Of all the Miami Dolphins who are enjoying a strong start to the 2020 NFL season, you’d be hard-pressed to find one who is prospering more than kicker Jason Sanders. Sanders has been an essential piece of the Dolphins’ offensive output over the past two weeks and he’s already set the franchise record for most consecutive field goals to open a season. He’s now 14/14 on the year after his second consecutive five field-goal performance of the season.
And now, Sanders is being recognized for his strong play to open the season — he was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 5 of the 2020 NFL season.
Jason Sanders won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his 5/5 FG and 4/4 XP performance vs. 49ers. He's 14/14 on FGs so far this season.
Ryan Fitzpatrick fell just short of AFC offensive player of the week. Hard to beat out Chase Claypool, who had 4 TDs.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) October 14, 2020
As Sanders and the Dolphins look to climb up the rankings and prove themselves to be a worthy contender in the AFC East, Sanders’ kicking prowess will be essential to the cause. The more possessions that Miami can end with a kick (either an extra point or a field goal), the more proficient this offense will be and the more successful the team will be by extension.
Miami should hope to lighten the field goal kicking load on Sanders to some degree; ideally, some of these field goals continue to evolve into touchdowns and Miami can continue to live up to their impressive scoring burst of the past four weeks. Since a slow start in Week 1 against the Patriots, Miami has averaged 31.3 points per game over their last four games. That’s a lot of kicks. Whether they’re of the three or one point variety, Sanders should have the Dolphins feeling good about their ability to convert those opportunities moving forward.
