Miami Dolphins Flores joins elite company with 7th loss to start his career

The Miami Dolphins lost again and Brian Flores joins a list of elite coaches with his 7th consecutive loss to start his coaching career.

When the Miami Dolphins finished the first half, it looked like we might finally see a different second half but in the end, it was the same old same old 2019 Miami Dolphins.

Miami ended the first half winning 14-10 but things quickly fell apart in the second half. In fact, the Dolphins didn’t wait until the fourth quarter to let the game get out of hand. They handed the Steelers opportunity after opportunity in the third quarter.

For Brian Flores, it is the seventh loss of his rookie season and yes, I wasn’t kidding, he joined some elite company in the NFL. Flores joins legendary coaches Tom Landry and Bill Walsh and former Miami Dolphins head coach Jimmy Johnson as a coach that started their career winless.

Landry didn’t win his first game until week 10. Johnson didn’t win his first until week eight and Bill Walsh also didn’t get his first win until week eight. The common thread between the three? They all led their team to multiple Super Bowls and two of them are in the Hall of Fame.

Now that doesn’t mean that Brian Flores is heading in that direction but the winless first-year head coach simply has no answer yet for the second half of an NFL game. Last year he called a brilliant second-half Super Bowl but this year it is completely different.

Turnovers plagued the Dolphins in the second half. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw one interception, fumbled on a sack, and running back Mark Walton fumbled on a first down run. It was enough to kill any momentum that Miami might have turned up.

In addition to the turnovers, the Dolphins lost Xavien Howard for the 2nd half after hurting his knee. The Dolphins just got him back today and now will likely not have him next week. Howard stayed on the sideline and it isn’t likely to be a serious problem but he could miss more time as he tries to get to 100%.

With Howard out, the Dolphins relied on second-year corner Ryan Lewis who was eaten alive by JuJu Smith-Schuster. It showed the gap that Miami has to overcome with some of their depth.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was pretty good in the first half but in the second half, he reverted back to the typical Ryan Fitzpatrick that garners so many jokes by the fans. He couldn’t generate any offense and most of his second-half passes were off the mark.

With the game now over the Dolphins will need to get back to work as they face their division rival New York Jets next week in Miami. The Jets have one win on the season.

Monday night finale:  Miami Dolphins 14 – Pittsburgh Steelers 24

For the Dolphins, it is the teams 10th straight loss dating back to last year.