The Miami Dolphins blew a two-touchdown fourth-quarter lead to lose to the Tennessee Titans 28-27 for arguably the worst result of the Mike McDaniel era.
Tua Tagovailoa was sacked on 4th-and-2 with time winding down to seal a loss that drops the Dolphins to 9-4 on the season — and into the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
Tennessee Titans vs. Miami Dolphins Instant Observations
Defensive Meltdown
We’re going to need to review the tape to go through all the mistakes in the Dolphins’ final two defensive series, but the numbers were horrendous.
The Titans scored two touchdowns — and converted a two-point try — in the game’s final five minutes.
DeAndre Hopkins caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Will Levis on Tennessee’s penultimate drive. Then Derrick Henry ran in from three yards out, and the extra point put the Titans ahead for good.
The Dolphins’ defense gave up 139 yards on their last 13 non-kneel-down plays to lose in unthinkable fashion.
The Dolphins Were Lucky To Even Be in the Game
The game was tied at 13-13 with less than six minutes left — and the Titans were getting the ball back with a chance to go ahead.
Instead, rookie punt returner Eric Garror made arguably the worst decision of his young career.
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Garror tried to field a bouncing kick — and failed. His muff was recovered by Elijah Campbell at the Titans’ 7.
Two plays later, Raheem Mostert was in the end zone, and the Dolphins were ahead — for the time being.
It’s Amazing What Happens When You Run the Football
The Dolphins traveled inside the Titans’ 5 on three of their first seven possessions.
They scored a grand total of six points on three of those drives.
It was a comedy of errors in goal-to-go situations for the Dolphins Monday, including a bad turnover on one drive and confounding play-calling on two others.
The most egregious? Three pass calls by Mike McDaniel after having 1st-and-goal at the 6. The Dolphins actually lost yards on their next three plays, leading to a field goal by Jason Sanders that tied the game.
But after the gift from Garror, McDaniel learned his lesson. Mostert got the rock, and the Dolphins were in the end zone.
Mostert scored a second late rushing touchdown to give him a share of the franchise record for both rushing and offensive touchdowns in a season (16 and 18, respectively).
Tyreek Hill Is THE Difference-Maker
We got a long look at the Dolphins’ offense without Tyreek Hill Monday, and it wasn’t pretty.
Hill left the game with two and a half minutes left in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not return until well into the third quarter.
Not coincidentally, the Dolphins’ offense was shut out the entire first half, with Tagovailoa clearly discombobulated.
Hill had two catches for 13 yards when he exited, but did have a 23-yard catch on the final play of the third quarter — his first target in like two hours.
Hill finished the night with four catches for 61 yards — leaving him 458 yards shy of 2,000 on the season with four games to play.
Trouble on Offensive Line
A far bigger injury concern for the Miami Dolphins?
Connor Williams’ knee.
The Dolphins’ center watched much of the game in street clothes after getting rolled up on from behind early in the game.
His replacement, Liam Eichenberg, has been solid at guard this year. If Williams is out for the season, he’ll need to be better than he was on the botched center-quarterback exchange in the first half that took points off the board.
The Williams injury left the Dolphins without their starting center, left tackle (Terron Armstead), and right guard (Robert Hunt).
Even still, the Dolphins averaged 5,1 yards per carry, but did allow five sacks and seven quarterback hits.
WYD Bradley Chubb?
You cannot blame any one player for a loss, but sometimes you can blame one player for a touchdown.
And Monday night was one of those times. Bradley Chubb gifted the Titans four points by chucking his helmet in frustration — despite making a tackle that should have ended the drive.
Chubb had Will Levis in his grasp for what should have been a sack, but the Titans rookie slipped free and scrambled for a few yards. And even though the Dolphins stopped him short of the sticks, Chubb was so frustrated that he tossed his headgear — which is a no-brainer 15-yard penalty.
The Titans turned that new life into a touchdown.
Championship teams simply cannot make mental mistakes like the Dolphins have at key moments this season.
Big Man Touchdown, Redux
Another week, another Dolphins touchdown.
This time, it was Zach Sieler with the pick-six, as Levis threw a pass directly in his breadbasket — and then compounded mistakes by trying to tackle the 300-pound defensive tackle.
Physics always wins, as Sieler went forward and Levis went backward.
The touchdown was the third by the Dolphins’ defense in as many weeks, with Sieler joining Jevon Holland and Andrew Van Ginkel with house calls since Thanksgiving.
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