GREEN BAY, Wis. — The thing about narratives, sometimes they’re just true.

Narratives, the word often used around the Dolphins, specifically about how they struggle against contending teams and in cold weather, were only solidified as valid with their Thanksgiving effort against the Green Bay Packers.

Failing to look like a team that belonged in temperatures in the 20s and sporadic snow flurries, the Miami Dolphins were crushed most of the night and lost to the Green Bay Packers by a more reasonable final score of 30-17 because of a late-but-always improbable comeback bid on Thursday night at Lambeau Field in front of a national audience.

Miami (5-7) had its three-game winning streak snapped and fell to two games back of the Denver Broncos for the seventh and final AFC playoff spot, with the Broncos hosting the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, playing from behind all night, finished 37 of 46 for 364 yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked five times.

Tyreek Hill, facing an array of double teams and bracket coverages from the Packers, had six catches for 83 yards. Fellow wide receiver Jaylen Waddle went for 53 yards on four catches, and tight end Jonnu Smith had a team-leading 10 catches for 113 yards.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love went 21 of 28 for 274 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver Jayden Reed. Green Bay running back Josh Jacobs had 74 receiving yards and 43 rushing, plus a touchdown.

The Dolphins defense missed tackles all over the field, and the team overall was undisciplined with nine penalties for 65 yards.

It was evident it would be a long night for the Dolphins in the frigid north from the first chance a Miami player had to catch a football.

The Dolphins started Thursday with a three-and-out-defensively, but the Packers teleported their field position inside the Miami 10-yard line as rookie wide receiver Malik Washington muffed the ensuing punt return, recovered by Green Bay cornerback Robert Rochell.

Three plays later, Love was throwing to Reed, who beat Dolphins cornerback Storm Duck to the pylon for the 3-yard touchdown to take a lead three minutes into the action.

After the Packers quickly got the ball back, they went to the ground heavily on their second scoring series, and a 76-yard drive was capped by a 1-yard rushing touchdown from tailback Jacobs to go up, 14-0, in the first quarter.

The Dolphins did respond to that near-seven-minute drive, though, with one of their own that consumed 7:11 in the second quarter. Miami converted on a fourth-and-4 at the Green Bay 25-yard line, a Tagovailoa pass to Waddle, but the Dolphins went backward from there and settled for a 33-yard Jason Sanders field goal.

Later in the second period, Love connected with Reed for their second score. It was a short pass to the left, with Reed taking advantage of his downfield blocking and scampering into the end zone from 12 yards out. Green Bay took a 21-3 lead.

The Dolphins were driving before halftime, but Tagovailoa missed a pair of open throws to Hill and running back De’Von Achane, turning it over on downs with a fourth-down miss high throwing to Achane. The Packers converted that into a field goal before halftime to take a 24-3 lead into the intermission.

After another third-quarter field goal from kicker Brandon McManus, the Dolphins got back within two scores, 27-11 when Achane scored a touchdown on a 14-yard screen pass behind blocks from center Aaron Brewer and left guard Robert Jones. An impressive Jaylen Waddle sideline toe-tap made for a good two-point conversion.

Miami had a chance to score again with under 10 minutes to play, but the chance was squandered at the 1-yard line as, on fourth down, the Dolphins went for a play-action pass resulting in a Tagovailoa sack.

After another Packers field goal, the Dolphins scored with 3:04 remaining as Hill came down with a deflected pass intended for Smith, but they failed to recover an onside kick attempt to follow.

Coming off the short turnaround from Sunday to Thursday, the Dolphins have extra rest ahead of their next game, Dec. 8 at home against the New York Jets.

©2024 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Visit sun-sentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.