Monday night’s meltdown was a tale of two halves.
In the first half, the Miami Dolphins looked prepared for the cold. They tackled well. They got the running game started. And they held the Pittsburgh Steelers to less than 2 yards per carry.
Then halftime came and went.
“Second half, I don’t know what happened to us,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said. “I think it really came down to tackling. I haven’t seen us tackle like that really all year. I think it really came down to tackling.”
The Dolphins were outscored 14-0 in the third quarter in the 28-15 loss to the Steelers. That, however, isn’t even the worst part considering the Dolphins were also outgained by a significant margin after the team finished with negative yardage during the quarter due to back-to-back three-and-outs punctuated by sacks.
“We fell short again coming out of halftime,” coach Mike McDaniel said. “I think I look at that as there are unlimited things that you can do as a coach. I need to get the team better at coming out of halftime. That really hurt us with a 7-3 score opening drive touchdown, three-and-out, I believe. We just got behind the eight-ball. I think offensively we could have really used, based on their tempo in the first half, some third downs, some execution on that, and some conversions. That was a real critical part of the game where defense was getting stops, and we weren’t scoring points.”
What made this loss particularly unfortunate was that the Dolphins have experienced similar issues in the third quarter throughout the season. Consider this: the Dolphins have been outscored 92-27 in the third quarter in 2025.
“We knew that was an important area of focus that we really wanted to be good coming out of that third quarter,” McDaniel said. “It was a one-score game. I thought that was a gigantic momentum swing. Had a couple opportunities on that drive and the following plays to make the plays. We didn’t make the plays, and they did.
Offensively, most of the blame happens to fall on Tua Tagovailoa, who looked dismal in the third quarter. He completed just one pass to fullback Alec Ingold for just 4 yards. He also took two sacks that lost the Dolphins a total of 23 yards. Throw in De’Von Achane two carries for -1 yards, and it’s no wonder the Dolphins finished the quarter with a net yardage of -20.
“There were just some things offensively that we were messing ourselves up, really,” Tagovailoa said. “Just basically every aspect from my communication to the guys with them getting in the huddle, getting out, guys knowing where to go with their alignments. All of that.”
The passing game, which had struggled all night, took a turn for the better in the fourth quarter. That’s why Tagovailoa’s final stat line – 253 passing yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 79% completion — made him appear better than what actually happened. But make no mistake: Tagovailoa’s struggles, particularly in the third quarter when the Steelers started to find their groove, led to the loss.
“For one, I got to play better,” Tagovailoa said. “I got to be better for our guys offensively. Two, I’m pretty disappointed with how ready I got our receivers, in terms of operation, in terms of guys knowing where to line up, and communication when it comes to personnel. That’s something I harp to guys when we’re in our own player-led meetings, and I felt like I let our guys down in that aspect.”
The Dolphins defense certainly didn’t do the team any favors in the third quarter either. In addition to the three touchdowns, the unit allowed the Steelers to rack up 163 yards — nearly half of which (81) came on the ground — as well as a trio of third-down conversions after limiting Pittsburgh to just one in the first half. It also didn’t help that the defense was on the field 11 minutes of game time.
“I think one missed tackle led to the other,” Brooks continued. “They started getting more confidence, they were pushing the ball down and it just kind of got out of control there for a second and that led to points. That’s not the way we’ve been playing defense over these last five, six weeks so I couldn’t tell you where that came from, but that’s what the results were today.”
With just three games left on the season and the Dolphins officially eliminated from the playoffs, it will be worthwhile to see what team shows up. Will it be the stingy, sound-tackling squad that played well in the opening two quarters? Or will the team that seemingly came out deflated in the second half show up?
Only time will tell.
THIS AND THAT
Minkah Fitzpatrick is considered “week-to-week” with a calf injury, per McDaniel.
The star safety suffered the injury in the fourth quarter of the eventual loss to the Steelers. Although Fitzpatrick was initially frightened, evaluations revealed that it doesn’t appear that he’s done for the year, according to McDaniel.
“At first, I think it kind of surprised him because his body hadn’t felt that but I don’t think it’s a season-ender,” McDaniel said.
C. Isaiah Smalls II
Miami Herald
C. Isaiah Smalls II is a sports and culture writer who covers the Miami Dolphins. In his previous capacity at the Miami Herald, he was the race and culture reporter who created The 44 Percent, a newsletter dedicated to the Black men who voted to incorporate the city of Miami. A graduate of both Morehouse College and Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, Smalls previously worked for ESPN’s Andscape.
