Visiting Ravens fans made an impact during Baltimore's 28-6 triumph over the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium, at least according to Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa said Ravens fans at the Dolphins' home stadium generated enough noise to affect Miami's offense to the point where it committed a drive-stalling penalty in the red zone. With the Dolphins trailing 7-3 in the first quarter, Miami's offense had the ball on the Ravens' 12-yard line and opted to go for it on fourth-and-1. Unfortunately, Dolphins right tackle Larry Borom moved before the snap and was whistled for a false start, a five-yard penalty that infuriated Mike McDaniel and led to a 35-yard field goal attempt that Dolphins kicker Riley Patterson missed.
Tagovailoa says Ravens fans‘ noise caused penalty
"I would say with the Ravens fans, it maybe got a little muffled with my cadence and the crowd noise," Tagovailoa said. "So we kind of talked about that on the sideline after and got that corrected."
Crowd noise or not, the drive-killing penalty was a microcosm of the night for the Dolphins, who heard it from their own displeased fanbase, which deemed the mistake-filled night unacceptable.
Dolphins doomed by mistakes in loss to Ravens
In addition to the penalty on Borom, the Dolphins were flagged four more times and committed three turnovers.
"I think we came to play," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. "I think it was obvious in the first half that our team could play toe-to-toe and we felt very good about our plan going in and the way guys came out. But it's pretty simple. I think, you have a red zone turnover, you have a red zone turnover on downs, you have a backed-up turnover and a missed field goal.
"And generally it's a bad omen to be very capable of being in the lead and being behind getting six points in the first half with having—I think—two-thirds of the time of possession if I remember correctly. That's setting up for failure. And we were minus-three and they were three-for-three in the red zone and we didn't score a touchdown.
"So there were elements of the football confidence created last week. But the bottom line is, you have to cross your T's and dot your I's in the National Football League or you get made pay..."
The Dolphins (2-7) have lost four of their last five games ahead of a Week 10 tilt against the Bills.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tua Tagovailoa Reveals How Visiting Ravens Fans Played a Role in Blowout Loss.
