CHARLOTTE — The Miami Dolphins suffered their worst loss since maybe the December 2023 Monday night collapse against the Tennessee Titans.
They pounced on the Carolina Panthers early but — sans one play, a deep touchdown pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to wide receiver Jaylen Waddle — looked completely inept on both sides of the ball from then on.
They were awful running the ball. They were even worse stopping the run. That’s never a good formula at any level of football.
It led to blowing a 17-point lead in a 27-24 defeat that drops the team to 1-4 and puts all the questions surrounding franchise leadership back on the table. It again has coach Mike McDaniel firmly on the hot seat in the public eye, as much as owner Stephen Ross may preach patience.
Here are the Sun Sentinel’s grades for Sunday’s debacle in Charlotte.
Run game: F
Nineteen rushing yards on 14 attempts. A pitiful 1.4 yards per carry — and that’s that this team got a 5-yard scramble from Tagovailoa. De’Von Achane, who made an impressive touchdown catch early, went for 16 yards on 10 carries. Fellow tailback and rookie Ollie Gordon II had a negative rushing total. A semblance of a run game helps a team protect a 17-point lead, and the Dolphins did not have it.
Pass game: C
It started great in the first game after star wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s scary knee injury. Tagovailoa was finding Waddle and new tight end Darren Waller. Waller caught his third touchdown in the first half of his second game with the team. He didn’t even have a target in the second half.
The Dolphins had five straight series result in punts after scoring 17 points on their first three drives. The final Tua stat line of 27 of 36 for 256 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions looked good, but the third-down conversions were missing in the second half.
The final third-and-10 resulted in a sack, one of three Tagovailoa took as his offensive line failed to pass protect against a Panthers pass rush that entered with just two sacks and a league-low 7 percent pressure rate.
Run defense: F-
When it was mentioned to McDaniel on Friday that starting Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard was out with a calf injury, he said, “You don’t know someone’s name until you know it.”
The Dolphins surely know Rico Dowdle’s name now. The 1,000-yard rusher for Dallas last year went off for 206 rushing yards, with bursts of 53, 43 and 25 yards among those rushes. Miami is dead-last against the run. The rookie defensive linemen have not shown up yet, and it’s a crisis at this point after allowing 239 yards total on the ground in Carolina.
Pass defense: C
Not particularly bad, but maybe at times aided by Panthers quarterback Bryce Young not looking very sharp. Carolina didn’t have to mount its comeback from down 17 through the air because Miami was so bad against the run.
Bradley Chubb recovered a Young fumble and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted him on a bad pass. The pass defense didn’t finish some key drives, including allowing two fourth-down conversions, plus cornerback Jack Jones was called for pass interference on what could’ve been a late third-down stop to give Miami the ball back. It was one of three penalties on him, as he was twice called for defensive holding, and Young’s touchdown pass to Xavier Legette was against Jones.
Special teams: B+
Not much to fault here. Kicker Riley Patterson made all his kicks. Punter Jake Bailey was sensational again, with a 52-yard punting average on six punts. He downed three inside the 20-yard line, including an incredible 61-yarder down to the Carolina 2. Malik Washington had a 40-yard kick return and was solid on punt returns.
Coaching: F
There’s no way around it. McDaniel will be the first to tell you. He was right when he said this team is too good to blow a 17-point lead, and it’s especially true against a Panthers team that has averaged under five wins in the previous six seasons. It falls on his shoulders.
The team came out initially prepared, but there were never counter-adjustments to Carolina’s adjustments as the Panthers turned it around. The Dolphins were penalized nine times, showing a lack of discipline. Key young players, like defensive tackle Kenneth Grant and left guard Jonah Savaiinaea, still have not been developed adequately.
Side note: McDaniel is receiving some criticism for the decision to punt on the final possession. I don’t blame much of anything on that. It was fourth-and-17, and the team had all three timeouts. The Dolphins nearly got the stop to get another chance, but they had Jones called for pass interference on that third down after stopping the run on first and second down.
Stock up: Darren Waller
Stock continues to rise for Waller, as he caught all five of his targets for 78 yards and a touchdown Sunday. He was up to 32 snaps against the Panthers, and it was simply inexplicable that he went without a second-half target after being so effective early.
Stock down: Mike McDaniel
From bad to worse for McDaniel. He was already the heavy favorite to be the first head coach fired this season in betting circles. Now, his team blew a 17-point lead to one of the worst teams in the league. Miami’s only win this season is against the only remaining winless team, the New York Jets. Ross reportedly wants to be patient, but patience could reasonably run out the next time the Dolphins either suffer a blowout loss or fall to another one of the league’s worst.