Derek Stingley Jr. put the final fork in the 2024 Dolphins.
The Miami Dolphins came into Sunday as a long shot to make the playoffs in the AFC, but any quest towards the postseason needed to start with a win on the road against the Houston Texans.
The Dolphins had plenty of chances to win this one as their defense continued to get stops throughout the second half. However, Tua Tagovailoa and the offense came up short repeatedly and couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone. With the Dolphins driving to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa hung an out-breaking route too far inside and Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. came up with a huge interception.
The Texans failed to do anything with their ensuing possession and Tagovailoa got the ball back with a chance to go down and tie the game. An overtime period looked like the Dolphins’ only avenue to the postseason as they Bengan their march down the field.
Before Miami could even get a drive started, Stingley called game with one of the best interceptions you’ll see all season.
Stingley is now making a very strong case to be one of the All-Pro cornerbacks this Eason after picking off his fourth and fifth passes of the season on Sunday. He, along with the rest of the Texans defense, picked up the slack on another subpar day for the offense. Houston’s only two touchdowns on the day came off of a Tagovailoa fumble and a huge fake punt that got them down inside the red zone.
As for Tagovailoa, he picked a bad time to have arguably his worst game of the season. The Dolphins’ quarterback turned the ball over four times in this one, and it arguably could have been more if it weren’t for a couple of dropped interceptions. On top of that, the Dolphins offense failed to push the ball down the field consistently and make inroads against an elite Texans pass rush and a ball hawking secondary.
The Dolphins are now down to 6-8 on the season and their playoff chances are looking very bleak. In order to make the postseason again this season, they will have to win their final three games and hope for some losses around the conference from the Chargers and Broncos.
