Dolphins lose to Giants: It’s a bad news, good news situation
So what is the point?
If the point is to win as Brian Flores and his coaching staff and players have repeated throughout the course of this season, then Sunday was a disaster.
Because the Dolphins just melted down in the second half overall, and the third quarter in particular, during this game against the New York Giants. Miami let a 10--7 halftime lead evaporate into a 36-20 loss.
And it was actually worse than that: The 36 points scored by the Giants was the most they ever scored in a game against the Dolphins during the series between the teams.
The Giants outscored the Dolphins 16-3 in the third quarter and then things continued downhill in the fourth because the Giants were already at the Miami 10 yard line to start the period and New York running back Saquon Barkley ran it in from 10 yards out to culminate an 8-play, 66-yard drive.
That painful third quarter included:
A fumble by Ryan Fitzpatrick.
A safety when Patrick Laird was tackled two yards deep in the end zone.
And the defense giving up two touchdowns -- on an Eli Manning TD pass and Barkley TD run.
The Giants held the football for 12:09 of the quarter.
This is the worst the Dolphins have looked in months. This was their worst game since back-to-back 17-point losses to Buffalo and Cleveland. The difference is this loss was to a Giants team that hadn’t won a game since September.
And in this game the Dolphins seemed mostly uninterested as well as overmatched.
I mean, there were moments ...
Nik Needham had an interception.
So did Vince Biegel.
But those moments of clarity were overshadowed by much more moments of total fog. Because the Dolphins managed no pass rush. And allowed a 100-yard rusher. And got torched in the secondary. And let Fitzpatrick take multiple hits even as he was releasing the football. And relied on a late TD pass (with 1:54 to play) from Fitzpatrick to DeVante Parker, to make the score seem closer than the game actually was.
And that brings me to this:
If you are part of Dolphins fandom that is fully invested in tanking, then today was a great day for you.
The Dolphins not only lost, they lost to a team that had an inferior record.
Remember the Giants came into the game with a 2-11 record. Their coach Pat Shurmur is on the hot seat. Manning may have played the final home game in his Giants career if starter Daniel Jones recovers from a high ankle sprain.
They’re a mess.
And the Dolphins out-messed them!
And now both teams have a 3-11 records. The Dolphins remain in fourth and behind the Giants in the projected draft order for the 2020 draft. But the Giants will play the Washington Redskins, another team ahead of the Dolphins in the order.
And both those teams cannot lose that game.
This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 4:16 PM.
