Miami Dolphins mistakes spoil QB Tua Tagovailoa’s return

The Miami Dolphins made too many mistakes in bringing back Tua Tagovailoa. Those mistakes also marred another solid performance by De’Von Achane, who rushed for 97 yards on ten carries. He also caught six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown.

The Dolphins lost to the Arizona Cardinals 28–27 after a field goal by Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland. They have lost five of their last six games.

The biggest mistake was center Aaron Brewer Tagovailoa’s errant hit in the third quarter deep on their end of the field. The ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety after Tagovailoa kicked it back just inside the goal line.

The safety cut the Dolphins’ lead to 20-12, and the Cardinals took the ensuing possession and scored a touchdown to make it 20-18 after a failed two-point conversion.

It was the second failed center exchange between Brewer and Tagovailoa of the game.

Tagovailoa fumbled in the first quarter, although he fell on the ball to preserve possession for the Dolphins.

After the game, Tagovailoa said he should have caught the ball on his shotgun kick, regardless of where it was placed.

The Cardinals then took possession on a free kick. They drove down the field and scored a touchdown when Kyler Murray found rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone on a 22-yard pass. The two-point conversion failed and Miami maintained a 20–18 lead.

Miami would come back and score again, extending their lead to 27-18 on Raheem Mostert’s six-yard run.

However, the offense was unable to seal the deal in the fourth quarter when they had a stop at the Arizona 47-yard line with 5:01 left in the game. Miami gained 23 yards in eight plays. They had two first downs on the drive, but were unable to advance much further before having to punt.

“I think if you ask them both, Brew(er) would say he should have taken a little break from it. Tua said he should have noticed that,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said after the game. “The point is we can’t have this problem, you can’t just give people free points.

“You can’t expect to win a close game that ultimately leads to a points difference. It wasn’t just this game. There are a lot of things that ended up with points… Hard lessons, and they should be lessons. found out if you want them to change.”

Tagovailoa said he wants to move forward. He said he hopes the team improves in the future.

“It was a tough loss,” Tagovailoa said. “We have to keep chopping wood. We must look from within and encourage each other. It’s going to take everyone to get where we want to go.”

Miami’s pass defense, a strength of the team entering the game, was unable to contain Harrison, who had six catches for 111 yards and a score. Miami also couldn’t stop tight end as Trey McBride led the team with nine receptions for 124 yards.

The Dolphins led the NFL in pass defense and allowed over 162 passing yards to the quarterback (Geno Smith) alone all season.

“I thought the guys were capable of playing, but they didn’t,” McDaniel said. “Weave (Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator) and I will go back and look at the tape and see where we can improve.”

Whenever the Cardinals needed to make a play, a pass to Harrison or McBride came through.

The Dolphins defense failed to record a sack or turnover. Despite significant pressure, the Dolphins were unable to get Murray on the ground all day.

The loss dropped Miami to 2–5 on the season. Next week they head to Buffalo for a game against the AFC East-leading Bills.