Sports

/

ArcaMax

Greg Cote: Achane the answer amid questions as Dolphins hang on for 21-17 win

Greg Cote, Miami Herald on

Published in Football

MIAMI — We are two-thirds through a Miami Dolphins season full of stuff that makes you wonder about and doubt — full of questions. Amid all of those, though, is an exclamation point, a certainty, an unequivocal major positive moving forward.

De’Von Achane!

The third-year running back out of Texas A&M just turned 24, should be headed to his first Pro Bowl and has become the best, most reliable cog in this offense.

Saw that again Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in the rather less-than-impressive 21-17 victory over a really bad New Orleans Saints team. Achane — the A-Train — had 134 yards rushing on 22 carries including a 29-yard scoring run that shaped the win and led Miami’s third straight victory and fourth in five games.

He couldn’t quite describe the TD celebration dance in the end zone.

“It was from Tik-Tok,” he said with a smile.

Achane with his 4.23 40-speed now has 1,034 yards rushing on the season, his first 1K, and also has been a monster catching passes out of the backfield (though inexplicably not Sunday). Miami has not had a better back in many years.

“It means a lot,” he said of his first thousand-yard season, admitting it had been a dream.

He was about all the Fins had with the ball Sunday as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was off and uncommonly inaccurate as Miami settled for four Riley Patterson field goals after Achane’s TD, before Minkah Fitzpatrick cashed two points on a length-of-the field, pick-two interception on a Saints two-point try that could have tied the score late.

“Not fast. I was tired,” a smiling Fitzpatrick said. “I was looking at the Jumbotron seeing nobody behind me.”

Miami led 16-0 and barely held on.

“Starts with me, with my performance,” Tagovailoa admitted afterward. “Reverts back to how I’m playing.”

Said the QB of Achane: “He’s so versatile, aligning him the slot, in a receiver stance, in a running back position. The diversity he gives our offense ...”

 

Coach Mike McDaniel, on Achane: “We’re relying on him to take a step in being a leader. It’s not just his play. He’s much more vocal. We align him everywhere and ask him to do a ton of jobs. He’s taken a step forward in his game.”

Achane was needed as McDaniel admitted, “I wouldn’t say Tua played his best game” — but spun the positive, as coaches do.

“I think it takes a galvanized group of people,” he said of the three-game win streak. “You try not to be caught up in the style of victory. The idea is to end up with more points than the opponent.”

The Dolphins are now 5-7 headed to travel to face the Jets next week, making 6-7 a strong possibility but leaving the playoffs likely a remote dream.

Beyond Achane’s dynamic now and very promising future, the questions around this entire Dolphins operation simmer.

Question if Tagovailoa is the answer. Six years in, we don’t know — alone an ominous answer. We do know his NFL-leading 14th interception Sunday indicates a bad year. He must spend the rest of this season restoring faith that he’s the man. Sunday worked against that.

Question if Mike McDaniel is the right head coach. Maybe. Probably? Again, the doubt.

Question whether moving on from general manager Chris Grier this season will reap results in the draft and beyond. Grier failed. It had better.

Question if Fins still might make the playoffs. Your optimism is endearing.

Question everything. Is the offensive line good enough? Nope. Is Jaylen Waddle a legit No. 1 receiver? Ideally not, but the least of your problems. Is the defense good enough? It is not, madam or sir.

Achane is an answer surrounded by questions.

____


©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus