Miami Dolphins Beat the Injury-Depleted New Orleans Saints, 20-3

Miami Dolphins cruised past the New Orleans Saints last night, defeating the team from Louisiana 20-3. This is the seventh straight win for the Fins, who are now in a fantastic position to reach the playoffs.

The Dolphins’ defense was ferocious against the Saints’ attack, punishing the young rookie quarterback, Ian Book, frequently throughout the game. He was picked twice and sacked on eight occasions, suffering one hell of a beating in his first pro start.

Book was named starter due to the COVID-19 outbreak among the Saints, with both Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian being ruled out of the match.

“He’ll be frustrated like all of us with some plays. But certainly, it’s not gonna define his growth or his career. It was kind of one of those perfect storms,” said the Saints’ head coach Sean Payton about Book.

His third play ended up with Nike Needham intercepting the pass and returning it all the way to the end zone. It pretty much determined the course of the game.

“Rookie quarterback — we mixed up some looks on him,” Needham said. “Had him a little confused out there, and I think that played a big part.”

The result at the end of the first period was 10-0 for the guests, and after that, it was all routine for Brian Flores and his boys.

Tua Tagovaiola wasn’t shining but did enough to secure a routine win. He threw for 198 yards, one TD, and one pick, suffering two sacks for 25 negative yards. Jaylen Waddle was his favorite target, hitting the teammate from colleague 10 times for 92 yards and one touchdown.

Waddle recorded 96 receptions this year, and is currently second on the all-time rookie list behind Anquan Boldin. He needs six more catches to eclipse the former Super Bowl champion.

Jaylen Waddle hit his waddle celebration after scoring 🤣

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/av2xwetMXt

— ESPN (@espn) December 28, 2021

The Fins didn’t establish a dominant run game, with David Johnson and Phillip Lindsay combining for 75 yards, the whole team 86.

On the other side, the defense was dominant, as mentioned above. Emmanuel Ogbah had two sacks, and Jerome Baker 1.5.

With this triumph, Miami became the first team in the NFL history to have a seven-game winning and losing streak in one season.

The Saints, who suffered such a nasty hit at the worst time of the campaign, couldn’t do any better than they did. Book had 135 yards, 12-for-20 for two picks. The third-down conversion of the hosts was appalling 0-for-12.

Their best player, Alvin Kamara was nowhere to be seen with 52 yards on the ground and seven through the air. Mark Ingram II posted 17 rushing yards, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey caught three passes for 70 yards.

The lucky thing for the Saints, who are 7-8 right now, is the fact that their last two rivals aren’t that strong. At first, they host the Carolina Panthers and then visit the Atlanta Falcons, and both of these units are already out of the playoff hunt. However, what is dangerous is that these are division rivals, who are always eager to damage their NFC South foes.

On the other side, the Fins are 8-7, but have one hell of a schedule. At first, they are traveling to Nashville to meet the Tennessee Titans, who are in a must-win situation. After that, Flores’ unit hosts the New England Patriots, who also need to win, and all this will present a true test of the Dolphins’ quality.