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Dolphins Week 15 Power Rankings Roundup

The Miami Dolphins remained a consensus top 10 despite their second consecutive loss in California

The Miami Dolphins took a dip in the national power rankings, but remained a consensus top 10 team in our weekly survey of 10 national power rankings from national media outlets.

The biggest drop the Dolphins experienced after their second consecutive loss in a row, 23-17 against the Chargers, was three spots — from 8 to 11 by NFL.com.

In our survey of rankings of those 10 national outlets —CBS Sports, NFL.com, The Athletic, The Sporting News, The Ringer, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Yahoo, and Pro Football Talk — the Dolphins averaged a ranking of 8.7 among the 32 NFL teams, a tick down from their average of 7.4 after Week 13.

Here's the breakdown of the Dolphins' 10 power rankings spots, along with the commentary associated with it:

CBS Sports

Ranking: 9 Previous: 8

Analysis: They are on a two-game losing streak. The concern is the offense has struggled as it readies to play the Bills. 

NFL.com

Ranking: 11 Previous: 8

Analysis: Tua Tagovailoa is in an ill-timed funk. The Dolphins quarterback struggled mightily for the second consecutive game, a prime-time loss to the Chargers in which he was badly outplayed by fellow Class of 2020 alum Justin Herbert. Tagovailoa started with three completions in his first 17 attempts and continues to look out of sync with the rest of the Miami offense. The Dolphins are now 0-2 in December, and it won't get any easier, with a Week 15 matchup on tap in Buffalo. "I would say the defenses that we've played have been playing exactly what we've expected them to play," Tagovailoa said of the two-game slump. "It really just goes back to the details of how we play our offense, and we're not all dialed in with that."

The Athletic

Ranking: 8 Previous: 8

Analysis: Miami is in danger of dropping each of its back-to-back-to-back road games if it loses in Buffalo Saturday night. Sunday night’s loss to Justin Herbert and the Chargers was more lopsided than the 23-17 final score indicated, as Los Angeles outgained Miami 432-219 in yardage and held the ball for 39:38. The last time the Dolphins were so thoroughly outpaced … was when they beat the Bills at home in Week 3. Big week for Ken Dorsey coming up.

Pro Football Talk

Ranking: 9 Previous: 8

Analysis: 9. Dolphins (8-5; No. 8): The season is at a crossroads, at a time when the road is taking them straight into Buffalo.

Yahoo Sports

Ranking: 9 Previous: 8

Analysis: It's OK to say Tua Tagovailoa looked terrible on Sunday night and not have it be a referendum on his worth as an NFL player. Good players have bad games. But Sunday night was really bad. You won't see many competent quarterbacks with a stat line of 3-of-17 for 25 yards, like Tagovailoa had in third quarter. The person on the spot, maybe even more than Tagovailoa, is head coach Mike McDaniel. After a great start this season, McDaniel has to adjust to how the Dolphins are being defended the past two games.

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FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM.

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Sports Illustrated

Ranking: 8 Previous: 8

Analysis: As podcast cohost Gary Gramling nailed on The MMQB Podcast this week, what are the Dolphins offensively if they cannot get you to dramatically overreact to the backfield movements of Tyreek Hill? And what happens to the offense altogether if Hill cannot slice defenses open on a play-by-play basis?

ESPN

Ranking: 8 Previous: 6

Analysis: The Dolphins' defense has picked up since adding linebacker Bradley Chubb at the trade deadline, but Miami can't overcome below-average defensive play. The Dolphins' offense has not carried its weight over the past two weeks, coinciding with the team's two-game skid. A squad that had scored 30 points in four straight games has now failed to crack 20 in its past two. Meanwhile, the Fins are among the worst teams in the league at returning and defending returns. Miami lost its fastball over the past two games, but it can hang with, or beat, any team in the NFL if it regains that offensive punch.

The Ringer

Ranking: 8 Previous: 6

Analysis: Brandon Staley schemed up a Chargers defense that forced Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa into playing his worst game of the season on Sunday Night Football. Hell, Tagovailoa even looked better against San Francisco a week ago, against better defensive talent, than he did against Los Angeles. The Chargers secondary disrupted the timing of Miami’s route concepts with heavy doses of man and press coverages, and the two-high zone coverages Staley called in obvious passing situations forced Tagovailoa way out of his comfort zone. All of the success for head coach Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins’ elite cast of weapons is coming to a grinding halt because their quarterback isn’t handling the pressure and scheme adjustments made by opposing defensive coordinators.

The Sporting News

Ranking: 9 Previous: 8

Analysis: The Dolphins faced another tough challenge in California and didn't have the offense on the road again to take down the Chargers. They still look good for a wild card but now are shaky to win the AFC East unless they sweep the Bills in snowy Buffalo on Saturday.

USA Today

Ranking: 8 Previous: 6

Analysis: 8. Dolphins (6): Given WR Tyreek Hill's propensity for all manner of explosive touchdowns, probably wise to give him some snaps at safety and in the "kick six" spot when field goals are attempted ahead of Saturday night's crucial game at Buffalo.

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