The sequence felt painfully on-brand for the 2025 Miami Dolphins. Driving with pace, carving up the middle of the field, and sitting on a fourth-and-1 at the Baltimore Ravens’ 12-yard line, head coach Mike McDaniel kept the offense out there. Then came the whistle. Right tackle Larry Borom flinched, the ball backed up, and Riley Patterson pushed the ensuing field goal wide right. From four points on the table to nothing, and a sideline camera catching McDaniel fuming.  

That single series told a larger story. Penalties and missed opportunities have undercut Miami all fall, and the first half against Baltimore checked the usual boxes. The Dolphins opened with a 49-yard Patterson field goal, only to watch Lamar Jackson answer with a short strike to Mark Andrews. Jackson later hit Andrews again to make it 14–3 early in the second. Miami steadied with another Patterson kick, but the damage, much of it self-inflicted, lingered. 

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The ESPN box score just before halftime reflected the theme. Jackson was crisp and selective, tossing two touchdowns on limited attempts, while Miami leaned on De’Von Achane to spark the ground game but couldn’t cash in when it counted. Patterson sat at 2-for-3 on field goals, his long from 49. Those are workable numbers that feel hollow when paired with a red-zone false start and a miss from short range. 

All of this arrives with McDaniel’s job status hovering over the broadcast. NFL Network reporting, aggregated by Bleacher Report, framed his future as “firmly up in the air” earlier in the day, the kind of backdrop that makes every fourth-down decision feel heavier and every special-teams mistake louder. If the Dolphins can’t clean up the details, the speculation won’t slow down. 

Miami still has time to flip the script. But Thursday’s first-half fiasco, aggressive intent undercut by avoidable errors, was a tidy snapshot of why the Dolphins are where they are. Until the penalties shrink and the kicks split the uprights, they’ll keep leaving points and wins out on the field.