Dolphins vs. Packers: Green Bay closes out Thanksgiving with cut of Miami

On By Littum

The Green Bay Packers enjoyed a late-night Thanksgiving feast Thursday, complete with cold weather, big reach and some acavette in the later parts of the meal.

By the end of the first half, the Packers had a 24–3 lead over the Miami Dolphins. At the final whistle, it was a 30-17 victory at Lambeau Field. They had little trouble moving the ball on offense, while their defense took advantage of a Miami team that struggled to string together drives in cold weather, with mistakes including a muffed punt. It was a familiar story for the dolphins in cold weather.

The temperature was 27 degrees at kickoff and only got colder from there. The Dolphins’ biggest mistake came on a directly muffed punt that set up the Packers’ first touchdown, and there was no redemption until after halftime.

The second half at least introduced some drama as the Dolphins scored a touchdown and converted the two-point attempt to cut the deficit to 16. They soon reached the red zone again and were at the 1-yard line on second-and-goal.

The next three plays: rush for no gain, pass incomplete, sack.

Jordan Love finished the game 21-of-27 passing for 274 yards and two touchdowns, while the Green Bay running game had 114 yards. The Dolphins’ offense wasn’t completely frozen — Tua Tagovailoa finished with 364 yards passing — but they just couldn’t run the ball when it mattered.

The loss is costly for the Dolphins, who are now well outside the playoff picture at 5-7. They have a favorable last five games of the season (Jets, Texans, 49ers, Browns, Jets), but they likely need help even if they win.

Meanwhile, the Packers move to 9-3, which is still only good enough for third place in a stacked NFC North. The 11-1 Detroit Lions also won Thursday to stay two games ahead, while the 9-2 Minnesota Vikings face the 6-5 Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Here’s how it all went down on Yahoo Sports:

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  • FINAL: Packers 30, Dolphins 17

    The Packers have a third straight win, while the Dolphins have another cold weather loss. This game felt over at halftime, got a little interesting in the third quarter, and then turned into a runaway victory.

  • The Packers went for the home run on a deep pass to Christian Watson on 3rd and 11. It was a perfect ball, but some heavy contact by the Miami secondary causes an incompletion. The Packers aren’t happy, but that shouldn’t really matter.

    It’s the Dolphins’ ball with 1:56 left, down 13. One timeout left.

  • Packers recover the onside kick. They can wrap this up with a few first downs.

  • TOUCHDOWN: Dolphins make score a bit more respectable with a deflection TD

    Tagovailoa accidentally finds Tyreek Hill for his second touchdown pass of the game (good). The two-point conversion fails (bad). The Dolphins are down 30-17 with 3:04 left and need more onside kicks to go right to avoid being 507 (ugly).

  • Down by three scores with five minutes left, the Dolphins are keeping Tua Tagovailoa — whose career was in doubt earlier this season because of a concussion — to end this game. Sure.

  • FIELD GOAL: Packers go up 19 to effectively end it

    Five minutes left and zero drama. The Packers are up 19 and just have to worry about keeping the heat the rest of the game.

  • Big turn there. Jayden Reed drops a screen pass and the ball is returned all the way to the end zone… but replay confirms it’s an incomplete pass. It was a tense few seconds for the Packers.

  • Josh Jacobs shakes off a tackle, pushes a defender and runs it 49 yards to put the Packers in the red zone. It is the longest reception of his career.

  • It was painful from the dolphins. They got the ball to the Green Bay 1-yard line and were then stopped on three straight plays.

  • TURNOVER ON DOWNS: Dolphins are stopped on 4th-and-goal

    Down 27-11 with 9:39 left, the Dolphins go for it, taking a Tua Tagovailoa sack of Quay Walker. An offensive holding flag is declined and it could be played.

  • Tua Tagovailoa gets the Dolphins on the edge of the red zone with a pass to Odell Beckham Jr., but gets hammered by an unblocked Rashan Gary. There was some debate about a roughing the passer penalty, but the lack of contact to the helmet saves the Packers.

  • The Dolphins get a much-needed stop and take over at their own 18. With them currently down 16 and a full quarter to play, this isn’t quite over.