The second game of this year’s International Series was not for attacking gourmets: The New Orleans Saints beat the Miami Dolphins in Week 4 in London 20-0, and it was a very tattered match over long distances.This changed around the half-time break – but only for a short time and only from the point of view of the Saints.
Miami provided the first surprise even before the kick-off: Byron Maxwell was seated on the bench in the already average secondary, while Rookie Cordrea Tankersley – not in the squad in the first two games of the season – got the start ahead of Maxwell.At the Saints, Willie Snead was entitled to play after being suspended, but a thigh injury prevented an operation.Zach Strief (knee) got fit in time, Miami missed Rey Maualuga and Jordan Philipps defensively.
Miami started aggressively even very promising, right at the first drive what the Dolphins wanted to do offensively: Short passes and then some good runs over Ajayi.The Saints had early coverage breakdowns and so Dolphins receivers were always free.But an unmotivated interception of Jay Cutler (19/27,160 YDS, INT) from the 5-Yard-Line ended the first drive without a single point.
New Orleans responded with a long Possession and a missed field goal – also the fact that both teams had headset problems in the first half of the match caused an offensively slow game.But that was not the only reason: penalties on both sides, as well as individual mistakes and missed opportunities in the offense, formed the image of a hardly respectable game.The penalties increased so much that there were clearly audible boo-boots from both fan camps before it was announced against whom the foul was committed.
Points remained in short supply until New Orleans doubled around the half-time break (Field Goal, Touchdown Michael Thomas).Some of Drew Brees’ highly accurate passes (29/41,268 YDS, 2 TD) were enough to put New Orleans in the lead.When the Saints went up to 13-0 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Miami had just eight first-downs.This did not change much in the further course of the game and so one Saints-Offense, which is at best average today, was enough to bring victory over time.
Miami Dolphins (1-2) – New Orleans Saints (2-2)0:20 (0:0,0:3,0:7,0:10) BOXSCORE
Brees attacked Tankersley regularly – not surprisingly – from the very first play.Brees used it for numerous Dumpoff passes, but he was often lost to Kamara in coverage.Later he also attacked Tankersley via Michael Thomas, among other things during the touchdown.
New Orleans had a short fourth down in the Red Zone and decided to play the down game in view of the massive defensive nature of the game so far.QB-Sneak Brees, First Down by a hair’s breadth and a few plots later, the Saints were in the final zone for the first touchdown of the game.That provided for a 2-possession game.
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In a game in which both teams treated the downfield pass more than neglectfully, Alvin Kamara was heavily involved in the game plan.Kamara had five runs for 25 yards and was an even bigger factor in passing (10 REC, 71 YDS, TD) for the numerous short Brees passes.The Dolphins often had no answer to him, even with several critical downs.The touchdown was the cherry on the cake, next to Kamara there was also a glittering Saints receiver Michael Thomas.
Dolphins coach Adam Gase was obviously keen to protect his line: fast passes, multiple tight ends as blockers on the course.But it helped only to a limited extent.The Saints seemed to be much more dangerous in the pass rush than Miami, while the Dolphins had to rely on Jay Ajayi’s ability to break through tackles instead.The line made it very difficult for Miami, although the game plan and cutler on this list come right after that.
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