Dolphins once again get embarrassed by quality opponent; get demolished by Packers on Thanksgiving night.
The Miami Dolphins had a major opportunity to rewrite the story of their 2024 season on Thanksgiving night. Instead, they once again fell flat on their faces against a quality opponent on the road while under the bright lights of a primetime contest. A win could have given them hope of traveling to cold weather cities come playoff time and striking fear into the hearts of their opposition, however, against the Green Bay Packers, the Dolphins did what the Dolphins always seem to do in frigid temps — they crumbled in embarrassing fashion and took the massive loss.
The 30-17 defeat brings the team’s record to a disappointing 5-7. Their playoff hopes are on their last leg — with more cold weather games on the horizon.
Hopefully your Thanksgiving meal was delicious and satisfying, because the game Mike McDaniel and the rest of the Miami Dolphins cooked up left the entire fanbase feeling disgusted and nauseous.
Still, as we always do, we’ll take a look back at the good, bad and ugly from Miami’s ( ) loss to the Green Bay Packers in week thirteen of the 2024 campaign. Just kidding… there was no good.
BAD
Dolphins still can’t defeat a winning opponent
The narrative continues. You know the one…
The Miami Dolphins don’t beat winning teams. In 2023, they whooped up on a bunch of cupcakes — winning just one game against a team with more wins on their record than losses in the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve.
Other than that game, you’d have to go all the way back to week three of the 2022 season to find a Dolphins victory over a winning squad when they downed the 2-0 Buffalo Bills in the sweltering heat of Miami Gardens, Florida.
The good news is that the Dolphins only play one more game against a team with a winning record in 2024 — the Houston Texans. The bad news is that they can’t afford another loss on the season if they want to keep their slim playoff chances alive.
BAD
Dolphins have forgotten how to run the football
At halftime of Thursday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Miami Dolphins found themselves down by a score of 24-3.
It’s hard to come back from a three touchdown deficit, but Miami’s inability to run the football helped put them in that hole in the first place.
In the first half, the Dolphins rushed the ball seven times for just 14 yards. A two-yards-per-carry average on the road, in the cold, against a good football team just isn’t going to cut it. And in all actuality, if it weren’t for Tua Tagovailoa’s six yards on two carries, the Dolphins gained just eight yards on five carries in the first two quarters of play.
In the second half, the team took to passing the ball incessantly in an effort to get themselves back in the game, and finished the contest with only 39 rushing yards on 14 carries — just a 2.8 yards per carry average.
What are we doing here?
UGLY
Malik Washington sets the tone for the night with muffed punt after Packers’ first drive
Fans of the Miami Dolphins didn’t have to wait long for the team to show their true colors on Thanksgiving.
After the defense held Jordan Love and the Packers’ offense to a 3-and-out on their first drive, rookie wide receiver Malik Washington lined up to receive the punt from Green Bay’s punter Daniel Whelan.
In the swirling winds of a cold Lambeau Field night, Washington couldn’t handle the kick and muffed the punt deep in Dolphins territory. The Packers would recover the fumble and just a few plays later, a Love touchdown pass to receiver Jayden Reed put Miami in a 7-0 hole before the engines on the team busses got cold.
The resulting loss felt inevitable from there.
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The Dolphins winning streak ended on Thanksgiving night against the Packers. The team couldn’t prove to the world that they belonged on the same field as an eventual playoff squad. Do you think major changes need to be made within the organization if they want to compete in meaningful football games moving forward? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter at @MBrave13. Fins up!
