The Miami Dolphins lost their second consecutive game on Sunday, throwing away a late lead to lose 27-29 to the Los Angeles Chargers. The box score may show a close contest, but that was far from the case. Here are three reasons why the Dolphins lost to the Chargers.
1. Can’t Stop A Nosebleed
It’s becoming a weekly tradition: Miami’s defense letting practice-squad running backs look like prime Barry Sanders. Last week, Rico Dowdle of the Carolina Panthers tore the Dolphins up for 206 yards. This week, enter Kimani Vidal.
With starting running back Omarion Hampton ruled out, sophomore running back Kimani Vidal was given his first start of the season. Of course, he took his chance and ran (no pun intended). Vidal finished the game with 124 rushing yards on just 18 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. As a team, the Chargers pushed the Dolphins’ defense around all day long, racking up 140 rushing yards in total.
Mind you, this wasn’t a case of the Chargers simply padding the box score by holding a lead all game. The Dolphins actually held the lead at the end of the first and second quarter. But the Chargers just kept pounding the rock, and the Dolphins kept letting them do it.
It was an utterly weak and inept showing from Miami’s front-seven. When every opposing carry looks like a highlight reel, it’s hard to win in this league.
2. Tackling: Optional
If you thought Miami’s run defense was bad, their tackling was somehow worse.
While this has been a problem for the Dolphins all season, and it was certainly a problem on Sunday, one play stands out in particular.
With 0:34 left in the game, the Chargers faced 2nd-&-10 on their 41-yard-line, down 26-27. Just 20 yards away from field goal range, Miami’s defense needed to come up big.
As the play developed, two Dolphins defenders took a swipe at Justin Herbert, but were unable to bring him down. As Herbert fired a quick pass to wideout Ladd McConkey, a third Dolphins defender had an opportunity to make a tackle, and keep the Chargers pinned in their own territory with the clock running.
Count one, two, three missed tackles, and the Chargers were suddenly at Miami’s 18-yard-line, firmly in field goal range.
Herbert and McConkey did well to get the Chargers into field goal range, but the Dolphins’ defense handed them the opportunity on a silver platter. If you can’t bring down opposing players with three chances to do so, you don’t deserve to win football games.
3. McDaniel or Tua, Who To Blame?
Miami’s offense was bad on Sunday, but I’m not quite sure who is to blame.
On one hand, it was not quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s day on Sunday. His decision-making was off, and his pocket presence evaporated the moment the pocket collapsed. Tagovailoa threw three interceptions, and finished with a 54.8 passer rating (5th-worst in his NFL career).
On the other hand, head coach Mike McDaniel probably deserves his fair share of blame too. How many times are we going to call a screen on 3rd-and-short? Is running back Ollie Gordon ever going to get touches? Does the team have any plan for Malik Washington that doesn’t involve a jet sweep?
The blame-game between McDaniel and Tagovailoa is probably a story for another day, but one thing is clear—the Dolphins need more from their quarterback and head coach if they want to win football games. Against the Chargers, they just didn’t have that.
Next Week
Next week, the now 1-5 Dolphins travel up north to take on the 1-5 Cleveland Browns, who are coming off a 9-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rookie quarterback Dillion Gabriel was named the starter for the Browns last week, and he will look to grab his first NFL win against the Dolphins in Week 7.
What did you think of the Dolphins loss to the Chargers? Where does the team go from here? Let us know down below!
This article was written by Sumeet Jena, who can found on X at @flameosumeet.
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