Dolphins-Eagles Week 7: The Five Biggest Plays

Breaking down the five plays that most decided the outcome in the Miami Dolphins' 31-17 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field

The Miami Dolphins dropped to 5-2 on the season when they lost a 31-17 decision against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night.

We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:

1. The Darius Slay interception

There were just so many things that went wrong on this third-and-8 from the Eagles 24 with the Dolphins trailing 24-17 early in the fourth quarter. There was Tua underthrowing Raheem Mostert near the goal line and floating the ball because he threw off his back foot, there was Jaylen Waddle running a route close to Mostert where he attracted Slay in that area and there was Mostert not fighting hard enough to come back to the ball to maybe induce a DPI call on linebacker Zach Cunningham. As it was, there indeed was some contact on Mostert before Slay slid over from the middle to make the easy interception, but certainly not more than many other pass play that don't draw a flag. Regardless, the pick ended the Dolphins' last scoring threat of the game. 

2. The first "brotherly shove" on the next drive

It appeared the Dolphins would get another shot at tying the game with the ball after Eagles coach Kevin Sirianni initially called his offense off the field on fourth-and-1 from his own 26 following the interception, but he then called a timeout, thought about it and decided the "tush push" or "brotherly shove" is such a high-percentage play for the Eagles that he'd go for it. And, sure enough, QB Jalen Hurts easily picked up the first down to spark a drive that ended with a game-clinching touchdown.

3. The 42-yard completion to Brown

The defense still had a chance to make a stand even after Christian Wilkins gave the Eagles a first down to midfield when he lined up in the neutral zone on third-and-4, but the next play was a killer for the Dolphins. With Andrew Van Ginkel barreling down on him and about to level him, Hurts was able to get the ball off down the field for Brown, who was able to win a jump ball despite good coverage by Kader Kohou for a 42-yard gain to the Miami 8-yard line. With about 5 minutes, that put the Eagles in position for at least a chip-shot field goal that would make it a two-score game.

4. The holding penalty on Lester Cotton

The Dolphins had to climb back pretty much the whole night, though they came awfully close to taking the lead in the first quarter after Wilkins recovered a fumble created by Bradley Chubb's sack of Hurts. Tua threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill on third-and-goal, but it was called back when Lester Cotton, in at left guard after Isaiah Wynn went down on the last play of the first Dolphins drive, was flagged for holding. While the call appeared legit, there also were similar instances involving the Eagles that went uncalled. Regardless, the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal after the penalty and they wound up never having a lead in the game.

5. The fourth-down completion to Brown

The Dolphins found themselves having to climb out of a 17-3 hole thanks to Hurts' ability to extend a fourth-and-3 from the Miami 33 late in the first quarter after initially not finding an open receiver and then being chased by Chubb. Once he got close to the sideline, Hurts spotted Brown open downfield and the 32-yard hook-up to the 1-yard line set up Hurst's touchdown on — what else — the "brotherly shove" on the next play to make it 17-3.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The blatant miss of a facemask and/or DPI against Eagles CB James Bradberry on Cedrick Wilson on the Dolphins' failed fourth-down attempt in the third quarter was left out because Jerome Baker scored on the very next play on his pick-six, so chances are the sequence of events would have been different.

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