Dolphins-Eagles Week 7 Complete Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' 31-17 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field
Dolphins-Eagles Week 7 Complete Observations
Dolphins-Eagles Week 7 Complete Observations /
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Here's what caught our eye before and during the Miami Dolphins' 31-17 loss against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which was led by starting center Connor Williams and starting cornerback Xavien Howard both missing the game because of groin injuries.

-- Also inactive were WR Robbie Chosen, CB Kelvin Joseph and TE Tyler Kroft with Skylar Thompson once again serving as emergency third quarterback in the event of injuries to both Tua Tagovailoa and Mike White.

-- Wide receiver Chase Claypool was active, putting him in line to make his first appearance for the Dolphins since being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bears a little more than two weeks ago.

-- With Williams out, Liam Eichenberg was in line to make his third start at center.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The Dolphins won the toss and as usual deferred, then watched the Eagles drive 71 yards in 7:06, though they held Philly to a field goal.

--  Christian Wilkins gave the Eagles a free 5 yards when he lined up in the neutral zone, something that was an issue at times last season.

-- The Eagles got a first-and-goal after consecutive 22-yard completions from Jalen Hurts to tight end Dallas Goedert, the second when he easily got behind linebacker Jerome Baker in the middle of the field.

-- Baker, however, stopped Hurts for a 2-yard loss on a keeper on first-and-goal from the 8 and the Dolphins got the stop easily when the Eagles had Hurts run a QB draw from shotgun formation on third-and-goal from the 9 and limited him to a 3-yard gain.

-- The Dolphins' first drive featured a nifty 15-yard completion from Tua to Tyreek Hill to the 43-yard, but the drive stalled quickly after that.

-- Edge defender Haason Reddick got by the block attempt of Durham Smythe on a pitch to Raheem Mostert and the result was a 5-yard loss on first down.

-- Then on third down, half the Eagles defensive line got quick penetration and Tua was forced to get rid of the ball quickly for an incompletion.

-- The Dolphins' second defensive series was really impressive.

-- Linebacker David Long Jr. had two big plays, stuffing D'Andre Swift after a 2-yard run on first down and then batting down a pass at the line while blitzing on second to set up a third-and-8.

-- On that play, good coverage had Hurts hold on to the ball until pressure caved the pocket and Bradley Chubb knocked the ball loose, with Christian Wilkins recovering the fumble at the Eagles 23.

-- A 16-yard beauty of a throw from Tua to Jaylen Waddle gave Miami a first-and-goal from the 6, but the Dolphins went backward from there.

-- Penetration resulted in a 1-yard loss on a rush by Mostert and a 5-yard loss by Hill after he caught a short pass from Tua as he was retreating in the pocket.

-- Tua appeared to throw a 12-yard TD pass to Hill on third-and-goal from the 12, but Lester Cotton — ini for the injured Wynn — was flagged for holding when he got his right arm around the neck of Josh Sweat on a twist up front.

-- After a third-down incompletion, Jason Sanders kicked a 40-yard field goal to tie the score 3-3.

-- On the ensuing kickoff, the Dolphins gave up a 38-yard kickoff return to Boston Scott as the Eagles got good field position at their 39.

-- After gains of 7 and 8 yards, the Eagles ended the first quarter with a first down at the Miami 45.

SECOND QUARTER

-- The Eagles got to a fourth-and-1 from the Miami 37 and they ran the obligatory "brotherly shove" with Hurts, who easily got the first down twice, the second time after the officials mistakenly called offsetting penalties when only the Dolphins (and not the Eagles) were lined up offisde.

-- Two snaps later, it was the Dolphins' turn to get hurt by a bad call when Wilkins was flagged for a ridiculous roughing-the-passer penalty for a very light shove of Hurts after he threw the ball, even after holding up.

-- On second-and-9 from the 19 two plays later, the Eagles caught the Dolphins in a blitz and Goedert scored an easy 19-yard touchdown after catching a tight end screen, making the score 10-3.

-- The Dolphins went three-and-out on their next possession after a first-down run by Salvon Ahmed went nowhere, gaining only 1 yard and Braxton Berrios was well covered on a third-down incompletion.

-- The Dolphins defense made some plays on the next Eagles possession but Hurts just kept coming up big and the result was an 80-yard touchdown drive.

-- On a third-and-4, Hurts escaped pressure and scrambled for a first down, though Eli Apple was flagged for defensive holding on the play regardless.

-- Hurts later was able to complete a 3-yard pass to DeVonta Smith despite Bradley Chubb hitting his arm as he was throwing.

-- Then when the Eagles went for the first down on fourth-and-33, Hurst got away from Chubb's pressure, rolled to his right and hit a wide open A.J. Brown for a 32-yard gain to the 1-yard line — Parry Nickerson was in coverage but it's hard to ask a DB to cover a receiver that long.

-- On the next play, Hurts scored on — what else? — the "brotherly shove" to make it a 17-3 game.

-- The next drive appeared headed for disaster after an intended double-pass ended with Cedrick Wilson Jr. sacked for a 7-yard loss and was followed by a false start on Cotton, but on the next play Tua threw a 29-yard pass to Wilson to midfield on third-and-18, with Wilson doing a nice job of getting both feet in bounds.

-- The Dolphins ran that final drive of the first half without Waddle, who went to the locker room with a back problem that had him questionable to return.

-- Tua went back to Hill for a couple of big plays, including a 27-yard touchdown on third-and-8, with Hill beating a double team and Tua throwing a perfect pass into the end zone. The score got the Dolphins within 17-10.

-- On first down on the next drive after a touchback, Jaelan Phillips got to Hurts for a 10-yard sack to end the half.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The Dolphins finally got something going with the running game on their first drive of the half, even though the drive stalled after getting as far as the Eagles 42.

-- After a 17-yard completion to Hill on the Dolphins' signature deep in, Mostert gained 7 yards on an end-around for the most positive run of the game to that point.

-- The drive stalled after tight end Julian Hill was flagged for holding after a quick swing pass to Tyreek Hill.

-- Then Tua had one of his rare misfires of the night when he missed Salvon Ahmed open down the sideline on a wheel route, leading to a Jake Bailey punt.

-- After pinning the Eagles at their 5, the Dolphins gave up just one first down before getting the ball back.

-- Long continued his strong night when his blitz flushed Hurts out of the pocket and led to a sack by Zach Sieler and Eli Apple ended the drive with tight coverage against Brown on third-and-5 to force a punt.

-- Mostert reeled off runs of 21 and 15 yards to start the next drive as he got outside both times, but the drive ended in major disappointment.

-- On third-and-3 on the Philly 21, Hill dropped a perfect Tua pass on a deep slant when he had a clear route to the end zone and on fourth down the officials missed a blatant facemask penalty on CB James Bradberry against intended receiver Wilson and the ball turned over on downs.

-- But on the very next step, Kader Kohou blitzed from the slot, deflected Hurts' pass and it went right into the arms of Baker, who ran 22 yards for a touchdown that tied the score 17-17.

-- The Eagles came right back with a 75-yard touchdown to retake the lead, starting the drive with a 12-yard scramble by Hurts after Long and safety Jevon Holland collided while covering different receivers across the middle.

-- The Dolphins had a chance to make the Eagles settle for a field goal, but Goedert beat Eli Apple across the field for a 10-yard gain on third-and-7. On the next play, Brown caught a pass at around the 5-yard line and then split Andrew Van Ginkel and Kohou before racing to the end zone.

-- Before the quarter ended, the Dolphins had to waste a timeout to avoid a delay penalty, but then Tua threw a 14-yard completion to Waddle for a first down at the 45 as the third quarter ended.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- It was a really sloppy end to that drive, starting with Austin Jackson being flagged for a false start and the sequence that followed a nifty back-shoulder throw from Tua to Cedrick Wilson for a 19-yard gain to the Eagles 29.

-- On first down, a high shotgun snap disrupted the timing of an inside handoff to Salvon Ahmed, so Tua instead just kept the ball and went to the ground for a 3-yard sack. On second down, the snap bounced to Tua, but he did a good job of scooping it up and throwing quickly to Waddle for a 5-yard gain, setting up a third-and-8 from the Eagles 24.

-- Then came perhaps the biggest play of the game when Tua tried to hit Raheem Mostert around the goal line, but Darius Slay came over after covering Waddle in the same area and picked off the underthrown floater. While there was some contact between linebacker Zach Cunningham and Mostert, it didn't fall in the category of obvious DPI, so there was no flag, just a crushing turnover for the Dolphins.

-- Then came an even devastating drive for the Dolphins, who twice put the Eagles in a fourth-and-1 situation in their own territory, only to have Hurts convert each time with the "brotherly shove."

-- The third first down of the drive came courtesy of Wilkins lining up offside for a second consecutive time, this time on third-and-4. It probably wouldn't have mattered had Wilkins not been flagged because Kenneth Gainwell gained 3 yards on the play and the Eagles likely would have simply done another "tush push" on another fourth-and-1.

-- The came the big play of the drive, a 42-yard completion from Hurts to A.J. Brown, who simply won the battle for the ball despite good coverage on the play by Kader Kohou.

-- That set up Gainwell's 3-yard touchdown run that made it 31-17 with 4:46 left, all but sealing the outcome.

-- Tua then was sacked twice on the next possession, which ended when he threw an incomplete pass to Hill on fourth-and-10 while he was tightly covered by cornerback Eli Ricks. It was a short throw that likely wouldn't have gained the first down even if completed.

-- After taking over on downs, the Eagles got a 22-yard run by Swift right before the two-minute warning through a gaping hole on the left side of the offense, putting them in victory formation to close the book on the Dolphins' 31-17 loss. 

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.