Cote: Miami Dolphins, with no margin for error, give away win with mistakes in loss at Indy | Opinion
The Miami Dolphins gave away a victory in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon.
What this team has become with Tua Tagovailoa on the sideline is one with very little margin of error. And this time, too many of those errors proved to much to overcome. Good teams overcome those. This Miami team cannot.
So a sad Dolphins team flies home 2-4 after a 16-10 loss to the Colts -- after a victory squandered.
“it was frustrating, this game,” admitted coach Mike McDaniel. “I’m frustrated because you think you emphasize things correctly. You think you have certain things fixed and they’re not. That starts with me.”
Costly gifts given:
Raheem Mostert loses a fumble in Miami territory that leads directly to a Colts touchdown.
Fill-in quarterback Tyler Huntley injures a shoulder on a run and is knocked from the game, with Tim Boyle deployed.
Alec Ingold loses a fumble at the Colts’ 14, erasing a great chance for the go-ahead TD.
A Jason Sanders field goal try to tie the game boinks off the left upright no good.
Miami tricked out of a timeout needed late when Indy faked going for it on 4th-and-goal.
The usual penalties, this time six for 50 yards, further tax a team that needs breaks, not hurdles.
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are targeted only four times and catches a combined two balls for 19 yards -- egregious under-utilization even vs. a Colts secondary that was playing all-but-Hail Mary depth to taker way the deep pass.
“I have to find a way to get them involved,” said McDaniel in an understatement-of-the-year candidate.
Too, too many mistakes by a team that can no longer afford them because it no longer has the robust offense seen last year when Tagovailoa was healthy.
Said Mostert afterward: “Everybody has to look themselves in the mirror and grow and be a contributor to our success and not our failure.”
The two lost fumbles were especially costly.
“Raheem, he has [only] his fourth fumble out of more than 400 touches. The timing of it was rough,” said McDaniel. “Alec Ingold, a captain, a playmaker for us. That was unfortunate in that situation. They know they can’t do that. They can’t do that. Collectively as a team we just have to play smarter football.”
The Dolphins led by 10-3 at halftime in a game that was at that juncture the excitement antithesis of Saturday’s wild Hurricanes shootout win in Louisville.
Miami led 7-0 on Huntley’s first touchdown pass as a Dolphin, 10 yards to tight end Jonnu Smith.
It was then a swap of field goals in a game shaped by defense and the Fins’ run-first strategy. Zach Sieler’s fumble recovery deep in Dolphins territory was a key defensive play for the Fins.
The second half was all Indy, all Fins mistakes.
The shame in the result is that Miami again ran well -- 188 yards on 40 carries. That should be enough to help disguise a missing starting QB.
Tagovailoa, out with a concussion, is set to return to practice this week with an eye on playing next Sunday at home vs. Arizona. I would expect that. The Dolphins desperately need that.
Though Sunday’s loss in a very winnable game hurts, there is hope for the Fins. After Indy, four of the next five opponents (all but Buffalo) entered this weekend a combined 6-17, with three of those four games at home.
If Tagovailoa comes back very soon, there still is hope for this season.
With Sunday’s unfortunate loss, that hope is tougher to find.
This story was originally published October 20, 2024 at 4:37 PM.
