CBS4's Steve Goldstein Previews Dolphins-Giants Matchup As Fins Seek To Extend Win Streak
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Dolphins winning streak can reach five this week against the Giants. It's all coming together for Brian Flores team since starting the season 1-7. The stunning turnaround is being led by a suddenly tenacious defense and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Hard Rock Stadium will be buzzing as plenty of New York fans in South Florida get a rare chance to see their team live while Dolphins fans are having fun watching winning football.
POUNDING CAROLINA
Last week was the most complete game of the season as Miami blew out the Panthers. The defense absolutely throttled Cam Newton and got back to its ball hawking ways while the offense hummed along like a fine-tuned machine. And special teams produced the game's first touchdown with a blocked punt. Impressive all around.
TUA TAKES OFF
Everybody has had an opinion on the Dolphins quarterback. The fact is Tua has proven he can be a quality NFL starter despite wild inconsistency of personnel around him. His expected top receivers hardly ever play, until recently he's had a subpar offensive line and had to deal with persistent rumors the team would trade for his replacement. Through it all he has put on a positive face and gone out and won games. He is settled in after 16 career games and been as advertised, a deadly accurate quarterback. With a 70.5% completion rate he's 2nd in the NFL and pacing to set a Dolphins record. Remarkably, Tua has been at 80% the last 2 games, becoming just the 4th quarterback in history to hit that mark in back-to-back games. Kyler Murray, Drew Brees and Payton Manning are the others, high end company for Tua.
DRAFT HITS
Right there with Tua is his former Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle. He has had an incredible rookie season and continues to get better as the play calling has gotten him the ball in open space. Waddle is 5th in the NFL with 77 catches and 9th in yards after the catch. He loves the game, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Add in Jevon Holland's rise, he had an interception vs Carolina, and Jaelan Phillips pass rushing tenacity. The Dolphins have hit big on a few of their draft picks.
GO WITH FLO
In his 3rd season as head coach Brian Flores' teams are 16 -7 from November 1st on. It shows the players play for him and his teams stick together.
GET EVEN
After this game vs. the 4-7 Giants the Dolphins get a bye week and then the Jets come to town. A couple of very winnable games against the New York teams and remarkably the Dolphins will battle their way back to .500 at 7-7.
The Dolphins and Giants kickoff at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.
