3 winners (and 3 losers) in Dolphins' inexcusable loss vs. the Panthers

The Miami Dolphins fell to 1-4 on the season after falling to the Carolina Panthers in Week 5, despite jumping out to a 17-0 lead. There was some good -- but a lot of bad -- to take away from this game. Here's a look at this week's winners and losers.

Miami Dolphins winners vs. the Panthers

Darren Waller

Dolphins tight end Darren Waller makes it back-to-back weeks in the winners circle. Waller has silenced any doubts of his offseason signing that brought him out of retirement and saw him miss the first three games of the season.

Through two games, Waller already has eight receptions for 105 yards and three scores. All eight of his receptions have either gone for scores or first downs. Time will tell if Waller can stay healthy, but so far, he's looking like one of Miami's best free agent signings this offseason -- which wasn't even close to a true statement just a couple of weeks ago.

Jaylen Waddle

Following Tyreek Hill's season-ending injury, speculation began as to whether or not Jaylen Waddle could be a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver. Several believe that he won't be and that he complements best as a No. 2 option. I disagree, though, as the Dolphins took Waddle at No. 6 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, with the idea that he would be their WR1, and he proved as such by setting a then-rookie record for receptions in a season (104).

Since then, Hill has been the alpha, with Waddle relegated to the No. 2 spot. He hasn't totaled more than 75 receptions since his rookie year, but Waddle did finish with over 1,000 yards receiving alongside Hill in the latter's first two seasons in Miami.

In his first opportunity post-Hill, Waddle delivered. (And if Miami could play defense, he might've delivered the game winner.)

Waddle finished the day with six receptions for 110 yards, including a 46-yard bomb from Tua Tagovailoa late in the fourth quarter to put the Dolphins ahead. Miami's offense is nowhere near the level it was in 2022 and 2023, but with Waddle and Waller, it can remain a well-oiled machine for the rest of the season.

Dolphins' 1972 team

The Dolphins haven't won a playoff game in 25 years, but that won't stop fans from celebrating a time when many of us weren't even born.

Admittedly, this is kind of cheating seeing as how the 1972 team had nothing to do with Sunday's letdown at Carolina. In my defense, however, if you watched the game you'd understand how hard it would be to find another winner here.

With that said, I held off from writing this article directly after the game when I saw that the Denver Broncos had upset Philadelphia on the road to give the Eagles their first loss of the season. That left the Buffalo Bills as the lone undefeated team remaining in the NFL. And while it's an unpopular opinion, I don't believe the Bills to be as great as many believe.

They are a playoff team for sure, and I wouldn't even be surprised if Buffalo goes into the postseason with 14+ wins, given its schedule. Yet, the Bills' defense leaves much to be desired, and they don't have a No. 1 option for quarterback Josh Allen to throw to -- both of which I believe will cost them when it matters most. Moreover, Buffalo didn't look good two weeks ago against the Dolphins and looked even worse last week at home vs. the New Orleans Saints.

I went into the weekend with the mindset that the New England Patriots could potentially go into Orchard Park and upset the Bills, which they successfully did. As a result, the Dolphins' lone undefeated season continues to hold on strong at 53 years and counting.

Week 5 is typically early for the champagne to be brought out, but it's never too early to celebrate perfection.

Dolphins' Week 5 losers at Carolina

Dolphins' run defense

Pick your poison on this side of the coin. A letdown like that against a lowly Panthers team would only result in fingers being pointed in multiple directions. However, we'll start with the most obvious on the field.

Miami's run defense has been a thorn for the team for quite some time now, but this season, it's gone from bad to worse. Through five games, the Dolphins have allowed a league-leading 871 rushing yards at a 5.6-yard average. That includes seven carries that have gone for 20+ yards, which also leads the NFL.

On Sunday, the Dolphins didn't take on Derrick Henry. They didn't take on other elite RBs like Christian McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley either. In fact, they didn't even take on Carolina's best running back, with Chuba Hubbard forced to miss due to injury. Nevertheless, Miami's defense made Rico Dowdle look like Rico WOWdle, as the former Dallas Cowboy racked up over 200 yards on the ground.

Dowdle averaged nine yards per carry, which would be crazy even at a high school level. The fact that it came against a professional one proves that the Dolphins are far from threatening as a playoff team. The Panthers totaled almost 240 yards of offense running the ball. This after the Dolphins gave up nearly 200 to the Jets on Monday night.

Kenneth Grant/Jonah Savaiinaea

A couple of months ago, I wrote that the Dolphins' recent rookie classes had the team on the right trajectory. And while that could remain true still, we haven't yet seen it from Miami's top two 2025 picks, defensive tackle Kenneth Grant and offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea.

Regardless of how you feel about PFF analytics, Grant and Savaiinaea have not looked good through the first five games of their NFL careers. It's still very early in their careers, and an argument can be made that Grant's contributions will never show up in the stat sheet and that Savaiinaea is playing out of position (he is).

However, two things can be true at once, and the Dolphins expecting more out of their top talent in this draft class is reasonable. Matters may be worse for Savaiinaea down the stretch, seeing as how Miami's offensive line has been dreadful for years, and the Dolphins moved up in the draft to take him. Fairly or unfairly, he could be given the Liam Eichenberg label sooner than later if he doesn't turn it around.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

As a kid, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" was one of my favorite game shows to watch. But fast-forward about 25-30 years, and "Where in the World is Nick Westbrook-Ikhine?" isn't as much fun.

Let's be honest. Some of you got this far down the article and forgot Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was even on the team. I don't blame you for a second, as Westbrook-Ikhine has been nonexistent in his time thus far with Miami.

After securing nine touchdowns on just 32 receptions last year in Tennessee, Westbrook-Ikhine was hyped to be one of the Dolphins' top FA signings of the offseason and projected to be Miami's WR3 behind Hill and Waddle. Instead, Westbrook-Ikhine has been an afterthought through five games. On the year, he has just four receptions for 26 yards -- which admittedly is more than I thought before checking.

However, those numbers could also be read as through four games, as Westbrook-Ikhine was shutout completely against the Panthers. For the second time already, he didn't even see a target.

Without Hill, though, Westbrook-Ikhine not receiving a target is concerning. He did see a season-high 71% snap share against Carolina, but in the passing game, Tua relied on his tight ends, Waddle, and running back De'Von Achane. With Tahj Washington also being active and Cedrick Wilson Jr. likely to enter the lineup next week, that leaves little to no room for Westbrook-Ikhine going forward.

The former Titan signed a two-year deal with the Dolphins this offseason, but it wouldn't be a surprise if Miami looks for a trade partner before the deadline or if Westbrook-Ikhine is released prematurely with losses expected to pile on as the season goes.

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