The Washington Commanders got the ball first to start their Saturday night preseason matchup against the Miami Dolphins but despite gaining 46 yards of offense and getting down to their opponent’s 31-yard line, they came up empty.
10 plays, nearly four minutes into the game, and with plenty of positives put on tape, the Commanders also did some less-positive things on the field and failed to put early pressure on the Dolphins to score.
Regardless, Miami not only scored, but did so while keeping the Washington defense on the field for over six minutes and converting on two fourth down plays. The last of the two was converted in the end zone.
“It was such a long drive, I felt good about our fourth down options,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said after the game when asked about his decision to go for it on fourth down twice. “I probably would have run the ball the second time, but I kind of figured that it would be (Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s) last play because it was such a long drive, and I was really looking for him to get about 10 opportunities to lead the offense. So I wanted to give him an opportunity to make a play, and I thought that was a good time for him to take control and put the ball where it needed to go. And I thought (Dolphins receiver) River Cracraft had a great release and got an edge on the defender and made a good catch in the end zone so that was a cool moment.”
That Commanders defender McDaniel is referencing is cornerback Benjamin St-Juste. Part of a cornerback group that has growing concern over it’s viability in the upcoming season.
The touchdown pass from Cracraft came from 13-yards out after the receiver beat St-Juste off the line and ran past him into the end zone to catch Tagovailoa’s perfectly placed pass.
While the Dolphins’ confidence running the ball with their first-team offense on fourth-and-one can be explained in part by the absences of defenisve tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne, Washington fans know all too well the corner shot win against a burgundy defender is not a new occurence.
The Miami drive covered 61 yards of offense in 11 plays and ended with a touchdown. In a lot of ways it’s an isolated series that didn’t go the Commanders’ way.
In other ways it’s a strong reminder of why the previous regime won just four games last year, is mostly not here anymore, and why general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn replaced over half the roster this offseason.
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