It took a ferocious defensive effort for the Miami Dolphins to finally snap their three-game skid as they produced a 23-15 road win over the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football.
Here, DAZN lists five takeaways from the Dolphins' potential season-saving win.
The Dolphins' defense played with ferocity
How's this for a Monday Night Football performance under the national spotlight? In leading Miami to ending their three-game losing streak, the Dolphins' defense kept Matthew Stafford and the Rams out of the end zone, as all of LA's points came on field goals.
Miami's D also sacked Stafford four times, three of which on pivotal third downs, for a loss of 36 yards.
The Dolphins' defense additionally forced three fumbles and intercepted Stafford as part of an all-around brilliant performance.
Such a dominant display was special considering Stafford has big wide receiver weapons such as Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua and Demarcus Robinson who were all denied access to the end zone.
Tua Tagovailoa was efficient enough
Miami's defense headlined its win, though Tagovailoa got things started for the struggling team.
During the Dolphins' opening drive, the quarterback went 4-for-4 in passing including this gem:
The accuracy and efficiency helped set up rookie Malik Washington to take the ball 18 yards to the house to complete that opening drive, which the Dolphins never looked back from.
Altogether, the QB's 207 yards passing for one touchdown, while tossing an interception, weren't dazzling numbers. But they were good enough to produce the win.
Dolphins' fans got the Tagovailoa-Tyreek Hill connection they yearned for
Tagovailoa made it look simple, faking the handoff and keeping the ball only to throw a dot to Hill for the goal-line touchdown that padded out the Dolphins' lead in the third quarter.
The TD connection was the exact thing Dolphins' fans have been yearning for, so receiving it via a big win on Monday Night Football made it all the more sweeter.
Hill had a quiet night with only three catches for 16 yards, including that 1-yard TD reception, but it didn't matter with a much-needed victory in tow.
Tyreek Hill, Odell Beckham Jr. really channeled their favorite WWE Superstars with this celebration
Yeah, it's pretty safe to say that these star wideouts are pro wrestling fans. The precision, hilarity and flair are all there with this TD celebration. Summon all the laughing emojis on this one.
The Rams' loss was absolutely demoralizing
There's no sugarcoating this loss for the Rams — it was downright demoralizing.
Having entered the home game on a three-game win streak, the Rams had a chance to make it four in a row and jump over the .500 level for the first time this season against a struggling 2-6 Dolphins' team.
Instead of doing just that, Stafford and his high-octane weapons at wideout, such as Kupp, Nacua and Robinson, were all shut out of the end zone. LA's defense had a respectable outing but its offense didn't cooperate at all as five field goals as their total 15 points under the national spotlight is inexcusable.
Instead of improving to 5-4, the Rams fall to 4-5 and take a costly step back in the NFC West division which touts the Arizona Cardinals (6-4) and San Francisco 49ers (5-4) as winning squads ahead of them.