Dolphins-Packers Week 16: The Five Biggest Plays
The Miami Dolphins dropped to 8-7 on the season with their 26-20 loss against the Green Bay Packers Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:
1. The Raheem Mostert Fumble
In a game decided by the Dolphins' four turnovers, it's pretty clear those plays will be at the forefront of the most impactful in deciding the outcome. And it's hard to go against the Mostert fumble as the biggest one of all because it turned a game the Dolphins seemingly had in control into a battle. As a reminder, this play came right after the two-minute warning on a second-and-9 from the Dolphins 49-yard line when they led 20-10 and seemed ready to pad their lead going into halftime. Instead, the Packers turned the takeaway into a field goal and had the score tied with a touchdown to start the second half.
2. The Jaire Alexander Interception
This one gets the second spot not only because it set up the field goal that proved the winning score and not only because it came immediately after the Dolphins got their own big play with Kader Kohou's interception, but also because it was the worst of Tua Tagovailoa's three picks. This was a forced throw on a first-and-10 where Tua tried to drop a pass into Tyreek Hill with four defenders around him but the ball sailed right to Alexander standing behind him.
3. The Illegal Formation Penalty on Waddle
We easily could have included all four turnovers on this list, but instead we'll give a pretty high place to a play that preceded the second of the three interceptions. After the field goal that followed the Alexander INT, the Dolphins marched right back down the field and had a second-and-8 from the Green Bay 25 when Tua completed a 15-yard pass to Jaylen Waddle to the 10-yard line. But the officials flagged Waddle for an illegal formation penalty, making it second-and-13 from the 30 instead of first-and-goal from the 10. Big difference. It was one that second-and-13 that there was miscommunication between Tua and Mostert that resulted in the easy interception for linebacker De'Vondre Campbell.
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4. The Game-Clinching INT
Yep, here we go with another turnover, this one the game-ended by Rasul Douglas. This would have been higher on this list, if not for the fact that we just don't know whether the Dolphins would have been able to complete a 72-yard touchdown drive in the final two minutes without any timeouts left. But the drive never got very far because of his play on the second play of the drive when Tua tried a long throw to the sideline to Mike Gesicki but Rasul Douglas simply drifted back into the path of the ball for yet another easy interception.
5. The Missed Field Goal
Sure, it was the turnovers that cost the Dolphins the game, but it didn't help that Jason Sanders missed a 48-yard field goal attempt that would have given Miami the lead right back after Green Bay tied the score 20-20 to start the second half. What was worst than the miss, ending Sanders' streak of 11 consecutive successful attempts, was that it wasn't even close, the ball drifting pretty far wide right.
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