Breaking Down the Goal-Line Failure

The Miami Dolphins came up short on three tries from the Green Bay 1-yard line to end their comeback attempt

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is sacked by Green Bay Packers defensive end Lukas Van Ness (90) during their football game Thursday, November 28, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. / Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mike McDaniel called it a microcosm of his Miami Dolphins' performance in their 30-17 loss against the Green Bay Packers, though the team's failure to score on three tries from the 1-yard line maybe was more representative of the team's shortcomings.

The sequence was key is stopping a comeback attempt that had the potential to produce a season-altering, maybe franchise-altering victory on Thanksgiving night.

Instead, it was more of the same for the Dolphins, who tried the finesse approach to navigate that elusive 1 yard when they were trailing 27-11 early in the fourth quarter.

At the risk of being that guy, teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers — to name three — would have pounded the rock all the way and more than likely gotten into the end zone.

But, in case it weren't already obvious, the Dolphins aren't built that way.

They don't have a QB who squats 600 pounds like Jalen Hurts to do the tush push, nor do they have the Philadelphia Eagles offensive line.

The don't have a 235-pound QB like Josh Allen who can just bulldoze his way into the end zone.

They also don't have a huge running back like Derrick Henry to plow into the line.

No, the Dophins offense is built around speed and finesse, and this has some major downfalls at key times.

We can't help but ask, though, where was Raheem Mostert during this sequence or so many goal-to-go situations this season.

Yes, we get the fumbling issues he's had this season ... well, two lost fumbles ... but have we forgotten he scored 18 rushing touchdowns in 2023? Or that 12 of those rushing touchdowns were for 5 yards or less?

This is nothing against De'Von Achane, who has been one of the key contributors on offense, but Mostert is a bigger back and more physical, so maybe it makes sense to go to him in those situations.

Just saying.

BREAKING DOWN THE GOAL-LINE MESS

We also should not this was the second goal-to-go situations where the Dolphins failed to score a touchdown becuase they had to settle for a field goal in the first half after getting a first down at the 9-yard line.

That one opportunity basically ended when the Packers sniffed out an end-around and dropped Achane for a 6-yard loss to the 15.

The second — and more costly one — also began at the 9-yard line, but this time it began with an 8-yard by Achane. It was followed by Achane stuffed for no gain, Tua throwing an incompletion under pressure on third down and Tua sacked on fourth down.

Mike McDaniel ran through the sequence in a Zoom media session Friday morning.

“I thought there was an opportunity for us to score from the 9, great effort but a minor execution fault on the perimeter got us to the 1.

"The next play, we had a critical assignment mistake that got us kind of stuffed at the 1, then we had a bootleg, which we just needed an extra tick to layer the ball out there a little bit further. That was a huge opportunity to score and defense did a good job on the edge to kind of layer the ball and then I thought the defender got to Jonnu (Smith), it was a bang-bang. You hope for a call there, but it’s 50-50 when those happen, it’s just one of those football things.

"The fourth-down call was what I was eluding to last night, I was disappointed in just because this is the way I kind of look at fourth down; sometimes going for it on fourth down you’re successful, sometimes you’re not. I can’t really hang my hat on the result, but what’s important to me is in those situations that I give the players an opportunity to make a play in that moment of truth. In that situation, the defensive presentation was a little difficult for the play. I put Alec Ingold in a really tough spot who got caught up in foot traffic, and with the pocket kind of compressed at the point of attack, there wasn’t really a play to be made. So those are the ones that for me I don’t view as acceptable, I expect better in those situations. I think just going through that, that’s kind of the microcosm for the game where everybody played a part in something and executing football in a way that we hadn’t in the past month offensively and as a result, we came up short.”

This is what a review of the game showed, from this vantage point.

It's unclear who might have missed an assignment on the second-down run, though right tackle Kendall Lamm, who McDaniel said was battling through back and elbow issues in the second half, failed to block Rashan Gary, who made the tackle on Achane.

On the third-down incompletion, McDaniel absolutely is right about there being contact prior to the ball getting to Jonnu Smith in the flat. It was a play that often will draw a flag, but the Dolphins didn't get the call that time.

On fourth down, as McDaniel pointed out, the pocket collapsed way too quickly for anything positive to happen, and Ingold got tangled up as he was trying to leak out of the pocket, though the replay showed there was somebody there ready to cover him.

Likewise, Achane also got caught up in traffic after the fake handoff and never had time to make himself an option for Tagovailoa. It also was pretty clear the Packers didn't buy the idea of a straight handoff for a millisecond.

In any event, the sequence pretty much ended any hope of a Dolphins comeback and just raised more questions as to whether they can grind out the tough yardage when it's required. And we all know it's going to be required again.