Miami Dolphins Week 4 News, Notes and Nuggets: Alumni Weekend and Don Shula Ceremony

By: Jason Sarney 

It is an extremely special weekend starting on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium as the Miami Dolphins franchise honors their greatest stalwart in the Organizations illustrious history. The life and career of Don Shula will be remembered and celebrated on Saturday, just a day before the Dolphins host the Indianapolis Colts, which was a franchise the man himself coached prior to joining the Miami Dolphins.

-Dan Marino ALUMNI STATS vs. Colts 22-11 all-time: 
624 - 1030 for a 60.58 completion % 54 Touchdowns 17 INTs a Career QB rating against IND of 93.7, which was the highest of his four AFC East rivals, IND at the time, NE, BUF and NYJ. He owned them.

-MIA loves our UDFAs. What about Arena League stars? Oronde Gadsden was a beast and 1-handed catch OG. (see what I did there?) Against IND, an AFC East Rival in his day, in 9 games helped MIA to a 7-2 record in those contests with 28 receptions 452 yards, and 5 TDs.

-ALUMNI STATS: 
Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain were a combined force for MIA - and pretty much dominated the COLTS Together, they were 7-4 against IND (8-4 Madison alone) and in 11 games combined for 5 INTs and 13 PDs in those games.

-OJ McDuffie is the Miami Dolphins Best Friend to us all. He was also a Colt Killah' as we've joked about. Not only did Juice score his 1st NFL TD vs. INDY on a Punt under the lights here was his career against them as an AFC East Rival) 14 Games 49 - 659 - 6 TDs (1 PR).

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There also is a rumor of a certain throwback logo being used this weekend but that's neither here nor there, and not up to me to speculate…so if it doesn’t happen, Blame Kyle Crabbs of Locked on Dolphins (He’s great!)

□ pic.twitter.com/jB44L1Mn1G

— Locked On Dolphins (@LockedOnPhins) September 29, 2021

Here are your Miami Dolphins News Notes and Nuggets for Week 4:

-Miami leads the all-time series against the Colts 48-27 including a 16-12 Win last meeting in 2019.
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-Jacoby Brissett Completed 32 passes against the Raiders. This is the most by a Miami QB making their first start with the team.

-Jacoby Brissett was once a Colt: He played 4 seasons with Indy from 2017-20, appearing in 46 games with 30 starts. Brissett’s totals in Indianapolis include 552-of-928 passing (59.5 pct.) for 6,059 yards, 31 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and a QB rating of 84.2.

-Mike Gesicki’s 10 receptions were the most by a TE in team history & he joins Las Vegas’ Darren Waller (9/13/21 vs. Baltimore) as the only NFL TE with 10 receptions in a game this season. His 86 receiving yards were the ninth-most by an NFL tight end in a game this year.

-Jaylen Waddle has 22 receptions this year, which is tied for 5th in the NFL through Week 3. Waddle’s 12 receptions at LV were the most by a Dolphins rookie in team history.

-Miami’s defense has ranked among NFL's best in several categories so far in 2021. MIA is tied for 2nd in the NFL in fumble recoveries (3) & tied for 7th in takeaways (5) They are also 4th in the NFL in 1st-down success rate & only 42.1% of opposing 1st-down snaps have gained 4+ yards.

-In Three 2021 games, the Miami Dolphins have had three different offensive line combinations. 
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-For those that still don't think Xavien Howard is the NFL's best CB. He entered 2021 leading the NFL in INTs over the past 3 seasons. Howard was limited to just 5 games in 2019 & 12 in 2018 due to injury but still leads the NFL in interceptions dating back to 2017.
 
-I'm just gonna leave this here:

-Through 3 games of the 2021 season, Emmanuel Ogbah has recorded eight tackles, half a sack, 7 quarterback hits and one pass defended. The Raw Sack Stat will increase, but he is putting in work: Miami would be wise to retain him for the long haul.

-I preach patience to a relative extent: Mainly with rookies: Jaelan Phillips Snap Count progression:
Week 1 - 29% DEF 24% ST
Week 2 - 18% DEF 8% ST
Week 3 - 59% DEF 6% ST

​It's almost like they are developing him He is getting his sea-legs I smell a sack SUN

-Coach Shula's Celebration of Life I planned for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2 at Hard Rock Stadium.