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Dolphins are going to win this one 23-15. They'll improve to 3-6 and the Rams drop to 4-5.
Dolphins vs. Rams score, takeaways: Miami defense shuts down Matt Stafford and Co; Tua Tagovailoa does enough
Miami snapped a three-game losing streak in Week 10
The Miami Dolphins kept their playoff hopes alive and snapped a three-game losing streak by defeating Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams on "Monday Night Football" by a score of 23-15.
The Rams offense struggled all night in this one. L.A. went 3-for-12 on third downs, 0-for-3 in the red zone and didn't score a single touchdown. Stafford, who is now 12-21 in prime time, completed 32 of 46 passes for 293 yards and one interception, while Puka Nacua was his leading receiver with nine catches for 98 yards.
Tua Tagovailoa wasn't particularly sharp Monday night, completing 20 of 28 passes for 207 yards, one touchdown, one interception and also a fumble lost. Miami's running backs were held to a total of 40 rushing yards, and Tyreek Hill caught just three passes for 16 yards and one touchdown. However, Anthony Weaver's defense dominated, forcing two turnovers and sacking Stafford four times.
Let's take a look at what went down in L.A. on Monday night.
Why the Dolphins won
When you think about the Dolphins, you probably envision Tagovailoa and Hill making plays in the passing game with the speedy De'Von Achane and Raheem Mostert toting the rock out of the backfield. You don't usually think about the defense.
The Dolphins aren't known for having one of the best defenses in the league, but they actually entered Monday night with the No. 9-ranked unit in terms of total yards allowed per game (303.1). This defense allowed 327 yards of total offense and zero touchdowns while forcing two turnovers Monday night. L.A. failed to find the end zone once in its three red zone possessions and didn't even convert a third down until the second half.
Perhaps the pressure this defensive front applied on Stafford was the biggest reason Miami won. This defense got to Stafford a total of four times and threw off his timing before he had the chance to deliver the football downfield to one of L.A.'s lethal playmakers. The Dolphins defense was fantastic Monday night, and the main reason they are back in the win column for the first time since Oct. 6. The zero touchdowns allowed were the fewest all season for Miami, and four sacks the most this year.
Why the Rams lost
Prior to Monday, when the Rams' big four of Stafford, Williams, Nacua and Cooper Kupp all played, they were 8-3 while averaging 27.6 points per game and 393.6 yards of total offense per game. This week, they lost, scored 15 points and had 327 yards of total offense.
Nacua caught nine passes for 98 yards and Kupp reeled in seven receptions for 80 yards, but it didn't feel like they had the same impact they usually do on games. The Rams offense was out of rhythm and couldn't capitalize in crucial spots -- whether that was on third down or in the red zone.
Turning point
After the Dolphins defense held the Rams out of the end zone early in the fourth quarter, Miami needed to run some clock while nursing an eight-point lead. On a third-and-6, Tagovailoa found former Ram Odell Beckham Jr. for a big conversion on third-and-6.
On this drive, the Dolphins eventually kicked a field goal to extend their lead to 11 points with 2:38 remaining in the game, which hurt the Rams' hopes of a comeback.
Play of the game
How about a defensive play for play of the game? First-round pick Jared Verse is a favorite to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and plays like these are why. Verse exploded through the Dolphins offensive line on a stunt, forced Tagovailoa to fumble AND recovered it.
What's next
The Dolphins return home next week to host the 2-7 Las Vegas Raiders. As for the Rams, they will hit the road to take on Drake Maye and the 3-7 Patriots in New England on Sunday.
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The Rams are, for some reason, kicking the field goal here instead of taking one more shot at the end zone. The TD is more valuable than the 5 seconds you save by doing this. Really poor game-management in multiple situations from Sean McVay tonight. Now they need an onside kick.
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Dolphins go back up by two scores
Kam Curl with a huge tackle on that third down play to force a field goal. It looked like Tyreek had an easy first down but Curl just dropped down from the safety spot and took Tyreek down one on one. Jason Sanders knocked another 50-yard field goal through the uprights to make it an 11-point game again.
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Huge play outside of structure by Tua and Beckham right there to convert the first down.
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Rams come up short at the goal line
Matthew Stafford threw over a receiver's head twice on this goal-to-go sequence, and the Rams have to settle for yet another Karty field goal. He's 4 of 5 on kicks tonight but the Rams are 0 for 2 in the red zone. They need a stop and a score, plus the two-point conversion. The Dolphins have a chance to run some clock here and at least make things difficult, if not just keep the ball for the rest of the game.
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Dolphins extend the lead
It's now a two-score game (20-9) once again as Jason Sanders adds another field goal. The Rams need to operate with some urgency down the stretch here as they need a score, a stop and another score.
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Tua has taken some brutal sacks, too.
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Stafford has taken some incredibly damaging sacks tonight. Yikes. Miami's blitzes really hitting home at the right times.
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Cooper Kupp with the snag
Stafford and Kupp make the ridiculous, look ridiculously easy. Look at this one-handed stab right here. Like it's nothing.
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JONNU SMITH
What a ridiculous catch and run by the big tight end. He's only been intermittently involved this season and throughout his career, but he's a fantastic athlete and he showed it there, getting the Dolphins down to the 1-yard line and in position to score. It was a Tyreek Hill touchdown on the next snap.
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And now that bobble, plus a false start, cost the Rams points after Karty missed the field goal. Yikes.
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Trouble with the snap
Twice on this drive, Matthew Stafford has had some issues with his ball-handling. He bobbled the ball on a play-fake to Kyren Williams early in the drive but made up for it with a chunk completion to Puka Nacua, but he just dropped a snap and cost the Rams a ton of yards on what was looking like their best drive of the game.
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Halftime: MIA 10 LAR 6
Total yards: MIA 111 LAR 106
First downs: MIA 7 LAR 7
Third downs: MIA 2-7 LAR 0-6
Turnovers: MIA 2 LAR 2
Red zone: MIA 1-1 LAR 0-1
Tua Tagovailoa 9/15 87 yards 1 INT
Matthew Stafford 15/21 97 yards 1 INT
De'Von Achane 6 carries 23 yards
Kyren Williams 6 carries 25 yards
Jaylen Waddle 2 catches 55 yards
Tyreek Hill 1 catch 12 yards
Puka Nacua 4 catches 33 yards
Cooper Kupp 3 catches 24 yards
Kyren Williams 4 catches 13 yards
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Rams tack on a field goal
Nice end-of-half drive by L.A. to put some points on the board. They had a chance for more but for yet another sack of Matthew Stafford. Alas, it ends with another Karty kick and it's 10-6 at the break.
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Tua short-circuiting in the pocket
Tua has taken a couple of really horrendous sacks here. The strip-sack by Verse and this latest sack by Kobie Turner were both the result of his holding the ball for way too long and drifting backward, then just accepting a sack instead of trying to throw it away. Puzzling decision-making back there.
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Rams stall in the red zone
After picking up a first down on a really nicely-designed play to Cooper Kupp on a fake-screen wheel route, the Rams couldn't get any further into Dolphins territory. They finally got points on the board, though, with a 34-yard Joshua Karty field goal. That cuts Miami's lead down to 10-3.
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Jared Verse continues his strong season
Verse is the runaway favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he strengthened his case with this strip-sack of Tua (and the recovery) to get the ball back for the Rams. In case you're counting, that's three consecutive possessions resulting in a turnover. It's looking a lot like Sunday Night Football out there.
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You get a turnover and you get a turnover and you get a turnover
Immediately after the Rozeboom interception (i.e. the very next play), De'Shawn Hand stripped Kyren Williams and forced yet another turnover. (Stay tuned, there was another one right after this.)
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Rozeboom picks off Tua
The Rams created some positive momentum for themselves, when Rozeboom stepped in the way of a Tua pass on second-and-14.
Look who made the tackle on the play, Tua Tagovailoa, using his head.
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Dolphins defense forces another punt
The Rams offense has picked up just 29 yards on 16 plays, while Matthew Stafford's unit has gone 0-4 on third downs. This Dolphins defense hit the field ready to play, and has now forced three punts and one INT.
MIA 10 LAR 0
10:59 remaining in the second quarter
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Dolphins extend their lead
Miami made a curious decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-2 from the 32-yard line, but Jason Sanders drilled the kick to make it 10-0 early in the second quarter. The Rams really need to get something going offensively on this next drive.
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Anthony Walker Jr. with the pick
Matthew Stafford had a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage for the second time in the first quarter, and this time, the Dolphins took advantage with an interception by LB Anthony Walker Jr. Walker then channeled Miami Hurricanes QB Cam Ward with the Zombieland celebration.
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More Corum?
Sean McVay always talks about how he wants to decrease Kyren Williams' snap load, only to then play Williams almost every snap. We're seeing a decent bit of Blake Corum in this first quarter, though, with the rookie handling the third drive of the game in the backfield. We'll see if that playing time holds up the rest of the way.
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This game might take a while, folks
We are now four possessions in and fewer than 7 minutes have come off the clock. Lots of passing, lots of incompletions. Since that first Dolphins drive, we've seen three consecutive three-and-outs.
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Rams start with a three-and-out
A throw-back screen play to Kyren Williams on the first snap of the game set the Rams' opening drive back. Even with a nice run by Williams and a completion to Davis Allen, they couldn't gain enough yards for a new set of downs and quickly had to punt.
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Rookie opens the scoring
After four straight passes to open the game (all completed, two to Jaylen Waddle and two to De'Von Achane), the Dolphins got the ball to rookie Malik Washington on an end-around and Washington out-ran everybody to the corner of the end zone. Took Miami just 2:59 to march all the way downfield to take the lead.
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Pre-game reading
Check out our in-depth preview of tonight's game right here. A couple of excerpts:
The Rams, however, have been the worst defense in the NFL against passes to running backs, allowing 0.41 EPA per play, according to Tru Media. Opponents have completed 30 of 33 passes for 276 yards when throwing to their backs, and we know Achane can turn any short pass into a long touchdown if you don't get him on the ground right away. There will be a lot of pressure on L.A.'s linebackers and safeties to make the first tackle in space and not let Achane gear up to a full head of steam.
Miami's defense has played well this season, checking in 10th in EPA per play against the pass and 15th against the run, via Tru Media. The coverage on the back end has been sticky, with opponents completing only 62.3% of their passes at an average of just 6.7 yards per attempt. It will be interesting to see how the Dolphins choose to deploy Jalen Ramsey against this Rams offense, and whether he spends more time on Kupp or Nacua.
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Rams inactives
L.A. getting healthier but still without RT Rob Havenstein.
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Dolphins inactives
Nothing too surprising here, though it's notable that FB Alex Ingold is out.
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