Dolphins vs. Atlanta: Complete Highlights and Lowlights

Breaking down the plays and moments that stood out in the Dolphins preseason game against Atlanta

Highlights, lowlights and observations from the Miami Dolphins preseason home game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday:

DOLPHINS HIGHLIGHTS

FIRST HALF

-- Zach Sieler led the charge after two successful Atlanta run when he met Quadree Ollison at the line.

-- After earlier allowing a 16-yard completion, Byron Jones had great coverage on a third-down incompletion that forced Atlanta to settle for a field goal on its first drive.

-- The Dolphins offense was spectacularly efficient on its first drive, marching 75 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown.

-- Myles Gaskin was the playmaker on the drive, with a 19-yard reception off a borderline pick play, then breaking a tackle to gain 12 yards on a third-and-9 reception, then gaining 16 yards on a run to the 1-yard line thanks to great blocks by the right side of the line (Robert Hunt and Jesse Davis).

-- The Dolphins showed off the multiple ways they can use rookie Jaylen Waddle on that drive with a bubble screen, a soft toss off a jet sweep and a short completion downfield.

-- The Dolphins offense continued to carve the Atlanta defense, which rested several starters, on the second drive.

-- Jakeem Grant caught a couple of short passes, good for 7 and 9 yards, near the end of the first quarter.

-- Salvon Ahmed showed great balance when he fought off a low tackle attempt after catching a short pass from Tua to gain 10 yards on the final play of the first quarter.

-- Tua came up with an impressive 13-yard completion over the middle to Mike Gesicki to convert a third-and-6 on the second touchdown drive.

-- Tua did a great job of stepping up in the pocket to find Gaskin wide open running across the field on Gaskin's second touchdown, an 8-yard reception.

-- Raekwon Davis got good immediate pressure on A.J. McCarron when he drove the running back backward.

-- Linebacker Sam Eguavoen, removed from the COVID list Friday, was very active.

-- Nik Needham and Eric Rowe had great coverage on throws from the 2-yard line on second and fourth down, forcing incompletions on both plays.

-- Liam Eichenberg came in at right tackle to replace Jesse Davis at the start of the Dolphins' third possession.

-- The left side of the line (Austin Jackson, Solomon Kindley) opened up a big hole for Malcolm Brown, who gained 9 yards on a run.

-- Tua had another play where he showed his feel in the pocket and stepped up, this time hitting Mack Hollins for 13 yards on third-and-10.

-- On the next play, Tua threw a strike deep down the middle to Mike Gesicki for a 30-yard gain, though Gesicki limped off the field after the play.

-- Eguavoen capped his nice first half by sacking Feleipe Franks on back-to-back plays in the final two minutes of the half.

-- Cre'Von LeBlanc forced a fumble on Atlanta's run on third-and-20 late in the first half, though the Falcons were able to recover the loose ball.

SECOND HALF

-- Malcolm Perry started things off well, with a 36-yard kickoff return to  the 35-yard line.

-- Malcolm Brown showed some good wiggle on the first snap, gaining 9 yards on a run up the middle.

-- On a third-and-5 from the Atlanta 49, Jacoby Brissett threw a strike on a slant to Kirk Merritt, who then separated from his defender to compete a 27-yard gain.

-- Brown had another productive run, gaining 11 yards to the 2-yard line behind a combo block by Hunt and Eichenberg. He capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run two plays later.

-- Raekwon Davis held the line on Atlanta's first offensive play, leading to only a 1-yard gain on a run.

-- Eguavoen continued his huge night, sacking Franks on back-to-back plays, the second resulting in a safety. That gave him four — yes, four — sacks on the night.

-- Big props to Adam Butler on the first of those two sacks because it was his initial pressure that forced Franks out of the pocket and led to Eguavoen bringing him down.

-- Gerrid Doaks showed some decisive running on the second drive of the half, with gains of 6, 8, 4 and 3 yards.

-- Malcolm Perry did not nice run-after-catch work on a 29-yard gain down the right sideline after catching a short pass.

-- Jacoby Brissett threw a beautiful fade to Robert Foster into the left corner of the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown.

-- Linebacker Duke Riley led the charge when the Dolphins stuffed D'Onta Foreman for no gain on third-and-goal from the 1-yard, though Foreman did score on the next play.

-- Linebacker Calvin Munson made a nice interception when he read Franks and stepped in front of the receiver, capping it with a nice 21-yard return.

-- Third-team quarterback Reid Sinnett got in on the fun with a pretty fade to the end zone to Merritt, who made a nice adjustment on the back-shoulder throw.

-- Jordan Scarlett showed good running ability on four runs for 18 yards on the final drive of the game.

-- Rookie seventh-round pick Gerrid Doaks had a 5-yard run to convert the final third down of the game.

DOLPHINS LOWLIGHTS

FIRST HALF

-- A short kickoff by Jason Sanders combined with some sloppy tackling allowed Atlanta to start the first drive at the game at its 37.

-- The Dolphins gave up a first down on back-to-back runs by Quadree Ollison of 3 and 7 yards.

-- Tua Tagovailoa was 5-for-5 on that first drive, but he was sacked on a second-and-6 in Atlanta territory.

-- Waddle was hurt at the end of Gaskin's 16-yard run when he appeared to get kicked in the leg by an Atlanta defender, but he was back into the lineup on Miami's next possession.

-- Tua did a nice job of picking up 8 yards on a scramble when he couldn't find a receiver late in the first quarter, but he had no business falling forward at the end of the play and taking an unnecessary hit. The right move here would have been to slide.

-- Austin Jackson got called for holding on the first play of the second quarter when he grabbed a lineman's jersey and failed to let go in time.

-- Tua had a rare misfire on a second-and-6 when he had Jaylen Waddle open in the flat.

-- The Dolphins gave up a 20-yard scramble to Feleipe Franks on a fourth-and-2 when they let him scramble up the middle after Benardrick McKinney got some penetration.

-- Andrew Van Ginkel was called for roughing the passer and Sam Eguavoen for defensive pass interference on the same play.

-- Nickel corner Justin Coleman was beaten cleanly by wide receiver Tajae Sharpe on a quick slant from the 2-yard line, but he was bailed out when Sharpe dropped an easy touchdown pass.

-- The Dolphins' third drive ended with an incompletion on fourth-and-3 from the Atlanta 14 when Tua threw a short slant to Malcolm Perry, but safety Richie Grant immediately knocked the ball away from Perry's hands.

-- Jason Sanders was wide left on a 58-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half, though it was a good job to even get him a chance at that kick after getting the ball at their 40 with 19 seconds left.

SECOND HALF

-- Malcolm Brown was stuffed for no gain on a second-and-1 run.

-- Malcolm Perry made a bad decision of letting Atlanta's free punt bounce after the Dolphins safety and he ended up being tackled at the 18-yard line.

-- The Dolphins allowed completions of 15 and 13 yards on Atlanta's first touchdown drive.

-- Atlanta's second touchdown drive was a horror show for the defense on the field at the time, which gave up back-to-back 30-yard runs to Javian Hawkins and then Caleb Huntley.