The Miami Dolphins' three-game winning streak is over, after the Tennessee Titans' 28-27 comeback win on Monday night. Miami's first loss since Nov. 5 was the first time since 1976 that a team trailed by at least 14 points with under three minutes remaining and went on to win in regulation, per Elias Sports Bureau.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said the way they lost is a "hard, hard lesson" that a large lead in the NFL is far from enough to win a game.
With 3:59 to go in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins had a 99.7% chance of winning the game, per ESPN and then things took an ugly turn for the home team.
With 2:40 remaining in the game Titans quarterback Will Levis found DeAndre Hopkins for a 3-yard touchdown and the two-point conversion was successful. The defense stepped up on the next drive, causing the Dolphins to go three-and-out. It only took the Titans 26 seconds to grab the lead.
Running back Derrick Henry capped off the 64-yard, four-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown to make it 28-27 and the game was sealed with the Dolphins turning the ball over on downs on the following drive. The 15 unanswered points humbled McDaniel.
"I think you have to because it's a humbling game, and you think that you're a good football team, but then each and every week you have to prove that on the field and you can't take anything for granted," McDaniel said (via NBC Sports).
The head coach said the goal is to not let the loss linger and disrupt the locker room.
"Right now it feels terrible, but that's everything that we'll be trying to do moving forward because these types of losses can be very galvanizing, but it takes literally every person in the locker room and coaching staff, and you have to — as long as guys aren't pointing fingers, which I feel like there's a lot of people looking internally, you have that chance, and that's what we'll be spending our time doing," he said.
The Dolphins were without star wide receiver Tyreek Hill for most of the game, after he went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter and came back in the third. They were also thin on the offensive line and their defense allowed big plays in crucial moments.
The Dolphins took five trips to the red zone and only got in the end zone twice, something McDaniel said was a major reason for the "legitimate team loss."
The Dolphins now sit at 9-4 and trail the 10-3 Baltimore Ravens in the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Up next for Miami is a divisional matchup at home against the New York Jets.
