Dolphins Dominate Atlanta

Tua Tagovailoa, Myles Gaskin and Sam Eguavoen shine in Miami Dolphins rout at Hard Rock Stadium

The Miami Dolphins are playing only one preseason game at Hard Rock Stadium this summer, but they sure made it a memorable one.

The Dolphins were practically flawless through the first three quarters on their way to a 37-17 rout of the Atlanta Falcons that evened their preseason record at 1-1.

It was the Dolphins' most lopsided victory since 2018 when they beat the Falcons 34-7, that time in Atlanta.

Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Jacoby Brissett each led the Dolphins to two touchdown drives, while linebacker Sam Eguavoen — who was activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list Friday — had four sacks, one of which produced a safety.

Per the Dolphins media relations department, the four sacks was the highest total for any NFL player in a preseason game since at least 2017. Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye had four sacks for the Dolphins in a 2002 preseason game against Tampa BAy.

Despite the Dolphins playing without six wide receivers against the Falcons on Saturday night, Tagovailoa had no trouble slicing and dicing the Atlanta defense in his two quarters of action.

Tagovailoa completed 16 of 23 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown, good for a 107.7 passer rating.

His longest completion of the game was a 30-yard hook-up with tight end Mike Gesicki.

Running back Myles Gaskin also had a big outing, scoring on a 1-yard to cap the Dolphins' first touchdown drive after Atlanta took a 3-0 lead on the opening possession of the game. Gaskin rushed for 26 yards on the drive and had two receptions for 31 yards.

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The only key player on the drive was rookie first-round pick Jaylen Waddle, who had three receptions. He left the game briefly with a leg injury after he appeared to get kicked by an Atlanta defender, but he was back for the Dolphins' second drive.

After forcing a three-and-out, the Dolphins made it 14-3 with a 66-yard touchdown drive capped by Tagovailoa's 8-yard pass to Gaskin after Tua did a great job of moving up in the pocket to avoid pressure.

The Dolphins kept their lead at 11 points with a goal-line stand that featured pass break-ups by Nik Needham and Eric Rowe sandwiched around Falcons wide receiver Tajae Sharpe dropping an easy touchdown pass.

The Dolphins moved into the red zone on their third drive with Tua at quarterback thanks in large part to the long completion to Gesicki, but the drive ended with a fourth-down incompletion.

The first half ended with Jason Sanders missing a 58-yard attempt after Tua helped the Dolphins move the ball from their 40 to the Atlanta 40 in just 16 seconds.

The Dolphins continued their onslaught after receiving the second-half kickoff.

The offense first drove 65 yards on a drive that featured seven runs by Malcolm Brown, including the 1-yard touchdown. The big play of the drive, though, was a 27-yard completion from Brissett to Kirk Merritt to convert a third-and-5 situation.

The Dolphins increased the lead to 23-3 when Eguavoen sacked Feleipe Franks on back-to-back plays, the second one coming in the end zone. Franks came into the game in the second quarter when he replaced starter A.J. McCarron, who left the game with a knee injury.

Veteran quarterback Matt Ryan was among the many key starters the Falcons held out of the game, with others including wide receiver Calvin Ridley, defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and linebacker Deion Jones.

After receiving the free punt, the Dolphins drove for yet another touchdown, that one a beautiful 8-yard throw from Brissett to Robert Foster.

Brissett was 8-for-8 for 99 yards with the one touchdown, and finished with a passer rating of 157.8, just shy of the highest possible mark of 158.3.

After Atlanta scored its only touchdown on a short run by D'Onta Foreman, the Dolphins struck again after linebacker Calvin Munson picked off Franks and returned the interception 21 yards to the Falcons 6-yard line.

On second-and-goal from the 2, Reid Sinnett connected with Merritt on a fade in the left corner of the end zone to make it 37-10 after the extra point.

Atlanta answered with a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that featured back-to-back 30-yard runs, by Javian Hawkins and by Caleb Huntley for the touchdown.