Dolphins Blow Huge Lead in Embarrassing Loss to Panthers

The Miami Dolphins lost in an embarrassing fashion, 27-24, to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The Dolphins now drop to 1-4 on the season after leading the Panthers 17-0 in the first quarter. 

Miami’s offense fell asleep in the second half, and the team’s defense was never really awake outside of being gifted a few turnovers early in the game. 

The Dolphins' already long-shot chance at making the postseason is likely done after Sunday's loss. Here’s everything you need to know from Miami's loss to Carolina.

Drive-By-Drive Recap

The Dolphins got off to an excellent start in this one. The offense took the opening drive 48 yards on 11 plays, but were forced to kick a field goal after Jonah Savaiinaea whiffed on a block leading to a sack. Riley Patterson remained perfect in Miami, making the score 3-0. 

Miami’s defense then got a gift as Bradley Chubb pressured Bryce Young on a rollout, causing him to fumble. Chubb scooped up the ball near midfield, and the Dolphins’ offense capitalized.

Led by Tua Tagovailoa and the passing game, Miami drove 14 plays and 58 yards to go up 10-0. Tua threw a beautiful back-shoulder ball to De’Von Achane in the corner of the end zone, who made an impressive concentration catch. 

The Dolphins’ offense was back on the field pretty quickly because Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted an errant Young pass just a few plays later. It was the Dolphins’ first INT of the season. 

It didn’t take Miami long to punch the ball into the end zone, either. Tua found Darren Waller in the back of the end zone on a perfectly placed ball between several defenders to extend the lead to 17-0. 

Carolina’s offense finally woke up on the next drive, driving 76 yards on 12 plays to make the score 17-7. Young made a few incredible throws on the drive, including the touchdown to Xavier Legette. 

The Dolphins went three and out, giving Carolina the ball back with enough to get points. The Panthers got an explosive run from Rico Dowdle and a few easy completions to Tet McMillan, allowing them to cut the lead to seven, 17-10, before the half. 

The Panthers came out of the half and got a 53-yard run by Dowdle to set them in the red zone, but a penalty, a missed open receiver, and a Jaelan Phillips sack forced them to kick a field goal, making it 17-13. 

Both teams traded three-and-outs on the ensuing drives. Miami’s was highlighted by a holding penalty on Cole Strange that wiped out a Jaylen Waddle first down. 

We’ll skip ahead a bit to the middle of the fourth quarter, as the team’s traded seven straight punts through the third quarter and start of the fourth. 

Carolina finally broke through after Dowdle generated another explosive play, and Miami committed a couple of penalties. Dowdle’s touchdown put the Panthers up 20-17 with 6:10 left in the game. 

The Dolphins responded on their next drive, finally waking up in the second half. Tua hit Waddle for a 46-yard touchdown pass off a play-action fake to make the score 24-20 with 4:42 left. 

The Panthers didn’t go down without a fight, as they drove right down the field and scored again to make it 27-24. Young converted a fourth and five to Jimmy Horn Jr., and hit Mitchell Evans for the TD with just less than two minutes left. 

Miami proceeded to go three and out after Tua missed a wide-open Waddle and took a bad sack on third down. The Dolphins had all three timeouts, but Jack Jones was called for pass interference on third down, sealing the game for Carolina. 

Offensive Recap 

Miami’s offense got off to a hot start, scoring 17 points on its first three drives. Basically, all of those yards came through the air. Tua Tagovailoa looked confident, accurate, and in rhythm early. 

He was feeding Waller and Waddle at all three levels of the field, as the Panthers got caught in man coverage on a few big long-and-late downs. Tua finished the game completing 27-of-36 passes for 256 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. 

Waller added 78 yards on five catches and caught his third touchdown in just two games. Waddle had six catches and 110 yards in his first game as Miami’s WR1 since Tyreek Hill’s injury. 

The real disappointment was the team’s running game. The offensive line wasn’t getting much push upfront, and Achane couldn’t create a ton of yards on his own. He finished the game with 16 rushing yards on 10 carries. 

After a breakout against Buffalo, it was another forgettable game for rookie RB Ollie Gordon II. He had three carries for -2 yards in this one. 

The Dolphins’ offensive line has struggled in recent weeks, and that continued for most of Sunday. Tua was sacked three times, but the real concern was in the running game. Carolina’s defensive line got the better of them throughout the game, which made Miami pretty one-dimensional on offense. 

That really limited Miami’s offense in the second half. Outside of Tua’s touchdown pass to Waddle, the Dolphins couldn’t get anything going on offense. That’s unacceptable against a Panthers’ defense that is hardly impressive. 

Defensive Recap

Like the offense, the defense started off hot. It created two turnovers on the Panthers’ first two drives, but Young basically handed them over. 

He was even hit on the fumble Chubb recovered, and Fitzpatrick’s interception was a pretty brutal throw. Still, though, turnovers are positive regardless of how they happen. 

Again, it was a struggle for the Dolphins to defend the run at times. Dowdle finished with 206 rushing yards on 23 carries. Miami’s defensive line and linebackers continue to struggle getting off blocks, but tackling was also an issue on Sunday. 

Dowdle runs hard, and he ran through a lot of half-hearted tackle attempts throughout the game. 

In the secondary, the Dolphins gave up a lot of easy access throws to McMillan and other players. That mostly just seems to be what the Dolphins want to be on the backend, though. 

They’re content to let teams eat up some of those easy yards, but again, poor tackling allowed the Panthers to maximize some of those touches. Young finished the game, completing 19 of 30 passes for 198 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. 

Ultimately, despite some stretches of success in the second half and a few turnovers, Miami’s defense might be one of the worst units in the sport. The run defense is non-existent, and the pass coverage is wildly inconsistent.