Chris Perkins: Dolphins weren't a dumb team in 2024, but ...

Chris Perkins, South Florida Sun Sentinel on Jan 15, 2025

Published in Football

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — High atop the Miami Dolphins’ 2025 offseason priority list, possibly No. 1, must be a resolution to be a smarter, more disciplined team.

At least twice during the regular season, and once during the season-ending press conference, coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier mentioned how the Dolphins tend to make unforced errors and beat themselves.

In 2025, the Dolphins can’t continue hurting themselves at critical times of big games as they have for the past three seasons.

Penalties. Dropped passes. Missed blocks. Blown coverages. Fumbles. Interceptions. Sacks. You name it, it’s happened. Frequently.

A busted coverage at Seattle. Two lost fumbles at Indianapolis. A lost fumble at Buffalo. A late-game penalty at Buffalo. A late-game interception at Houston. A starting quarterback — with a history of concussions — trying to tackle an interception returner by diving head-first at the returner’s knees. On and on it goes.

A dropped lateral pass last season against Kansas City that was returned for a touchdown. A lost fumble against Minnesota in 2022.

The Dolphins aren’t a dumb team by any measure.

But they’re not a smart team by any measure, and that’s a major problem.

The Dolphins, with their thin margin for error, must be a smart team.

Buffalo is smart. San Francisco is smart. Philadelphia is smart. Baltimore, Kansas City, those are smart teams. That’s a major reason they’ve all had sustained success.

It’s the opposite for the Dolphins, who ended the 2024 season ninth in penalties (114) and 12th in penalty yards (926). In 2022, the Dolphins were tied for fourth in penalties (111) and fifth in penalty yards (881).

Grier cited mindless errors as a reason the Dolphins lose cold-weather games.

“I think a lot of those times in some of those cold-weather games, it’s self-inflicted wounds, we find a way to beat ourselves,” Grier said during last week’s season-ending news conference alongside McDaniel.

“Even last week (in the season-ending loss against the New York Jets), we turned the ball over three times, including in the red zone a couple times. Until this team figures out ways to stop doing it, nothing is going to change, so we need to change that narrative and find a way to win.”

The Dolphins, as they search for reasons why they haven’t won a playoff game since the 2000 season, can’t continue beating themselves.

A second-half pick-six at New England in a 23-21 loss in 2022. Blowing a 14-point lead in the final three minutes against Tennessee in a 28-27 loss 2023. Blowing a nine-point fourth-quarter lead in a 28-27 loss to Arizona in 2024.

This is a little-publicized characteristic that often prevents this team from being its best.

By the way, this trend of self-inflicted damage was also mentioned last season.

McDaniel actually tried to use the Dolphins’ unforced errors as a compliment last year, saying good teams don’t beat the Dolphins, rather “when we lose, we beat ourselves.”

I failed to see how that was better at the time, and I fail to see how it’s better now.

Worse, I fail to see how the trend has changed.

Here’s what McDaniel said in the days before their 30-27 loss at Buffalo this season: “They’re literally challenging you to do right longer, and take advantage of groups of players that are unable to execute down-in, down-out, and they do a masterful job of putting it on the other team to earn the win.”

Somehow the Dolphins must become a smarter team, a team that takes advantage of every edge provided by the opponent.

Instead, it works the other way around.

The Dolphins were minus-5 in turnover margin last season. That’s the statistic McDaniel says is the best indicator of wins and losses.

Worse, the Dolphins are minus-10 in turnover margin in the three-season McDaniel era. They beat themselves.

The trend was worse against good teams in 2024.

The Dolphins, who are 4-16 against playoff teams in the McDaniel era, were 1-4 against playoff teams last season.

They were minus-7 in turnover margin in those five games against playoff teams.

Penalties were fairly even in games against playoff teams. The Dolphins had 34 penalties for 261 yards while opponents had 25 penalties for 253 yards.

Still, Dolphins must stop beating themselves.

Here’s what McDaniel said the day after the 30-17 loss at Green Bay:

“One of the biggest things that good teams do when they’re playing good teams is they play clean football and allow the opponents to make mistakes — that’s what the Packers did to us.”

The Dolphins have a lot of improvements to make in 2025. But everything starts with playing smarter, more disciplined football.