Everything to Know from Dolphins' Blowout Loss vs. Ravens

The Miami Dolphins — coming off their best game of the year — got blown out at home on national TV, 28-6, against the Baltimore Ravens Thursday. 

Miami is now 2-7 on the season, and can’t get out of its own way at all this season. The Dolphins had plenty of chances to take a commanding lead in the first half, but a comedy of errors cascaded into a second-half dud and another brutal loss. 

Here’s everything you need to know. 

Drive-By-Drive Recap

The Dolphins’ offense was humming on its first drive, but a questionable third-and-six play-call led to the team settling for a field goal to go up 3-0 after a five-play, 26-yard drive. 

Miami’s defense forced a punt, but it was downed inside the Dolphins’ five. Malik Washington then fumbled on third down, giving Baltimore the ball inside the Dolphins’ 10, and the Ravens capitalized on the short field. 

Lamar Jackson found Mark Andrews on fourth down off a bootleg concept after the Dolphins’ defense stuffed them a few times. Baltimore went up 7-3 before Miami drove down the field again before shooting themselves in the foot. 

On fourth and one, right tackle Larry Borom was called for a false start. Miami decided to kick a 35-yard field goal instead, and Riley Patterson missed it. The Dolphins’ 10-play, 57-yard drive resulting in no points was a killer. 

Making matters worse, the Ravens scored on the ensuing possession, as Jackson found Andrews again to complete a seven-play, 75-yard drive and make the score 14-3. 

The Dolphins’ next drive was yet another killer. A deep completion to Jaylen Waddle was called back due to a phantom tripping call on second down, and then Tanner Conner forgot where he was on the sideline, leading to an incompletion that would’ve converted second and 16. 

Miami punted but got the ball right back in Baltimore territory after another stop by the defense and a great punt return from Malik Washington. Again, though, Miami couldn’t put the ball in the end zone and had to settle for three to make it 14-6. 

The Dolphins’ defense then forced another punt, continuing its mostly excellent play. Miami, again, drove deep into Baltimore territory, but a fourth-down pass to Achane fell incomplete. That resulted in another 10-play drive, which ended in zero points (67 yards) and zero points scored.

After some more unserious behavior on the Dolphins’ final drive of the half, the Ravens went into the half up 14-3. 

Baltimore got the ball out of the half and went right down the field for a touchdown. Jackson got his third TD pass of the night, hitting Charlie Kolar this time to make the score 21-6 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. 

Miami went three and out on its following possession deep in its own territory, giving the Ravens the ball at midfield. Baltimore punched in another TD through the air, as it only took Jackson and company four plays to go 60 yards to make the score 28-6.

Neither team scored for the rest of the game, so we’ll spare you the details. However, Malik Washington fumbled away Miami’s only other scoring chance in the fourth quarter. 

Offensive Recap 

The Dolphins’ offense looked like a juggernaut in the first half if you ignore the fact that the offense’s goal is to put the ball in the end zone. 

Miami had almost 200 yards of offense, while averaging a whopping 6.8 yards per play. However, they scored just six points after multiple red zone trips failed due to poor play-calling, penalties, and execution miscues. 

In the passing game, Tua’s numbers don’t look great. He finished the day completing 25 of 40 passes for 261 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception. Tua was hardly the team’s biggest issue, but he certainly wasn’t solving many problems, either. 

The Dolphins’ running game looked excellent early in the game. McDaniel was drawing up some creative, diverse run calls from different personnel groupings, but as the Dolphins failed to execute in the red zone, they fell behind by multiple scores. 

Achane finished with 67 yards, and Ollie Gordon II finished with six yards. He left the game with an ankle injury and did not return. 

Waddle had another productive game, especially considering he didn’t have that many catches for most of the game. He finished with six catches and 82 yards. 

One of the few bright spots was tight end Greg Dulcich, who had five catches and 49 yards in his second game as a practice squad call-up. Dulcich really should push for a 53-man roster spot, especially with Darren Waller on IR. 

Overall, the Dolphins’ dreadful execution in the red zone during the first half and brutal overall second-half performance sank what looked like a promising performance and solid game plan. 

Defensive Recap 

Miami’s defense deserves a ton of credit for keeping the team in the game during the first half. Baltimore’s first touchdown came after getting the ball inside the Dolphins’ 10, so the Dolphins really only allowed one good drive from Baltimore.  

Jackson’s numbers are incredibly gaudy, though, as he took a lot of easy completions before abusing play-action passing in the second half. He finished the game completing 18 of 24 passes for 204 yards and four touchdowns. 

Miami stacked the box all game to stop Derrick Henry, so it’s not too surprising that play-action passing was effective. To the Dolphins’ credit, Henry finished the game with just 119 yards — most of which came when the game was out of reach — on 19 carries.

Tyrel Dodson and Jordan Brooks had some strong plays around the line of scrimmage to help limit Henry. Rasul Douglas had an excellent run stop and made a few plays in coverage. He also left the game with an injury (toe) and didn’t return. 

Overall, Miami’s defense allowed 338 total yards, while Baltimore averaged six yards per play. The defense just looks like a unit that has to make too many concessions. 

It can’t stop the run without stacking the box, leaving it vulnerable to play-action passing. If it doesn’t sell out to stop the run, it’ll get beaten up in the middle like it did against Buffalo and Carolina. 

That’s a hard place to be, but the defense was the less problematic unit Thursday.