Breaking Down Miami’s 70-Point Outburst in Week 3

The Mike McDaniel offense seems to be working in Miami. Yesterday, McDaniel’s Dolphins unloaded on the Denver Broncos, scoring 10 touchdowns and recording the third-highest scoring total ever in an NFL game. Miami beat Denver 70-20 leaving NFL fans and bettors with their chins on the ground. It was an offensive display unlike any most have seen.

Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa threw a touchdown pass on his second throw of the game. The Dolphins scored twice in the first and third quarters and three times in the second and fourth. In the end, it was the third consecutive win for McDaniel and Miami and it was an ugly third straight loss for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.

Video Game Numbers

When you look at the numbers, it’s almost mind-boggling. Miami totaled 726 yards of offense. That’s the most in an NFL game since 1951! Tua completed all 16 of his first-half passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. His first half passer rating was 158.3. For the game, Tua went 23-of-26 for 309 yards and four TDs. He did not throw an interception.

When Tua wasn’t throwing the ball all over the yard, he handed it off to running backs Devin Achane and Raheem Mostert. Achane, a rookie from Texas A&M with blazing speed, ran 18 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Mostert carried 13 times, gained 82 yards, and three of his rushes were for touchdowns. Chris Brooks, a rookie RB from BYU, even gained 66 yards on nine carries. 

The Broncos couldn’t stop Miami. The Dolphins ran for a total of 350 yards and passed for another 376. Miami turned the ball over on downs twice. Both times, Mike White was at quarterback for the Dolphins. The second time Miami turned it over on downs occurred when White took a knee at the Denver 28-yard line with 33 seconds left in the game. Dolphins P Jake Bailey stepped onto the field to punt once yesterday. Even that went well for Miami. Bailey’s 48-yard punt forced Denver to start at their own 25-yard line.

Great Day for Bettors

The Dolphins were favored by 6 over Denver. If you backed Miami, covering the spread was never in doubt. The game total closed at 47.5 at most sportsbooks. When Wil Lutz hit a 25-yard field goal just before the end of the first half, the two teams had combined for 48 allowing Over bettors to sit back and relax. The two teams almost doubled the posted total.

It was an awesome day for props bettors too. Tua’s passing yards total was 268.5. He destroyed that with over 300 yards passing. He also went Over 1.5 passing TDs and Under 0.5 interceptions. If you had bet $20 on all three player props, your total payout, including your stake, would have been just under $105.

Denver Defense

Payton took over the head coaching job in Denver this past offseason. As he was putting together his staff, he wanted Vic Fangio, the guy he replaced as Broncos head coach, as his defensive coordinator. That didn’t happen. Fangio is actually the Dolphins defensive coordinator.

That left the door open for another former Broncos head coach – Vance Joseph. Joseph is now feeling some serious heat. The Broncos are 0-3, as mentioned, and the defense has allowed 122 points – an average of 40.6 per game. Keep in mind, Denver allowed the seventh-fewest total yards in the NFL last season. The defense was the strong point of last year’s team. That may be changing.

One thing is for sure though. The Miami Dolphins offense is legit. They lead the league in total yards per game (550.3), points per game (43.3), rushing yards per game (188.0), and passing yards per game (362.0). It’s unlikely these numbers hold up, but under McDaniel look for Miami’s offense to put up some big numbers in 2023.

A Major Shift in Miami Dolphins Betting Odds

If you look at the Miami preview we posted a month ago or so, the Dolphins were +1200 to win the AFC and +2200 to win the Super Bowl. After three weeks of action, Miami is down to +500 to win the AFC and is currently tied with Buffalo for 5th place at +1000 odds to win the Super Bowl at BetUS.com