A look at the Dolphins O-line’s complete failure in Denver, where everyone gave up a sack

Tua Tagovailoa’s final play Sunday ended as five others did in the Miami Dolphins’ 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos: with the rookie quarterback lying flat on the ground after another sack.

After this one, Austin Jackson turned to look at Ereck Flowers, and Flowers turned to look at Jackson. Bradley Chubb had stunted from his right outside linebacker spot and flew through the heart of the Dolphins’ offensive line untouched to drag down Tagovailoa for a 9-yard loss. Miami punted to the Broncos early in the fourth quarter and Tagovailoa never re-entered. The Dolphins tried, futilely, to come back with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

“We knew this all week. That’s a good defense, and they’re one of the top defensive lines in the game,” coach Brian Flores said. “They’ve got good players, they have a good scheme, they pressured us, they mixed the coverages and they did a good job defensively.”

Chubb’s sack was Denver’s last in a six-sack day of tormenting Tagovailoa and Miami’s offense. He and fellow edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones each had one sack, defensive end DeMarcus Walker had a half sack, Broncos outside linebacker Malik Reed had 1 1/2 and defensive lineman DeShawn Williams led the Broncos with two. The six sacks allowed — all with Tagovailoa in the game before Flores pulled the rookie with 10:44 remaining — were double the previous single-game high allowed by the Dolphins (6-4) and now account for 30 percent of the 20 total they’ve allowed this year. Miami hadn’t allowed six sacks in a game since Week 11 last season against the Buffalo Bills.

In his first three starts, Tagovailoa was sacked just four times. On Sunday, he dealt with pressure unlike any had faced so far in his young NFL career.

“They were very well prepared coming into this game and we knew they were a tough front,” he said. “We knew that we were facing a tough defense. At the same time, we’ve just got to execute better on our side of the ball. That’s been the biggest thing is executing.”

It was a complete failure by the offensive line. All five starters got beaten at one time or another to concede at least half a sack. In some cases, linemen simply lost 1-on-1 battles. In others, two offensive linemen botched a joint assignment. Tagovailoa wasn’t entirely devoid of blame, either, as he occasionally held on to the ball too long or failed to throw away.

The full rundown of the sacks in paints a complete picture of Miami’s collective failure and Denver’s ability to confuse.

▪ No. 1: Tagovailoa has nowhere to go with the ball, so he tries to scramble as the pocket starts to collapse from the left. He just gets back to the line of scrimmage before Jones drops him for no gain.

▪ No. 2: Jesse Davis, who started at right tackle, begins the play blocking Reed and tries to hand him off to guard Solomon Kindley while he picks up a blitz by cornerback Essang Bassey. Solomon, who left in the second quarter with a foot injury, botches the exchange and Reed runs by him to sack Tagovailoa.

▪ No. 3: Tagovailoa holds the ball for about five seconds, and Jackson, the left tackle, and center Ted Karras both lose 1-on-1 matchups. Walker and Reed combine for a sack.

▪ No. 4: Williams cleanly beats Flowers, the left guard, and notches his first sack.

▪ No. 5: Tagovailoa scrambles out of bounds instead of throwing the ball away and Williams is the closest defender and is credited with his second sack.

▪ No. 6: Chubb stunts while Broncos linebacker Alexander Johnson pushes Flowers back. Jackson winds up not blocking anyone and Chubb sacks Tagovailoa easily.

“It hasn’t been something that’s been spotlighted in weeks prior,” Flores said. “Obviously, we’ll address it.”

Even after he replaced Tagovailoa in the fourth, Fitzpatrick said he’s not gunning for the starting job any longer. He’s content to back up and mentor the rookie as he tried to do throughout the first three quarters in Denver.

Most of those conversations centered on the pressure the Broncos (4-6) created at Empower Field at Mile High. While he couldn’t find all the fixes on the fly and finished with only 83 passing yards, Tagovailoa called it “a learning experience.”

Fitzpatrick talks about keeping “a catalog” of situations and how to deal with them as a quarterback. All Tagovailoa can do now is file this weekend away.

“They seemed like they were getting some pressure up front, so what are some things that I can do as a quarterback to combat that?” Fitzpatrick said. “You keep putting these things in the back of your mind, and as we go forward he’ll be able to lean on and continue to use some of those.”