Dolphins crush Panthers behind Tua-Waddle connection, win fourth straight

The Miami Dolphins showed their midseason momentum is real and displayed what can become of the young Alabama connection of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and receiver Jaylen Waddle.

In a key game to determine if the Dolphins could legitimately swing their sudden surge into a reinsertion in the AFC playoff conversation, they responded. Clicking on all cylinders in a 33-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami won its fourth consecutive game.

“The guys had a good week of preparation,” Dolphins coach Brian Flores said. “I think that showed up [Sunday], and I thought our coaches did a great job this week getting them prepared — Thanksgiving week, there’s a lot going on.”

The Dolphins, after starting 1-7, now find themselves at 5-7 with home games against the lowly New York Giants (4-7) and Jets (3-8) on the horizon and a path to getting back to .500 looking more and more realistic, especially after demoralizing the Panthers (5-7).

Tagovailoa completed just under 90 percent of his passes, going 27 of 31 for 230 yards and a touchdown. More than half of that passing yardage went to Waddle, the rookie wideout who finished with nine receptions for 137 yards and the touchdown. It all came against a Carolina pass defense that entered Sunday ranked No. 1 in the NFL.

“We look like the team that we kind of wanted to be at the beginning of this year,” Tagovailoa said. “I would say this is the best that we’ve played complementary football yet, but there’s still some plays that were left out there on the field that we can fix.”

The Dolphins defense held the Panthers to pedestrian numbers. Starting quarterback Cam Newton was 5 of 21 for 92 yards, two interceptions and a rushing touchdown. Star running back Christian McCaffrey was held to 35 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Miami finished outgaining Carolina, 315-198. The Dolphins held the Panthers to 4 of 12 on third downs, forced three turnovers on defense and even scored on special teams.

“Everything is clicking and going on the right path,” said cornerback Xavien Howard, who had an interception. “I seen [Newton] was getting a little frustrated, though. I feel like, our defense, we did that to him, and we just got to feed off that and try to get every quarterback to feel like that.”

A pair of second-quarter touchdowns gave the Dolphins a 21-7 lead. First, Waddle caught a 9-yard touchdown from Tagovailoa that followed an interception and return into the red zone by Howard.

“Tua grew as a player. I’m trying to grow as a player,” Waddle said. “Just learning what he do and his new knowledge, and me going out there every week and learning something new and just putting it all together. We work throughout the week on just new things that we find and just trying to get better.”

Later in the half, Waddle’s 57-yard catch and run over the middle from Tagovailoa eventually set up running back Myles Gaskin to score on a direct snap for a 3-yard touchdown. It was one of two Gaskin rushing scores out of the Wildcat, adding on from 3 yards out again in the third quarter.

Gaskin had 49 yards on 16 carries. Phillip Lindsay, in his first action as a Dolphins after getting claimed off waivers from the Houston Texans, went for 42 on 12 attempts.

Before halftime, The Dolphins were in position to add to the two-touchdown lead, but it backfired when center Austin Reiter skipped a shotgun snap past Tagovailoa that Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu recovered and ran the other way to the Miami 23-yard line. Receiver Isaiah Ford made a touchdown-saving tackle, but it left a second on the clock for a Zane Gonzalez 41-yard field goal. Miami led, 21-10, at halftime.

The Dolphins struck first on special teams when linebacker Duke Riley blocked a first-quarter punt deep in Panthers’ territory that cornerback Justin Coleman recovered for a touchdown. Riley also had a big third-down hit on Panthers receiver DJ Moore that forced the punt.

“It felt good to bring the energy and set the tone,” Riley said. “We wanted to set it early, and fortunately, it was me setting it.”

Carolina answered with a Newton 1-yard rushing touchdown that was set up by a long pass for 64 yards from Newton to Moore, who got open over the top on what appeared to be a miscommunication between Howard and fellow cornerback Byron Jones, both on the same side with no safety help.

Miami’s secondary recovered from there, intercepting Newton twice in the first half. Rookie safety Jevon Holland had the first one while Howard had the later one that set up the Waddle touchdown.

The Dolphins got to the Panthers’ 24-yard line on their opening possession, but former American Heritage High and FSU standout Brian Burns swooped past right tackle Jesse Davis for a strip-sack of Tagovailoa. Davis recovered the fumble, which was followed by a Michael Palardy punt to the Carolina 5-yard line before the Miami special teams score.

Aside from the Howard and Holland interceptions, cornerback Nik Needham had a diving interception late against Panthers backup quarterback PJ Walker. Jaelan Phillips had three sacks, and Emmanuel Ogbah and Christian Wilkins added one apiece. The Miami defense had 10 pass deflections Sunday with five coming from front-seven players.

“I’m proud of him,” Ogbah said of the rookie Phillips, who is now up to 6 1/2 sacks on the season. “He works his [expletive] off — excuse my language — every game, every practice, but I’m happy for him. He is getting better and better.”

Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders made a pair of fourth-quarter field goals, but he also missed an extra point off the upright.

Sunday’s game was only the seventh meeting all time between the Dolphins and Panthers, a series that Miami leads, 5-2. Carolina, a 1996 expansion franchise in the NFC, is Miami’s least-faced opponent in the NFL.

The Dolphins host the Giants next Sunday before their bye week.