Turnovers, penalties and one huge midgame swing led to Dolphins’ meltdown vs. Packers
The Miami Dolphins were 50 yards away from maybe burying the Green Bay Packers in the first half, already up by 10 and — after their defense forced a timely three-and-out — starting their march to perhaps go up by three scores at halftime. The two-minute warning came and went, and Tua Tagovailoa handed the ball to Raheem Mostert to start the two-minute drill. It was as simple a call as could be and yet it was the beginning of a nightmarish collapse for the Dolphins in one of their biggest games of the year.
Mostert started to the left, cut back to the right out to midfield. Mostert tried to muscle his way for a first down, but the Packers converged on him. Jarran Reed pried the ball away from the running back and Green Bay was back on the board with another field goal 1:48 later.
“Can’t turn the ball over,” Mostert said. “I’ve got to do my part to not contribute to that.”
It was the start of a brutal meltdown for Miami (8-7) at Hard Rock Stadium. The Packers (7-8) closed the game with 16 straight points to upset the Dolphins, 26-20, in Miami Gardens. Green Bay got the ball to start the second half and by the end of the Packers’ opening drive, the 20-10 lead the Dolphins had with just seconds left in the first half was gone, the score knotted 20-20 with 7:53 left in the third quarter.
Miami, after scoring 20 points in the opening 25:42 and piling up 271 yards in the first half, didn’t score in the second half and never even finished a drive inside Green Bay’s 30-yard line.
Starting with Mostert’s fumble, the Dolphins’ last five drives went, in order: fumble, missed field goal, interception, interception and interception.
The loss, potentially crippling to Miami’s postseason hopes, was frustrating to the Dolphins especially because of how close they felt they were to winning.
“I’m not saying that we’re better than the Packers, but I just feel like we could’ve won that game,” linebacker Bradley Chubb said. “It was an easily winnable game and everybody in this locker room felt that way.”
The self-inflicted mistakes, however, weren’t limited to just the final 32 minutes. Miami committed eight accepted penalties — tied for its third most of the regular season — and three first-half holding calls against offensive linemen stalling three promising drives.
Their first came with the Dolphins already at the Packers’ 39 and ultimately Miami had to punt from its own 44 after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa fumbled on second-and-12. The second didn’t hurt the Dolphins too much as they eventually got into the end zone, but the third came at Green Bay’s 20 and Miami had to settle for a field goal.
The Dolphins entered the week with just 10 offensive holding penalties all year — tied for the fewest in the NFL.
Altogether, the penalties probably cost Miami at least a few points in the first half.
“We pride ourselves on not having the negative plays, staying on schedule, not getting behind the chains,” Pro Bowl tackle Terron Armstead said. “We didn’t help ourselves.”
The 20-point first half wasn’t the issue, though. Just one touchdown in the second half may have been enough for the Dolphins to win and instead they had just 105 yards on 5 yards per play with three turnovers.
Those giveaways, all by Tagovailoa, were the final crushig blow. Tagovailoa’s first came with the score still tied 20-20, on the very next play after star quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw one in the end zone. One chance to go back ahead was wasted and the Packers instead kicked a field goal to go up 23-20.
His next came on the other side of midfield, right up against the edge of the red zone. First, an illegal formation at the 25 wiped out a 15-yard catch by star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, then Tagovailoa threw a pick on the next play, a miscommunication with Mostert, who took blame for the miscue..
“The route was supposed to be different,” he said. “That definitely was my fault. That’s not Tua’s fault at all.”
Still, Miami wasted another chance to potentially take the lead.
Once more, the Dolphins had a chance to win, though, after forcing another field goal with 2:06 left, but Tagovailoa misfired on an attempt for tight end Mike Gesicki and Green Bay cornerback Rasul Douglas sealed the win with a third straight interception.
“It was just terrible how everything ended,” said Tagovailoa, who also had two fumbles in the first half. “I told the guys, That’s on me. I will definitely get better from that.”
This story was originally published December 25, 2022 at 6:16 PM.
