It’s Over!
And just like that the Dolphins season is over. Well, there is still one more game to play in Week 18 vs. the Patriots, but with Sunday’s 34-3 loss to Tennessee combined with wins by several other teams vying for the playoffs, Miami has officially been eliminated from the playoffs. Again!
The euphoria of the 7-game win streak and the accompanying optimism of knowing they would be in the playoffs if they could have beaten the Titans and New England next week came to a crashing halt on Sunday in Nashville.
The common themes during Miami’s 7 game winning streak were the defense putting pressure on the quarterback as well as controlling the opponent’s run game, QB Tua Tagovailoa completing a high % of his passes and playing below average teams. None of those themes were on display Sunday, especially the one about playing below average teams.
With the win on Sunday, Tennessee is now the #1 seed in AFC, so they are much more than an average team. The 31-point loss reflects how far Miami has to go to compete with the elite teams in the NFL.
If I had told you before the game that Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown would only catch 2 passes, that Titans QB Ryan Tannehill would only complete 13 passes and Miami’s run game would average 4.6 yards per carry, you would have asked how much did the Dolphins win by.
But there were other statistics that were much more telling. Such as Tennessee rushing for 198 yards and averaging 5.0 yards per carry. And Tua only completing 18 of 38 passes to go with an interception and a fumble. And Miami only sacking Tannehill once while Tua went down 4 times.
The biggest stat advantage for Tennessee, though, was starting field position. As a result of turnovers and the kicking game, the Titans had a huge advantage on where their drives started. Miami’s best starting field position was their own 33-yard line and 4 times they started within their own 20-yard line. Tennessee on the hand, started in Miami territory 4 times, all of which resulted in scores for the Titans. They also had 3 other possessions where they started on their own 38-, 42- & 43-yard lines.
The fact that Miami gave up 198 rushing yards was a bit of a surprise, as they have had one of the league’s better run defenses ever since defensive tackle Raekwon Davis returned from injury a couple of months ago. The 198 yards was the most Miami has allowed this season. Titans running back D’Onta Foreman did his best Derrick Henry impersonation running for 132 yards on 26 carries including a 21-yard touchdown run that put Tennessee up 17-3 with 3:18 to go in the 1st half.
The other primary reason Miami lost today was their passing game, which never got untracked. Tua came into the game leading all NFL QBs in completion % at around 70%. Today he only completed 47% of his passes. The pass protection certainly could have been better, but even when given adequate time Tua over or under threw his receivers multiple times.
At other times, he just wasn’t in sync with the receivers. Several times Tua threw one way while the receiver ran his route in the other direction. There were also multiple dropped passes. It wasn’t a pretty day for Tua and the Fins passing attack. I can already hear the drumbeats to trade for Texans QB Deshaun Watson starting up again.
Other key takeaways from the game were:
- Tannehill only went 13-18 for 120 yards, but he did throw for 2 TDs. With 1:24 to go in the 1st quarter he hit tight-end Geoff Swaim on a 1-yard TD toss to put the Titans up 7-0. He then hit fellow tight-end Anthony Firkser on a 15-yard TD pass in the 4th quarter that gave the Titans a 24-3 lead.
- Although the referees can hardly be blamed for Miami’s loss, there was a key pass interference penalty that wasn’t called against Tennessee that could have affected the game’s outcome. On 4th & 11 with a little over 10 minutes to go in the game, Dolphins WR DeVante Parker was clearly interfered with at the Titans 10-yard line. Instead of having a 1st and goal with the potential to cut the Titans lead to 17-10, Miami had to turn the ball over on downs. The play seemed to deflate Miami and the Titans went onto score 17 points in the final 10 minutes of the game.
- Jason Sanders kicked a 39-yard field goal in the 2nd quarter for Miami’s only points of the game. He missed a 53-yard attempt in the 3rd quarter after Tua was sacked on the prior play, which made the kick longer than it should have been.
- Weather wise, it was anything but a South Florida kind of day as the temperature was in the mid 30’s to go along with constant rains and 15 mile per hour winds. Tennessee seemed to handle the inclement weather a lot better than the Dolphins did.
- The Titans had 17 1st downs, which was only 1 more than Miami. Tennessee had 308 total yards vs. 256 for the Dolphins.
- Miami only converted 4 of 15 opportunities on 3rd & 4th down while Tennessee converted 8 of 16 times.
- Miami ran for 74 yards on 16 carries. Only 5 carries came in the 2nd half as they abandoned the run playing from behind. Duke Johnson rushed for 49 yards on 7 carries plus he had 2 receptions for 16 yards.
- Tua threw for 205 yards. Jaylen Waddle only had 3 receptions for 47 yards with 45 of those yards coming on 1 play in the 4th quarter. Mike Gesicki had 4 catches for 51 yards while Parker caught 4 balls for 46 yards.
- Miami had 11 drives and 7 of then lasted 2:14 or less. They only had 1 drive in the 3rd quarter.
Miami closes out the season next Sunday at home vs. the Patriots, who clinched at least a wildcard playoff spot today. New England still has a shot at winning the AFC East as well as an outside shot at the #1 overall seed in the AFC. For Miami, the only thing left to play for, other than upsetting the Patriots playoff seeding, is to finish the season at above .500 at 9-8.
Unfortunately, once again it is time for Dolfans to turn their attention to the draft, free agency and the 2022 season.
