MIAMI, Florida — The Miami Dolphins gave up the most points allowed at home in team history, suffered their biggest loss in franchise history and surrendered the most yards against them in team history on Sunday in their 59-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on opening weekend.
Broken Records
The game was ugly and it got ugly fast. When it was all said and done, Miami had given up 643 total yards to a mediocre Baltimore team from one season ago. The 643 yards were 21 yards more than the 622 mark given up to the New England Patriots on Sept. 12, 2011. Additionally, the Dolphins gave up 49 points in that game, but with the 59-point beat down from Sunday, those two games now go one-two in Miami’s history.
“We’ve got problems on offense, defense and special teams. We’ll try to fix them all. Schematically from a personal standpoint, we’ll try to fix them all. We’ve got a lot of work to do from that standpoint,” Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said.
More than half of Dolphins roster makes debut
It didn’t help that the Dolphins started 16 new players in its game on Sunday and 24 percent of the roster signed contracts with the team within the last week. A lot of those guys came on the offensive line, in addition to the defensive line and entire defensive unit. Additionally, Miami starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick also made his team debut. In a lopsided game, it’s important to note that essentially the entire Dolphins team was new to South Beach, new to playing with each other, or simply new to the NFL. 10 Dolphins made their NFL debut on Sunday.
Bright spots for Miami
Fitzpatrick started a game for his eighth different NFL franchise. He was 14-for-29 for 185 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Fitzpatrick linked up with rookie wide receiver, making his NFL debut, Preston Williams in the second quarter for the six-yard score. This came after kicker Jason Sanders put the first points on the board for Miami, a career-long 54-yard field goal. The Dolphins would not pick up any more points in the game.
“We knew coming into this game, the Ravens, with what they did last year and obviously they have some new pieces, but they’re a tough defense. And not just from a schematic point of view, but really the personnel that they have in there, they’re a good defense,” Fitzpatrick said. “We knew we’d have to be at our best in order to combat some of that stuff, and it just kind of got away from us early.”
Baltimore QB handles business
On the opposite side of the ball, it was clearly a career day for Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson. Jackson was just 17-for-20 on the day, but accumulated 324 total yards, along with five passing TDs. Jackson also started the game going 9-for-9 with four TDs before his first incompletion came with 3:31 remaining in the half.
“I barely had pressure. The receivers did a great job of getting open, catching the ball and scoring touchdowns. That’s what it’s all about and that’s what we did today,” Jackson said.
Ravens sport three players over 100 yards
Rookie wideout Marquise Brown lead the way for the Ravens’ receiving core, catching four passes (five targets) for 147 yards and two TDs. Brown’s first two career catches went for 47 and 83-yard scores respectively. Tight end Mark Andrews also went for more than 100 yards, catching all of his eight targets for 108 yards and one TD. RB Mark Ingram, making his team debut, also eclipsed the 100-yard mark, rushing 14 times for 107 yards and adding two TDs.
“It felt good. Just everything I’ve been through this offseason, just to be out there and to be able to make plays and help the team win, it felt pretty good,” Brown said.
Miami will be at home again next week and will host the Patriots. New England is coming off a statement 33-3 home victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Dolphins have a lot to improve on in the next week if they want any shot at all of keeping the game closer for longer and not have a repeat of today’s action. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside Hard Rock Stadium.
– Kayla Morton is the Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage Miami Dolphins. Like and follow on Follow @mortonsalt74 Follow @FPC_Dolphins and Facebook.
