Dolphins hoping their dominant win over Falcons marks a turning point in their season

MIAMI GARDENS Fla AP The Miami Dolphins definitively put together a complete championship while dominating the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Mike McDaniel believes that performance is only repeatable though if his organization moves on from it as promptly as doable I think the main factor is you don t live in the last day good or bad McDaniel disclosed Monday The formula was that we were prepared for the opponent that we were playing that week and prepared to do our assignments collectively and focused on the strategies not to beat ourselves McDaniel credited the Dolphins improved efficiency in both running the ball and stopping the run which had been lacking in current weeks as key factors in the win But as much praise as he had for the way the Dolphins - responded to an embarrassing rout against the Cleveland Browns in Week McDaniel was equally ready to turn his attention to Thursday s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens This week if we focus all our time strength and everything that we re doing attacking the Baltimore Ravens and nobody else McDaniel mentioned it gives you an opportunity to be able to have a battle like that every week We ve learned a lot as a club through a lot of hard lessons There were positive lessons that we learned in how we prepared as well It ll be very vital that we take it for what it was and that was a complete and total isolated focus by a club on an opponent And that s your only chance to replicate that moving forward Last week both McDaniel defended embattled quarterback Tua Tagovailoa who entered Sunday with consecutive three-interception outings Tagovailoa explained the two had tough conversations over the past week in search for solutions especially after Tagovailoa was benched in the fourth quarter against Cleveland He responded with his best performance of the season throwing for yards and four touchdowns despite waking up Sunday morning with one of his eyes swollen shut Presumably one of the worst experiences I ve had in terms of waking up and that happens on a contest day Tagovailoa commented My eye was swollen shut and thanks to the physiological staff they ended up helping with antibiotics I m just glad I was able to go out there and play Tagovailoa indicated Sunday s performance could potentially mark a turning point in the season if the Dolphins respond the right way It kind of gives us the flow back a little bit he announced But it s also what we re looking to do with this We get to enjoy the win but after the next morning we ve got to get back to work It s a short week Do we want to feel like we did the other week or do we want to continue to build off of a tournament like in the modern day What s working The Dolphins used all three of their running backs for yards rushing Two of Tagovailoa s four touchdown passes also went to running backs De Von Achane led the group with yards on carries with a a -yard touchdown catch while rookie Ollie Gordon added yards on carries and hauled in a -yard scoring reception What requirements help The Dolphins improved a lot of their issues that led to last week s sloppy performance but they can still clean up specific of their operation on offense Offensive lineman Larry Borom was flagged for an illegal formation on Miami s second drive and left tackle Patrick Paul was penalized for a false start Stock up LB Jordyn Brooks The veteran leads the NFL in total tackles and had his best individual performance of the season against the Falcons finishing with three tackles for loss a sack and a quarterback hit Brooks a captain this season has been praised by teammates for his leadership especially during the Dolphins losing streak Stock down WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine The veteran receiver has yet to carve out a prominent role in the Dolphins passing meeting even as the receiving unit has been hit with injuries Westbrook-Ikhine caught one of three targets for yards on Sunday and had a drop in the red zone in the first quarter Injuries Tagovailoa s eye ailment does not appear to be a long-term issue McDaniel explained Monday Second-year CB Storm Duck suffered a season-ending knee injury during the battle S Ashtyn Davis left with what McDaniel indicated was a minor quadriceps injury but his status Thursday is in question because of the short week Key number The numbers of yards rushing the Dolphins NFL-worst rushing defense allowed Sunday Miami had not held an opponent under yards rushing in the first seven weeks Next efforts The Dolphins host Baltimore on Thursday night but it s unclear if the Ravens will start Lamar Jackson who has been sidelined by a hamstring injury AP NFL https apnews com hub NFL Source