Opportunity lost
Dolphins turn ball over on four of first six possessions.
After staggering through three quarters, Miami let its chance at victory slip away,
MIAMI GARDENS — The fool’s gold was there for the taking.
The Dolphins had bumbled and stumbled their way to a 20-all tie, Matt Moore was on a roll in relief, the defense was pitching a second-half shutout and, with one or two big plays, a victory and a 5-5 record was there for the taking.
The Dolphins could have then talked about pulling out things late again, the 180 receiving yards by Kenny Stills and how committing 17 penalties and five turnovers couldn’t stop them, as if they’re too good a team to let such things stop them.
But they can’t talk about any of that today.
Instead, they can look at the standings and see that they’re 4-6 and on a four-game losing streak following a 30-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And they know that nothing short of a miracle — nothing short of running the table — will allow them to even match their record and playoff berth last year.
No, the Dolphins aren’t a team that can commit 17 penalties and get away with it. They’re a team that commits 17 penalties, including the pre-snap variety in the red zone and another to wipe out a 48-yard gain.
They’re a team that never seems to show up until halftime and they followed their script to a T on Sunday, turning over the ball on four of their first six possessions to gift-wrap the Bucs 17 points.
Speaking of the Bucs, they entered with a 3-6 record and their starting quarterback, Jameis Winston, injured, which were about the only two reasons the Dolphins were still in it late. Unfortunately for Miami, the cozy part of their schedule is virtually complete, and they’re about to step up in class starting next Sunday when they visit New England, a division-leading opponent they’ll see twice in the next three weeks.
“I’ve always been a guy who thinks we always have zero margin for error from the first ball snapped at the beginning of the season, but obviously as we get closer and closer, the math starts leaning away from you,” defensive end Cameron Wake said. “So if our ultimate goal is to be champions and do things in the postseason, then obviously it’s more urgent.”
Asked how to snap the losing streak, safety Reshad Jones said, “We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing.”
Asked how to cease with the slow starts, Stills said, “Honestly, I thought we did a good job.”
And, asked how to get things untracked, running back Damien Williams said, “We have a great defense. We have a great team. The only thing that’s holding us back are the penalties, and those are self-inflicted. As soon as we get that out of the way, the sky’s the limit.”
It may have appeared that way for a few moments of the fourth quarter, but only a few. After the Dolphins made it 20-all when the Bucs let Stills romp through the secondary for a 61-yard touchdown bomb, Tampa took over on its 25-yard line with three minutes left. Since Miami’s defense had stifled the Bucs in the second half to that point, overtime seemed likely.
Then? “They just made a couple of plays,” Jones said.
Make that a few. Ryan Fitzpatrick sliced up Miami’s defense, hitting Mike Evans for 17 yards to start the drive. Then he found rookie Chris Godwin for 14 and 24 yards. That landed the Bucs on Miami’s 20-yard line, allowing Patrick Murray to kick a 35-yard field goal with four seconds remaining.
Next, the Dolphins’ desperation, rugby-style kickoff return resulted in a fumbled lateral that the Bucs recovered in the end zone for a 10-point victory.
Plenty went wrong before that fumble — some the Dolphins’ own doing, some not.
With 9 1/2 minutes left, the Bucs were pinned in their own end following a punt. On third-and-17 from the Bucs’ 8, tackle Demar Dotson, trying to hold off the Dolphins’ defensive line, was driven backward into Fitzpatrick, who in turn was forced into the end zone, where he was sacked by Jordan Phillips.
Officials ruled Fitzpatrick was just out of the end zone when Phillips began to take him down, but Dolphins coach Adam Gase challenged the call, believing it was a safety. On Fox’s telecast, rules expert Mike Pereira agreed, yet the final ruling allowed the original call to stand.
“We can’t ref the game and be players,” Jones said. “It looked like a safety.”
“Should have been a safety,” Jarvis Landry said.
Anthony Fasano scored what looked like a 1-yard touchdown to open the third quarter, but officials ruled he pushed off on ex-Dolphin Brent Grimes, forcing the Dolphins to settle for a field goal. Miami’s 17 penalties (for 123 yards) were one shy of the team record.
In the end, a victory — or at least overtime — was there ... but then it wasn’t.
Darkness then fell late Sunday afternoon over South Florida, perhaps taking another Dolphins season with it.