Top Performers From The Dolphins Win In Jacksonville
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It wasn't the prettiest of wins, but the Miami Dolphins got the job done. The goal was to travel up to Jacksonville and come back with a victory, and that's exactly what the Dolphins did. While the offense didn't play up to the standards they've set over the past several weeks, the defense picked them up and put a couple touchdowns on the board. It was a true team win, and that's something that the better teams around the NFL will do. Teams with a high-scoring offense will sometimes have to win a 13-10 game. The best defenses in the league will sometimes be in a shootout and have to rely on their offense putting up 30+ points.
Now is that what's happened with the Dolphins? Time will tell. Now even though the win in Jacksonville didn't happen the way that most would've drawn it up, at the end of the day a win is a win. Yes, the offense struggled, but they also put together a 95-yard touchdown drive late in the third quarter when the game was still very much in question. The defense did bend, but they didn't break, holding the Jaguars to just six points for almost 58 minutes. There were indeed several positives to take from the Dolphins third win in four games, and with that in mind here are the top performers from Miami's win over Jacksonville.
Olivier Vernon
This is a guy who is really starting to grow into a special player. He may not always put up huge stats, but his impact on the field is huge. Vernon is often in the backfield, hurrying the quarterback and making him uncomfortable in the pocket or chasing down running backs and keeping them to short gains. He's also been steadily improving on setting the edge, an area that he struggled during his first two seasons. Vernon had five tackles, one for a loss, and was constantly in Blake Bortles face.
Louis Delmas
Delmas is quietly having a very solid season for the Dolphins, though he did turn up the volume a bit on Sunday. He intercepted Bortles and returned it for an 81-yard touchdown to open the scoring, giving Miami a very important 7-0 lead on the road. He also recovered a Bortles fumble later in the game that led to another Dolphins score. Health has been an issue for Delmas during his career but so far he's played in every game this season and should see a bump in production now that Reshad Jones has returned from suspension.
Lamar Miller
Sunday was another solid game for Lamar Miller, who is really starting to blossom in his third NFL season. He turned his 14 rushes into 78 yards, averaging an impressive 5.6 yards per carry, and added three receptions for 21 yards. Miller is on pace for his first 1,000 yard season in the NFL. Through seven games he's ran for 469 yards (10th in the league) on an average of 4.9 yards per clip (11th in the league).
Reshad Jones
Since coming back from his suspension, Jones has been playing very well. He added eight tackles and his first sack of the year to his season totals on Sunday. Through three games Jones already has 24 tackles, which ranks his 6th on the team, a sack and an interception.
Brandon Fields
The Dolphins punter has been struggling this season, which comes as a surprise considering that he's been one of the best in the league for the past several years. He had some booming punts in Jacksonville, averaging 51.0 yards on his five kicks, two of which landed inside the Jaguars' 20 yard line.
Watch Miami take on the San Diego Chargers this Sunday at 1 p.m. on CBS4, your official Dolphins station!
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