Dolphins-49ers Week 13 Halftime Observations
49ers #49ers
Breaking down the key moments from the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium
Here’s what caught our eye during the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium.
— We’ll start with the inactive list, which was highlighted by Terron Armstead (toe/pec) joining Austin Jackson (ankle) on the sideline. Though that shouldn’t have come as a surprise, it was disappointing nonetheless. Also inactive after being on the injury report during the week were QB Teddy Bridgewater (knee) and RB Myles Gaskin (shoulder/ankle). The other inactives were CB Noah Igbinoghene, WR Erik Ezukanma and TE Hunter Long.
— Raheem Mostert returned to the lineup to give the Dolphins a trio of running backs who all played for the 49ers at one point.
— As expected, the starting offensive line had Greg Little at left and Brandon Shell at right tackle.
FIRST QUARTER
— Wow, talk about starting fast! The Dolphins lost the coin toss for only the second time all season, get the opening kickoff and, BAM, Tua hits Trent Sherfield with a quick pass out of the slot and Sherfied takes advantage of a bad angle by a 49ers safety to race 75 yards for a touchdown.
— Interesting to note that newcomer Justin Zimmer starts on defense when the 49ers get the ball.
— The 49ers came back with a field goal drive with a couple of big plays and mistakes by the defense.
— On the first third-down situation, Brandon Aiyuk got past Xavien Howard on a crossing pattern to catch a 23-yard pass.
— Christian McCaffrey had a 33-yard gain when he went out on the right side and easily got past linebacker Duke Riley as Riley lost his balance when he tried to bump the running back.
— The Dolphins limited the damage when Jerome Baker came in free on third-and-6 from the Miami 19 to quickly get to Garoppolo and Jaelan Phillips helped bring him down for the sack. This looked like a miscue by the 49ers.
— The Dolphins’ second drive didn’t work out nearly as well.
— On first down, there looked to be some mix-up between Tua and Tyreek Hill with the result a throw way off the mark.
— Tua went over the middle for Sherfield on third-and-6, but linebacker Fred Warner got a deep drop and got his hand on the touch pass to knock it away.
— While the Dolphins offensive possession was going on, 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo was carted off into the locker room with a left foot injury.
— After the Dolphins gave up the ball, their special teams failed again, giving up a 20-yard punt return that allowed the 49ers to start their second drive at their own
— Purdy is a rookie, but the 49ers offense didn’t look vastly different with him in the lineup and he converted his first third-down situation when McCaffrey beat Riley again, this time in the open field, to catch a 7-yard pass.
— After Zach Sieler pressured Purdy into an incompletion and Howard had a nice pass breakup to force a third-and-10, the drive was kept alive when Kader Kohou went over the back of Aiyuk before the ball got to him for a 14-yard DPI.
— After two McCaffrey run gained 12 yards for a first-and-goal at the 3, the defense let fullback Kyle Juszczyk wide open after he got out into the flat — Jevon Holland and Kohou looked like the two closest defenders — for an easy 49ers touchdown and a 10-7 San Francisco lead.
— The Dolphins’ third possession produced a second consecutive three-and-out and this one was the result of two missed throws by Tua, a floater down the middle to Waddle and then a short hop to the left. On both occasions, the pass protection — a major concern coming into the game — was very good.
— The third 49ers possession featured a tripping penalty against Melvin Ingram that gave San Francisco a first down, and it was a call that easily could have been ignored as Ingram was engaged with a blocker and McCaffrey ran into his leg — though Ingram kept his leg off the ground, which likely is what drew the flag.
— In any event, the drive ended when Christian Wilkins easily beat a blocker and met McCaffrey in the backfield to drop him for a 3-yard loss on third-and-2 from midfield.
— Tua began the next Dolphins possession by overthrowing Waddle down the field, but came right back with a nice throw to tight end Durham Smythe over the middle for a 19-yard gain.
— After fullback Alec Ingold dropped a pass thrown slightly ahead of him (but clearly catchable), the Dolphins sent Tyreek Hill in motion to the right side of the formation and he was able to catch a pass thrown behind him for an easy 18-yard gain as the first quarter ended with the Dolphins having a first-and-10 at their own 47 trailing 10-7.
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— The drive ended with a field goal by Jason Sanders from 43 yards out, with the big play a 17-yard completion down the field to Hill, the play that’s been so successful for the Dolphins all season.
— The drive had a disappointing ending, though, with the questionable decision to have Tua drop back to pass on a third-and-1 that was more like third-and-half a yard. After Ingold and running back Jeff Wilson Jr. both failed to slow down Nick Bosa, he dropped Tua for a sack that forced the field goal attempt.
— The Dolphins defense forced a three-and-out on the next series with a very aggressive look.
— Zach Sieler stopped Deebo Samuel after no gain on a first-down run and Phillips’ pressure forced a quick throw on third-and-5 with Keion Crossen all over Samuel to knock away the ball.
— The Dolphins’ next series produced a lightning-quick three-and-out after three straight incompletions.
— While there was a bit more pressure on Tua in this series, that didn’t account for the three incompletions because his first-down pass was off target and Jeff Wilson Jr. failed to come up with a difficult but makeable catch on second down.
— The 49ers threatened to take the lead on their next possession, but the Dolphins defense came up with a couple of big plays.
— Two plays after Jordan Mason reeled off a 19-yard run, Andrew Van Ginkel sacked him on second down to eventually force a fourth-and-4 from the Miami 39.
— After the 49ers decided to go for the first down (rightly so), Xavien Howard came up with his first pick of the season after he had tight coverage on Aiyuk. Considering he made the interception at the Dolphins 19, Howard actually would have been better off just knocking the ball down.
— The Dolphins’ next drive began with an 18-yard completion to River Cracraft when Tua did a good job of scanning the field, but he later overthrew Hill deep down the middle and was sacked on third-and-8 when Nick Bosa looped at the line and came in unblocked quickly up the middle.
— The 49ers got the ball around the two-minute warning and moved into Dolphins territory when Purdy made a great throw down the middle to George Kittle for 19 yards with Jaelan Phillips bearing down on him with a clear path from the snap.
— Xavien Howard was on the wrong end of two big plays later in the drive, first missing Jauan Jennings in the open field on a 19-yard gain and then getting flagged for an obvious DPI for a 4-yard gain.
— That was followed by an 18-yard gain by McCaffrey on a screen and on third-and-goal from the 3, McCaffrey scored on a 3-yard catch with 4 seconds left in the half for a 17-10 halftime lead and massive momentum heading into the second half when the 49ers get the ball first.
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