The Tape Don't Lie: Miami Dolphins lose to New England Patriots, a review

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Dolphins' season is on the ropes.

Miami lost at New England, 23-21, on Sunday and now they've dropped five straight.

It was 8-3 and now it's 8-8 and there's a must win at Hard Rock Stadium next weekend against the Jets.

And Miami will need Buffalo to beat the Patriots as well to avoid a historic, playoff-less collapse.

Tua Tagovailoa is in concussion protocol and so Mike McDaniel seems to be choosing between Teddy Bridgewater (dislocated pinkie finger on throwing hand) and Skylar Thompson (rookie who had a fingernail tear into a bloody mess) in the biggest game of the year.

Miami Dolphins Top 10 Stories of 2022

Slew of key injuries may be final dagger for reeling Miami Dolphins' playoff chances

Snap Conclusions: Dolphins lose to Patriots in penultimate game

Miami has too many injuries to list here. We'll see who's available to go against New York.

Many coaches believe "The Tape Don't Lie," and that list includes McDaniel.

"The game tape survives time," McDaniel says.

Here are some things we noticed in Miam's loss to New England:

Mostert brings the juice

Raheem Mostert runs with desire, effort and passion.

Mostert makes the kind of runs that can inspire teammates. And we saw that again in the second quarter on Sunday as he broke up to five tackles on an eye-opening catch-and-run.

And while the Dolphins did not have outstanding success on the ground at New England, McDaniel should be credited for sticking with a commitment to try to run.

It was so important for Bridgewater, who can be an effective play-action quarterback, just like Tua.

The Dolphins will spend the offseason evaluating why they weren't able to post the type of running game numbers they thought they would entering this season.

Teddy and Skylar

One thing Teddy Bridgewater showed on a little flip touchdown pass to Mostert while being dragged down was veteran poise and creativity.

There's always a fine line in quarterback play risk assessment and Bridgewater has made some pretty good decisions with the football over the course of his career.

The ability to improvise and freelance is something that Ryan Fitzpatrick, of course, once did for Miami. And it's something that Tua Tagovailoa will continue to work on when he resumes his career.

What happens when things break down? What happens when things go sideways?

How do you respond? Can you make a positive play while averting disaster?

On the Pick 6 interception that changed the entire game, Patriots safety Kyle Dugger just made a great play. Dugger creeped up to line of scrimmage as if he was going to blitz. And then Dugger quickly dropped back 15 yards into coverage, into an area Bridgewater, a veteran, clearly did not expect at the time of the snap.

Sometimes even a wily veteran is beaten by a great player who moves around the field like the most dangerous of chess pieces. This was the case on that play.

After the game, Dugger said he expected vertical routes and that he was able to get turned around and get his eyes on Bridgewater and he was delivering the ball. Dugger jumped the play.

As for Thompson, he's a talented but raw prospect that may need some seasoning to reach his potention. He may not have more time before taking to a huge stage against the Jets, however.

There were encouraging third-down completions to Mostert and Jaylen Waddle and a fourth-down completion to Hill. There was a third-down scramble for a potential first down that was negated by a Hill illegal motion penalty.

Miami has had too many pre-snap penalties this season. And there was the interception on a pass attempt to Hill, the ball bouncing off his hands and into the hands of a Patriots defensive back. The receiver took blame for the play, but Thompson's pass was a bit off target.

There was also a nicely extended play and a touchdown pass to Gesicki. All in all, some pretty good things for Skylar to feel decent about from Sunday's game.

Thompson had a ton of reps at Kansas State. The Big 12 is not the NFL, but Thompson, at 25 years old, is not a typical rookie. And he does have confidence. If Brock Purdy, drafted after Thompson in 2022, can make huge plays for the 49ers, who's to say Thompson can't make them on Sunday for the Fins?

Another defensive letdown

Too often this season, the Dolphins defense has allowed a lengthy fourth-quarter drive that put the opponent in position to win. It happened again on Sunday.

Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer appeared to have a good plan overall. It is also true that Boyer blitzed on a key third-and-5 with less than six minutes to play. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones went deep and took advantage of a 1-on-1 matchup with cornerback Keion Crossen, who was flagged for pass interference.

There was miscommunication in the secondary. In part, this is understandable. The Dolphins secondary has been ravaged by injury and numerous players have been called upon to play corner and safety.

But yet, a miscommunication and/or failure to properly identify correct assignments played a key role in the touchdown pass that put Miami behind 23-14. Somehow, linebacker Duke Riley was left alone to cover a receiver on a third-and-goal from the Dolphins' 2-yard line.

Disaster.

"When we came out of the huddle, half the defense saw it as one way," McDaniel said Monday. "Half the defense saw it as another. So all things were communicated, however, live speed, they saw it differently and then once the recognition occurred, we were aligned late."

Unacceptable field goal kicking

The Dolphins are 31st in the NFL in field goal percentage over the last two seasons at 76.7 percent.

Jason Sanders was an All Pro in 2019, making 92 percent.

What happened?

Miami cannot afford to have a kicker that is 3 of 11 from 50+ yards over the past two seasons.

Sanders has missed one kick in six separate games.

In the last three of those games, Miami lost by 2, 6 and 3 points.

And he's missed a career-high three extra points.

Miami will either exit this contract after this season or at minimum bring in strong competition.

This & That

Defensive tackle John Jenkins has done some really nice things, especially as a 10-year veteran at 33 years old. He's just massive and once he gets going, he's difficult to slow down. Miami is hoping defensive tackle Raekwon Davis will begin to live up to his massive potential in future seasons, but this is already Year 3... Over the last few weeks Miami has at times used Jeff Wilson and Raheem Mostert together in the backfield. That's partially because fullback Alec Ingold has been banged up. But it does also give McDaniel some versatile options... Christian Wilkins has a career-high 92 tackles and 3.5 sacks and he's improved in each of his first four NFL seasons... Brandon Shell and Kendall Lamm did an admirable job at the tackle position. Matthew Judon and Josh Uche were held to a total of zero sacks and one quarterback hit.

Joe Schad can be reached at jschad@pbpost.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins Tape Don't Lie from Joe Schad after New England Patriots loss