Who’s hot
Tyreek Hill is on track to set new Dolphins records. Hill is within 9 yards away from breaking the franchise’s single-season receiving yardage record after catching nine passes for 146 yards on Sunday. His 45-yard touchdown moved the Dolphins within six points early in the fourth quarter, and his motion set up wide receiver Trent Sherfield’s 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown on the first play. With Hill on track to overtake Mark Clayton for the most receiving yards in a season by a Dolphins player, the question remains whether he can do enough to become the NFL’s first 2,000-yard receiver. He’s on track for 1,953 yards, which would be just short of Calvin Johnson’s 1,964-yard season in 2012 (Johnson did it in 16 games, while Hill will play an extra game). Hill’s 114.9 receiving yards per game are now ninth in NFL history.
▪ Christian Wilkins: Despite playing on a defense with more flashy players, he remains dependable. Despite the unit’s up-and-down performance against seventh-round pick Brock Purdy at quarterback, Wilkins led the team with 12 tackles, eight of which were solo. This season’s defensive line injuries have increased Wilkins’ workload. He is playing a career-high 81 percent of defensive snaps and having another productive season as a run defender.
Who’s not
▪ Tua Tagovailoa: In his poorest game of the season, the third-year quarterback missed multiple pass-catchers on basic throws. He also committed three turnovers, including interceptions on consecutive passes. It was Tagovailoa’s first interception since Week 4, capping a franchise-record 193 consecutive passes without a pick.
His first ball, a short toss to Sherfield that he returned 75 yards for an opening-play touchdown, exemplified everything Tagovailoa had demonstrated throughout the Dolphins’ five-game winning streak: decisiveness, accuracy, and confidence. However, after that play, he appeared unsettled behind an offensive line with two backups and a relentless 49ers pass pressure. Tagovailoa also appeared to worsen an ankle ailment that had been recorded on the injury report in the days leading up to the game, despite the fact that he had never been limited in practice. Tagovailoa was pulled for the last drive but stated that he was “as good as I can be coming off a game.”
The Dolphins have struggled to establish a ground game in their last two games, despite a season-high 195-yard running performance against the Cleveland Browns. One week after rushing for 66 yards against the Houston Texans, Miami managed only eight carries for 33 yards against the 49ers, both season lows. Running the ball against a stout San Francisco defense was always going to be difficult, especially given the offensive line ailments, but the lack of attempts exacerbated problems on a day when Tagovailoa was struggling to pass the ball.
