Winners and losers from the Miami Dolphins' embarrassing road loss to the Browns

We've come a long way since thinking Week 1 was the worst loss of the Miami Dolphins' season. Somehow, each loss gets worse than the last, a troubling trend that continued on Sunday when Miami lost in embarrassing fashion to the hapless Cleveland Browns.

Absolutely nothing went right for Miami in its 31-6 lopsided loss. Tua Tagovailoa was an unmitigated tire fire, one that got so bad that Mike McDaniel finally snapped and benched him in the middle of the game. It allowed us to get a glimpse at Quinn Ewers as the starter but it hard to get past the putrid smell of everything else that happened.

There wasn't a lot to love about what happened on Sunday, as an already lost season got even darker -- and it's only Week 7.

Winners and losers from Dolphins pitiful Week 7 loss to Browns

Winner: Miami's rebuild

There are no individual winner awards to hand out after that showing in Cleveland. The only positive to take from the game is truly the only one that matters. The Dolphins have been on course for a full rebuild whether the owner and front office wants it or not. And after that showing against a bad Browns team, this needs to be the turning point of that rebuild coming to life.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been reluctant to fire either general manager Chris Grier or head coach Mike McDaniel, but enough is enough. I won't expect both to be fired by this time next week, but accountability must be shown to Miami's fan base. One has to go, with my money being on McDaniel.

Grier may still make it through the season even though he shouldn't, but the Dolphins' organization can show its fans they care by letting go of the head coach as early as Monday morning.

Loser: Tua Tagovailoa

While McDaniel is firmly in line to be fired after Week 7, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is on a fast track to being benched. What happens (doesn't happen) to McDaniel will surely impact how the coaching staff goes into next week against the Atlanta Falcons, but we're likely to see much more of Quinn Ewers the rest of the season regardless.

Miami's next four games are at the Falcons, at home against the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, respectively, followed by a meeting with the Washington Commanders in Spain. There's a very good chance Miami loses all of them to fall to 1-10. Moreover, there's a strong chance the Dolphins get blown out in each of them that we see a good amount of Ewers in those matchups even if Tua remains the starter.

But at that point, starting Ewers would make the most sense for a Dolphins team that has been embarrassing to watch. Tua had just 100 yards passing against Cleveland, with three interceptions. One of his picks earned a furious reaction from McDaniel, resulting in Tagovailoa's benching. In hindsight, it was probably McDaniel's best call of the afternoon.

Loser: Dolphins defense and special teams

Miami's defense did manage to hold Browns running back Quinshon Judkins to under 100 yards rushing if you're feeling optimistic, but he still found paydirt on three occasions, so there's that.

Cleveland quarterback Dillon Gabriel didn't show anything special, but he didn't have to either. The Dolphins' defense was never a threat against the run, and it showed yet again on Judkins' 46-yard touchdown run in the first half. And it will only get worse next week when they take on Bijan Robinson.

Special teams didn't help matters, as wide receiver Dee Eskridge coughed up a costly fumble in the second quarter on a kick return. The Browns capitalized with Judkins' second TD run to go up 17-3, and it was over from there.

Although the fan base was pleased to be rid of the Danny Crossman era, Craig Aukerman's reign as special teams coach hasn't exactly been...special. Miami has yet to create any meaningful special teams' plays in 2025, but they've been on the wrong end of at least a pair these past couple of games.

After taking a one-point lead over the Los Angeles Chargers a week ago with less than a minute remaining, the Dolphins' kickoff team allowed Nyheim Hines to return the ball to LA's 41-yard line and set the Chargers up with great field position in their game-winning drive. Then, this week, Eskridge's fumble led to doom.

Miami wouldn't have won if Eskridge hadn't fumbled, but it goes to show there are problems at all levels of the field, and that this rebuild will take considerable work.

Loser: Mike McDaniel

Not to totally rehash what I mentioned in Miami's rebuild, but this should be McDaniel's last game on the sidelines for the Dolphins. Lack of discipline, pre-snap penalties, poor play-calling. The McDaniel era has run its course in South Florida.

We've frequently heard that Ross is reluctant to fire McDaniel but could do so if losses continue and attendance drops. Well, attendance isn't what it was already, and the losses continue mounting up.

In post-game interviews, McDaniel said, "We'll change our style of play if we have to."

One way to make that happen is to remove the one currently making those calls altogether.