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While Tua Tagovailoa tried to stoke the dimming playoff embers, teammate Calais Campbell took a few well-aimed shots at the Miami Dolphins’ defense. And here are the Dolphins most to blame for the Week 13 Thanksgiving disaster versus the Packers.
Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes to Jayden Reed in a 30-17 not-as-close-as-the-final-score-indicated win over the Dolphins. Miami fell to 5-7 on the season and its playoff hopes dwindled even further.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel has soft team
Soft coach, soft team? It sure looks that way for the Dolphins. Watching the way their defense melted in the cold air against the Packers is either a coaching failure or a roster-design issue. Either way, McDaniel doesn’t get a free pass for having a team that simply doesn’t play tough football.
Even the players took notice. Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks the team played like the temperature held the deciding factor, according to espn.com.
“I thought we were soft,” Brooks said after the game. “Simple as that, I thought we were soft today. I don't know if guys was too cold, (and) I don't know what it was. I feel like the elements played a part in how we played as a group, and that was the result that we got.”
Campbell also weighed in on the subject.
“That's the game right there, man,” Campbell said. “Twenty missed tackles. It's hard to win. I think it was one of those days where what could go wrong, went wrong. I don't ever want to make excuses, but I felt like today, the ball bounced their way and they made the plays to win the ball game. When we had our opportunities to make tackles in critical spaces, we have to find a way.”
McDaniel tried to coach-speak the team into playoff relevance, but that doesn’t work at this time of the year.
“You hyperfocus on the next thing and you take it one game at a time,” McDaniel said. “Just like we did when we were 2-6. I told them, 5-7 pales in comparison to 2-6. We positioned ourselves to be in a situation where we could withstand a one-game setback and still get things done. … It just gets really frustrating when you know you're capable of winning a game and you can point to yourself as to why you lost it.
“Eventually you have to overcome it, if you're trying to do anything in this league. I think our guys will look forward to executing in the cold weather at the next opportunity; I think they know they can, so they need to and they want to.”
The Packers players trolled the struggling McDaniel and the Dolphins, according to a post on X by Cameron Wolfe.
“Packers RB Josh Jacobs on Dolphins: ‘Them boys looked cold out there.’ ”
Packers safety Zavier McKinney said it’s different in South Beach than in Wisconsin, according to nfl.com.
“Obviously, they're coming from Miami, it's hot there,” McKinney said. “And then when you come here and play in that cold weather, you get affected by it. So I think it affected everybody on that team.”
McDaniel weakly tried to counter.
“We weren't failing to snap the ball before a delay of game or false-starting because of the cold,” he said. “I think the tape will show that, when we watch the tape. But like anything else, eventually you have to overcome it if you're trying to do anything in this league.”
The only solutions are: get a tougher coach, or tougher players.
Dolphins offensive line failed
It’s more evidence of a soft team, but the Dolphins didn’t try very hard to run the football. Yes, game script played into it. But 14 carries for 39 yards won’t win many games in the NFL. And even when the Dolphins did run, De’Von Achane had little to no chance.
Miami jumped ahead early, 14-0 in the first quarter. The Dolphins eventually stretched their lead to 27-3 in the third quarter. By then, running the ball turned useless.
Left tackle Terron Armstead said mistakes hurt in every way, according to miamiherald.com.
“Turnovers, miscommunication, operation (issues), false starts,” left tackle Terron Armstead said. “We put ourselves in a hole against a team that thrives with a lead.”
Tua Tagovailoa can't provide answers
Tagovailoa couldn't find a reason for the slow start, according to espn.com.
“I would say, from my standpoint and our team’s standpoint, we’re not going to use any of that as an excuse for why we didn’t get the start that we wanted,” said Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Looking at Tua’s numbers, it may seem he did a good job. He connected on 37 of 46 for 365 yards with two touchdowns. But he couldn’t escape the Packers’ pressure, suffering five sacks. A lot of that came from the weak offensive line. But part of it rested on Tagovailoa’s shoulders as he couldn’t make quick decisions and held the ball too long.
Despite all of the negativity surrounding the Dolphins’ performance, Campbell said the team play until the end.
“We fought hard,” Campbell said. “We have no quit in us. I really genuinely believed we were going to give ourselves a chance to win at the end.”
However, McDaniel acknowledged how the loss looked.
“The naysayers, you proven them right, they’ll be louder,” said McDaniel.
It doesn’t help matters that the Dolphins are 1-14 against teams with winning records in McDaniel’s three seasons. That’s awful.
