The Miami Dolphins were in striking distance of a win that would’ve put them back playoff contention. Instead, their 28-27 loss Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals dropped the Dolphins 2-5 on the season with their next game on the road at Buffalo.
Things are looking bleak in Miami.
A positive takeaway from the game is that the offense looked better than it has this entire season with Tua Tagovailoa back under center. They scored a season-high 27 points, running back De’Von Achane was dominant in both the run and pass game, and the offense went 11 of 15 on third downs.
“It feels good to be able to come back and play with my teammates,” Tagovailoa said after the game. “But a tough loss today against a really good team, so that diminishes not just what I’ve done, but a lot of what other guys have done individually as well.”
The most obvious discrepancy plaguing the Miami offense was Tagovailoa securing snaps from center Aaron Brewer. Two snaps were fumbled during this contest, one resulting in a safety that proved to be the difference in the game.
Okay there’s a LOT to unpack here 😅 pic.twitter.com/5LVfjSL7mu
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“We got to keep chopping wood,” Tagovailoa said. “That’s it. Keep chopping wood. Don’t look for any external motivation from anyone. Just look within. What can we do to get better? What can we do to continue to encourage each other? Because that’s what it takes. It takes everyone inside that locker room if we want to get to where we want to go.”
Miami came into the 2024 season with aspirations to win in the playoffs. Eight weeks in, they are well outside the playoff picture. While having Tagovailoa back provides hope, adjustments will have to be made if the Dolphins hope to go on a winning streak.
“I think there’s a lot of things we can continue to get better at,” Tagovailoa said. “As a unit, we look to end the drive with points every time we’re out there. I believe we’re too talented to not end drives with points, so we got to go take a look at what we can continue to do to get better for our team, to put points on the board so that a situation like that doesn’t happen.”
The Dolphins final drive of the game began with 8:47 left in the 4th quarter, up 27-25 and a chance to seal the game with a touchdown or extend the lead to five with a field goal. They were able to pick up two first downs, but the drive stalled outside of field goal range at the Arizona 47.
The Cardinals got the ball back with 5:08 left and they used every last second of it, making a 34-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
Even though the Dolphins offense wasn’t perfect, scoring 27 points seemed like it should have been good enough to win this game, even after the botched snap that resulted in a safety. Ultimately, the game came down to Kyler Murray dominating the Dolphins defense down the stretch.
Murray finished the game with 307 passing yards on 26 completions with two touchdowns and a 116.3 rating. He was never sacked, nor did he turn the ball over.
Both sides of the football for the Dolphins will need to fix what is halting their success if they want any hope of restoring their season. They will have to do it in a hurry considering the Bills are next on the schedule in Week 9.
