Spikes and misses in Dolphins’ 13-6 preseason win over Commanders

The Miami Dolphins are now 2-0 in the preseason after a 13-6 win over the Washington Commanders that looked a lot like their first win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Once again, the Dolphins held a seven-point lead throughout the fourth quarter and needed a defensive stop to seal the deal. But the end result doesn’t matter much in August. Instead, the preseason is about proving that players are ready for the regular season, or simply deserve a roster spot.

Here are the Dolphins’ standouts Saturday night, as well as a few players who had a night to forget:

Stallion: QB Tua Tagovailoa

No Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle or Odell Beckham Jr.? No problem.

The Dolphins’ starting quarterback was under center without most of his regular teammates, but had no problem getting the offense going. Tagovailoa completed 5 of 5 passes, including a 13-yard touchdown pass he threw over the Commanders’ defense to River Cracraft on fourth down.

There wasn’t much more that could have been asked of Tagovailoa on his only drive of the night – and perhaps his only drive of the preseason.

Dud: Dolphins’ defense in the first half

Thanks to a couple of missed field goals by Commanders player Riley Patterson, the Dolphins went into halftime with a lead. While Miami’s defense was without three of its core members (Jalen Ramsey, Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer), it’s still not great that Washington managed to rack up 221 yards in the first two quarters with massive plays on the ground and through the air.

The defense had an up-and-down performance. Cam Smith made a couple of quality stops, but allowed Washington’s Terry McLaurin to break free for a big gain. Chop Robinson recorded an impressive tackle for loss, but also failed to contain a couple of runs in his direction.

Stallion: TE Jonnu Smith

It wasn’t exactly a prolific night for Smith, who finished with four receptions for 23 yards, but it was a performance that should have caught the attention of fantasy football players. The Dolphins looked to get the ball to their offseason acquisition early and often, and they did it in a variety of ways.

“We look at him as a YAC monster,” Tagovailoa said after the game. “He catches the ball and he can get a few yards after the catch. He’s very versatile in what we can do with him. We’re slowly finding things to do with guys like ‘Nu.’”

Miss: Receiver/Defensive End Braxton Berrios

It wasn’t exactly a brutal night for Berrios, but he also didn’t show any signs of worthy of seeing the field. He didn’t do much with his kick returns and dropped a potential Skylar Thompson touchdown, though it was tipped by a Commanders defender.

Elsewhere in the Dolphins’ wide receiving corps, River Cracraft looked like a reliable target for Tagovailoa, Erik Ezukanma made some big plays down the field and Malik Washington showed some agility on a 15-yard punt return.

Student: WR Erik Ezukanma

The pressure is on the 2022 fourth-round pick to show he deserves a roster spot after barely seeing the field in his first two seasons. On Saturday night, he showed tantalizing potential that is so hard to give up.

Ezukanma led all receivers in the game with five receptions for 65 yards, including gains of 35 and 24 yards on two deep balls. Was it enough? That remains to be seen. But Ezukanma took a step forward with his back to the wall.

Duds: Backup Quarterbacks… Again

Skylar Thompson and Mike White took a step forward from their outings against the Falcons, but completing just over 50 percent of their passes was far from the breakout performance the Dolphins needed. Thompson completed 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards, and despite starting with 62 yards on his first four attempts, White ended up completing 11 of 20 passes for 116 yards.

While Tagovailoa had a passer rating of 148.8, Thompson and White finished at 63.5 and 72.1, respectively.

The excuses for poor performances are valid, but it’s difficult for the Dolphins to enter the regular season confident they have a contingency plan in place if Tagovailoa misses time.

This article was originally published on Dolphins Wire: Cleats and misses in Dolphins’ 13-6 preseason win over Commanders