National Football League

Dolphins routed by Ravens 56-19 in darkest loss of Mike McDaniel era

Published Dec. 31, 2023 4:47 p.m. ET

The Miami Dolphins are dangerous enough to score in a single play. And they have this season. In fact, coach Mike McDaniel called it before it happened, predicting accurately on the sideline that he'd get a 75-yard touchdown from Jaylen Waddle.

Those were the good old days for McDaniel.

He again watched a one-play drive on Sunday. This time, his defense let it happen. Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson saw receiver Zay Flowers put up an arm to call for the ball and the QB delivered an easy toss. Flowers made a man miss and scored a 75-yard touchdown.

The Ravens spent the day giving the Dolphins a dose of their own medicine in a 56-19 Week 17 blowout.

Miami, which had blown out so many teams earlier this year, suffered a lopsided loss. The Dolphins, who had celebrated so many long or wide-open touchdowns due to genius play design, watched while the Ravens scored touchdowns from 75 and 35 yards out. They also managed to score with tight end Isaiah Likely in the low red zone on a play where absolutely no one was near him. Literally, no one was marking him. (A tight end! Who plays for the Ravens offense that loves its tight ends?! In the red zone!?!?)

But the defense didn't learn from its mistakes. Later in the game, Baltimore ran the exact same play that sprung a wide-open touchdown for Likely to spring a touchdown for fullback Patrick Ricard. Different personnel. Same exact play. And both times, the guy in the tight end spot was wide open.

It was bad enough for Likely to be wide open on the first one. When Ricard was open, too, it simply added to the embarrassment. The Ravens scored 14 points off one play design.

This week, the Dolphins went from being one of the most fun teams to watch in the NFL — to one of the hardest teams to watch.

Their passing defense was an embarrassment. Their kick coverage was atrocious. And the offense couldn't stay on the field long enough to give their defense a break, including an interception late in the first half that broke the game wide open.

It was such a letdown performance from the Dolphins, who seemed to have momentum from their win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was the first sign of they could compete in the postseason. Before that, the Denver Broncos were the only winning team they'd beaten. And Denver is likely to miss the postseason. A win over the Broncos isn't going to impress anyone.

Miami is what we thought they were: a bully that can't pick on anyone its own size. Against bad teams, the Dolphins can absolutely rack up the score. Against contenders? They wilt. They play their absolute worst. And Tua Tagovailoa's stat line shows as much. He was 22-of-38 (58%) for 237 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also took two sacks and one big hit on a scramble — which marked the end of his game. He suffered a left shoulder injury that landed him in the medical tent. He appeared to tell his teammates, however, that he was OK on the sideline.

Yes, Miami was missing receiver Jaylen Waddle, guard Robert Hunt, cornerback Xavien Howard, edge Jaelan Phillips and other key players for this matchup. Those are a tough rash of injuries, but it's nothing unusual for Week 17. It's the NFL. Championship teams figure out how to make do with what they have (even if, admittedly, the Super Bowl winners tend to have good injury luck). To make matters worse, Bradley Chubb was in the game long past when he should have been — and he suffered an injury.

The Dolphins haven't figured it out. And it's not like they haven't identified their problem. I certainly did. It was that their passing defense was a mess against good teams, allowing roughly 100 more passing yards per game against winning teams. In turn, they're allowing almost double the points per game.

But as mentioned, Lamar had himself a day. He finished 18-of-21 for 321 yards and five passing touchdowns. He didn't even really have to use his legs, with six carries for 35 yards. The defense couldn't even adjust to Likely's touchdown play design, let alone the rest of Baltimore's playbook. Gus Edwards and Justice Hill were just fine as the team's top runners. Edwards had 16 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown. Hill had three carries for 48 yards.

There's no mincing words. This was as dark of a loss as any the Dolphins have suffered under McDaniel. Miami went into this game with hope and momentum. The Dolphins exited this game with more injuries and, likely, more self-doubt.

And here's the kicker: Next week, the Dolphins will host the Buffalo Bills, who can take the AFC East title with a win. Buffalo beat New England this week. And a Bills win next week would result in a sweep of the Dolphins, so their records would be the same but Buffalo would get the division title. Miami would then enter the playoff standings at the bottom of the barrel, which — frankly — is where they deserve to land.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.