Why This Might Have Been the Worst Loss of the McDaniel Era

The Miami Dolphins had a chance to make a big statement in Pittsburgh on Monday night, and they made a statement all right.

Only problem was it was the wrong kind of statement.

It was a statement that said — no, screamed — we are still the same old Miami Dolphins.

Forget the four-game winning streak.

Forget this new formula that sparked the winning streak, you know focusing on the run offensively and producing turnovers on defense.

This new style is why Monday night was supposed to be different, why the Dolphins finally were going to be able to step up against a winning team on the road in cold weather.

Except it wasn't.

It was second verse, same as the first. Or maybe more accurately 32nd verse, same as the first 31.

The Dolphins once again were exposed.

The new style didn't produce anything different for the Dolphins, and it simply was the latest in a long line of really poor showings.

But, in some ways, it might have been the most painful, humbling loss of all under head coach Mike McDaniel.

WHY THIS ONE WAS SO DEFLATING

It's precisely because the Dolphins looked different during their winning streak that there was, or at least should have been, some hope that this would be the year they stepped up.

And it's not like the stage wasn't set for them, either, because the Steelers — hardly a powerhouse to begin with — would go into this game missing their best defensive player (T.J. Watt), their best cornerback (James Pierre) and their impressive rookie defensive tackle (Derrick Harmon), along with lining up a fourth different left tackle.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, are remarkably healthy — relatively speaking because, of course, they're still without Tyreek Hill — and that was a clear difference from, say, the games late in the 2023 season when the Dolphins came up short (because of course they did) against the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and then in the playoffs in those ridiculous conditions in Kansas City.

Injuries then could be used, to some degree, to explain those late-season failures, but it was Pittsburgh that had those excuses handy on Monday night.

That added to the disappointment of the abomination at Acrisure (sorry, best alliteration we can come up with at this time).

And it's not just that the Dolphins left Acrisure Stadium with a loss that eliminated them from playoff contention because that was a long shot since the 2-7 start, it's the way they were embarrassed that really stung.

This looked way too similar to the Thanksgiving night game against the Green Bay Packers in 2024 when the outcome pretty much was sealed in the third quarter before the Dolphins tacked on some late touchdowns to make the final score a respectable-looking 30-17.

The final score of 28-15 on Monday night didn't come even remotely close to accurately portraying what a spanking this was because this was 28-3 before the Steelers sat back on defense and QB Tua Tagovailoa was able to complete passes all over the field to finish with a highly misleading 112.3 passer rating.

When it mattered, the Dolphins offense was nowhere to be found.

Just like Green Bay in 2024, the Dolphins had three points at halftime.

In this one, the improved defense hung tough longer before caving badly in the third quarter when the Steelers gained 163 yards while in the midst of scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives.

But in the end the defense wasn't good enough. It's better than it was in 2024, for sure, but maybe just not quite good enough.

The offense, though, is just bad right now if De'Von Achane isn't gaining 15 yards every time he touches the ball. There were some good moments in the running game against Pittsburgh, but the Dolphins simply weren't going to keep rushing for 160 yards every game like they did in their winning streak.

The Dolphins needed for the passing game to step up at some point and it didn't. Tua Tagovailoa finished with a higher passing yardage total than he did in any of the victories in the winning streak, but most of them came in garbage time.

The loss gave the Dolphins a 1-5 record this season against teams that currently have a winning record, with losses against the Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, L.A. Chargers and the Steelers, along with that one upset win against Buffalo in Week 9 at Hard Rock Stadium.

But that Buffalo win was the one-off the Dolphins always manage every year, like they did against the Dallas Cowboys in 2023 and the L.A. Rams in November. The more telling stat is that 1-5 record against winning teams not just in 2025, but 2023 and 2024 as well.

But one win every six games against quality opponents isn't going to get the Dolphins anywhere.

It seemed reasonable in recent years to think the Dolphins simply didn't have the right style to step up in competition because a timing-based passing game can be neutralized by weather conditions and/or superior defenses.

A strong running game combined with a strong defense generally travels better and is better suited for December football.

It's why there should have been reason for hope against the Steelers.

But there also was a bit of an uneasy feeling because the reality is the four-game winning streak after it started with the upset of Buffalo came against teams that have a combined 11-31 record.

Turned out that, yeah, the Dolphins can handle bad teams, but they'll get humbled on the road against good teams in December.

So new style or not, same as it ever was.

And the fact it came with the Dolphins featuring a new style might have been the most disappointing factor at all.

Because if not then and not now, when?

WHY THIS ONE WAS SO DEFLATING

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