Question: The Broncos rushed for a season-high 189 yards in Sunday’s win over Miami. What worked on their four longest carries?
Answer: So many things.
Phillip Lindsay 20 yards (first quarter, second-and-8): Run to the right. Center Lloyd Cushenberry pulled and had a downfield block on safety Eric Rowe and tight end Noah Fant had a seal-in block on linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
Melvin Gordon 25 yards (second quarter, second-and-5): Run to the right. Left guard Dalton Risner pulled to block Van Noy on the edge. Fant had another fine seal-in block, this one on linebacker Elandon Roberts.
Lindsay 18 yards (third quarter, second-and-5): Run to the right. Cushenberry, right guard Graham Glasgow and left tackle Garett Bolles all pulled. Glasgow picked off blitzing safety Brandon Jones to open the edge. Cushenberry blocked Van Noy, who eventually made the tackle. It was the right call (run to the right) at the right time (where the safety was vacating the area by blitzing).
Gordon 20-yard touchdown (third quarter, second-and-3): Run to the right. Risner pulled and blocked edge defender Emmanuel Ogbah, tight end Troy Fumagalli took care of Van Noy and receiver Tim Patrick got enough of Rowe to slow him down.
Lindsay 20 yards (fourth quarter, second-and-1): Run to the right. Right guard Austin Schlottmann, in the game for Glasgow, kicked out to block Van Noy. Fant and Patrick made downfield blocks.
Of note, all were on second down and all came with Drew Lock in the shotgun.
Q: How surprising was Miami coach Brian Flores inserting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for rookie Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter?
A: Tagovailoa, on what ended up being his last play, took an awkward hit from outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, who sacked Tagovailoa by hitting him in the hip/quad area, forcing him to fall awkwardly to the turf.
Had Flores said afterward Tagovailoa was nicked up, I would get it. But Flores said Fitzpatrick gave the Dolphins “the best chance to win the game.” Surprising.
Interesting to bench Tagovailoa with a 6-3 record and trailing by only a touchdown. My guess is Flores didn’t like the things Tagovailoa was missing downfield and/or he was concerned about him taking too much punishment.
Q: Leading 13-10 in the third quarter, Fangio opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Dolphins’ 14. Agree or disagree?
A: Agree all the way, and I even thought that when Fangio kept the offense on the field instead of having Brandon McManus kick a field goal of around 31 yards.
The first sign the play wasn’t going to work is it seemed the Broncos were rushed. They didn’t break the huddle until 10 seconds left on the play clock and didn’t snap it until two seconds. The play call was Gordon straight ahead and he was stopped for no gain by unblocked Roberts.
The Dolphins went three-and-out on the ensuing drive.
Q: What transpired on safety Justin Simmons’ game-sealing interception with 1:03 remaining?
A: The Dolphins faced third-and-8 from the Broncos’ 15. On first-and-10, safety Kareem Jackson broke up a Fitzpatrick pass, and on second down, Fitzpatrick threw two yards to receiver Jakeem Grant.
The Broncos rushed five players, the fifth being inside linebacker Alexander Johnson, who blitzed late when Dolphins running back Salvon Ahmed stayed to protect Fitzpatrick.
Simmons started the play at the 1-yard line to the left of Fitzpatrick and he moved toward the middle of the field at the snap.
Receiver DeVante Parker ran a post route (his left to right) against cornerback Bryce Callahan. Simmons read Fitzpatrick’s eyes and covered the ground to cut in front of Parker for the interception. Terrific work.
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