Dolphins-Browns Week 10 Complete Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' 39-17 victory against the Cleveland Browns at Hard Rock Stadium

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' 39-17 victory against the Cleveland Browns at Hard Rock Stadium.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which was highlighted by quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who is out because of a knee injury, paving the way for rookie seventh-round pick Skylar Thompson to serve as Tua Tagovailoa's backup. Along with Bridgewater, the other inactives were RB Myles Gaskin, CB Noah Igbinoghene, WR Erik Ezukanma, TE Hunter Long and WR River Cracraft.

-- Long (concussion protocol/illness) was the only one other than Bridgewater to miss the game because of injury.

-- Tackle Austin Jackson is active for the first time since Week 1 when he sustained a high ankle sprain against New England, though there was no indication before game time as to whether he would start or the Dolphins would use the same starting offensive line as against Chicago with Terron Armstead at left tackle, Robert Jones at left guard, Connor Williams at center, Robert Hunt at right guard and Brandon Shell at right tackle.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The game starts really poorly for the Dolphins, with Jerome Ford returning the opening kickoff 48 after getting outside. Trent Sherfield, who appeared on the injury report Sunday morning but is playing, appeared to be the one to lost contain and allowed Ford to get free down the left sideline.

-- The first snap ended with a 38-yard completion from Jacoby Brissett to Donovan Peoples-Jones when the Browns max-protected and DPJ beat rookie Kader Kohou with a double move so cleanly that he could stop and easily catch Brissett's clearly underthrown pass.

-- The defense had a chance to hold Cleveland to a field goal, but Emmanuel Ogbah committed the cardinal sin of jumping offside on third-and-4 to give the Browns a first-and-goal at the 4.

-- On the very next play, Jerome Baker grabbed Peoples-Jones before Brissett's pass in the end zone got to him for a DPI and Cleveland scored on the next play for a 7-0 lead 2:47 into the game.

-- The Dolphins offense answered with an 84-yard touchdown drive, though it took a fourth-down gamble to get it done.

-- That came when Jeff Wilson Jr. got a nice hold, thanks to a great block by Sherfield, for a 4-yard gain on fourth-and-1 from the Dolphins 36. And props to Mike McDaniel for going for it.

-- Wilson also had runs of 18 and 11 yards on the drive, providing more evidence Miami's swap of running backs (Wilson for Edmonds) in the two deadline trades will pay off big .

-- Tua was 5-for-5 on the drive, with four of them short passes, including the 13-yard score to fullback Alec Ingold in the flat.

-- The next Cleveland drive featured a lot of noteworthy plays, starting with Elandon Roberts' big-time stick to stop Nick Chubb after a 1-yard gain. And we mean stick, like Chubb went down fast — and that doesn't happen often.

-- Bradley Chubb was in on his first sack with the Dolphins when he teamed with Christian Wilkins to bring down Brissett, tough Wilkins deserves more of the credit for that play.

-- Brissett came right back with a great throw between defenders to convert a third-and-12 and later gained 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 sneak, something he did well for the Dolphins last year.

-- Two plays later, the Dolphins got a big-time play from Zach Sieler when he stripped Chubb on a run and Xavien Howard recovered.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SECOND QUARTER

-- On the second play of the second quarter, the Dolphins faced a third-and-4 and Jaylen Waddle easily shook his man from the slot and got wide open deep down the middle for a 29-yard gain.

-- Robert Jones got called for a false start on first down, but Raheem Mostert easily got to the corner for a 14-yard gain on the next play.

-- On first-and-10 from the Cleveland 25, the Dolphins called for Cedrick Wilson Jr. to throw a reverse pass, but his receiver was taken away and he made the poor decision of trying to run instead of throwing the ball away since he was out of the pocket and the result was a 6-yard loss that doomed the drive.

-- Jason Sanders did kick a 39-yard field goal to give the Dolphins a 10-7 lead.

-- Two 10-yard completions from Brissett to Amari Cooper against Xavien Howard moved the Browns into Miami territory on their next drive, which is when the defense stiffened.

-- On third-and-2 from the Miami 41, Jerome Baker shot through the line and stuffed Kareem Hunt in the backfield for a 1-yard loss.

-- Then Kader Kohou provided tight coverage against Peoples-Jones from the slot to force an incompletion on fourth-and-3 and a turnover on downs.

-- The Dolphins wasted the great field position, a development even more disappointing considering the drive started with a 20-yard completion to Tyreek Hill after he got wide open down the right sideline.

-- It was borderline disheartening to see the Dolphins failed to get a first down after having a second-and-1 following a 9-yard run by Jeff Wilson Jr.

-- While we might question the spot on Durham Smythe's sneak off the direct snap, the fourth-down play was rushed and never had a chance as Wilson was met deep in the backfield.

-- The Dolphins defense came through again after the turnover on downs, thanks to a sack split between Wilkins and Melvin Ingram. Bradley Chubb also deserves credit for his pressure from the outside.

-- The Dolphins worked himself into field goal position again after a 15-yard completion to Mike Gesicki, and then he kept the drive alive with a gorgeous pass to Waddle on third-and-7 when he floated to the outside past the Browns defense.

-- Tua had another gorgeous throw to complete the drive, a 14-yard hook-up in the back of the end zone over the outstretched hands of the defense, with Sherfield also deserving credit for making the catch and getting his feet in bounds.

-- And, with that, the Dolphins had themselves a 17-7 halftime lead.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The second half began with a knife-through-butter type of drive for the Dolphins, who moved 70 yards in six plays and never had to face a third down before scoring a touchdown that upped their lead to 24-7.

-- The touchdown itself was absurdly easy, with Raheem Mostert taking advantage of a gaping hole on the left side of the offensive line, with another great seal block by Sherfield, to stroll into the end zone on a 24-yard run.

-- The Dolphins appeared to have Cleveland stopped on a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, but the drive was kept alive by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Christian Wilkins, who made the mistake of leaning his body into Brissett as he tackled him. It wasn't the most egregious move by Wilkins, though it was the kind of play that will draw a flag more often than not.

-- Wilkins came back with some good work later in the drive, though, including a stop of Kareem Hunt for no gain on a running play.

-- A 14-yard scramble by Brissett set up a field goal that cut the Dolphins lead to 24-10.

-- The ensuing drive featured a key moment when the Browns had a chance at a rare three-and-out to quickly get the ball back with the Dolphins facing a third-and-10. But tackles Terron Armstead and Brandon Shell did a great job of pushing Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney up the field past Tua, who then stepped up in a clean pocket and delivered a 15-yard completion to Waddle over the middle.

-- It would be the only third-down situation on the drive until a third-and-goal from the 2, which is when the Browns thought it would be a good idea to have man-to-man coverage against Tyreek Hill in the slot. Hill quickly got inside position going to his left and Tua got him the ball for the touchdown that made 30-10 after Jason Sanders missed the extra-point atttempt.

-- It would be the first of two missed PATs for Sanders, which didn't matter in this game but certainly are cause for concern moving forward when the Dolphins get involved in a tight game again.

-- The third quarter ended three plays later, but not before Tanner Conner missed a great opportunity to tackle kickoff returner Jerome Ford inside the 10-yard line. Instead, Ford was able to gain 28 yards to the Browns 24.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- Cleveland got back into the game at the end of that first drive of the fourth quarter when Nick Chubb had his one big run of the game, a 33-yard touchdown that made it 30-17. Rookie safety Verone McKinley III might have had the best shot at stopping Chubb, but his attempt to throw a shoulder into Chubb's thighs after he came racing from the back end failed as he bounced off him and Chubb never broke stride.

-- The Dolphins' next possession began with an incompletion, but a roughness penalty on Browns DT Taven Bryan that TV replays didn't catch.

-- Sherfield had a great play later in the drive when he bounced off an open-field tackle to complete a 27-yard pick-up, though he was flagged for taunting after getting in the face of the Cleveland defense and basically reminding him what he had just done.

-- The drive stalled in large part because of a bad shotgun snap where Tua had to jump just to get a hand on the ball and then fell on it for a 6-yard loss.

-- Sanders' 33-yard field goal made it a 33-17 game, leaving the Browns two touchdowns and two-point conversions from being able to tie the score.

-- It never came close to happening, though, thanks largely to Justin Bethel.

-- Pressed into action on defense after the injury to Keion Crossen, Bethel had a great two-play sequence when his deep coverage on Donovan Peoples-Jones forced an incompletion and then tackled Anthony Schwartz in the open field after only a 3-yard gain, forcing a fourth-and-7.

-- Then, on that fourth-and-7, Jaelan Phillips and Melvin Ingram combined to sack Brissett to essentially end the game.

-- If it wasn't already done, Jeff Wilson Jr. applied the final blow when he burst through a hole over the middle for a 20-yard touchdown — that unfortunately was followed by another missed PAT.

-- Cleveland's final series ended with Kader Kohou breaking up a fourth-down pass, and the Dolphins had their 39-17 victory in the books.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.