MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins had the impressive rebound they were looking for coming off their first loss of the season — with plenty to continue to work on.
Behind speedsters Tyreek Hill and De’Von Achane blazing up and down the field, the Dolphins dominated the New York Giants, 31-16, Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
They compiled 524 total yards of offense to the Giants’ 268 and overcame three careless turnovers that kept New York in the game longer than it should’ve been.
Miami (4-1) bounced back from its difficult 48-20 divisional loss to the Bills at Buffalo last week. The Dolphins regained the AFC East lead after the Bills lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. In doing so, they’ve now won 14 of their past 16 home games.
The Dolphins have 2,568 yards through their first five games of the season, breaking the 2000 St. Louis Rams’ record of 2,527 for most to this point in a season. But coach Mike McDaniel has his sights set on doing much more moving forward.
“Mission accomplished,” he joked after the game. “We had, the whole time, the whole offseason, that was our goal was output after five games.”
While coming away victorious against an inferior team after the previous week’s defeat, McDaniel will still have plenty of coaching ammunition after the three turnovers.
“Sometimes, the messy games are my favorite with regard to that stuff,” he said. “You turn the ball over, that’s hard. But the best way to separate yourself is to be able to come back from that and progress forward and not let other plays linger, and there’s very few guys that could pull it off.”
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 21 of 29 for 308 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Hill, his star receiver, went for 181 yards and a 69-yard touchdown on his eight receptions. Jaylen Waddle caught Tagovailoa’s other touchdown pass early on.
Achane, the rookie running back, had a 76-yard touchdown as part of a 151-yard rushing performance.
Between the two and veteran running back Raheem Mostert, the Dolphins have the seven fastest in-game ball-carrier speeds recorded by NextGen Stats this season. One play, where Hill was actually caught by a defender with an angle, had Hill eclipse 22 mph, establishing a new No. 1 speed this season.
But Achane had to throw a jab Hill’s way as the two have a friendly competition for fastest on the team, especially since Hill was tackled on the play while Achane found the end zone.
“He’s still fast, but I’m the fastest, for sure,” Achane said.
The Miami defense piled up seven sacks against an injury-riddled Giants offensive line. One from outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel on quarterback Daniel Jones, knocked him out with a neck injury early in the fourth quarter. Tyrod Taylor finished out the game for the Giants after Jones went 14 of 20 for 119 yards.
“We had to bounce back,” Van Ginkel said. “Obviously, when you give up 48 points, it leaves a sour taste in your mouth, so we came together as a defense and we told each other that we had to play as one.”
With a 17-10 lead to start the second half, the Dolphins jumped on the Giants on the third play after intermission when Tagovailoa found Hill over the top and he rolled down the right sideline, burning Giants cornerback Tre Hawkins III for the 69-yard touchdown. Hill jumped into the stands to give the football to his mother and was flagged for taunting.
Miami had a chance to expand the lead, back with the ball later in the period, but Tagovailoa threw his second interception, picked off by linebacker Bobby Okereke. All the Giants could get out of the stellar field position at the Miami 23-yard line was a field goal, cutting their deficit to 24-13.
The Dolphins did end up adding to the advantage to follow. Mostert, playing with a heavy heart Sunday after his grandfather died Saturday, punched in a 2-yard rushing score on the final play of the third quarter, giving Miami a 31-13 lead before Jones was knocked out of the game.
The Dolphins squandered an opportunity to go up three possessions late in the first half. Tagovailoa was throwing a short pass to the goal line. It was deflected by Okereke and returned 102 yards the other way by safety Jason Pinnock for a Giants touchdown.
Instead of potentially going up, 21-3, Miami’s lead was cut to 14-10. The Dolphins went into halftime leading, 17-10, after Jason Sanders’ 40-yard field goal, his first since the first quarter of Week 2 in New England.
“Obviously, poor decision on my part when we already have points given the time that’s also on the clock,” Tagovailoa said of the costly interception. “Two-minute drive, you either want to end the ball with points or you just want to end the half with the ball. That was a poor decision on my part. But it’s football. You’re going to make mistakes.”
Achane put the Dolphins up two possessions early in the second quarter when he blazed down the Miami sideline for a 76-yard touchdown run that left New York defenders in the dust.
The Dolphins got the ball for the series after McDaniel won his first challenge of the season and second of his career, contesting a penalty for too many men on the field on the preceding punt return. Replay showed it was a legal 11th player running off the field, negating a penalty that would’ve given the Giants a first down.
Achane redeemed himself from his fumble on the previous drive, which was forced by New York’s Xavier McKinney and recovered by Kayvon Thibodeaux for the Giants’ first takeaway of the season.
The Dolphins opened the scoring Sunday with Waddle getting his first touchdown of the season, a 2-yard pass from Tagovailoa. The Miami quarterback was 6 of 7 for 65 yards on the opening series, which was started by a 24-yard rush from Achane, lined up out wide for the end-around after a fake went to Waddle in the backfield.
Miami got their seven sacks against the Giants after their banged-up offensive line allowed 11 sacks last Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Dolphins stay at home to face the Carolina Panthers (0-5) next Sunday.
