The Miami Dolphins without Tua Tagovailoa might be the worst team in the NFL.
They certainly had the worst offensive showing with Mike McDaniel as their head coach Sunday, an unspeakably awful performance by both McDaniel and Tua’s backups, in a blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Miami Dolphins-Seattle Seahawks Takeaways: Mike McDaniel’s Worst Game
The Dolphins had 10 days to prepare for the Seahawks. Even if they had 100, it’s hard to believe the outcome would have been much different.
Not with the approach McDaniel took Sunday.
The Dolphins entered the week with the worst starting quarterback in football (Skylar Thompson). They also had one of the most explosive running backs in football (De’Von Achane).
And yet McDaniel called 20 pass plays to just eight run plays in the first half — against a Seahawks defense that gave up 142 rushing yards per game and 4.7 yards per carry through two weeks. They finished as a team with 18 carries on 56 plays.
McDaniel for whatever reason seems to freak out on the road. His game management was again bad on Sunday.
Among the costly decisions? Attempting a 57-yard field goal down 3-0 on their first offensive drive.
Jason Sanders missed, but we’re not playing the result here. Of the three options — go for it, punt, or kick a field goal — the third had the worst win probability (34%), per the fourth-down decision bot on X.
Despite all of this, the Dolphins had the ball inside the five-yard line with a chance to close to within one score early in the fourth quarter thanks to their defense.
They scored zero points on that drive, with third-string QB Tim Boyle throwing to Durham Smythe and Achane instead of Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill.
Skylar Thompson Is Not an NFL-Caliber Quarterback
Boyle was in the game because Thompson got hurt.
Thompson was knocked out of the game in the second half with a chest injury after taking his ninth hit. But there was no functional difference for the Dolphins offense with journeyman Tim Boyle in the game. In fact, it was slightly better.
The dropoff from Tagovailoa to any of his backups has been steep, but from Tagovailoa to Thompson, it was a plummet off the Rickenbacker Causeway.
KEEP READING: NFL Backup QB Rankings
Instead of running the ball and taking play-action shots, the Dolphins tried to run their normal offense. It didn’t work, because Thompson was totally lost.
Everything seems out of sorts when he’s on the field, and any penalty (of which there were many) is seemingly a drive killer.
Thompson is just too slow in processing, and that exposes how bad the Dolphins’ offensive line is. Tagovailoa’s quick release hides those deficiencies. Thompson holds the ball and gets blasted way too often.
Dolphins Defense Deserved Better
It’s tough to give a fair evaluation of the Dolphins’ defense considering how horrific the offense has been this season.
But they were quite good aside from one bad breakdown for a touchdown. This time, it was a 71-yard bomb from Geno Smith to DK Metcalf in which Jevon Holland bit on a double move.
After that, the Dolphins locked the Seahawks down, holding them scoreless on six straight possessions. That includes an interception by Zach Sieler that kept them in the game. The pass rush was great, harassing Smith all day.
But eventually, they wore down, giving up an 11-play, 98-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter that put the game away.
Injuries Pile Up
Beyond Thompson, the Dolphins lost four key players Sunday:
Left tackle Terron Armstead (eye)
Cornerback Kendall Fuller (concussion)
Linebacker David Long (hamstring)
Cornerback Storm Duck (shoulder)
The Week 6 bye can’t get here fast enough for this team.