3 concerning issues are responsible for Dolphins' dramatic downfall in 2024
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are not a good football team, but they have the talent on paper to be one of the best. When a team is loaded with talent and consistently loses, you have to wonder why. You don't need to point fingers; there are only three reasons for a team to sink as quickly as Miami has.
Miami fans and many of us content writers tend to point fingers at the offensive line, but that isn't why the Dolphins have two wins in seven games. We can't blame the linebackers or the cornerbacks any more than we can point out that Tua Tagovailoa missed four games of the season.
The Dolphins have only won one game with Tua at quarterback this year, so the problems are a lot deeper. Their loss to the Arizona Cardinals added more frustration to an increasingly disappointing season.
Tagovailoa told the media that this team is far too talented not to score points every drive. He is 100 percent correct, so why are the Dolphins losing? Here are three reasons that tie in together to form one larger problem.
Dolphins have been dealt a lot bad injuries this year
Injuries should never be an excuse because other teams have them, move on, and succeed. Miami hasn't been able to do that. Tua has missed four games, Jaelen Phillips is out for the year, the receiving unit hasn't been whole this entire season, and Bradley Chubb is nowhere on the radar for a return. Add in the latest injuries to Jevon Holland, and you have to simply shake your head.
It seems the Dolphins suffer more injuries than other teams each season, and this is nothing new. At some point, you have to start wondering if the trainers and conditioning program are to blame. Are the players being pushed to the limits of their bodies, or are they not being pushed far enough?
It is clear that teams with many injuries, like the Dolphins, tend to have their rosters exposed, and that is the case here in Miami.
Chris Grier's roster building is exposed for the weaknesses they have
Dolphins fans were jumping up and down when Jaylen Waddle was extended, when they added more to Jalen Ramsey's deal, and when they made sure to take care of Tyreek Hill. Extending Tua was the expected offseason move that made sense. When you pay out big contracts, other areas of the team suffer.
For the Dolphins, it's easy to look at the roster and understand that when the injuries happened, the roster wasn't built to deal with them. Grier and Mike McDaniel built a team that needs to be healthy. There are no quality backup safeties to cover for Holland. Miami went through Skylar Thompson, Tyler Huntley, Tim Boyle, and now C.J. Beathard to back up Tagovailoa. They had no plan at receiver, knowing that Odell Beckham Jr. would not be healthy to start the season.
At defensive end, the Dolphins thought they were good with Shaquil Barrett despite having both Phillips and Chubb potentially starting the season on IR. The only position Miami has good depth is running back. Every other position beyond the starters has questions.
When you have to play the depth players as starters, you set yourself up for failure, and it makes the cohesiveness of the team start to fall apart.
Mike McDaniel is struggling to hold everything together
Injuries have hurt the Dolphins, but there is no one more to blame right now than Mike McDaniel. It's not his play-calling which has always been a problem. McDaniel's inability to change direction and adjust his game plan is the concern.
Consider this: dating back to late 2023, opposing defenses figured out how to stop the Dolphins' highly potent system. Take out the quick-strike passing, and Tua couldn't hold up in the pocket. It was literally that simple. Without Tua having a quick-fire route to throw to, Miami's offensive line isn't built for sustained blocking to give him more time.
This year, we are seeing every team take away that part of the Dolphins' offense. McDaniel doesn't have a solution, and he continues to attempt to make his system work despite being figured out. That, to me, is the biggest problem.
If the Dolphins are going to succeed in the NFL under McDaniel, he is the one who has to change the system, tweak it, or do anything to make defenses wonder what is coming next. Instead, McDaniel finds success running the ball and thinks that teams will then give up the quick routes to Hill and Waddle. They are letting Miami run the ball because they know McDaniel won't stick with it.
The number of injuries has exposed the lack of quality depth at nearly every position on the Dolphins roster. That depth is not capable of handling the systems being run on both sides of the ball. Despite the changes in personnel, McDaniel still believes that his system will work no matter the situation or the players running it.
It is a lose-lose situation, and the Dolphins can't break through.