What we learned from Monday’s doubleheader

COMPLETE BOX SCORE

1. The Titans battle through adversity to earn their first victory. With zero wins in their first three weeks, Tennessee hit the road to a stifling Miami with a desperate goal: to win the game. They didn’t get off to a good start, having made a few false starts before. Will Levis thrown possession via a Emmanuel Ogbah interception, and it looked like things were going to get tougher once Levis left the game with a shoulder injury. But Maçon Rudolph‘s experience helped steady the ship, keeping the Titans’ offense afloat before they turned to their ground game to carry them to victory. Defensively, the Titans had a great game, stifling Mike McDaniel’s offense, forcing a turnover and five and outs and limiting the Dolphins to less than 200 offensive yards on the night. It wasn’t the cleanest operation – Tennessee committed eight accepted penalties for 69 penalty yards – but it was enough to come away with a well-deserved first victory for coach Brian Callahan, who can boast toughness of his team after seeing them win the physical battle and consistently put enough points on the board to cruise to victory.
2. Miami’s offense remains stuck in the mud. The Dolphins entered Week 4 without holding a lead for a single second of regulation in three games. It seemed, at least on paper, that they might finally break through in Week 4 against the Titans, but we were wrong. By choosing a veteran Tyler HuntleyMiami deployed its third different starting quarterback in four games and found things were going to be just as tough as in their ugly loss to Seattle last week, entering the fourth quarter with just 84 total yards of offense. The Dolphins gained just seven yards as a team in the third quarter, trudging into the final period with little sign they would find a rhythm before the game ended. They did it, putting together an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive, but it took 7:09 and a lot of effort. Gone are the days of the Dolphins’ explosive offense, which simply can’t be comfortable without Tua Tagovailoa and he has difficulty playing even the simplest games.
3. Bill Callahan’s offensive line is starting to come together. On a night in which Tennessee lost its starting quarterback in the first quarter, the Titans needed the running game to carry the load, a reality their staff didn’t shy away from. The Titans ran the ball on 64.5 percent of their offensive snaps, racking up 142 rushing yards and capitalizing on a blocking scheme that constantly created running lanes for players. Tyjae Spears et Tony Pollard. The latter led the way, averaging 4 yards per carry on 22 attempts, but both served up a score and each found the end zone, taking a ton of responsibility off Rudolph’s shoulders. It’s no surprise that Rudolph gave credit to the ground game in his postgame interview, as it led them to a road victory, helping the Titans gain possession (34:52 to 25: 08) and move away. And after a rough start that included a few false starts and a holding penalty, it was very encouraging to see this unit settle in and execute consistently. That bodes well for a Tennessee team that desperately needed a reason to believe after a tough three weeks to start the season.

Titans-Dolphins Next-Gen Stats Preview (via NFL Pro): The Titans’ run defense shut down Miami’s designed run attempts Monday night, limiting the Dolphins’ running backs to 72 yards on 26 designed runs, including -43 rushing yards above expectations, the seventh-highest rating lowest posted by a defense in a game this season.

NFL Research: The Dolphins are the first team to never hold a lead through the first four games of a season since the 2017 Browns, who finished 0-16. In the team’s Week 1 win over the Jaguars, the Dolphins scored the game-winning field goal with no time left.