inside the number, again the kind of play you wonder why the Dolphins never ran the past four games — and, no, it's not because Tua is the only one who can run it.

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FOURTH QUARTER

Tua did have a nifty 15-yard completion on third-and-5 when he hit Waddle right after he turned downfield.

Kudos to Tyreek Hill for a good seal block on Mostert's second touchdown run of the game, the 6-yarder on third-and-goal that made it 27-18.

The Dolphins came within a great Harrison catch from forcing a punt on the next drive, which would have almost sealed the deal.

Murray's mobility came into play again on his 22-yard completion to Harrison after Brooks chased him out of the pocket. Quite frankly, there's not a whole lot that can be done about that.

The Dolphins had a chance to close out the game on offense, leading 27-25, and moved across midfield, thanks to Tua's third-down completion to Smith over the middle after he escaped pressure.

But the Cardinals decided to apply heavy pressure after that, throwing hurried throws on second and third down, and the Dolphins had to punt.

The defense needed a stop after Arizona started at its 11 and got a break when tackle Paris Johnson's holding call put the Cardinals in a first-and-20 situation. But they converted thanks to an 18-yard completion to Harrison in traffic over the middle.

The run defense then faded, allowing a 17-yard run up the middle, during which he carried some defenders at the end.

Arizona then got a block-bleeding first down that featured three runs, the last Murray using his mobility to run around Emmanuel Ogbah after he got penetration.

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This was about as bad as any of the Dolphins' losses so far this season, and Miami is now 2-5 with a trip to Buffalo coming up.

Ugh.