With the Dolphins off Tuesday and not playing again until next Monday night, this is a good opportunity to take another look at the victory against the Denver Broncos, this time through a numerical perspective.
The 35-9 victory represented the biggest of margin of victory since Adam Gase became head coach in 2016. It topped the 21-point victory (34-13) against the New York Jets last December.
The 35 points also represented the highest scoring output under Gase, topping the 34 points against the Jets and against the Buffalo Bills (34-31 overtime victory) in back-to-back weeks last season.
The Dolphins set a record for fastest span between two touchdowns when they scored twice in 7 seconds, first on a 9-yard pass from Jay Cutler to DeVante Parker and then on Howard's 30-yard interception return for a touchdown on the next play from scrimmage.
The Dolphins had two safeties and a pick-six against Denver, becoming the first team in the NFL to accomplish that rare feat since 1961 when the New York Giants did it against the Washington Redskins.
Cornerback Xavien Howard became the 10th player in Dolphins history with two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, in a game. The last player to do it had been Sam Madison against the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003.
Other Dolphins players with at least two interceptions and a pick-six in the same game were Dick Anderson (had four INTs and two TDs) in 1973 against Pittsburgh and in 1968 against the Boston Patriots; Louis Oliver (three INTs) in 1992 against Buffalo; Terrell Buckley in 1998 against Indianapolis; linebackers Robert Jones and Zach Thomas in the same 1998 game against Oakland; Mike Kozlowski (two TDs) in 1983 against the Jets; Gerald Small in 1978 against Oakland; and Troy Vincent in 1995 against the Jets.
The Dolphins defense held Denver quarterback Trevor Siemian to a 30.5 passer rating, the lowest number by an opponent since 2008 when the Rams' Marc Bulger posted a rating of 22.2.
Howard's five passes defensed tied for highest total by a Dolphins player since 1994. The others with five were Troy Vincent in 1994 against the Raiders, Sam Madison in 1998 against the Steelers and Andre' Goodman in 2008 against the Chiefs.
Matt Haack's seven punts inside the 20-yard line represented the highest total for the Dolphins since at least 1976. It was the most in the NFL since Dec. 27, 2015 when Tennessee punter Brett Kern also had seven. It also represented the second-highest total since the NFL began keeping the stat in 1976. The record is eight set by Pittsburgh's Mark Royals in 1994 and matched by Jacksonville's Bryan Barker in 1999.
Running back Kenyan Drake's 42-yard touchdown run was his third run of 40 yards or more, tying him with Kansas City's Kareem Hunt and Chicago's Jordan Howard for most in the NFL this season. It should be noted, however, that Drake has 65 rushing attempts on the season, compared to 212 for Howard and 193 for Hunt.
The Dolphins became the first NFL team since the 2011 St. Louis Rams to record two safeties in the same game. The NFL record is three, set by the Los Angeles Rams in 1984 against the New York Giants. There have been 17 instances of a team getting two safeties.
Kenny Stills's five receptions against Denver gave him 80 on the season, which is the ninth-highest total in franchise history. Landry already owns the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6 receiving seasons with 110 catches in 2015, 94 in 2016 and 84 as a rookie in 2014.
Landry, with 32 more catches than any other player on the team, likely will lead the team in receptions for a fourth consecutive season, something no Dolphins player has done since the 1970s when Nat Moore was the team leader for six consecutive years (1974-79).
Landry now has 368 career receptions, extending every week his NFL record for most catches in a player's first four seasons. The previous record was 342, set by Anquan Boldin with the Arizona Cardinals from 2003-06.
The Dolphins defense held Denver to a 1-for-13 (7.7 percent) showing on third down. It was the team's fourth-best third-down performance since 1991 behind the 7.1 percent (1-for-14) against Cleveland in 2013; and the three times the Dolphins shut out their opponent on third down (New Orleans in 2005, and Buffalo twice in 2011).
