The Miami Dolphins suffered their seventh consecutive loss, 26-11 against the Buffalo Bills. They fell to 1-7 on the season.
Even though Miami did lose their seventh game in a row, this is probably the best game that they played all season and there are some positive takeaways from their loss. Their defense finally stepped up after being brutal throughout the season. Their offense unfortunately didn't show up once again, but this is to be expected when you have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. There are certainly a lot of different ways the Dolphins can improve, but at least they competed against one of the best teams in the NFL.
Let's take a look at some takeaways from the week eight loss.
The 2020 defense is possibly coming back
The Dolphins had one of the best defenses in the NFL last season and they ranked fourth in the least amount of points allowed at only 21.1 points per game. This year they have given up the fourth-most in the NFL at 29.1.
Obviously, this doesn't make it seem like the defense is coming back to what it was in 2020 but cornerback Xavier Howard mentioned in his postgame media session that the defense was going back to coverages called last season for this game against the Bills. They held one of the best offenses in the NFL to only 26 points and they only allowed three in the first half. If they can continue playing defense like this they shouldn't struggle against anybody.
Tua Tagovailoa has to be better
In his first two games back from injury, Tua had two impressive games. He was certainly not the reason why the Dolphins lost back-to-back nail-biters the previous two weekends. This week against the Bills a lot of the blame can be made on Tua. He had his lowest completion rate of 53.8% and his lowest passer rating at 58.2.
There were plays to be made and Tua just wasn't hitting his targets. Tua was without a few receivers and some of the blame can even be put on the coaching staff for not targeting tight end Mike Gesicki enough. Gesicki is one of his favorite targets but against the Bills, he only had four targets. Tua needs to try to find him the ball more as he can go up and catch it with the best of them. In his defense, it is not all on him for Gesicki not getting the ball.
The offensive line is still one of, if not, the worst in the NFL
The offensive line is clearly one of the worst in the NFL and the Dolphins continue to show that every week. It certainly wasn't any help as two of the players on the offensive line were playing out of their position. One of them was the center, who played his second game with the team. They were also playing against one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. Unfortunately for the Dolphins even when they're going up against an average to below-average defensive line, their offensive line still looks awful. Tua was sacked two times and there were four tackles for losses. The offensive line also had some penalties that continuously set the offense back.
There is a reason why the Dolphins have so many skilled players but they struggle to score the football. It is clearly on the line. They need to make major changes to it next year or they won't have any success.
Miami is looking to capitalize as they will take on another 1-7 team in the Houston Texans. They travel to Houston in a game the Dolphins should win.
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