Examining the Mistakes that Cost the Dolphins in Week 8 ... And How to Fix Them

The Miami Dolphins gave themselves a chance to pull off an upset against the New England Patriots in Week 8, but ultimately came up short at Hard Rock Stadium.

Maybe the simplest explanation is that New England is a better team that rose to the occasion in the second half when the Dolphins failed to do so, with a dubious replay overturn clearly not helping matters, but Miami also did it to itself.

As young teams are prone to doing, the Dolphins hurt themselves with mistakes that had little to do with the Patriots.

They are the type of mistakes the team will have to eliminate to continue the progress they've already shown in the early stages of this massive rebuilding project.

HOW TO FIX THE DOLPHINS' COSTLY MISTAKES AGAINST NEW ENGLAND

The Ollie Gordon II Penalty

This is the one that stands out as the biggest self-inflicted wound because it was so unnecessary, and it turned a third-and-5 situation into a third-and-20 on the Dolphins' second drive of the third quarter after New England had scored to cut their lead to 13-3.

The Dolphins needed to at least get a first down or two to stop the Patriots momentum, but Gordon gave them no shot.

Gordon got an earful from quarterback Malik Willis on the sideline after the drive after head coach Jeff Hafley also talked to him, but beyond Gordon having to hear it from his teammates, this is one mistake with no easy fix beyond Gordon learning how to control his emotions.

And that's the tricky part, right? Because we want Dolphins players to play hard and with passion, but also control their emotions once they reach a certain point.

The fix here isn't benching Gordon because he's become so important to the offense with De'Von Achane on injured reserve.

Of course, if this happens a couple more times this season, then there'll be a major problem, but for now let's just hope he's learned his lesson.

The missed field goal

Look, missed field goals happen, it's just that Zane Gonzalez badly going wide left on a 43-yard attempt down 24-13 midway through the fourth quarter basically sealed the Dolphins' fate.

It's not like the Dolphins are operating with a great margin for error, so they basically need their kicker to be near-perfect — like Riley Patterson was in 2025 when he went 27-for-29.

Gonzalez missing (again, badly) on his third attempt during his second practice squad elevation should make the Dolphins think long and hard about devoting a roster spot to him after he's elevated for a third time next Sunday against Detroit.

Chris Johnson's missed sack

Sure, Drake Maye deserves maybe a small degree of credit for shaking off Johnson's tackle attempt when he came in free from the blind side on a fourth-down blitz, but that was way more about Johnson and what he did wrong.

The day after the game, why Johnson dove at Maye's legs instead of running through his back remains a mystery. Even more so because Johnson has been a good tackler — maybe ever a great tackler for a cornerback — so far in his rookie season.

Maybe he got too excited about the possibility of a big play, maybe he was going too fast and lost some body control. Regardless, this is a teaching moment for the Dolphins' defensive coaches because, again, it's not like Johnson isn't physical or a good tackler.

Jaylen Wright's kickoff snafu

The Dolphins should have started their drive after New England took the lead at 17-13 at their own 40, but instead began at their 12 after Jaylen Wright fielded the kickoff near the sideline and Julius Wood was flagged for holding.

All Wright had to do was put himself out of bounds before touching the ball — it wasn't difficult — and that would have resulted in a penalty on the Patriots.

Yes, that drive ended with the Malik Willis interception off the helmet of a Patriots defensive lineman, but the yardage difference off the kickoff based on the same sequence of events would have given them the ball after the pick at their own 19-yard line instead of their 47. Maybe they call plays differently from back there and don't score the touchdown that made it 24-13.

In any event, this should be Kick Returning 101 and we've seen player after player in the NFL do that move and invariably earn praise from TV analysts for their great awareness.

Here's the thing, though: This is something special teams coordinator Chris Tabor already should have drilled into every one of his kickoff returners, whether it be Wright, Malik Washington or anybody else who's gotten practice reps back there.

And now he should remind his returners before every kickoff about the rule.

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