The Dolphins looked like they were headed for a lost season when they lost seven straight games after a Week One win, but they’ve turned things around over the last five weeks.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw two touchdowns and the Dolphins kept the Giants from finding the end zone at all in a 20-9 home win on Sunday. The victory is their fifth in a row and they remain in the AFC playoff picture as they head into their bye week with a 6-7 record.
Tagovailoa has been very accurate throughout the winning streak and that remained the case on Sunday. He was 30-of-41 for 211 yards and that makes three straight games with a completition percentage north of 70 percent for the 2020 first-round pick.
Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle set a Dolphins rookie record when he caught his 85th pass of the season and finished the day with nine catches for 90 yards. He went to the locker room because of cramps, but returned to watch the end of the win from the sideline.
Tagovailoa’s accuracy didn’t result in too many offensive fireworks and the Dolphins were shut out in the first and third quarters, but it turned out to be more than enough on a day when the Dolphins defense stifled pretty much everything the Giants threw their way. First-round pick Jaelan Phillips had two more sacks and Xavien Howard had an interception as the usually lousy Giants offense took a step backward with Mike Glennon at quarterback in place of Daniel Jones.
Glennon was 23-of-43 for 187 yards and wasn’t helped by dropped passes or injuries that left the team thin at wide receiver, but it seems clear that the Giants are going to need to do more to fix their offense than firing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The 4-8 club has a trip to Los Angeles to face the Chargers on tap next weekend and a loss there will guarantee them a fifth-straight losing season.