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Upon Further Review: More Takeaways from Dolphins Week 15 Loss vs. Steelers

The Miami Dolphins didn't execute on either side of the ball against Pittsburgh.
Dante Collinelli|
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is sacked by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson (41) and linebacker Alex Highsmith (56) in the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is sacked by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson (41) and linebacker Alex Highsmith (56) in the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins were officially eliminated from playoff contention with their 28-15 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers Monday night. 

It was a game in which Miami had every chance to rewrite the book on the Mike McDaniel era — it was a cold-weather game against a good team in prime time. 

Well, the Dolphins didn’t dispel a single narrative. Instead, this game looked like every big-game loss we’ve seen in the last four years. The offense got too pass-heavy and was a relative no-show, while the defense couldn’t tackle and committed bad penalties. 

We’ll aim to answer two questions: What went wrong in the passing game? And why did Miami’s defense suddenly fall off? 

What in the World was With the Dolphins’ Passing Game? 

Miami’s passing game got off to anemic start. Through three quarters, Tua Tagovailoa was 6 of 10 for 66 yards with zero touchdowns and an interception. He had also taken two sacks on third down. 

The Dolphins having just 10 pass attempts through three quarters could have been a sign of a strong running game, but it wasn’t. It was a sign of an offense that couldn’t stay on the field. 

Tua’s interception was broken down well on the broadcast, but it’s important because it involves failures across the board. 

Pittsburgh runs inverted Cover-2 at the top of the screen, with the cornerback and safety switching roles. Tua sees that and assumes that’s what's happening on the other side, so he throws the corner route, thinking the corner wouldn’t be underneath. 

Tua not checking his work post-snap has been a problem for years, and that’s his fault. However, this is an ugly route concept. Outside of Waddle’s corner route, there’s just a curl/hook by Malik Washington at the top of the screen. 

I understand it’s a hard play-action fake to sell the run, and you don’t want too many receivers releasing into the concept, but to have nobody release into the flat is so strange. Is Julian Hill supposed to after his man stops rushing? I’m not sure.

Tua’s throw and read is terrible, but this play was dead on arrival into his headset. 

We did a whole story about why Tua’s effort to protect himself puts the Dolphins in a tough spot. There were quotes from Tua and McDaniel about how he learned his lesson relative to sliding short. 

Oops! He did it again. 

Setting the early slide aside for a second, Tua’s first read is open on this play, and he chooses not to throw the ball for some reason. Washington’s pre-snap motion reveals man coverage, and Darren Waller is running an out-breaking route on a cornerback with inside leverage. 

Tua hits the top of his drop, and Waller is clearly breaking into open space. If he throws this toward the sideline, it’s probably a first down. Reads don’t get much cleaner than that at the NFL level. 

This sack kept momentum with Pittsburgh, and it’s a failure in pass protection for sure. The Steelers show like they’re blitzing Patrick Queen from Tua’s left, but he drops out, and they bring a delayed blitz with Payton Wilson and Jalen Ramsey from the other side. 

The frustrating part for Miami is that it has enough blockers to pick this up. Alec Ingold and Cole Strange both end up blocking Wilson, allowing Ramsey to go through untouched. By the time Ingold peels off Wilson, it’s too late. 

To be fair, it looks like the line slides left because of Queen standing up in the gap. Everyone goes that way, and Ingold takes the most immediate threat to the QB: Wilson. 

The Steelers just designed an excellent blitz — it happens. For Tua, he might have had Washington the second he got off his spot, or Waller running the seam, but he didn’t have those throws in his bag while on the move. 

This sack ended Miami’s next drive, and the explanation was that NWI fell. That is 100% true; you can see him fall at the bottom of the screen. 

What confuses me is that NWI wasn’t really open. Tua starts looking to his right, but quickly comes off it to check his left. He doesn’t like that either, so he goes back to his right, and NWI has fallen at this point. 

OK, not great. But reset your feet and throw the corner route. You’ve got a sitting CB (No. 22), and an out-breaking route into wide-open space. Tua hesitates, and then pressure breaks through, forcing him off his spot. 

NWI falling is tough, but if that’s the side of the field you’re reading, I don’t think throwing him the ball was the right decision anyway. 

What’s so frustrating is that the offense finally clicked into place once the game was over. Tua was 16-of-18, for 188 yards, two TDs, and zero turnovers once Miami fell behind 28-3. 

Yes, the Steelers were in prevent defense for a lot of it, but the touchdown above to Waller is not prevent defense. It’s an excellent second-reaction throw with touch and accuracy. 

Tua is still a capable quarterback when he’s confident and playing freely, but that just hasn’t been the case for most of this season. 

The passing game’s futility is a joint effort, though. McDaniel and the other 10 players deserve a portion of the blame, as we saw Monday night. 

Miami’s Defensive Collapse 

The most frustrating part of the defensive tape is that Miami’s scheme was mostly up to snuff. The Dolphins have ramped up their coverage disguises this season, and it kept Pittsburgh’s passing game mostly in check in the first half. 

However, Pittsburgh doesn’t really challenge teams with scheme. Aaron Rodgers has regressed into a quick-game merchant. No, Pittsburgh challenges teams to tackle and play sound football for four quarters. 

It’s not trying to out-smart anyone; it’s trying to out-execute teams play in and play out with fundamentals and technique — two huge McDaniel buzz words. 

Well, the Dolphins’ fundamentals and technique were not good enough in this one. 

It starts with tackling because that is truly the only way Pittsburgh can generate explosive plays. Kenneth Gainwell’s run above accounted for 38 yards, and almost all of them were after contact because Ashtyn Davis can’t wrap up. 

Tackling was also the culprit of one of Pittsburgh’s few explosives on a downfield concept. For starters, it’s third-and-11. A stop here keeps Pittsburgh to three, making the score 17-3 instead of 21-3. 

Here, Davis misses a PBU that he actually had a good chance at because he read Rodgers’ eyes. But he misses it, and Metcalf proceeds to throw Minkah Fitzpatrick off him before juking Dante Trader Jr. out of his shoes and scoring. 

It’s just a comedy of errors. It’s two missed tackles and on a play that should’ve resulted in a PBU because you fooled Rodgers with a post-snap spin to a robber look (Davis). 

But the technique and fundamentals failed. 

Pittsburgh’s second touchdown was a communication breakdown between Jack Jones and Ifeatu Melifonwu. 

The Steelers are running a cross-country (or Yankee) concept, something they like to do in this area of the field. Basically, it’s just deep crossers off of play-action. 

The Dolphins are in man coverage with a single-high safety, Melifonwu. Jones (top of screen CB) passes off his crosser to Melifonwu, who is breaking downhill to jump the crosser from the left side. 

I don’t know who is wrong here. In standard man coverage, it’s Jones’ fault. However, most teams have checks for routes like this. The idea is that Melifonwu has better leverage on a crossing route, so it makes sense to pass it off. 

Regardless of who is at fault, it’s a miscommunication that led to seven points. 

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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.

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