After the Miami Dolphins‘ 28-27 loss on Monday night to the Tennessee Titans, it begs the question, do teams have the formula to neutralize their offense?
While the scoreboard indicates the Fins scored 27 points, they caught several breaks in the form of fumbles and interceptions. A pick six from Zach Seiler got the Dolphins on the board. A muffed punt and a fumble on a halfback toss put the Dolphins in back to back short fields.
In my last article, I outlined some of the issues Miami has faced against teams with a winning record. In this game (against a team with a losing record), a lot of the same issues still plague them.
I outlined their major injuries on offense. Connor Williams is now out for the rest of the season after he suffered a torn ACL, which was confirmed Tuesday after an MRI. Williams was the #1 rated center coming into this game and was the glue to their offensive line. That now makes three out of the five starters on their offensive line on IR. On three separate drives, Tua Tagovailoa was sacked on third or fourth down including their last drive that ended the game. In addition to their offensive line, Tyreek Hill is now dealing with an ankle injury which was clearly bothering him during this game.
“I think one of the biggest things that happened too, that sorta I think personally had something to do with the game was when Connor went down as well. But you know this is how the league works. You know you pray that you can have healthy seasons and you can stay healthy for as long as possible, but this is a physical game,” Tagovailoa said after meeting with the media following Thursday’s practice.
Third down efficiency continues to haunt Miami in their losses. On Monday night, Miami went 4-13 on third down (30.7%). Their inability to extend drives will almost certainly come back to bite them down the stretch.
Costly penalties are still a huge issue for this team through week 14. The Dolphins added seven more penalties in this game for 61 yards. The offensive line accounted for three of those penalties with holding calls. Bradley Chubb got called for a costly unsportsmanlike conduct after he spiked his helmet while running to the sideline after a third down stop with 8:44 left in the second quarter. That penalty kept Tennessee’s drive alive where Derrick Henry ultimately scored a touchdown.
An emphasis for Tennessee coming into this game was to take away the middle of the field and force Tua to throw outside the numbers. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel made that very clear during his in-game interview after the first quarter.
By the end of this game, Miami’s defense looked gassed. They were up 27-13 with 4:34 to go in the game and allowed Tennessee to score touchdowns on their final two drives, one of which included a two point conversion. On the final two drives, the Phins defense allowed Titans quarterback Will Levis to go 9-11 for 130 yards and one touchdown. One other point to note is Miami’s pass rush; they were only able to record one sack against Levis the entire game.
“You can do one of two things with a loss like this, for me personally, just my belief in the individuals that I work with on a day-to-day basis, I would expect whatever things haven’t been done in the direction of trying to win football games collectively, I think the guys will rise to the occasion,” said Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel after the game.
Miami’s schedule doesn’t get any easier. After their week 15 game against the Jets, their remaining three games are Dallas, Baltimore and Buffalo. Those three teams are all surging and the last game against Buffalo could determine who wins the AFC East. Over his last three games, Josh Allen has thrown for 847 yards and has 7 total touchdowns.