The Miami Dolphins got things back in order against the Falcons, and Tua Tagovailoa turned in a big performance. However, the Dolphins got bad news as cornerback Storm Duck will be out for the season because of a knee injury, according to a post on X by Marcel Louis-Jacques.
Miami had its best game of the season, dominating the Falcons in what figured to be head coach Mike McDaniel’s last game if the team struggled again.
However, Tagovailoa threw a season-high four touchdown passes in Sunday’s 34-10 rout.
Dolphins take a hit in the secondary
Duck was in his second NFL season. He started three games as a rookie in 2024 and the season opener this year against the Colts. He played 15 snaps before getting hurt on Sunday. Jack Jones, Rasul Douglas, Kendall Sheffield, Ethan Bonner, and JuJu Brents remain in the Dolphins’ cornerback room on the 53-man roster.
Other than the injury to Duck, the Dolphins did an extremely impressive job of shutting down Falcons’ star running back Bijan Robinson, according to the Miami Herald.
“We knew that they were going to lean on Bijan,” rookie defensive tackle Kenneth Grant said.
And McDaniel had a plan to stop him.
“Stopping the run not only changed the time of possession,” McDaniel said. “But it also was an assistant to the third-down execution, where we could be a little aggressive. There were a lot of things at play. But the starting point was for us — we knew they would try to give it to a dangerous player. We needed to have multiple players on every play around the ball. We did a great job doing that.”
Grant added, “Our game plan was just really focused around him. And just stopping him and kind of making their offense one-dimensional,” Grant said.
What this performance means going forward remains to be seen.
“If you can sustain through tough times and continue to build momentum in your game without results, the results do come,” McDaniel said. “But easier said than done. I think it was an important one of 17. Unfortunately, I don’t think it will count in any other box score.”
