The Dolphins and 49ers faced off Sunday at Miami Gardens’s Hard Rock Stadium knowing that the loser was out of the playoffs. And so it did.
In a more contested match than the final score reflected, the Miami team continued alive by imposing 29-17 on the San Francisco squad, which with the defeat definitely says goodbye to the post-seater.
The Dolphins are two games behind the Los Angeles Chargers (9-6) and the Denver Broncos (9-6), who have the last two wildcard spots, and remain equal with the Bengals of Cincinnati and Colts of Indianapolis with the same record (7-8).
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To stay alive and aspire to the playoffs they must win the remaining pair of games and two of these three variants are fulfilled the Indianapolis Colts lose one and the Broncos and Chargers both.
So if next Saturday the Chargers beat the Patriots and the Broncos beat the Bengals, the Sweald squad will be eliminated. Difficult, but not impossible.
It was a deserved win for the Dolphins, who played a big game from start to finish scoring in all quarters while showing fierce defense.
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa shone by scoring 215 yards after completing 22 of his 34 passes, with a touchdown (it reached 100 in his career) and no interception.
Lay running back DeVon Achane was sublime with 120 yards per ground and 70 for air, being the best in both departments, in addition to kicking a big TD at the end of the game.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill scored the other touchdown of the match and although he only managed 29 yards he was instrumental in the win.
You know that as a leader I have to show up and those moments when I feel good, doing a good job and the best of us starts to come out. This is the NFL, it’s not easy and that’s what’s there.
Strict tight end Jonnu Smith was again important with 62 yards to catch the six passes he received.
Mention for Miami kicker Jason Sanders who scored 17 points, with five field goals, almost all from long distance, including one of 54, in addition to converting the extra points.
San Francisco quarterback Brook Purdy was a worthy rival with 313 yards (26 passes in 40 attempts) with a pair of touchdowns.
Is it important how much effort we have made to win? For most, it has been a long season, but it is not over for our team, so I am eager to stay alive and I look forward to the next meeting coming,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said.
Is it important that part of the reason the team imposed on the 49ers is because we know there’s a lot in football that can be correlated, not causality? I’m proud of this effort and the boys in general. That gives you a chance to gain some experience and I’m happy.
With 3:30 on the clock, kicker Jason Sanders scored a 44-yard field goal to open the scoring and put the Dolphins ahead 3-0. There was no more in the first half that ended with this same result.
But at the start of the second (14:22), the 49ers scored the first touchdown when Deebo Samuel, after receiving a pass from his quarterback Purdy near the scoring area, got rid of pure power from three Miami defenses to complete 16 yards. With Jake Moody’s extra point, they went back to play 7-3.
The Dolphins responded with Sanders’s second field goal (9:44), this time from 38 yards, to get close on the scoreboard 7-6.
Miami’s defense stopped San Francisco and the offense continued to score his first TD when, after several successful hauls, Hill caught a good 3-sard Tua pass in the same right corner. Sanders’s extra point put the slate 13-7 with 3:20 to the end of the quarter.
The 49ers threatened a touchdown, but stayed on the shore and had to settle for a 21-yard field goal from Moody (0:47), which brought him closer to 13-10 to end the first half of this disputed duel.
The Dolphins started the third (10:57) scoring Sanders’s third-place finish, no less than 54 yards, to stretch the lead 16-10.
At 5:53, after being penalized for illegal training, the San Francisco kicker Moody missed the 41-lear field goal and Miami literally saved himself from not getting close.
Hill couldn’t catch a long pass from Tua in the scoring area, but Sanders failed with 1:11 left his 33-run fourth field goal of the afternoon to extend the Dolphins’s lead 19-10, with which he finished the third quarter shortly after.
As soon as the last partial (13:01), the 49ers came back dangerously close 19-17 when Purdy gave a good 2-lee pass to tight end Eric Saubert to complete the 49ers’ second TD, followed by Moody’s extra point.
He couldn’t score Miami in his last forward and Sanders scored another 48-yard field goal to extend the lead 22-17.
On the return of the 2nd-minute break cornerback Kader Kohou intercepted a pass through Purdy’s center and ended the 49ers’s hopes.
To top it off, at (1:36) when it looked like Miami was only busy wasting time, Achane broke San Francisco’s defense from center to the right, and with a 50-foot drive he scored the touchdown that sentenced the duel (29-17) with Sanders’ extra point.
The 49ers tried everything, but the god Crono fell on his head and failed to decree his defeat and the Dolphins’s great triumph by 12 points difference.
