GREEN BAY, Wisc. — They did it again. The Miami Dolphins lost another big road game against a quality opponent with Thursday’s ugly 30-17 spanking at Lambeau Field before a national TV audience. And although it was around 29 degrees at kickoff, cold weather wasn’t a factor.
Few of the Dolphins’ big-time offensive players had a good night ranging from Tua Tagovailoa to wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and running backs De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert. Only tight end Jonnu Smith showed up.
Few of the Dolphins’ big-time defensive players had a good night ranging from cornerback Jalen Ramsey to defensive linemen Zach Sieler and Calais Campbell and rookie edge rusher Chop Robinson, who had 3.5 sacks in his previous four games but did precious little on Thursday.
The offense was terrible once again in a big game, and the defense allowed lots of points once again in a big game. The Dolphins haven’t changed since 2022.
This was a hot mess.
Here are some more takeaways from Thursday night:
Biggest wins and losses of McDaniel-Tua era
This game could have been the biggest win of the Mike McDaniel-Tagovailoa era (since 2022). Instead, it turned into one of the biggest disappointments.
Here, in no particular order, are the five biggest wins in the McDaniel-Tagovailoa era:
* Buffalo (2022), 21-19: Beat Bills for only time in seven attempts;
* Baltimore (2022), 42-38: Scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns on road vs. playoff team;
* New York Jets (2022), 11-6: Clinched playoff spot and ended five-game losing streak;
* Los Angeles Chargers (2023), 36-34: Road opener vs. team that made playoffs previous season;
* Dallas (2023), 22-20: Clinched playoff spot.
Here, in no particular order, are the biggest disappointments in the McDaniel-Tagovailoa era:
* Green Bay (2024), 30-17: Lost road game. Had chance to extend winning streak to four games and solidify new offense as the real deal;
* San Francisco (2022), 33-17: Lost road game. Had chance to extend winning streak to six games;
* Buffalo (2022) 32-29: Lost road game. Dolphins had losing streak extend to three games;
* Buffalo (2023) 48-20: Lost road game. Dolphins were on three-game winning streak and coming off 70-20 win over Denver;
* Tennessee (2023) 28-27: Lost home game. Dolphins still haven’t recovered. They’re 7-10 since that loss. — Chris Perkins
Dolphins’ offense fails again
The Dolphins offense, notorious for not showing up in big games, put up another no-show on Thursday at Green Bay, scoring two touchdowns.
The offense was held to 16 points per game last season in seven games against playoff teams. The Dolphins were 1-6 in those games.
This season the Dolphins have averaged just 17 points per game in five losses against likely playoff teams — Buffalo (twice), Arizona, Seattle and Green Bay.
Tagovailoa was 37 of 46 for 365 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 114.2 passer rating. But he didn’t have a good game.
And, no, the cold weather wasn’t a factor.
Third-down inadequacy
The Dolphins were 1 of 6 on third downs in the first half. Then they suffered a delay of game on their first third down of the second half, turning a third-and-3 into a third-and-8 and an eventual incomplete pass and punt.
The Dolphins ended 4 of 13 on third downs.
The Dolphins offense was stuck in the mud the entire game and the third-down difficulties were one example of the struggles.
The Dolphins, who missed a lot of tackles against the run and pass, entered the game No. 9 in run defense at 106.9 yards allowed per game.
Run game stinks
The run game never got going Thursday. The longest gain of the night, a 26-yard gain by running back Raheem Mostert in the third quarter, was reduced to a 12-yard gain after a holding call on Hill.
It was that type of game.
The Dolphins ended rushing for 39 yards.
The Dolphins entered Thursday’s game 16th in the league in rushing at 116.8 yards per game.
They’d been held to fewer than 100 yards rushing in each game during this their three-game winning streak, rushing for 67 yards against the Los Angeles Rams, 82 yards against Las Vegas, and 65 yards against New England.
Prior to that the Dolphins had rushed for more than 100 yards in five consecutive games but they went 1-4 in those games.
Run defense stinks
Green Bay rushed for 102 yards in the first half, breaking a streak of three consecutive games in which the Dolphins allowed their opponent fewer than 100 yards rushing.
The Packers ended with 114 yards rushing.
Prior to that streak, the Dolphins had allowed five consecutive opponents to rush for at least 100 yards.
Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs only had 33 yards rushing on 11 carries at halftime. But running back Chris Brooks, the former Dolphins player, had two carries for 26 yards and wide receiver Jayden Reed had one carry for 23 yards.
The Dolphins missed tackles and had poor gap protection.
Miserable road record in McDaniel era
The Dolphins dropped another big road game, which shouldn’t be a surprise.
The Dolphins entered the Green Bay game with a 9-15 (.375) road record, including playoffs, under McDaniel. The Dolphins have never had a winning road record under McDaniel. Their best mark was the 4-5 road record last season.
Jonnu having career year
Smith was close to having a career-best season entering Thursday’s game. He entered with 48 receptions, 535 yards and four touchdowns.
He now has 58 receptions for 648 yards and four touchdowns.
Smith had established career bests of 50 receptions and 582 yards last season with Atlanta. His career best in touchdowns is eight in 2020 with Tennessee.
Special teams stumble
Special teams had a lost fumble on a punt return by Malik Washington that led to a touchdown, and had a holding call that resulted in a five-yard half the distance to the goal penalty. That drive ended in a punt.
By the way, the Dolphins had six penalties for 45 yards in the first half. That’s more than they had in any game of their three-game winning streak (15 yards vs. Rams, 23 yards vs. Las Vegas and 17 yards vs. New England).
The Dolphins ended with 10 penalties for 75 yards.
CBs numbers getting low
Cornerbacks Kader Kohou (back) and Cam Smith (shoulder) left the game with injuries, and with the Dolphins already without Kendall Fuller (concussion) numbers were low.
The Dolphins had starter Jalen Ramsey and rookie Storm Duck, who normally comes in for the nickel package as the boundary cornerback.
They utilized cornerback Siran Neal, who is a special teams ace, as well as safety Elijah Campbell in the nickel package.
The Dolphins hung tough despite the lack of experience.
Relatively quiet Tyreek
Hill wasn’t on the field for possibly the biggest play of the game, the Dolphins’ fourth-and-goal from the Green Bay 1-yard line in the fourth quarter while trailing, 27-11.
He seemed a bit irritated that he wasn’t on the field.
Hill had a quiet night, ending with six receptions for 83 yards, with a big chunk coming on a 30-yard reception in the fourth quarter when the game was basically over.
Hill entered the game with 277 yards receiving and 25 receptions in the five games since Tagovailoa has returned.
Hill also entered the game tied for the team lead in receptions (49) with Achane, leading the team in receiving yards (571) and third in receiving touchdowns (three) behind Achane (five) and Smith (four).
Entering Thursday, Hill only had one 100-yard receiving game in his previous 15 games, and that was the 130-yard effort in the 20-17 season-opening win over Jacksonville.
What possibly explains the cliff dive Dolphins’ run game has done the past four games?
From games 4-8, the Dolphins carved up opponents for 680 rushing yards (170.0 a game). So, how on earth, without a deluge of injuries, has that team run for a mere 253 in the ensuing four games (63.3 a game). Hard to believe there have ever been such a drastic difference in output from one four-game span to an ensuing quartet. — Steve Svekis
Green Bay played well, but vaulted to an early lead with some significant good fortune
On the Packers’ second play of the game, Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler busted through and crunched Jordan Love, dislodging the ball. The Dolphins recovered deep in Green Bay, but the play was reviewed into an incomplete pass. Later in the first quarter, a Love pass that bounded high off his target’s shoulder pads was a meaty interception opportunity. Unfortunately it flew close enough to Packers wideout Christian Watson for him to create the incompletion as he had a severe collision with Kader Kohou. Mixed between those plays was the awful punt muff by Malik Washington that gave Green Bay a first-and-goal and set up the game’s first touchdown.
Dolphins would probably just as soon Cris Collinsworth not take their games off
Thursday night marked the second consecutive Dolphins game on NBC in 2024 where Mike Tirico was joined in the broadcast booth by former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett instead of his normal cohort, Cris Collinsworth. The results: the loss Thursday to go with the 26-7 wild-card round defeat in the Arrowhead Stadium icebox in January.
Dolphins’ defense has made real hay in the first quarter
Through 12 games, the Dolphins defense has used its stellar play in the first quarter to maximize the team’s chances to win. In those games, they have allowed 733 in the first 15 minutes, or 61.1 yards on average. In the other three quarters before Thursday, they had allowed 2,702 yards, or 81.9 yards per quarter. And, it isn’t like the Dolphins have opened the first quarter with possession of the ball a ton to manipulate that first-quarter number, with Miami getting the opening kickoff in six of the 11 games. By comparison, last season, the Dolphins allowed 85.53 yards per first quarter, and 77.59 on average over the following three.
How many more Dolphins are on track become Hall of Famers?
Zach Thomas became the 18th person to have been employed by the Miami Dolphins to have gained entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he was inducted last year. While the Dolphins haven’t drafted a player who looks to have a path to Canton, Ohio, yet, they have added four players in the past three years who have a decent (or much better than that) shot.
The most recent pickup, Calais Campbell, is having a huge year at 38, and is the NFL’s active leader with 184 tackles for loss. He also ranks tied for 42nd all-time with 109.5 sacks. Campbell has made the Pro Bowl and/or All-Pro team seven times. Tyreek Hill, while having the most meager numbers of his career, has made the Pro Bowl and/or All-Pro team in each of his first eight seasons. Also, Hill earned a Super Bowl ring while with the 2019 Chiefs. Tackle Terrron Armstead, a five-time Pro Bowl/All-Pro pick, is on pace for the third-most snaps in a season in his career. Finally, cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey, having a standout season, is on pace for his eighth Pro Bowl/All-Pro honor in the eight seasons following his runner-up finish in the 2016 top defensive rookie voting. Ramsey, like Hill, also has a Super Bowl ring, attained with the Rams in 2021.
Dolphins’ time of possession has gotten very healthy in 2024
Mike McDaniel has had the Dolphins trending upward in their time-of-possession statistic this season since making his offense a more methodical operation since Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion against Buffalo. Going in to Green Bay, the Dolphins had possessed the ball for 30 minutes, 28 seconds on average. Miami hasn’t finished a season with that robust a possession-time number since they held the pigskin for 30:35 per game on average in 2010 during the Tony Sparano era.
Mike McDaniel’s incredible pre-December coin-flip luck regressed to the mean in 2024
In the first 11 games of the 2022 and 2023 seasons (pre-December games), the Dolphins won a mind-blowing 86.4 of their coin tosses, meaning they received the second-half kickoff in 19 of those 22 games. This year, though? With the win Thursday night, the Dolphins went 6-6 pre-December.
That makes two former Dolphins assistant coaches with stellar starts as interim head coaches
When Darren Rizzi, the one-time Dolphins firebrand special-teams coach from 2009-18, became the interim coach of the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 4 and debuted with the team winning consecutive games, he became only the eighth first-time NFL coach to start 2-0 as a midseason replacement, joining the 1979 Cardinals’ Larry Wilson, the 2000 Lions’ Gary Moeller, the 2010 Cowboys’ Jason Garrett, the 2010 Vikings’ Leslie Frazier, the 2015 Dolphins’ Dan Campbell, the 2021 Raiders’ Rich Bisaccia and the 2023 Raiders’ Antonio Pierce.
Of that group, Campbell leads by a far measure with the most dominant two-game start, outscoring the opposition by 23.0 points per game (with a 38-10 pasting of the Tennessee Titans followed by a 44-26 thrashing of the Houston Texans), with Garrett’s 14.5-point-per-game margin second (Rizzi’s was 12.0). Campbell’s easily could be even more of a runaway, as the Dolphins led the Texans 41-0 midway through the third quarter before taking the foot off the gas.
On deck: New York Jets, Hard Rock Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 8. 1 p.m.
So, in reality, the Dolphins playoffs begin with this game, with a loss — certainly to an AFC team — likely ending any realistic shot of grabbing the seventh seed in the AFC. …
With a win on Dec. 8, the Dolphins would earn their ninth consecutive home victory against the Jets, setting a franchise record for most consecutive home games against Gang Green without a loss (Miami went 7-0-1 versus the Jets in the Orange Bowl and Joe Robbie Stadium from 1981-87). If the Dolphins were to sweep the Jets this season, they would enter 2025 with Miami’s longest overall win streak against New York (five) in 40 years.
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