Miami came up short at Lambeau Field.
Last week we asked a question. Can the Miami Dolphins win in the cold?
In short, the answer to that was no, they can not.
The real answer to that question was more accurately that they can not win against a good team in the cold.
The conditions did play a part during the game, in particular for Malik Washington’s costly muffed punt catch.
However, the harsh truth was that Miami were outplayed by a Green Bay Packers team that were too good on the day.
The game was effectively lost early on when Miami started in a shambles. Two early pre-snap penalties by Jonnu Smith, the hapless Julian Hill and the aforementioned muffed catch resulted in a 14-0 deficit at the end of the first quarter.
We postulated two ways that the Dolphins could increase their chances of beating the Packers. Run the ball and shorten the pass game. Did they do that?
Well, they definitely did the latter with Smith and De’Von Achane combining for 18 catches and 169 yds at an average of under 10 yards per reception.
Tua Tagovailoa did pretty much everything he could to dispel the narrative that he can not play in the cold. It is no surprise that it might take the quarterback from Hawaii a couple of seasons to develop that attribute.
Playing from behind, Tua threw the ball 46 times compared to just 28 attempts by Jordan Love.
Tagovailoa’s 37 completions for 365 yds and 2 touchdowns suggests that there is not an issue with the quarterback in these conditions.
Faltering run game
Running the ball, however, was a different matter. Raheem Mostert and Achane combined for only 33 yards and Jaylen Wright was inexplicably missing from the offense.
Is he injured? Not picking up the pass protections? Or does Mike McDaniel just not rate the running back that he moved up for in the draft?
Mostert is clearly the best back on the roster between the tackles, but Miami continued to run a 180 lbs scat-back through the A-gap and unsurprisingly he averaged just two yards per carry – speechless!
The net result of all of the above is that the Dolphins now sit at 5-7 and with a 13% chance of making the playoffs – or an 87% chance of not making the playoffs for the ‘glass half empty’ types.
Barring a huge change in fortune, this season is effectively over.
The rest of the season is now the preseason for 2025. A lot of people need to prove they should be around in 2025.
It is called the NFL – ‘Not For Long’ – for a reason.
Story originally by former writer Alan Peplow.
