For 55 minutes, the Rams’ defense put a beatdown on a depleted Dolphins offensive line today, dominating on a sloppy, rainy field in Los Angeles. And then for five minutes, the Dolphins’ offense came to life.
Miami didn’t score a point until a Jarvis Landry touchdown catch with just four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, on an incredible play on which multiple Miami linemen ran downfield to push Landry into the end zone after he was originally stood up at the 5-yard line. The Dolphins’ defense quickly forced a three-and-out, and the Dolphins marched down the field and scored again to go up 14-10 with 36 seconds to play.
Miami struggled for most of the day with the Rams’ front, and that was no surprise given the Dolphins’ injury situation: Starting center Mike Pouncey and left tackle Branden Albert were both out with injuries, and rookie Laremy Tunsil, who replaced Albert at left tackle, exited with an injury as well. But Ryan Tannehill finally bought himself some time to pass late in the game, and his two late touchdown passes were the difference.
Heading into the game, the big story was that the Rams were starting first overall pick Jared Goff for the first time. But while Goff appeared to give the Rams’ offense some life early on, with a first-quarter touchdown drive, for most of the game Goff was nothing special: He looked the way you might expect a rookie first-round pick to look in his first start, showing flashes of talent but not exactly setting the world on fire.
In the end, the story of the game will be the collapse of the Rams’ defense. It dominated for the first 55 minutes, then laid an egg for the last five.