Dave Hyde: Dolphins answer questions and ‘don’t ruin Christmas’ in 22-20 thriller against Cowboys
MIAMI GARDENS — So much for not beating a good team.
“Awesome, check that box,” Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.
So much for not having a signature comeback this year.
“It means the team isn’t crazy for feeling the way we feel,” McDaniel said.
So much for the kicker also not making 50-yard kicks.
“Our locker room is filled with they-said-you-cants,” McDaniel said.
There were so many nagging questions and so much good answers in the Dolphins’ 22-20 thriller of a Christmas Eve win over the Dallas Cowboys in Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday that it was time to consider more pressing concerns. Like the weather next Sunday in Baltimore against the Ravens.
“I hope it doesn’t rain,” Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill said.
It’s never too early to be too prepared, huh? Next Sunday’s game is probably for the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed and home-field playoff advantage, which brings up the next, the-Dolphins-haven’t done this hurdle:
They have only beaten two winning teams on the road in the past two seasons (the Ravens and Detroit Lions last year).
That isn’t just a natural issue heading to this next game. It’s a reminder of how important the home-field advantage is in the playoffs, too.
Tua Tagovailoa is now 18-2 in games he’s started at Hard Rock Stadium. Does that explain things well enough? It sure helped his offense to have a majority (yes, Dallas was represented) of fans staying quiet on that final, 12-play, 64-yard drive that ended with Jason Sanders game-winning field goal in the seconds.
“It was a juggernaut game,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said. “It was what we expected.”
You’ve heard of must-win games and body-bag games. But ‘Juggernaut Games?’ ”
Well, the Dolphins evidently won one and it was an uneven game for the NFL’s two highest-scoring offenses. Nothing came easy for either one right from the start. Dallas’s game-opening drive was so effective Dolphins’ safety DeShon Elliott appeared to delay the inevitable with a great, twisting, pulling tackle of running back Tony Pollard at the 1-yard line.
Dallas fumbled the hand-off exchange the next play. The Dolphins recovered. Are we at the point, as Rick says in “Casablanca”, ‘It seems that destiny has taken a hand?” Maybe not. Maybe destiny hasn’t even shown its hand. But it’s on plays like that a good win was built.
Among the Dolphins standouts Sunday, Sanders shone brightly. He didn’t just kick the 29-yard game-winner. He became the first Dolphins kicker to make three field goals over 50 yards in a game, including his career-high of 57 yards He went 5 for 5 on field goals. He even mouthed a good working title to his future autobiography.
“It’s just me and the uprights,” he said.
Sanders not only won the game but he won the sweater contest afterward. “Tree Rexosaurus,” read a sweater that appeared to be the result of two knitters violently colliding. The only disappointment is a snazzy dresser McDaniel didn’t wear such an item.
One Sunday second-guess: If Sanders had six field goals maybe the Dolphins wouldn’t have needed to drive down the field for the win. McDaniel passed on a chip shot in the second quarter and elected to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6-yard line. Tagovailoa’s pass to Cedrick Wilson didn’t connect. So there went three easy points.
Winning is the perfume that covers such ideas, and Tagovailoa’s winning drive answered one of Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott that gave the Cowboys a 20-19 lead. But there were more than three minutes left, meaning, “We had plenty of time,” Tagovailoa said.
He connected on a few medium-sized passes. Jeff Wilson Jr. made a few nice runs. Sanders made his kick. It was all done except for a little happy crowing.
“Nobody on this team thought we were going to lose this game, and that’s pretty cool when everybody tells you you can’t beat X, Y or Z,” McDaniel said.
He checked that box. And this one:
“A lot of us are happy because their Christmas isn’t ruined,” McDaniel said.
Late Sunday afternoon, Hill even got his Christmas Eve request for next week. The weather next Sunday in Baltimore is forecast to be 44 degrees, with a zero chance of rain and one-hundred percent certainty of being a Juggernaut Game.
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