Is the sky falling after Dolphins’ collapse to the Titans or did the law of averages even out? | Opinion

Everything around the Miami Dolphins will be tested, right now, this week.

The resolve of the team to immediately rebound from its worst loss and most adversity of the season will be gauged in the wake of the awful, blown-lead home loss to the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football.

This defeat will test more than the team, though. It will measure the faith in Dolphins fans.

Did everything just change? Is the sky falling? Or has an NFL season still a solid 9-4 built enough belief to withstand the stunning reality of a 14-point lead with less than three minutes left that somehow turned into a crushing loss?

“A hard, hard lesson,” coach Mike McDaniel called it. “Right now it feels terrible. But these kind of losses can be galvanizing. Guys will rise to the occasion, because we have to.”

The previous time the Titans visited Hard Rock Stadium to play the Dolphins was Week 1 of the 2018 season. The game almost lasted into Week 2. It took 7 hours and 8 minutes to complete because of two long lightning delays.

What just happened Monday night was nearly as strange.

Miami had no business losing this game to the 4-8 Ttans.

Then it had no business winning this game.

Then the Fins scored two quick touchdowns off Titans turnovers to take a 27-13 lead late.

That meant they had no business losing. Right?

Then, the collapse.

Somehow, they lost 28-27.

The reasons to embrace and appreciate this Dolphins season as historically special had been piling up.

Monday night was not one of them.

There was scattered booing from a frustrated home crowd as time expired. Not much, and briefly, but audible.

This is no time to overreact or act as if a season now at 9-4 has been ruined.

“We’re human,” said quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. “A little disappointing we put up that type of performance offensively.”

The law of averages — and of the below averages — finally caught up to the Dolphins.

The Fins came in 9-3 on the wing of a perfect 8-0 record against opponents with a losing record, and were two-touchdown favorites Monday to continue that dominance vs. Tennessee.

They were so due for a stumble, though. Right? And played like it for so much of this game as a Fins offense that had averaged 38.8 points in five home wins struggled throughout.

No worry, apparently. At least for a while. Because defense and special teams took over.

The Dolphins’ usually dynamic offense could not not win this game, but for a time it seemed the team would.

A 13-13 game busted open like a party pinata in the fourth quarter in Miami’s favor.

It happened because a little-known Dolphin named Elijah Campbell recovered a muffed Titans punt return at the Tennessee 7 to set up Raheem Mostert’s 3-yard scoring run with 5:34 to play.

And then because Miami’s Bradley Chubb recovered another Titans fumble at the Titans 12 to set up another short Mostert TD with 4:34 left.

That made it 27-13 and, at that point, whether the team with the bad record found a way to lose Monday or the team with the good record found a way to win hardly mattered. The Dolphins would take either.

It seemed Miami would get lucky and pinch a game it ought to have lost. Good teams do that sometimes.

Then came the monumental collapse.

The Dolphins defense was beaten for 75- and 64-yard scoring drives in the final three minutes and, quite unbelievably, lost 28-27.

They would have been 10-3, tied for the best record in the NFL.

Instead they are 9-4 and picking through the rubble.

Almost a quarter century, this has been. It has been that long since this franchise felt like this kind of a holiday gift in South Florida. It was 23 years ago when the Dolphins last reached 10 wins sooner on the calendar than they could have before Monday night’s collapse.

This marked the Fins’ 87th all-time MNF appearance, the most of any team, but the first since about this time in 2017 — the memory of that yet another reason to appreciate where the franchise. stands today, even now, at 9-4.

Six years ago in the midst of a 6-10 season Miami was discovering that Adam Gase was not the right head coach or one who would last long. The quarterback was a temporary Band-Aid, aging veteran Jay Cutler ins his final season. The franchise was drifting, looking for a rudder.

Now it is dreaming of a Super Bowl.

Monday’s bad loss did not detonate those dreams.

Made it harder to believe that dream can still be be real, though.

The first half was one of anxiety for the home team, a rarity this season with Miami 5-0 in its own stadium and averaging 38.8 points.

Tennessee led 10-7 at the break; worse, the Fins’ big offense produced no points.

Defensive tackle Zach Sieler’s 5-yard interception return for Miami was all there was.

The Titans countered with Derrick Henry’s 1-yard scoring run capping an 86-yard drive, and with a late field goal set up by DeAndre Hopkins’ 45-yard catch over Xavien Howard.

Tua Tagovailoa lost a fumble inside the opponent’s 5-yard line and Miami had a field goal blocked in the sloppy half.

The offensive struggles continued in the second half as Miami twice had first-and-goal situations but twice had to settle for short field goals.

That was before Tennessee’s consecutive late fumbles seemed to gift the game to Miami.

And that was before the Dolphins gave it right back.

Miami’s star Tyreek Hill missed 1 1/2 quarters with an ankle injury before returning late in the third quarter. He was held to a mortal four catches for 61 yards.

No excuses.

A bunch went way wrong. Miami’s red-zone offense was really bad. The line gave up five sacks. The offense did not score a single touchdown on its own. The pass defense was bad. And the late collapse was unequivocally that.

“There’s some frustrated individuals on the defensive side of the ball,” McDanel said. “But this was as much of a complete team loss as you can have.”

Said Hill: “As a team, man, we can never take any team lightly.”

Hill came back and played hurt because he knew he was desperately needed.

“It sucked. It hurts. My adrenaline kicked in,” he said. “I made up my mind it’s gonna hurt, its gonna suck. But I had to get out there and bring some energy and be that spark.”

Until Monday, the Dolphins had been on a 17-2 run at home, the best such current streak in the NFL.

Miami hosts the New York Jets next Sunday then the regular-season schedule ends brutally with games vs. Dallas, at Baltimore, then vs. Buffalo.

The Dolphins still own a lead of two full games over Buffalo in the AFC East.

But — not in a good way — the season from here got a little more interesting Monday night.

Now we find out how good the Dolphins really are. And how much their fans believe.