At last, the Miami Dolphins dropped a game they were expected to win.
The Miami Dolphins, who had won three straight games and were unbeaten at home, eventually suffered a loss, falling to the Tennessee Titans 28-27.
The Dolphins not only suffered a historic defeat at the hands of a losing team and a team that will be watching the playoffs from home. The Titans did everything they could to lose the game, including fumbling twice in a 34-second span in the fourth quarter, but with three minutes left, Tennessee overturned a 14-point deficit to defeat Miami.
With three minutes left in a game, the Dolphins became the first club to lose a 14-point lead since 2016.They controlled the No. 1 seed and performed all of this at home against a squad without a win.
Yes, without a question, this loss hurts. Without a doubt, this is the Dolphins’ worst loss of the season, and it destroys a lot of the positive momentum the club had been building over the previous several weeks.
But since it’s still a regular season game, the club shouldn’t be in a panic. When Miami moves into the final stretch of the season, they should turn this humiliating loss to their advantage.
After the game, head coach Mike McDaniel remarked, “I think we all get to share the blame, or at least I know the locker room felt 100 percent responsible.” That seems to be what you’re after. I believe that a lot of people, including myself, will find it difficult to go asleep tonight. It’s a tough, hard lesson to learn, but no lead is safe. You can’t do that and expect to win football games.
The Dolphins still have the ability to secure the top seed in the AFC, even though they are currently one game behind the 10-3 Baltimore Ravens. This is because they play the Ravens in Baltimore in Week 17. Put another way, the Dolphins will be the only club in the AFC with a first-round bye and home-field advantage provided they overcome the Ravens.
It’s true that Tyreek Hill, who suffered a knee injury late in the first quarter and missed two quarters, made the Dolphins offence appear unremarkable. During Hill’s absence, the Dolphins managed just three points and managed just 147 yards on 29 plays, or 5.0 yards per play, between the first and third quarters. In contrast, they gained 7.6 yards per play on average when Hill returned late in the third quarter and throughout the drive that followed.
Without Hill, McDaniel wrote off the offense’s lack of effectiveness in the game, blaming it instead on poor playcalling in pivotal moments and inadequate offensive line coverage.
“On one or two plays, our protection wasn’t exactly what we might be used to, and there were just crucial times when we would be off a hair on first or second down and you’re put in a third down situation,” McDaniel said. Tyreek is undoubtedly a player of his calibre, so it hurts when he’s not in. However, I didn’t see it as we were. Then, there was a misfire on one or two plays, and those things add up. But I believe there was a lot more offence to be had, and I have a lot of men I can rely on to do that.
It’s also true that the Titans’ aggressive, smash-mouth play style under Mike Vrabel made this a difficult game for the Dolphins to play. They controlled the trenches and consistently put Tua Tagovailoa under pressure, sacking him five times—the most the Dolphins have given up this season. To put things in perspective, the Dolphins and the opposition were tied for the fewest sacks allowed this season going into the game.
The fact that Miami’s starting centre, Connor Williams, was sidelined for nearly the whole game because of a knee injury didn’t help either. This was on top of the numerous injuries they suffered to nearly every one of their important players, including several of their starting offensive lineman. The Dolphins’ loss in this game was mostly due to the injuries.
A hiccup occurs throughout the regular season for every great team. The 2022 Philadelphia Eagles experienced one last season when they fell to the humble Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, and the Dallas Cowboys, who are now leading the NFL, experienced one when they fell to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 under Joshua Dobbs.
The Eagles went on to win eight of their subsequent ten games, earning a trip to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys, meanwhile, are now atop the NFC East after winning eight of their last ten games.
Now, who can forget those embarrassing defeats? No.
And as long as the Dolphins promptly put this one in the rearview mirror, nobody will recall this loss. When they play the 5-8 New York Jets, a team they won’t take lightly after their humiliating loss to the Titans, they’ll get that chance. Despite their recent 30-point outburst against the Houston Texans, this opponent still has one of the worst offences in the NFL, so this is the ideal chance to bounce back.
Above all, they will have one more chance to show everyone that they are a genuine elite team when they play the toughest three-game run of any team in the final three weeks of the season: Week 16 at Dallas, Week 17 away to Baltimore, and Week 18 at home against the Buffalo Bills.
This Titans defeat will be long forgotten if they win those games and secure the AFC’s top spot.
When asked about previous Dolphins teams that had lost in December and saw their seasons “snowball,” Tagovailoa responded, “I don’t think this is the same Dolphins team that everyone thinks about.” “We have a strong group of guys. We have excellent coaches. One home has been lost this year. It’s not like our loss in this game means the end of the world. Because we are human. We will keep improving as a result of this.
If the Dolphins win their final four games to end the season, they will have the chance to demonstrate that they are a different squad than they were in previous years.
