Dolphins Fall to Bears in Chicago 20-13: News and Notes

By: Brandon Liguori 

The Miami Dolphins returned to the football field Saturday afternoon at Soldier Field in Chicago to open their 2021 preseason slate. Yes, the team sustained a seven-point loss, but forget about that. Preseason is meant to improve on your mistakes and focus on the task ahead. Below are six things I saw in the Dolphins’ 20-13 defeat Saturday

• Tua Tagovailoa’s presence: Tua Tagovailoa, entering his second year under center, played the entire first quarter and up until the 9:07 mark of the second before being replaced by backup Jacoby Brisett, whose touchdown to Salvon Ahmed put the Dolphins ahead by 13 points nearing halftime. When Tua was out there, he performed. Yes, the former Alabama product threw a second-quarter interception in the end zone, but his passes were clean and crisp, too. Tagovailoa even had a 50-yard catch-and-run to Mike Gesicki to put the Dolphins seven yards away from their first touchdown of the exhibition. Tagovailoa finished 9/12 for 99 yards and an INT, too. He looked more comfortable leading the offensive unit than a year ago.

• Miami’s 1H defense: The Dolphins defense came to play in the first 30 minutes of the contest, holding the Bears to 79 total yards. From my viewpoint- Nik Needham and Eric Rowe had pass breakups, too, which was great to see. The starters, all in all, came to play.

 

• Is Justin Fields Chicago’s Week 1 starter?: If you are a Chicago Bears fan, you are very, very pleased by Fields’ debut as an NFL quarterback. Taking over for veteran Andy Dalton in the second quarter, the first-round selection got off to a slow start before carving Miami’s second and third-team in the second half. Once trailing, 13-0, Fields’ unit put up 20 unanswered points. Fields turned some would-be sack plays into positive yardage and if you are head coach Matt Nagy, September 12 is circled on the calendar in the team facility.

 

• Shaky play from Austin Jackson: LT Austin Jackson- Miami’s first-round player in 2020, got called for holding on a Tagovailoa completion to Mack Hollins and allowed a couple of pressures, too. Jackson’s penalty was critical because Tagovailoa’s pass to Hollins resulted in a first down.  

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• Jason Sanders connected on both of his FG tries: Jason Sanders, who connected on 92.3% of his field goal attempts a year ago, continued his success Saturday, finishing 2-for-2 in field goals. Sanders’ first kick was from 21 yards and his second was from 35. Brian Flores will certainly need the clutch gene from Sanders this upcoming season when the Dolphins are trailing by one-three points late.​

Up next: The Dolphins, off Monday, will hold an open practice to the public Tuesday morning at the Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens to begin preparations for the Atlanta Falcons. With Wednesday and Thursday scheduled as joint practices with Atlanta, the Dolphins will host the Falcons for their second exhibition game Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium.