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The Dolphins handed the Packers a tough task in frigid conditions at Lambeau Field. Miami picked themselves off the mat for a strong finish, but the 24-3 halftime deficit proved too much to overcome.
Here are the takeaways from Green Bay’s Thanksgiving loss.
The game couldn’t have started much better for the Dolphins, who forced the Packers offense off the field with a three-and-out opening drive. But that’s where the fun ended.
Rookie wide receiver Malik Washington’s cushioned kick put the Packers ahead first, and just six offensive plays into the game, Miami trailed by a touchdown. Then the offense committed three penalties on the opening drive before kicking it back to the Packers, who drove 76 yards to extend the early lead to 14.
Things started to snowball from there as the run game struggled to find its footing with just 39 yards on 14 attempts, creating frequent third-and-longs. As a result, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked five times.
But despite the slow start, the Dolphins had the ball at the Packers’ 1-yard line with 11 minutes remaining and trailing by 16 points; a chance to make it a one-possession game with more than enough time remaining. Instead, a run steal, a broken pass and a sack turned the ball back to Green Bay.
“One of the biggest things good teams do when they play good teams is play clean football and let their opponents make mistakes,” said Head Coach Mike McDaniel. “That’s what the Packers did to us.”
The Packers didn’t reach the 30-point threshold on many downfield passes. It was their ability to throw short and fast, and the Dolphins’ inability to get those players on the ground. By the end of the game, Next Gen Stats charged the Dolphins with 17 missed tackles, which led to an additional 125 yards for the Green Bay offense.
“A lot of the production, over a hundred yards for them offensively, came from tackling,” McDaniel said. “I saw a consistent inability of tacklers to get their feet through the tackle – imagine diving and leaving your feet to try to get the tackle, rather than putting your feet through the tackle , which is our main emphasis when we do that.”
If you fell into a post-turkey sleep and woke up to the game’s box score, you might think the Dolphins won in a big way when you look at Tagovailoa’s box score. The Miami quarterback threw for 365 yards, two touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over.
Once again, his top target was one of Miami’s best free agent acquisitions in recent memory in the form of Jonnu Smith. Taking advantage of the space created by the Miami offense and their star wide receivers, Smith surpassed the century mark for the second time in three weeks with 10 catches for 113 yards.
Four games into his Dolphins tenure, Smith had just nine receptions for 78 yards. But over the last seven games, Smith has 49 receptions for 570 yards and four touchdowns.
“He’s really done a great job of understanding how to be open in the timing of the play,” McDaniel said of Smith. “If you break up when Tua is ready to throw it, you generally have a high completion percentage. He’s really earned every extra opportunity based on his excellent coachability and then he gives you an incentive to find ways to give him the opportunity to throw the ball when you can throw it short and he can run it long.”
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