Midway through a season of heartbreaking losses, major injuries and maddeningly inconsistent play, the Miami Dolphins mostly put it together on Monday night.
While their preseason Super Bowl aspirations still look unlikely, the Dolphins’ gritty 23-15 victory over the Los Angeles Rams demonstrated that they still may have a shot to make something out of a very trying year.
Tyreek Hill caught a short touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa in the third quarter to end the longest scoring drought of his career, and the Dolphins (3-6) kept Los Angeles out of the end zone while snapping their three-game losing streak with just their second victory in eight games.
“When we’re playing our best ball, we can still beat anybody,” defensive tackle Calais Campbell said. “We’ve just got to continue to believe, continue to fight. And obviously the margin for error is zero. So it’s one game, but we’ve got to keep it going. For us to go where we want to go, we’ve got to keep fighting and believe.”
Rookie receiver Malik Washington rushed 18 yards on the opening possession of a much-needed turnaround night for the beleaguered Dolphins (3-6), who had lost three games by a combined 10 points since their last victory on 6 October.
Miami’s solid defense stepped up impressively at SoFi Stadium, forcing two turnovers and keeping the Rams touchdown-less despite yielding 327 yards.
Tagovailoa passed for only 207 yards, but he made a series of big throws while the Dolphins converted six third downs, most of them at key moments. Tagovailoa was 9 of 12 for 137 yards on third downs alone.
“We’ve come a long way through however many losses in a row,” Tagovailoa said. “The resilience of this team with the external noise, everyone counting us out, hopefully this is an opportunity to not waste. Hopefully we can go on a run with this win and find our rhythm.”
Hill had three receptions – including his first TD catch since the season opener – while playing through a wrist injury, and Jason Sanders kicked three field goals.
“This is the kind of game that can spark a run,” Campbell said. “But it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win the next one … The hard part is, how do you continue this? But like we said in the [pregame] meetings, to create a wildfire, all it takes is one spark. So we keep believing, keep fighting and make a run for it.”
The Rams’ run was stopped in its tracks.
Matthew Stafford passed for 293 yards and rookie Joshua Karty kicked five field goals for the Rams (4-5), whose three-game winning streak ended with a major offensive regression. Los Angeles failed to score a touchdown for only the eighth time in coach Sean McVay’s eight seasons.
“Defensively, I was pleased with the way we played,” McVay said. “Ultimately we weren’t able to capitalize on offense. There wasn’t any semblance of complementary football … There have been instances where we haven’t been consistent enough. Sloppy? Yeah. We have to be able to play better and be more consistent.”
After scoring 76 points in their three straight wins, Los Angeles failed to score a touchdown for the first time since November 2023, at Green Bay while Stafford was injured.
Puka Nacua had nine catches for 98 yards, and Cooper Kupp made seven receptions for 80 yards.
Los Angeles drove to the Miami four-yard line in the fourth quarter, but McVay settled for a fourth field goal that made it a one-score game with 6:31 to play. Miami’s Odell Beckham Jr then made a key catch for a first down in the stadium where he badly injured his knee while winning the Super Bowl with the Rams three seasons ago, and the Dolphins drove for Sanders’ 50-yard field goal with 2:38 left.