McDaniel Shares Fans’ Frustrations After Dolphins’ Loss to Ravens

The Miami Dolphins’ return home Thursday night quickly turned sour. Despite playing at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami faced as much noise from Baltimore Ravens fans as from its own supporters — and eventually boos from the crowd as a 28-6 loss dropped the Dolphins to 2–7.

Ravens fans packed the stadium and even affected play early. A first-quarter false start by right tackle Larry Borom on fourth-and-1 derailed a promising drive after he appeared to flinch at Baltimore linebacker Kyle Van Noy’s movement. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa admitted the noise contributed to the miscue. “With the Ravens fans, it maybe got a little muffled with my cadence and the crowd noise,” Tagovailoa said. “We talked about it on the sideline after and got that corrected.”

The penalty backed up Miami into a missed 35-yard field goal by Riley Patterson, prompting a visibly frustrated reaction from head coach Mike McDaniel. After the game, McDaniel clarified that his anger wasn’t directed at officials or the opposition but at his team’s own lapses. “That was at self-inflicted wounds,” McDaniel said. “In a critical fourth-and-1, that’s flat out a controllable that our team knows keeps you from winning. So [I was] irate at nothing but ourselves.”

Boos, Paper Bags, and a Disjointed Offense

By the third quarter, the frustration in the stands matched McDaniel’s on the sideline. With Miami trailing by three scores, fans streamed toward the exits — and those who stayed made their feelings known. Some booed. Others wore paper bags or even popcorn buckets over their heads.

McDaniel didn’t take offense. Instead, he said he understood their frustration. “Yeah, it sucks. That sucks. All of that does,” McDaniel said. “But it’s a pretty consistent formula — fans enjoy winning. Our expectation is that we have to do the work and do the right things for fans to enjoy the experience. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that tonight, so we’ve got to get back to work to give them something to cheer about.”

The Dolphins’ issues were evident everywhere. They turned the ball over three times, converted just 2-of-12 third downs, and failed to score on any of their three red-zone trips. After leading the Ravens in total yards (226–109) and time of possession in the first half, Miami still trailed 14–6 — a stat McDaniel later called “a bad omen.”

Offensive Stagnation and Missed Opportunities

Tagovailoa, coming off a four-touchdown performance against Atlanta in Week 8, struggled to find rhythm against a Ravens defense that entered the night ranked in the bottom third of the league. “We couldn’t find our flow,” Tagovailoa said.

Baltimore outgained Miami 166–39 in the third quarter alone, turning a competitive game into a rout. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks summarized the team’s struggles bluntly: “We’ve got to capitalize when we get down to the red zone. We just had too many turnovers today, and that really hurt us. Until we learn how to not beat ourselves, we won’t win a football game.”

The Dolphins now have 10 days to regroup before hosting the Buffalo Bills in Week 10 — a much-needed break for a team searching for answers, identity, and something positive to offer its increasingly restless fan base.

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