The Miami Dolphins had won their previous two games going into their Week 17 matchup with Baltimore. After defeating the Jets in a shutout and defeating Dallas to secure a postseason spot, the Dolphins now have a chance to achieve their first 12-win campaign since 1990.
Naturally, the club wasn’t happy with the outcome of its last away game of the regular season. Several players and themes from Sunday stood out, despite the setback.
Hill Breaks His Own Receiving Record
Tyreek Hill, a wide receiver, set a new franchise record with six receptions for 76 yards (12.7 average) to lead Miami. His season total of 1,717 yards was reached. Hill was 69 yards short of the previous franchise record going into the game—1,710 yards—that he had set in his debut season with Miami the previous year.
He is the seventh active player to reach 10,000 career receiving yards and the first person in NFL history to have 1,700+ receiving yards in successive seasons.
With 112 receptions so far this season, Hill has joined wide receivers Antonio Brown (2013–15) and Welker (2007–09) as the only players in NFL history to have 110+ receptions in three straight seasons (2021– 23).
Furthermore, in their first eight seasons, Hill and wide receiver Marvin Harrison have became the only players in NFL history to record 700+ receptions, 10,000+ receiving yards, and 75+ touchdown receptions.
De’Von Achane Rookie Sensation
The Dolphins mainly relied on rookie running back De’Von Achane because they were missing their first game of the season due to Raheem Mostert’s injury. In response, Achane ran for 107 yards on 14 runs (7.6 average) and scored a touchdown on four receptions for 30 yards (7.5 average).
Rookie running backs have rushed for 100 yards in nine different games this season. Four of those games belong to Achane. His four 100-yard rushing games this season tie Karim Abdul-Jabbar’s record for the most by a Dolphins rookie in team history. He has more than any other rookie running back.
Ninety-plus runs in a rookie season have been recorded by 165 running backs since 2000. With an average of 8.0 yards per carry, Achane is ranked #1 on that list. The only other running backs in that group to average more than 6.0 yards per rush are Jerious Norwood (6.4) and Alvin Kamara (6.1).
Achane has only played in ten games and received over ten carries, but despite this, his 744 running yards and ten touchdowns this season rank third among rookie scores in franchise history.
Best Trio
Only three Dolphins players (who weren’t quarterbacks) have scored ten or more offensive touchdowns in a season prior to this one. That wasn’t the case for any Dolphins since 2015, when running back Lamar Miller scored ten touchdowns.
Running backs Raheem Mostert (21) and De’Von Achane (10), along with wide receiver Tyreek Hill (12), have all scored ten or more offensive touchdowns this season with one game left in the regular season.
The Dolphins have not had two players from the skill position score ten touchdowns in a single season since 2003 (WR Chris Chambers and RB Ricky Williams).
The first group of skill position teammates to score ten or more offensive touchdowns in a single season since Green Bay in 2020 is composed of Mostert, Achane, and Hill. It was last accomplished by Davante Adams, Aaron Jones, and Robert Tonyan in 2020. There are just two teams with more than ten points this season—Detroit and San Francisco.