MIAMI – The Miami Dolphins fell to the New York Giants 31-24 on Monday night.
In a game that glorified 50 seasons of Dolphins football, memorializing the all-time greats like Dan Marino, Mercury Morris and Don Shula, the Dolphins of today did their best to live up to that Hall of Fame pedigree, but were simply unable to contain the electrifying Odell Beckham Jr.
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The first half was just about what was expected: Bright flashes of incredible offensive potential for both teams overshadowed by below average play calling.
Neither team saw much success on the run, but the Dolphins unquestionably won the ground battle thanks to the surging Lamar Miller. Miller turned nothing into something on multiple occasions, but none was more impressive than an explosive 38-yard scamper to the end zone early in the second quarter, his second touchdown in the first half alone. He fizzled out after that first half explosion, finishing with 89 yards on 12 carries and 2 touchdowns.
Obviously, with the lights at their brightest, Odell Beckham, Jr. put on a show. The second-year phenom didn’t stuff the stat sheet in the first half, but he torched pro-bowler Brent Grimes more than once, and a graceful toe-tap TD followed by an 84-yard crowd-stunner helped him rack up 166 yards and 2 touchdowns. Of course, no NFL game featuring the Giants would be complete without a few jaw dropping plays from the former first-rounder.
Excluding a gorgeous 47-yard touchdown strike to Kenny Stills, Ryan Tannehill was under whelming for the second straight week under new offensive play-caller Zac Taylor, tallying 236 yards and 1 touchdown. After an off week, Tannehill’s favorite target Jarvis Landry saw a return to his regular double-digit targets, but never found the end zone.
Eli Manning spread the ball between his talented receiving corps and surgically picked the Fins apart in the red zone on his way to completing 27 of 31 for 337 yards and 4 touchdowns.
The Dolphins will make the trip to San Diego next week to face the 3-10 Chargers.