Five takeaways as Dolphins collapse in second half and lose to Panthers
The Miami Dolphins had every chance to establish an identity up front on defense.
Rico Dowdle, the Carolina Panthers’ backup tailback, started the game, as did third-string right guard Brady Christensen.
Instead, the Panthers ran the Dolphins into the ground, winning the game 27-24 behind Dowdle’s 206-yard rushing performance that included the game-winning touchdown.
“I feel like everybody as a man can be better, individually,” edge rusher Bradley Chubb responded when asked about the lackluster run defense.
“We sit up every week talking about how we got to stop the run, stop the run, stop the run, and we make it an emphasis to stop the run,” Chubb continued. “We need to make it more of an emphasis.
The Panthers, as a whole, averaged 7.5 yards per carry en route to a 239-yard day.
“If you expose yourself and we can’t get it right during the game, they are going to continue to do the least risky thing,” coach Mike McDaniel said of the run defense woes, calling the disasterous performance “not how you win football games.”
At 1-4 and the season slowly slipping away from them, the Dolphins find themselves in a very compromising position for the rest of 2025.
“No one wants to start the season 1-4,” said Tua Tagovailoa, who completed 75% of his passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. “This feeling sucks. We got to figure this out.”
Defense continues to take the ball away
Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said Monday that when a defense gets one turnover, they continue to want more.
That’s essentially what happened when the Dolphins forced two turnovers on the Panthers’ opening drive. The first came when edge rusher Chubb burst through the offensive line and found himself face-to-face with quarterback Bryce Young, who quickly dropped the ball like a hot potato.
Two plays into the Panthers’ subsequent drive, Young fired a high pass to wide receiver Xavier Leggette who couldn’t haul in the catch. Instead, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick pick it off, giving the Dolphins the first interception of the 2025 season.
Complementary football at its finest
McDaniel’s main talking points is the need for complementary football.
The Dolphins got just that on Sunday, as both turnovers led to touchdowns.
Chubb’s strip sack led to a 14 play, 56-yard scoring drive courtesy of tailback De’Von Achane touchdown grab. Fitzpatrick’s interception resulted in a five-play drive that covered nearly half the field that Waller punctuated with a 4-yard touchdown grab.
The Dolphins took an early 17-0 lead before collapsing in the second half.
“We are a much better team than letting a 17-0 lead eviscerate,” McDaniel said. “We will be extremely focused on getting that stuff corrected immediately because we have no time to waste.”
Panthers take away run
One of the main strong points of the Dolphins offense was the run game.
Although their season production (392 yards) left much to be desired, they did have the eight-best per carry average with 4.7. That probably means the Dolphins should run the ball a little bit more right?
Wrong.
The Dolphins carried the ball 14 times for a measly 21 yards. While Achane had a team-high 10 carries, he only amassed. 16 yards. Rookie tailback Ollie Gordon II gain zero yards with his three carries. Tagovailoa had one rush for 5 yards.
“They just said ‘We’re going to stop your run with our front’ and they did,” McDaniel said. “They committed everybody else to the pass.”
Achane did add six catches for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Third down efficiency disappears
The Dolphins came into Sunday as the second-best third-down team in football.
Through four games, Miami converted roughly 48.9% of its third downs, behind only the Green Bay Packers (53.7%).
After starting the game 5 for 7, the Dolphins dropped six straight third downs, leading to a 38% third-down conversion percentage. The lack of conversions allowed the Panthers to get back into the game. “We were in a ton of third-and-longs because we got zero or no production on the run opportunities,” McDaniel said. That essentially allowed the defense to primarily play the pass on these third down opportunities. “If they know you’re going to pass every play, you probably won’t have production that way. We got no rhythm.”
Darren Waller and Jaylen Waddle pick up the slack
With Tyreek Hill out for the season, it was always a bit of mystery how the Miami Dolphins would make up for his production.
An answer may have revealed itself despite the loss: Waller and Waddle.
In his second game since retiring at the end of the 2023 season, Waller impressed with five grabs for 78 yards and a touchdown. All of Waller’s production came in the first half.
With the Dolphins down 19-16 in the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa found Waddle for a 46-yard touchdown to give the Dolphins the late-game lead.
“Just a sense of urgency,” Waddle said of his late touchdown. The fifth-year veteran led all receivers with 110 yards, six catches and a touchdown. “We had the ball two or three times and didn’t move it.”
Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as the Panthers would respond with an eight-play, 83-yard drive of their own that ended when quarterback Bryce Young found tight end Mitchell Evans for the 4-yard, game-winning touchdown.
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 4:55 PM.
