Dolphins-Ravens Week 2 Complete Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' wild comeback victory against the Baltimore Ravens

Here's what caught our eye in the first half of the Miami Dolphins Week 2 game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which fortunately for the Dolphins did not include Terron Armstead or Christian Wilkins, both of whom had been listed as questionable on the final injury report.

-- Interesting that River Cracraft again was active after being elevated from the practice squad, while training camp sensation and rookie fourth-round pick Erik Ezukanma was inactive

FIRST QUARTER

-- Special teams coach Danny Crossman praised the Baltimore special teams during the week, and he wasn't wrong. That said, it was really porous kickoff coverage on Devin Duvernay's 103-yard touchdown to start the game. Not one Dolphins player so much as touched Duvernay before he reached the end zone.

-- The Dolphins' first drive started very encouragingly, with a 7-yard run by Raheem Mostert.

-- Tua Tagovailoa looked sharp early on the Dolphins' first drive when he completed three of his first four attempts and the only incompletion came a low throw that Jaylen Waddle couldn't corral — even though it was very catchable. Then there was a beautiful throw across the middle to tight end Mike Gesicki for a 12-yard gain on third-and-7.

-- The drive ended with a bad Tua throw, however, when he tried to hit Hill on a deep in pattern, but safety Marcus Williams came up to tip the ball and then caught it while on the ground just before it hit the ground.

-- Baltimore's first drive really was frustrating for the Dolphins defense, which just couldn't come up with the big play to get off the field.

-- On third-and-7, Lamar Jackson hit Rashod Bateman with an easy completion in a spot vacated by blitzing Nik Needham and Bateman took it for a 17-yard completion.

-- The Dolphins then watched Baltimore convert a third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 to put itself in position to take a 14-0 lead.

-- During the drive, Christian Wilkins and Elandon Roberts had nice stops for no gain on two separate running plays.

-- Melvin Ingram had a costly facemask penalty when Kenyan Drake was being surrounded on what ultimately became a 5-yard loss on first-and-goal from the 4. Ingram didn't look like he was in a position to make the tackle, but reached out anyway and his right hand twisted Drake's facemask to make it first-and-goal at the 2.

SECOND QUARTER

-- The Dolphins came up with a huge goal-line stand after Jackson's 1-yard touchdown run was overturned after a lengthy replay review and Jackson then couldn't handle the fourth-down snap and running back Mike Davis fell on the ball at the 6.

-- The next Miami offensive possession became with a 3-yard loss on a run by Mostert when he left side of the line was caved in by Baltimore penetration.

-- The Dolphins came right back with the 59-yard catch-and-run by Jaylen Waddle after he got behind linebacker Patrick Queen with a quick in-and-up move and Tua dropped the pass nicely between the last two levels of defense. From there, Waddle's speed took over.

-- It was the same story on the next play when Tyreek Hill took a pass behind the line of scrimmage and turned it into a 15-yard gain.

-- The Dolphins' quick-strike attack was on full display on that drive, which ended with Tua's 6-yard touchdown pass to Waddle, who caught the ball at the line and took advantage of some good blocking by Armstead and Liam Eichenberg to waltz into the end zone.

-- It took all of one play (not counting the touchback) for the Dolphins to fall behind again as Xavien Howard was left in man coverage against Rashod Bateman, who beat him with a quick inside move from the slot and then raced to the end zone.

-- The Dolphins' next possession featured another gutsy call by head coach Mike McDaniel, who had fullback Alec Ingold take a direct snap on fourth-and-1 from the Miami 34. Kudos to Ingold for never stopping because he was stuffed initially because his second effort got the first down.

-- The drive was wrecked, though, by the failure to block Justin Houston, who came in unchecked three times and came up with a deflection, a sack and a hurry. On his sack, Durham Smythe badly whiffed when he dove at Houston after coming in motion to block him.

-- Howard had another rough series the next time Baltimore had the ball, giving up a 7-yard completion to Bateman when he lined up way off the receiver and then getting called for defensive holding on a play when Jackson scrambled for 19 yards.

-- Christian Wilkins deserved credit for never giving up on the Jackson scramble, which allowed him to trip up the quarterback from behind.

-- Keion Crossen was beaten on the 25-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews to the 1-yard line, but that also was a perfect pass by Jackson.

-- Obvious call for the Dolphins to go for it on fourth-and-1 from their 45 after the two-minute warning, but not a fan of going with Tua on a quarterback sneak.

-- Tua threw his second pick of the half when he tried to force a deep pass to Waddle into double coverage and Marcus Williams made the pick by toe-tapping near the sideline.

-- The defense's problems continued on the next drive when Miami left tight end Isaiah Likely wide open for a 34-yard gain, followed by Melvin Ingram running right by Ravens running back Justice Hill with the ball in his hand on a 13-yard run, followed by Ingram and Emmanuel Ogbah both jumping offside on the same play. Yuck!

-- Oh, and that drive ended when Jackson threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson for a 28-7 halftime Baltimore lead.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The Dolphins opened the second half with an impressive drive that ended with Tua's 14-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki, who did a great job of snagging a high pass with Tua also deserving credit for putting the ball where only his teammate could get it.

-- The Dolphins featured a third-and-10 conversion when Waddle made a nice catch on a low pass outside for an 11-yard gain.

-- Ingold had a nifty 13-yard gain on a swing pass after a nice lead block on Mostert's 11-yard run early in the drive, but on the next play missed the Ravens defender at the line of scrimmage and that led to Trent Sherfield being dropped for a 3-yard loss.

-- While having a great game, Waddle did have a drop on a second-and-13 throw down the middle.

-- The Dolphins finally forced Baltimore into a three-and-out after safety Eric Rowe had tight coverage and dropped Mark Andrews 1 yard short of the marker after a third-and-7 completion.

-- With a chance to get within a touchdown, the Dolphins had a promising drive that reached the Baltimore 49, but Chase Edmonds was called for questionable tripping penalty and on third-and-8 Waddle couldn't clean catch a high floater from Tua near the sideline.

-- The game basically ended on the ensuing possession when Jackson took a shotgun snap and sprinted 79 yards for a touchdown that made it 35-14 in the final seconds of the third quarter. Like the kickoff return, there's nobody who even got a hand on Jackson as defenders got sealed off on the outside.

-- The third quarter ended with a 33-yard completion to Waddle when he found a wide open spot deep in the middle between Baltimore defenders.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- The first drive of that fourth quarter ended with Tua's 2-yard touchdown pass to River Cracraft, active again after a second consecutive practice squad elevation.

-- In a game of momentum swings, the next drive produced what ultimately might have been the biggest and it came when the Ravens went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Dolphins 40-yard line. A first down there likely would have set up a field goal that would have made it a three-score game, but instead linebacker Elandon Roberts led the push up front and the defense stuffed Jackson for a 1-yard loss. That kept the Dolphins within two scores.

-- The Dolphins took advantage of the drastic field position flip when Hill easily got behind the Baltimore secondary and Tua connected with him for a 48-yard touchdown.

-- The Dolphins defense forced a punt on the next possession, but it could have been a lot more than that had Xavien Howard not dropped the ball after he jumped the route near the sideline.

-- The comeback from 35-14 down became complete when the Dolphins took advantage of a busted coverage by the Ravens, who decided he might have been a good idea to let Hill run by the first defender and not have anybody pick him up behind him. It was reminiscent of the coverage breakdowns we saw from Baltimore last season.

-- The defense allowed Baltimore to get into field goal range on the next drive, but stiffened and that was all that was needed at that time the way the offense had become unstoppable.

-- The spark of the final drive was the 21-yard completion to Hill in the middle of the field, which quickly put the Dolphins in Ravens territory.

-- What shouldn't be overlooked in the Dolphins comeback was the huge 28-yard run by Chase Edmonds up the middle that put the ball at the 7-yard line. That play was both a result of the play call fooling the Ravens but also some great blocking up front.

-- The game-winning touchdown also was one of Tua's best throws as he wasn't afraid to fit it into a tight spot and let Waddle outfight the defender for the ball.

-- It was, quite simply, a clinic in the fourth quarter by the Dolphins offense, by Tua, and Hill and Waddle, and the result was one of the most amazing victories in recent years for the Dolphins.