The Miami Dolphins needed to beat the New England Patriots following their embarrassing Week One loss to the Indianapolis Colts if they wanted to avoid the dreaded 0-2 start with a trip to Buffalo on a short week to play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football looming.
There were no excuses. The Dolphins were at home, playing in the hot South Florida sun, against a second-year quarterback in Drake Maye who was playing in just his second game under a new head coach and offensive coordinator coming off of a seven-point loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week One. The Patriots were also without their defensive coordinator, Terrell Williams, who is taking time away from the team for medical reasons. Plus, New England was also missing their best defender — cornerback Christian Gonzalez — due to a lingering hamstring issue.
If the Dolphins fancied themselves a serious football team, they would have won.
The 2025 Miami Dolphins are supremely unserious.
Miami dropped their second game in a row to start the season — this time by a score of 33-27 to their AFC East foes.
With a date with the Bills as their next opportunity to right the ship, expect a Titanic level disaster on Thursday night, but we’ll worry about that in a few days. For now, let’s take a look back at the good, bad and ugly from Sunday’s defeat at the hands of the Patriots.
GOOD
Dolphins fight back after dreadful start to make Sunday’s game watchable
Miami went down early against the Colts in Week One, and never really punched back, as the team got boat-raced by a score of 33-8.
On Sunday against the Patriots, the Dolphins once again found themselves in an early hole — going down by a score of 12-0 before the offense could even run their sixth play.
This time, the team didn’t lay down and die. They fought back and took a late lead in the fourth quarter due to a Malik Washington punt return touchdown that put the team up by a score of 27-23. Unfortunately, the Dolphins couldn’t keep the Patriots from scoring the go-ahead touchdown on the ensuing kickoff, but at least we had excitement through four quarters this time.
Baby steps.
BAD
Dolphins defense is broken
Two weeks in a row, Miami’s opponent has scored 33 points. I know that seven of the 33 points scored by the Patriots on Sunday were allowed by the special teams unit, but it’s not like the defense was doing anything to stop Drake Maye and the New England offense all afternoon anyway.
Maye threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns while completing 19 of 23 passes (82.6%) on Sunday. He added 31 yards on the ground, plus a rushing score. As a team, New England ran for 122 yards on 29 carries, good for 4.2 yards per tote during the game.
Whenever the Dolphins needed a big play from their defense, none could be found, as New England imposed their will against Miami’s patchwork secondary throughout the entire contest. The Dolphins allowed 58.3% of the Patriots’ 3rd-down attempts to be converted — the worst mark in the entire National Football League for Week Two.
You’re not going to win many games giving up 33 points, and Miami has done that in consecutive clashes to open the year. Buffalo is on tap next, so don’t expect that points-per-game average to go down any time soon, unfortunately.
UGLY
Penalties and miscommunication derail Miami’s final attempt at winning on Sunday
The Dolphins had a chance to win Sunday’s game against the Patriots with two drives late in the game.
During both drives, Miami’s offense couldn’t put the ball in the endzone, with Tua Tagovailoa throwing an interception on their penultimate drive, while being sacked on fourth down during the game sealing final drive.
But before those plays could even happen, the Dolphins’ offense was up to their old and frustrating ways — committing bone-headed penalties that took big plays off the board, playcalls coming in late which didn’t allow for adjustments at the line of scrimmage, substitutions coming in late, plus poor offensive line play, especially from the right tackle fill-in, Larry Borom (two sacks allowed).
It is the fourth year of head coach Mike McDaniel’s tenure, and yet, procedural issues still remain. This is an issue that rests squarely on the shoulders of the head-man-in-charge, and it’s hard to see those things changing anytime soon with McDaniel still at the helm.
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The Dolphins’ 2025 season feels over before it has truly begun. Their 33-27 loss has placed them in an 0-2 hole with the Bills willing to dig that hole even deeper on Thursday night. Can the team somehow pull out a miracle in Western New York this week or will they continue to falter in Buffalo? If they fall to 0-3, is it time to let Mike McDaniel go? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter at @MBrave13. Fins up!
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