Stayin Alive: Dolphins’ comeback in the snow to beat the Steelers
What I liked
– Ryan Tannehill – Ryan Tannehill put on his big boy pants on Sunday. It took him a little while to adjust to the snow, as it was clear he was ‘off’ in the early part of the game. However, he looked fantastic in the second half of this game. He finished the game with a 95.5 QB Rating, completing 20 of 33 for 200 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT. The Dolphins fell behind twice in the second half and Tannehill kept his team composed and focused and led them to a great victory.
– Daniel Thomas – You wanna talk about someone putting on his big boy pants, Thomas did on Sunday. He returned to the Dolphins and made the biggest impact he’s made in over a year. He finished with 16 carries for 105 yards (6.6 ypc) and 1 TD. He ran hard and effectively and even broke off a 55 yard run.
– Charles Clay – His nickname is now set. Let’s call him Big Play Clay. The guy is a matchup problem for defenses and has become much more consistent catching the ball. He finished with 7 catches for 97 yards and 2 TDs. For the season, he has 60 catches for 678 yards and 6 TDs. Dustin Keller who?
– Brian Hartline – He had a decent game, but he’s on this list because of his beautiful TD catch. His body control to catch the ball and get 2 feet down was unbelievable. He finished with 5 catches for 51 yards and 1 TD.
– Cameron Wake – Another game, another big play by Wake. Wake’s strip sack forced a fumble that gave the Dolphins the ball at the Steelers 31 yard line and set up an eventual touchdown.
– Olivier Vernon – Another game, another sack from Vernon who increased his sack total to 11.5 on the season. The second year player from the ‘U’ is having himself quite a season. Through 13 games he’s the Dolphins leading sack master.
– Dolphins O-Line – These guys got a lot of grief earlier this season, but they’ve been playing noticeably better of late. The Dolphins line allowed 3 sacks on Sunday, but they kept Tannehill clean for the most part AND they did a good job of opening up holes for the running game. At least one of the sacks was the result of solid coverage and the QB having nowhere to go with the ball. Keep up the good work fat guys! (continued on page 3, CLICK HERE)