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Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN
MIAMI — Tyreek Hill wants 2,000 yards this season. After this week, he’s halfway there.
The Miami Dolphins wide receiver eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards during Sunday’s 31-17 victory over the New England Patriots, becoming the first player to do so this season. Hill is the fourth player in NFL history to record 1,000 receiving yards through his team’s first eight games.
“It feels great. God is great. I’ve been calling my shot since I came in this league,” Hill said. “A lot of people doubted me, saying I couldn’t do this and do that, but it’s all about believing in yourself.”
The All-Pro got the Dolphins on the board late in the first quarter with a 42-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, his league-leading eighth receiving touchdown of the season. Hill finished the day with 112 yards and a touchdown on eight catches, giving him 1,014 yards on the season.
It was Hill’s fourth straight game with a touchdown of at least 25 yards. The NFL’s premier downfield threat has now connected with Tagovailoa for four touchdowns of at least 30 air yards this season. Tagovailoa had four such passes entering the 2023 season, with three of them going to Hill in 2022.
On the play, Hill sprinted between Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson and safety Marte Mapu, splitting their attempted bracket coverage.
“I think with how [Patriots] coach [Bill] Belichick plays his guys, it is a little different because it’s not necessarily [the cornerback] I’m looking at, it’s more so the guys on the top end who have to cover someone like Tyreek,” Tagovailoa said.
“When Tyreek’s pressed, I think everyone in here would probably agree it’s not a good idea to not have someone over the top of him. So, the way Coach Belichick played it, I think, was to try to take that off of Tyreek. But with a lot of our back-turned actions … it makes it tough for the safety because he also has a run fit responsibility — but he also has to help with [Tyreek]. So outside leverage with J.C., [Mapu is] inside leverage and if you don’t get a hit on Tyreek, the timing of it makes it tough.”
At a rate of 126.8 yards per game, Hill is on pace for 2,155 receiving yards this season — which would set an NFL record and make him the first 2,000-yard receiver in league history.
Hill’s performance exhilarated the home crowd at Hard Rock Stadium, the applause for him outdone only by the ovation for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who made his season debut Sunday.
Ramsey said he was initially given a late December return timeline but never personally accepted it. He called a November return “super, super realistic” but was always aiming for this game. In fact, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Ramsey called his shot more than a month ago, when the Dolphins played the Patriots on Sept. 17.
“We never gave him a timetable, and then he ended up telling me last time we played the Patriots, during the game, on the field, that he was coming back for this game,” McDaniel said. “I shared that with the team this last week. It was awesome to be a part of, and I think it speaks to the locker room. You don’t do all that if you’re not yearning to play with these people that you just started to become a teammate with. Big part of the reason why we won is that collective nature that he epitomized.”
Ramsey was traded to the Dolphins in March but missed the team’s first seven games after injuring his left meniscus on the second day of training camp in July. He returned to practice last week and was added to the active roster before Sunday’s game. He made his presence known in the first half, forcing a fumble that bounced out of bounds and intercepting Mac Jones late in the second quarter. According to Next Gen Stats, Ramsey allowed one catch for 24 yards as the nearest defender and was targeted only three times.
Not only did Ramsey correctly predict his return date, but he also predicted his interception.
“I told the whole team I was going to get a pick today. Told the whole team that,” Ramsey said in the news conference room while Hill nodded in agreement on the other side of the room. “I’ve been telling the whole team for a couple weeks that I was going to get a pick my first game.
“It felt good. Don’t get it twisted, I’m happy I had an interception, but I definitely don’t want that to be the storyline. I just want to talk about how we got a good, hard-fought division win. My success, it comes from the preparation that I put in and the team around me. It’s not just me. I work really hard during the week to prepare myself to feel like Jalen Ramsey and it’s just a product of it. But it was a great, hard-fought win for the team, so that was dope.”
The win gave Miami a season sweep of the Patriots and improved the Dolphins’ record to 6-2. Miami is a half-game back of the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC lead. Fittingly, the Dolphins and Chiefs face off in Week 9 in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the NFL’s International Series.
It will mark the first time Hill has faced his former team since he was traded to Miami last offseason. He said he was initially disappointed the game was not at Arrowhead Stadium, but he’s excited to see his former teammates who he won a Super Bowl and two AFC championships with.
“I’m ready, man. It’s just another game. I’m just excited to play against my old brothers,” he said. “It’s just like if you’re in high school and you move to a different city, it’s still ball. At the end of the day, my job is to go out there and do what I’ve been doing all year, and that’s have fun, help lead this team and create opportunities for whoever. I’m still going to be the same old Cheetah, baby.”
Source: www.espn.com