Dolphins can blame themselves for tough loss in Las Vegas

Dolphins can blame themselves for tough loss in Las Vegas

The Miami Dolphins nearly created magic in their second consecutive trip to Las Vegas; nearly mounting an 11-point 4th-quarter comeback to win against the Raiders. But the math fell just short for Miami and instead the team conceded two overtime field goals, falling 31-28 to Las Vegas in the process and pushing this team down in the standings to 1-2.

Miami is still technically in second place in the AFC East; not that that serves as any kind of valuable consolation for a team that hoped to legitimize themselves as playoff contenders in 2021.

But here’s thing thing: we can all sit and bemoan the lack of defensive pass interference called against Will Fuller in the end zone during overtime. It was an egregious miss on a play that would have set up Miami, down 28-25 in overtime, on the 1-yard line with 1st-and-goal.

But Miami shouldn’t have gotten to overtime in the first place. The miscues from Miami are anything but what we’ve come to expect from a Brian Flores-coached team. Miami conceded a safety on their own 1-yard line by trying to throw a quick smoke to WR Jaylen Waddle on the perimeter; but the throw was high and forced Waddle to leave the ground to collect the ball.

Kicker Jason Sanders missed a field goal just before the half that left another 3 points on the field; creating a 5-point swing after Miami had claimed a 14-0 lead early in the contest.

Two Raiders touchdown drives were aided by 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties from Miami; who logged a total of 8 penalties throughout the course of the day.

And then there was the matter of Miami’s disappearing act on offense. Up 14-0 after a long Malcolm Brown run, Miami appeared primed to take control of the game in the 1st-quarter. By the time they took their first possession in the 4th-quarter, Miami had conceded 25 straight points to the Raiders and the Dolphins’ offense had ran a collective total of 30 plays for 102 yards (3.4 yards per play) in what was an embarrassingly conservative effort from the Dolphins.

Yes, Miami nearly pulled out a miracle win. And no, the referees didn’t get the call right in the end zone in overtime. But Miami can thank themselves for sloppy play and trying to sit on a 14 point lead against one of the best offenses in football for their overtime loss to the Raiders.