The Dolphins have finally found an effective tight end in Jonnu Smith, who had 101 yards in the win over the Raiders.

Pressure Point: Jonnu Smith’s 2 touchdowns lead Dolphins to win in tight-end duel

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Tight ends have given the Miami Dolphins fits for years.

Their own as well as their opponents’.

Veteran Jonnu Smith was signed in the offseason to remedy the former problem. Sunday he delivered in a big way with two touchdowns in the Dolphins’ 34-19 win against the Las Vegas Raiders.

His 57-yard TD catch when the Raiders somehow neglected to cover him extended a shaky lead and sealed a must-win for the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.

At 4-6 and on their first winning streak of the season, the Dolphins kept alive hopes of a long-shot playoff run ahead of a home game next week against the 3-8 Patriots.

Smith was so alone on the decisive play he looked like a center fielder waiting for a fly ball when Tua Tagovailoa’s throw reached him.

“The Red Sea parted” was the way Smith described it to the media after the game. “It’s Sunday, I’m coming with my biblical terms today. It seems like if it was a busted coverage, and Tua, me and him, we just connected, locked eyes and just made the rest happen.”

Dolphins can’t stop rookie TE Brock Bowers

That busted coverage of biblical proportions enabled the Dolphins to claim the advantage in an epic showdown of tight ends despite allowing impressive Raiders rookie Brock Bowers to go off for 126 yards on 13 catches, including a 23-yard touchdown.

The Dolphins have remained inept at defending tight ends this season. But Smith is shoring up what has been a major hole in the offense for years.

His 1-yard TD grab on fourth down on the opening possession gave the Dolphins a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. He finished the day with six receptions for 101 yards.

Smith’s first touchdown of the season on Oct. 24 at Indianapolis ended a 23-game drought for Dolphins tight ends.

He now has 39 receptions this season for 448 yards, an average of 11.5 yards a catch, with three touchdowns.

Notably, Smith has given Miami an important alternate weapon on offense while opponents continue to focus on taking away big-play opportunities for star wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

“He’s making defenses pay for the over attention Tyreek and Waddle get,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “He’s adding a real cool element to our offense. We’ve needed every yard he’s had for us this year.”

Dolphins adjust to ball-control attack

The quick-strike Dolphins offense of last season has given way to a patient, take-what-they-give approach. Not as exciting, but effective in back-to-back wins over the Rams and Raiders.

Against the Raiders, the Dolphins had touchdown drives 70, 97, 60 and 70 yards. They had four drives of 10 or more plays. Even the possession that resulted in the first of two field goals lasted 16 plays and consumed almost 8 1/2 minutes.

The Dolphins made a spectator out of Jake Bailey, who wasn’t called on to punt all day.

“I think what’s been different with the quarterback play is now I’m not trying to force things down the field,” Tagovailoa said of his willingness to check down and dump it off to backs and receivers on short routes. “We like our matchups with our guys in space.”

Sustaining long, time-consuming drives can be a difficult formula for success. It worked against the now 2-8 Raiders, who fired their offensive coordinator and O-line coach during the bye week and have lost six in a row.

Dominating time of possession was more effective in containing the Raiders than the Dolphins’ defense, which followed its outstanding effort in the Monday Night win against the Rams with a ragged performance.

Sloppy performance by Dolphins defense

They didn’t make a notable stop until Jalen Ramsey intercepted Gardner Minshew with just over 3 minutes left and victory all but certain.

There was too much shoddy tackling, such as Kader Kohou letting Ameer Abdullah get away for a touchdown that cut the Miami lead to 24-19. Bowers shed tackle attempts all day.

The Raiders were able to convert 8 of 14 third-down plays and twice on fourth down. But Miami converted 8 of 12 third-down chances and both fourth-down attempts.

Fortunately for the Dolphins, they are finding a winning formula now with Tagovailoa three games back from his latest concussion.

They topped 30 points for the first time this season.


“I think we only had about three drives last season that lasted 14 plays,” McDaniel said. “We’ve adjusted to how defenses have adjusted to us.”

Tagovailoa had some key third-down connections with Tyreek Hill, who finished with seven catches for 61 yards, including a touchdown. Tua had three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 127.8.

Dolphins not giving up playoff aspirations

The Dolphins still face a steep climb from a 2-6 start to a playoff spot. For now, they remain in the conversation with no margin for error.

“I know the stats, the record doesn’t show, but we’re working,” Smith said. “I understand that there’s an expectation that came into this. And to just have that mentality of, listen, let’s look at this thing in the mirror and let’s go attack it. No matter who is with us, who is against us, we know what we’ve got in here and we’re going to keep rolling.”

For the first time in a long while, the Dolphins can look in the mirror and see a legitimate receiving threat at tight end on their side, even if they still can’t stop one on the other side.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @CraigDavisRuns.

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