The Dolphins battled another NFL heavyweight to the final gun Sunday but fell 19-9 to the Detroit Lions. The Lions' high-powered offense never got things going against a stingy Miami defense, which was complemented by another big game from rookie wide receiver Caleb Douglas.
1. Taming the Lions attack
The Detroit Lions brought the NFL's top-ranked offense to South Florida for the Week 9 tilt with the Dolphins and proceeded to post season lows in the most critical statistics.
The Lions produced just 120 yards in the first half, converting only one of six third down opportunities and failing to produce a touchdown in the first half for only the second time this season.
The effort continued into the second half as Detroit finished with 270 yards of offense, 19 points, a 25 percent conversion rate on third down and just one touchdown in four red zone trips. Each of those figures set or matched a season low for the Lions' offense.
Early in the game, the key was pressure. Miami put heat on Lions quarterback Jared Goff from the opening gun, producing 3.0 first-half sacks and a quarterback hit that led to an interception by rookie cornerback Chris Johnson, just the second of the season for Goff.
"We had them in some situations where we felt like we could pressure, where we felt like we could take advantage of protection, that we gave them certain looks and we kept building off of certain looks, and then our guys executed really well," Head Coach Jeff Hafley said.
2. Lessons to learn
Despite the swarming defense, the Dolphins couldn't finish with a victory, due in large part to self-inflicted wounds as Miami committed 11 penalties for 87 yards, with five coming in Lions territory.
"When you play as competitive as we did and physical and tough, and really there was a lot of really good execution, but to keep going backwards, 11 penalties for 87 yards," Hafley said. "We had really cleaned that up since the bye week and you can't – it's all self-inflicted on offense. The timeliness of the holds, I mean, we had a (near) touchdown on the one and we had some big plays. It was second and behind the sticks a lot. You're not going to be able to score points and move the ball. So we have to get the penalties fixed. We'll look closely at everyone."
One of the holding calls wiped out a 50-yard completion from quarterback Malik Willis to wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr.
The Dolphins also missed a 38-yard field goal, failed to put a kickoff into the landing zone and allowed a fake punt for a first down. On the flip side, Miami did convert its own fake punt when punter Bradley Pinion found running back Kayton Allen for 46 yards.
3. Douglas does his thing
Dolphins wide receiver Caleb Douglas continues to shine in his rookie season. He turned eight targets into six receptions for 70 yards in Sunday's game.
"He's really competitive," Hafley said. "I could see the look in his eye on the field today – the catch and run, the breaking tackles. He went up and caught the ball with really disregard for getting hit. I think he's taken really big steps. We'll watch the film to see it closer, but I thought he had a really good day."
In his first five games, Douglas has totaled 296 receiving yards, the most by a Dolphins player through the first five games of his career.
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