Dolphins Offense Busts Out in Houston

Skylar Thompson, Salvon Ahmed lead the way in the Dolphins' convincing victory at NRG Stadium

Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins' first-team offense rebounded from a bad start in their first 2023 preseason action of to provide the team a lead, then watched some of the backups put on a show.

Skylar Thompson threw three touchdown passes and Salvon Ahmed rushed for 99 yards when the Dolphins routed the Houston Texans, 28-3, at NRG Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Thompson's touchdown throws went to Ahmed, Braxton Berrios and rookie running back Chris Brooks after he replaced Tagovailoa for the Dolphins' third offensive possession.

Tua's first drive since his last game action on Christmas Day was quick and ugly, as he threw a pick to linebacker Denzyl Perryman after rolling out and trying to squeeze a pass to tight end Tyler Kroft about 10 yards downfield.

DOLPHINS OFFENSE GETS TO WORK

After the Dolphins produced a defensive stand and held on fourth-and-goal, Tagovailoa led the Dolphins on a 93-yard touchdown drive that featured completions of 13 yards to Tyreek Hill, 17 yards to Ahmed and 15-yard to Berrios.

Raheem Mostert had runs of 13 and 16 yards on the drive before finishing it off with a 2-yard touchdown run.

The big story of the drive, though, might have been the starting offensive line of Kendall Lamm, Isaiah Wynn, Connor Williams, Robert Hunt and Austin Jackson, which opened holes in the running game and provided great pass protection.

Their performance on the drive was borderline brilliant after a forgettable first play that featured an uncalled false start by Wynn accompanied by a high shotgun snap by Williams that disrupted the timing of the running play and led to Mostert being tackled for a 5-yard loss to the 2-yard line.

After Houston answered with a field goal drive, it was all Dolphins from here on out.

THOMPSON, AHMED SHINE

Thompson played the rest of the game after replacing Tua with the exception of a handful of snaps in the third quarter after he was pulled from the game by the officials after he was slammed to the ground by a Houston defender after scrambling out of the pocket.

Thompson completed 15 of 22 passes with the three touchdowns, no picks and a 128.2 passer rating. Most of the Dolphins' passing game was in the short and intermediate range, with the longest completion being a 22-yarder to Erik Ezukanma.

Ahmed had a 100-yard performance on his resume until he was dropped for a 2-yard loss followed by a run for no gain on his last two rushes in garbage time.

Along with Thompson, guard Robert Jones and rookie running back De'Von Achane both left the game for the locker room. Jones sustained an apparent right knee injury, while Achane seemed to be favoring his left shoulder when he jogged the field after a third-quarter run.

The defense, meanwhile, shut the door on the Houston offense despite no splash plays — the Dolphins had no sacks or takeaways.

The Dolphins evened their preseason record to 1-1, with the finale scheduled for next Saturday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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