The Miami Dolphins lost their second game in a row this week away against the Cleveland Browns, 41-24. Miami drops to 2-9, while Cleveland improves to 5-6.
Parker on pace for career yards in a single season
Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker had another good game, snagging the ball six times for 91 yards. His yardage totals on the day have now pushed him over 600 yards for the season, setting him up for a career-year.
Birthday boy hits milestone
Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, playing on his birthday, had some Fitzmagic late in the game, giving the Dolphins three second half touchdowns. Fitzpatrick got one touchdown on the ground, and was Miami’s leading rusher with 45 yards. He added two more TDs through the air with 214 yards behind them.
Fitzpatrick also happened to throw his 200th career touchdown pass in the game, and was almost the entire reason Miami outscored Cleveland 21-13 in the second half. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the first half of this game was all Browns, as they went into the locker room with a score of 28-3, that the second half heroics were not enough.
“It’s pretty cool. I remember when I was in Tennessee and I threw my 100th touchdown pass to Chris Johnson. I remember just how crazy that was for me to think about, the accomplishment, everything that I had been through and the teams I had been on,” Fitzpatrick said. “We lost the game today and all of that, but it’s still a cool moment for me. It’s a cool moment for me to share with my parents, kids and wife. It’s a neat thing. When I’m done playing, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it even more.”
Miami: Not enough life for a full 60 minutes
Miami just couldn’t get rolling out of the gate. In the first half it punted twice, turned it over on downs and threw an interception. It closed out the half with a 63-yard drive that ended in a field goal, but not much to speak of otherwise.
“I think we got ourselves somewhat back into the game in the third quarter, but when you’re digging yourself that type of hole, it’s hard to get out of it. We couldn’t string enough plays to really get back into it,” Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said.
Mike Gesicki finds end zone for first time
The second half got interesting until Fitzpatrick threw his second interception of the day late-game. After a punt on their opening drive of the half, Miami got the ball off a Baker Mayfield interception and scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives. After scoring 17 unanswered points, six of which came from the tight end Mike Gesicki’s first career touchdown, Miami then lost momentum and gave up a pair of field goals and a touchdown before scoring its own touchdown on its final drive of the game.
“In all of the talk about number 200 for me, that’s number one for him. That’s a pretty neat moment to be a part of. He’s worked really hard this whole year. He’s a guy that certainly deserves it. That’s going to be one of hopefully a lot more to come. I’m really close with Mike, and that was a good moment for him,” Fitzpatrick said.
Pairs of WRs, RBs lead the way for Cleveland
On Cleveland’s side of the football they had all the answers. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry had his first game against Miami since being traded from the Dolphins prior to the 2018 season. In the statement game he hauled in 10 catches for 148 yards and two TDs. Opposite him, Odell Beckham Jr. caught six passes for 84 yards and his first TD since week two. The two helped put Mayfield over 300 yards in the game along with his three tossed scores.
Both Browns running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt found the end zone as well. Chubb carried the ball more than 20 times for the sixth straight game and finished with 106 yards. Hunt added an eight-yard score on his eight carry, 37-yard day. Finally, on the defensive side of the ball, Joe Schobert had another multi-interception game this season, picking off Fitzpatrick twice.
Miami will have a date with the New York Jets in week 13, the team who surrendered to the Dolphins for their first loss of the season in week nine.
– Christian Chappell is a Sports Contributor for Full Press Coverage Miami Dolphins. Like and follow on Follow @cmoneypc Follow @FPC_Dolphins and Facebook.
