Team Grades: Giants Eliminate Dolphins From Playoff Contention With 31-24 Victory
By Abraham Gutierrez
The New York Giants spoiled the Miami Dolphins celebration of the 50 greatest players with a 31-24 victory at Sun Life Stadium on the strength of near flawless performances from Eli Manning and wide receiver Odell Beckham. The win improves the G-Men's record to 6-7 on the season, which brings Tom Coughlin & Co. into a three-way tie with the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles atop the NFC East division.
For Miami, the loss drops the Fins to 5-8 on the year, which automatically eliminates them from playoff contention in the AFC, and puts Dan Campbell's head coaching job in limbo with three games to play.
"Veteran championship quarterback, has done it a long time, and on Monday Night Football he showed up again," said Dolphins head coach Dan Campbell. "Beckham's a hell of a player, we did a lot of things to try to stop [Beckham]; take him out, double him, [but] really didn't stop him."
Offense: D
Offensively, Miami tallied 16 first downs and 363 yards of offense, out of which, 128 yards came on the ground and 235 through the air. Unlike their most recent efforts, the Dolphins did a respectable job on third down, converting on 7-of-16 opportunities, but that still was not enough.
Second-year quarterback Ryan Tannehill connected on 61 percent of his passes, going 25-for-41 for 236 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions for a quarterback rating of 85.0. Running back Lamar Miller certainly did his part, rushing for 89 yards on 12 carries and two score, but didn't get much help from Miami's receiving corps.
In the receiving department, the Dolphins were led by wide outs, Jarvis Landry (11 catches, 99 yards) and Kenny Stills (2 catches, 49 yards, TD), along with tight end Jordan Cameron (3 catches, 35 yards). The Fins also shot themselves in the foot, offensively, committing 12 penalties for 123 yards, which ultimately had a significant impact on the outcome of the game.
"It's tough to consistently overcome those penalties," Tannehill said after the game. "They came at critical times too, I think was the biggest thing. We got into crunch time where we needed to make some plays and we didn't make the plays and then we had penalties that made it even harder,"
Defense: F
On the defensive side of the rock, the Dolphins' defense allowed 25 first downs, and 429 yards of total offense. For the record, 92 of those yards came on the ground, while 337 came through the air. Miami's defense allowed the Giants to convert on 5-for-11 on third downs and the turnover battle ended up even at one apiece.
Special Teams: B
In the special teams unit, Miami's bright spots included kicker Andrew Franks, who finished with six points on three extra points and a field goal. Punter Matt Darr also did his part, averaging 57 yards per punt on six boots for 68 yards, including four that laded inside the Giants 20-yard-line.
As far as returns are concerned, Jarvis Landry for on the board with a pair of kickoff returns for 66 yards. Damien Williams also had a single return that went for 23 yards, while Jay Ajayi also got on the board with one grabs for 20 yards.
Coaching: F
As much as Dan Campbell would like to remain at the helm of this Miami Dolphins team, the truth is that his inexperience at that position has out the Fins behind the proverbial eight ball. This team failed to make the necessary adjustments to win the game, and thus, eliminated themselves from playoff contention in the AFC.
Abe Gutierrez's (Twitter: @GutierrezAbe) passion led him to ditch law school journey in order to launch his own publishing company. His expertise make him a valued addition to Examiner.com, AXS.com and the CBS-Sports family. Some of his work can be found on CBS-Miami (Dolphins), CBS-LosAngeles (Chargers), CBS-BayArea (Raiders), CBS-NewYork (NY Jets), CBS-TampaBay (Buccaneers), AXS.com, Examiner.com and other online publications.