Hyde10: Ramsey’s big day, defense carries win, turnover issues — 10 thoughts on Dolphins’ 20-13 victory over Raiders

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t certain until the final minute. But the Miami Dolphins moved to 7-3 on Sunday with a 20-13 win against the Las Vegas Raiders and keep hold of the AFC East.

Here are 10 thoughts on the game:

1. Player of the game: Cornerback Jalen Ramsey. He capped a big day with two interceptions, including the game-ender with 22 seconds left in the Dolphins end zone where he made a jumping, diving catch and then appeared to be hurt on the field. Trainers came out. He might have had the wind knocked out of him as he got up and pumped his arms to the crowd. Ramsey also defended on a fourth-down play in the fourth quarter, actually running ahead of the Raiders receiver. But the last play? That the kind of day it was – a scare but ultimately a win.

2. Aside from one play, the Dolphins defense dominated and made sure the Raiders will stay as the league’s 31st-ranked offense. Vic Fangio’s defense is starting to stack up good days: 17 points against New England (10 points on a short field after turnovers); 14 points against Kansas City (the Chiefs’ defense scored a TD for the 21-point total) and now 13 against the Raiders. The only big play the Raiders offense made was a 46-yard touchdown in the first quarter where Devante Adams beat both Dolphins safeties, Jevon Holland and DeShon Elliott. The other Raiders scores came on field goals and short fields because …

3. The Dolphins’ offense didn’t play like you’ve come to expect, primarily because of turnovers. The Dolphins entered Sunday ranked 26th in the league with a minus-4 turnover differential and then tacked another on that Sunday with three, first-half turnovers and two, second-half takeaways. Tagovailoa fumbled while running on the first possession to give the Raiders the ball at the Dolphins 31.

Tight end Julian Hill fumbled after a reception at the Dolphins 32 with a minute left in the half. In each case, the Dolphins defense held the Raiders to a field goal. Tagovailoa then came out on the first play of the second half and overthrew Waddle on a long pass for an interception – or he’s used to Tyreek Hill either getting those or breaking up the pass.

Cornerback Jaylen Ramsey intercepted a pass right after Tagovailoa’s interception. Jaelan Phillips than had an interception when Raiers quarterback Aidan O’Connell tried to get rid of the ball on fourth down with just over three minutes left. Add it up, though, and it’s an issue you’d like to clean up at some point this year. It’s not that you can’t be good while having a bad turnover margin. Kansas City was tied with the Dolphins (though it had five turnovers in an ugly loss to Denver). But this stat is often an indicator of trouble. The teams that entered Sunday below the Dolphins  – Carolina, Atlanta, New England, the Raiders and Chicago – are having the kind of seasons you expect with bad turnover margins.

4. When Tyreek Hill went into the locker room with trainers briefly with a hand concern, it was fair to be concerned. Sure, Jaylen Waddle caught three passes for 38 yards on the drive he missed – and the Dolphins scored a touchdown. But you can’t overstate Hill’s impact this season. He had nine catches for 121 yards. That’s the sixth 100-yard game he’s had. Four are over 150 yards. He opened the Dolphins scoring Sunday with a 38-yard touchdown on a slant over the middle where he outran the defense. That was his league-leading ninth TD catch. He has 1,222 yards after 10 games – the most after 10 games in NFL history. So his goal of 2,000 receiving yards is still in the conversation. So should be Hill as being a MVP of the league candidate.

5. Let’s not overlook defensive end Jaelan Phillips’ day. The entire Dolphins defensive line had a big day. Phillips? Six tackles (four solo). A sack-and-a-half. Three quarterback hits. And then an interception with 3:04 left with Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell was trying to get rid of the ball on fourth down.

6. De’vone Achane’s health trouble continued his rookie year. He got one run for one yard in his first game since Oct. 8 and came up injured. Another knee injury. He missed the start of the season with a shoulder injury, then played in five games where he averaged an eye-rubbing 12.1 yards on carries. So his return was anticpated considering the speed he brings to an alreaddy speedy offense.It looks like the wait begins again.

7. Sometimes it’s obvious to see when Mike McDaniel is a step ahead of defenses. On third-and-10 at the Raiders 11-yard line, the defense came with a blitz up the middle. McDaniel and Tagovalia had to be expecting it, because the Dolphins play was the perfect remedy for that blitz: A quick, middle screen to running back Salvon Ahmed, who went untouched into the end zone to bump the leads to 14-10.

8. Jason Sanders made a 51-yard field goal and missed a 50-yarder on Sunday in a stat that’s being watched.. He’d only tried one from that distance all year and is now one-of-three. That’s not much of a sample size. But his five-for-15 mark from that distance over the last few years does tell a story. Sandersalso  made a 41-yard field goal later in the third quarter. He’s made nine of 12 field goals this year, the least attempted (and made) in the league.

9. Quick hits:

Did McDaniel set the NFL record for challenge-flag thrown in the fourth quarter? It had to be a good 35 yards on the field.

Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins ran 40 yards downfield to make a tackle on receiver Hunter Renfrow on the Raiders drive in the final minutes.

Salvon Ahmed is a core special-teams player, meaning he was active and Jeff Wilson wasn’t on Sunday. That meant Ahmed stepped into a running-back role when Achane was re-injured.

Congrats to Jimmy Johnson who will go up on the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor on Dec. 30. Jerry Jones, finally, said it was time.

10. Next game: Dolphins at Jets. The Dolphins play the Jets in the Meadowlands on a Black Friday game on Amazon Prime. The Jets (4-5) play Buffalo in a 4:25 p.m. game on Sunday. They rank 28th in offensive yards and 26th in scoring offense and there’s no sign of that changing as long as Zach Wilson is the quarterback.