BALTIMORE — Tyreek Hill could have had the game of his life Sunday, and the Miami Dolphins probably still would have lost to the Baltimore Ravens.
The vaunted Dolphins defense got shredded for 56 points and 491 yards Sunday, so no amount of offense would have changed the outcome.
But it’s no coincidence that Hill again came up short in one of the biggest games of the year.
Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill Struggles vs. Ravens
Hill had six catches for 76 yards, but those stats are misleading. It took him 12 targets to get those 76 yards, which made him less efficient through the air than De’Von Achane was on the ground (107 yards on 14 carries).
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Hill entered the game ranked second in the NFL with 11 drops and added at least another one to that total when he let a gift-wrapped touchdown pass slip through his hands.
“Speaking for myself, I played probably one of the worst games of my career,” Hill said. “As a leader of this team, I can’t put that on tape. [I’ve] just got to erase it [and] move forward. Obviously, [I will] go watch the tape and get better from it.”
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Hill said the dropped touchdown was “definitely like a concentration thing. I will say, I never get that wide open. The ball just floated so long. It was just like, ‘Get here’ to me. I just have to make the play, man.”
Hill now has five of his six worst games in Dolphins losses, averaging just 69 receiving yards per game with one touchdown and catching just 68.1% of his targets in those games.
Put bluntly, that’s not why the Dolphins made him the highest-paid wide receiver in football.
And they’ll need him to play like an All-Pro in Week 18 to beat the Buffalo Bills and avoid a trip to Arrowhead in the Wild Card Round.
“The great thing about this team is we have such tremendous leaders. You know what, I’m looking forward to seeing how we bounce back. I know Coach [Mike McDaniel] is going to get us prepared, and it’s going to be what we need heading into the playoffs. It’s going to be fine.”
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