Dolphins Shocked on Monday Night

The Dolphins blew a late 14-point lead to suffer their first home loss of the season

An absolute collapse.

There's no other way to describe what happened to the Miami Dolphins on Monday night when they blew a 14-point lead in the final 4:34 in a stunning 28-27 loss against the Tennessee Titans.

It was the first home loss of the season for Miami and the first road victory for Tennessee, which got the game-winning touchdown on a 3-yard run by Derrick Henry with 1:49 left.

Needing a field goal to win, the Dolphins saw their last drive end when Tua Tagovailoa was sacked on fourth down.

The loss kept the Dolphins from regaining the top spot in the AFC standings and kept their magic number for clinching the AFC East title at three.

The Dolphins took advantage of two bad Tennessee miscues to turn a 13-13 tie in the fourth quarter into a 27-13 lead.

The first was a muffed punt inside the 10-yard line when returner Eric Garror tried to field a bouncing punt and the second was a fumble on a botched pitch from rookie QB Will Levis to running back Derrick Henry.

Raheem Mostert was the benefactor of both mistakes, scoring on touchdown runs of 3 and 5 yards.

But Tennessee quickly moved down the field to score a touchdown and make it a six-point game with a two-point conversion. The Dolphins then went three-and-out to give Tennessee the ball again and the Titans march 64 yards on four plays, starting with a 36-yard completion from Will Levis to DeAndre Hopkins.

The other Dolphins touchdown came courtesy of defensive tackle Zach Sieler on a 5-yard interception return, with Jason Sanders adding two field goals.

Already without starting offensive linemen Terron Armstead and Robert Hunt, the Dolphins lost center Connor Williams to a knee injury in the first half that is believed to be serious.

In addition, wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, cornerback Xavien Howard and safety DeShon Elliott all sustained injuries, although they all were able to come back.

But Hill missed most of the first half and the start of the third quarter and the offense stalled without him and the starting offensive linemen.

The Dolphins defense shut down Derrick Henry, even though he did score on a 1-yard run, and really only had issues with wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and rookie running back Tyjae Spears.

The defense scored a touchdown for the third consecutive week when Sieler grabbed a screen pass thrown right at him and returned the pick 5 yards for the score of the game.

But the Dolphins were sloppy at times, too.

Bradley Chubb's brief loss of composure cost the Dolphins four points in the first half when he was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after a third-down scramble by Titans rookie QB Will Levis to give the Titans a free first down.

Sanders later had a 44-yard field goal blocked by Denico Autry when Autry slipped between two linemen.

The Dolphins offense had good balance, though it didn't produce the big numbers we've seen all season at home.

Miami finished with 342 yards, 158 on the ground and 208 through the air, but Tua was held without a touchdown pass for the first time since Week 4 of the 2022 season.