Dolphins-Jaguars Week 1 Instant Takeaways

The highlights and lowlights of the Miami Dolphins season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Tyson Campbell (3) drives Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) out of bounds in the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

What stood out in the Miami Dolphins' regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars?

We'll start with the inactive list, which was highlighted by three members of the 2024 draft class: Jaylen Wright, Mohamed Kamara, and Malik Washington (quad injury). What also stood out was Jalen Ramsey's absence after being listed as questionable with a hamstring injury.

FIRST QUARTER

• The opening kickoff was the perfect example of how the kicking team should do it. The Jacksonville kickoff hit down in the landing zone and then went out of bounds in the end zone for a touchback that put Miami at its 20 for its season-opening drive.
• While the run blocking wasn't good on the first two snaps, kudos to the right side of Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg for leading the way on De'Von Achane's 39-yard catch-and-run off a quick throw.
• On a first-and-10, we saw Tua apply one of the lessons he learned last year: to give himself up quickly instead of trying to squeeze through traffic while scrambling. It's a case of short-term sacrifice for long-term benefit. There is no issue here.
• We did have an issue with the Dolphins going for the first down on fourth-and-8 from the Jaguars 42 on that first drive. While we love aggressiveness, this seemed over the top at the start of the game. And we said that before Tua's pass fell incomplete.
• Thanks to Calais Campbell, the defense made the failed gamble a moot point. The veteran sniffed out a bootleg on first down, leading to an easy 13-yard sack on first down before he dropped Travis Etienne for a 1-yard loss on the next play.
• It could have been a memorable first drive for the defense on third down when Lawrence sailed a pass over tight end Evan Engram, but Jordan Poyer needed to react more quickly after being focused first on hitting Engram.
• The second Dolphins drive featured one first down, but overall, it was sloppy.
• Among the lowlights was an incompletion when Tyreek Hill got wide open behind the secondary, followed by two bad plays by tight end Jonnu Smith, a drop on a quick throw followed by him lining up offside on third-and-10, a penalty that was declined after Tua's pass for Hill went incomplete when he was well covered.
• Punter Jake Bailey had himself a very good first half, starting with a punt that landed at the Jaguars 3, then bounced out of bounds at the 4.
• But the bad field position didn't matter because the Jaguars went to work on the Dolphins' defense in every possible way.
• It started with two runs for 25 yards by Tank Bigsby and a 19-yard completion to Gabe Davis, left wide open in the middle of the field.
• Jalen Ramsey, playing despite a hamstring injury, was beaten deep by rookie Brian Thomas, Jr. and then committed a clear DPI on an underthrown ball to give Jacksonville the ball at the 1-yard line.
• The Dolphins' third offensive drive was a three-and-out, thanks mostly to a holding penalty on left guard Robert Jones.

SECOND QUARTER

• The second quarter began with Emmanuel Ogbah forcing an incompletion with pressure up the middle before the Dolphins caught a break on third-and-9 when Christian Kirk dropped an easy pass near the sideline.
• To provide a spark, the Dolphins had Tyreek Hill return a Jacksonville punt, but he could only get 11 yards after a booming 67-yard punt by Jacksonville's Logan Cook.
• Jaylen Waddle showed toughness and great concentration on his 12-yard catch in the second quarter in traffic after the ball was tipped near the line. He did have to leave the game to get evaluated for a head injury but was able to return.
• After the Dolphins moved close to midfield thanks to a borderline roughing-the-passer penalty on Josh Hines-Allen, Durham Smythe dropped an easy pass in the flat.
• Then Mike McDaniel decided to again go for the first down on fourth down, this time from the 45, and the result was the same.
• As was expected, Ramsey did not play a full game, and rookie free agent Storm Duck sometimes took his spot opposite Kendall Fuller. Duck had a nice open-field tackle to stop Travis Etienne after a 1-yard gain, though it was on a second-and-1 play.
• The failed fourth down cost the Dolphins this time after Christian Kirk ran past Kader Kohou and ahead of Jordan Poyer for a 30-yard gain on third-and-8.
• On a third-and-10 from the 13, Thomas again got behind Ramsey (this time in zone coverage) and caught a perfectly thrown pass by Lawrence for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead Jacksonville lead.
• Great job by Achane to turn a potential loss into a 16-yard gain after catching an outlet pass.
• Tight end Durham Smythe had a really rough first half with a couple of drops and a false start penalty on third-and-1.
• Waddle came up with a clutch third-down reception on the Dolphins' final drive of the half, good for 20 yards.
• Achane was the Dolphin's best offensive player, making plays in the run-and-pass game.
• Achane capped that late second-quarter drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to bring the Dolphins to within 14-7 and give the team some life after what had been a very forgettable first half.
• The prevent defense, though, allowed completions of 18 and 20 yards, which allowed Cam Little to kick a 53-yard field goal on the last play of the half to make it 17-7.

THIRD QUARTER

• Things couldn't have started better for Miami, thanks mostly to great coverage by safety Jevon Holland against tight end Evan Engram to force a third-and-5 incompletion and give the Dolphins the ball back right away.
• After the Dolphins scored a first down on their first drive, a second Robert Jones holding penalty helped stall the game.
• On third-and-13 from the 20, Arik Armstead beat Liam Eichenberg inside after Tagovailoa moved up in the pocket for a sack.
• The defense produced a second consecutive three-and-out on Jacksonville's next series, thanks in large part to a holding penalty. Jaelan Phillips and Zach Sieler pressured Lawrence into an incompletion on third-and-13.
• On the first play of the Dolphins' next drive, Jaylen Waddle got open on a deep slant across the field for a 63-yard gain on a pass from Tua.
• The drive didn't produce any points, though, after Raheem Mostert lost 3 yards on a run, Tyreek Hill lost 3 yards on a completion behind the line of scrimmage, and Tua was sacked for a 14-yard loss after he was tripped deep in the pocket by Travon Walker after Walker got by Austin Jackson.
• Jake Bailey continued his great work by putting his punt from the Jacksonville 46 out of bounds at the 2-yard line.
• The Dolphins again needed help to capitalize on having Jacksonville backed up. Bigsby got a 22-yard run right away when Campbell and Ogbah were sealed outside, and Long seemingly took the wrong angle toward the line.
• On the next play, Kader Kohou was victimized on a slow-developing route to Gabe Davis for another 22 yards.
• Jacksonville looked about to score a touchdown when Travis Etienne was sprung loose with a big hole over the right side, but Jevon Holland punched the ball loose at about the 4-yard line, and Kohou recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
• The Dolphins almost scored another takeaway on the ensuing kickoff after Elijah Campbell forced a fumble by Parker Washington, but Duke Riley wasn't quite able to secure the ball before Washington got it back.
• The quarter ended with David Long Jr. submarining the Jaguars offensive line to trip up Bigsby for no gain on a third-and-1 run, setting up a fourth-and-1 situation to start the fourth quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Dolphins stopped Etienne when he tried to run wide. However, Ramsey sealed him off while Ogbah pursued him, forcing him to try to reverse field — to no avail.
• After getting the ball at the Jacksonville 30, the Dolphins drive started off well enough with a 7-yard run by Achane, but Tua's second-down pass was batted down. A third-down run (actually a backward pass) to Mostert lost 1 yard when Jonnu Smith couldn't clear the way with his one-on-one block as two other defenders chased.
• Jason Sanders failed to tie the score when he badly pulled wide left his 42-yard field goal attempt.
• Rookie first-round pick Chop Robinson got his name called for the first time in the game, but it was because he was flagged for lining up offside.
• The Dolphins forced a punt on the drive after Holland's pressure led to a slightly off-the-mark throw that Kirk failed to bring in.
• The Dolphins' running game finally came to life on the next drive after it began at the 8-yard line, with runs of 6 yards by Achane, Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Jr., and a 14-yarder by Wilson. The offensive line created a lot of space up front for the first time.
• Then there was a 21-yard completion down the middle after Hill got hit immediately after making the catch.
• The Dolphins converted a third-and-1 with a run when fullback Alec Ingold ran 6 yards up the middle.
• The drive stalled after Tyreek Hill was called for holding when he tackled Arik Armstead to the ground on a seal block instead of just hitting him.
• Sanders made this field goal attempt from 37 yards to tie the score 17-17.
• The defense came up big again in the next series, with Emmanuel Ogbah and Jaelan Phillips recording sacks in the second and third downs to force a punt.
• After a 12-yard completion from Tua to Waddle with a nice throw over the middle, the Dolphins got another first down when Ingold again converted on third-and-1, this time with a 3-yard run on a fullback dive after Ingold shed a tackle attempt in the backfield.
• The Dolphins ran the ball on their final three plays to set up Jason Sanders for a 52-yard game-winning field goal attempt, and he delivered for a 20-17 comeback victory for the Dolphins.
• This wasn't pretty, and the Dolphins were on the brink, but Holland's huge play and speed saved the day for Miami.