How Dolphins QB Quinn Ewers called the Buccaneers' bluff on 63-yard TD

After the first two drives, it looked like the Miami Dolphins were in for a long day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Miami went three-and-out on its opening drive after a holding penalty wiped out a big gain for Malik Washington. Then the Bucs answered with a 14-play touchdown drive that looked awfully reminiscent of the Cincinnati Bengals' demolition of the Dolphins defense a week prior.

Advertisement

That early momentum shifted all at once when Quinn Ewers answered Tampa Bay's drive with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Theo Wease Jr. less than a minute later. On Monday, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel offered some insight on how that game-changing play came to fruition.

On two of the Dolphins' first four offensive plays (including the nullified Washington gain), the Buccaneers disguised Cover 2 coverage by leaving just one safety deep until the last second. When they tried to do that a third time, Ewers called their bluff by hitting Wease down the left sideline.

Here's what it looked like on the Dolphins' pass to Washington:

Two plays later, the Buccaneers provided a similar pre-snap look before dropping two safeties deep on a third down.

The second play fooled Ewers, who threw into double coverage and may have been intercepted by Buccaneers safety Tykee Smith if fellow Tampa Bay defensive back Antoine Winfield didn't knock it away.

Advertisement

So when the Buccaneers lined up like this on the third play of Miami's second drive, Ewers had a good idea of what to expect.

"With those disguises pre-snap, I think Quinn had an idea that the zero or single-high they were kind of messing around with could potentially lead to being in two-shell," McDaniel said. "It’s just Quinn doing something he’s adept at in the heat of the moment because the moment’s not too big for him. He took his eyes straight at the corner, and it wasn’t the first time that he had manipulated the defense.

"It was a great vision by him, great catch transition by Theo, but yeah, I watched it all live. I’ve seen him do that a ton in practice but live I was still in the back of my mind saying, ‘Don’t throw the out. Don’t throw the out, he’s going to get blown up. Oh sweet, touchdown.’”

Advertisement

After Winfield dropped deep, Ewers correctly assumed that Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean's responsibility would be to pass off Wease to the safety, Tykee Smith. McDaniel feared Ewers would throw to tight end Darren Waller and it appeared as though the Buccaneers thought the same, as Smith took an angle far too shallow to keep up with Wease.

"If I recall correctly, I think they were trying to show Cover 0, and then they rolled out of it into Cover 2," Ewers said. "So I knew the corner was going to have his eyes on me. So I just had to look at Darren and throw right over the top of the corner, and Theo ended up making a great play on it."

Ewers finished the 20-17 win with 172 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 118.0 passer rating.

Advertisement

This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins' Quinn Ewers called Buccaneers' bluff on Theo Wease touchdown