All Dolphins

Upon Further Review: More Takeaways From Dolphins Loss vs. Browns

It was another rough week of tape for the Miami Dolphins.
Dante Collinelli|
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) runs with the ball as Cleveland Browns defensive end Alex Wright (91) defends during the first half at Huntington Bank Field.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) runs with the ball as Cleveland Browns defensive end Alex Wright (91) defends during the first half at Huntington Bank Field. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Somehow, the Miami Dolphins found a new low in their 31-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns Sunday. Miami is now 1-6, and the wheels have completely fallen off this season. 

Unsurprisingly, the film is just as ugly as the score would indicate. The Dolphins have all the same problems they’ve had all season, and some of the areas they were at least OK in are taking a step back. 

Let’s look at the tape to see just how bad things got. 

Tua’s Regression Continues

Tua Tagovailoa was benched midway through the fourth quarter against Cleveland, and it’s not hard to see why after watching the tape. 

As always, there are a myriad of reasons for a QB to play poorly. Tua’s offensive line, receivers, and play-caller didn’t have a good day, either, but he certainly deserves a good chunk of the blame, especially in the second half. 

Tua’s first half was normal for his play this season. He didn’t do anything special, but he avoided critical mistakes and took what the defense gave him. Malik Washington’s third-down drop in the red zone hurt, and Tyson Campbell broke up a well-thrown pass in the corner of the end zone for Jaylen Waddle. 

If those plays were made, perhaps things turn out differently. However, Tua let those miscues spiral into a brutal second half that started with this interception. 

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: This is poor ball placement. The pass is high, forcing Achane — a running back — to reach over his head. Could he have caught it? Sure, but this is the difference between accuracy and placement. 

The other issue is how quickly Tua makes this decision. He barely glances at the defenders in the slot and outside. This spot concept has Waddle running a sit route in the middle to complement Achane’s flat. 

Would the slot defender have fired down to the slot if Tua didn’t declare to the flat so quickly? Probably not, but we’ve also seen Tua manipulate defenders with his eyes before, and he didn’t here. 

This INT is a bit more excusable in the sense that I don’t think any outcome on this play would work out. The Dolphins are backed up into their own end zone, and the Browns show four rushers pre-snap. 

Watch Grant Delpit, who’s playing linebacker at the bottom of the screen. He’s not even threatening a blitz, and as such, the Dolphins don’t account for him in the protection. Well, he ends up coming and gets a free run. 

Instead of taking a safety, Tua puts the ball in play, but it went right to a Browns defender anyway. You could argue that Tua could have felt Delpit sooner, and that would be fair. 

Of the three interceptions, this is by far the most concerning one. There is no logical explanation for this play other than it being a horrid throw. 

The Browns are in Cover-3, and the Dolphins have an out and a seam to the top of the screen. Attempting to throw a seam ball against a defense with a MOF safety is just not ideal, especially for a QB with Tua’s arm. 

This throw is just a straight-up duck. It floats on him, and it’s an easy interception. 

Lack of Run Game Commitment 

This has been a constant issue throughout Mike McDaniel’s era, and it reared its head again Sunday. Achane had seven carries for 80 yards in the first half, and I’m sure some will be quick to bring up this explosive. 

Jonah Savaiinaea’s block wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done to spring Achane for 46 of his 80 first-half yards. However, it’s not like Achane was getting stuffed on his other carries. His other six carries: 4, 4, 2, -3, 23, 4. 

In a weather game, when it’s raining, and you have a QB who can’t overcome the elements, 4 yards is fine — that’s the type of game you’re in. 

Cleveland understood this. The Browns ran the ball 33 times at 3.3 yards per carry, held the ball for most of the game (while it was close), and didn’t ask their weak-armed QB to carry the load offensively. 

Achane received just six carries in the second half, and they went for just 2 yards. That’s obviously bad, and Miami’s run blocking wasn’t great. I mean, watch Cole Strange get sent into next week here. 

But that’s how running the ball goes. You’ll have stretches where you don’t pick up a ton of yards, but abandoning it isn’t the solution either. Again, Miami ran the ball well enough in the first half. 

So why is the first play-call out of the half a throw to the flat at Achane instead of turning around and handing him the ball? It’s a massive misunderstanding of the type of game you’re playing in. 

We did get to see Ollie Gordon get some run, and he had a well-blocked carry off of left tackle, courtesy of Patrick Paul and Julian Hill. 

Gordon had four carries for 12 yards, which is nothing special, but it’s hardly a good sample size. Heck, his success rate on those four carries was 50%, according to PFF. 

Yes, the Dolphins fell behind in this game, but that was a direct result of a pass-happy first half, followed by more passing game mistakes in the second half. 

The Dolphins’ game plan didn’t understand the assignment on Sunday — Cleveland’s did. 

Dolphins’ Run Defense Showed Up 

On the flip side of the run game coin, I do think Miami’s run defense deserves a lot of credit for how it showed up. 

The Browns’ decision to run the ball despite middling success was absolutely correct, but Miami’s defense also kept the middling offense in the game. It had nine tackles for loss against Cleveland, by far the most of the season. 

The video below shows all nine of the Dolphins’ tackles for loss. Not all of them are against the run, but a good chunk are. 

There’s a bunch of noteworthy things in the clips below, but the main one was how much better the defense looks. Players like Jordan Phillips, Kenneth Grant, and Zach Sieler held their ground a lot better and made some plays in the backfield. 

Obviously, it wasn’t perfect. Quinshon Judkins had a 46-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and he scored three touchdowns. 

But in the spirit of pulling at least one positive note from the Dolphins’ film, this was an improvement for the run defense — something Miami needed desperately. Miami’s rushing defense success rate was 76.7%. 

The Dolphins will take that just about any week. 

More Miami Dolphins Coverage

Published
Dante Collinelli
DANTE COLLINELLI

Dante currently serves as the deputy editor of Dolphins on SI, where he’s been contributing since 2022. He began his career covering the NFL Draft for Blue Chip Scouting and spent four years covering the Temple University Football team. For the past three years, Dante served as the Deputy Editor for The 33rd Team, working with former players, coaches, and general managers, while building a team of NFL writers.

Home/News