In Defense of the Defense

The Miami Dolphins wasn't able to dominate against Tennessee as it had in previous week, but it also played more than well enough to win

Let's get it out of the way immediately: If you think the defense was the problem for the Miami Dolphins in their loss against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, go back and re-watch the game.

If you think the defense got "run over" because you're doing nothing but looking at the final — and very misleading — stats, go back and re-watch the game.

That perception, which is out there on social media, is flat out off the mark.

The Dolphins defense, on the contrary, gave the team every opportunity to win the game until the officials decided not to call the previous obvious defensive pass interference against Tennessee on fourth-and-11 and DeVante Parker's complaint — totally understandable given how bad the no-call was — and the Titans took over at their own 42.

DOLPHINS WERE IN THE GAME UNTIL MIDWAY THROUGH THE FOURTH QUARTER

Over the final 7:42, the Titans scored 17 points to turn a 17-3 game into a 34-3 final. 

And while Tennessee finished with 198 rushing yards, it needs to be mentioned the Titans got runs of 35 and 39 yards after the no-call that essentially ended the game.

So if the defense wore down or stopped fighting so hard in the final 10 minutes, maybe everybody can cut those guys some slack.

Or did everybody get upset because the Dolphins defense couldn't dominate Tennessee the way it did during the seven-game winning streak?

Maybe this is where we point out that the Dolphins weren't facing Zach Wilson, Mike Glennon or Ian Book on this day.

GIVING RYAN TANNEHILL HIS DUE

Ryan Tannehill isn't a great quarterback, but he's a very good game manager with experience who understands the circumstances very well. And the circumstances in this game dictated that he not take any chances because it was pretty obvious from the start that the Dolphins offense was going to have a hard time putting points on the board.

But, sorry, there's no shame in holding a team to 17 points until midway through the fourth quarter, particularly when that team now is in line to become the top seed in the conference.

Let's also understand that Tennessee had 209 total yards through three quarters and finished with 308, which would rank third in the NFL as a season average.

Only two of Tennessee's six scoring drives were longer than 46 yards and its final 10 points came off drives that began in Dolphins territory.

This wasn't like the loss that ended the Dolphins' playoff loss last season, the beat-down at Buffalo, because in that game both the offense and defense were overmatched.

NIGHTMARISH DAY FOR DOLPHINS OFFENSE

This was about the offense.

That offense came through when the Dolphins gave up 17 and 24 points in the two games against the Jets, just like any offense around the NFL has to come through from time to time.

But even in those games the Dolphins defense was able to create a turnover.

Miami came close on Sunday, particularly on the third-quarter fumble that officials ruled that Tennessee recovered even though Emmanuel Ogbah came out of the pile with the ball — and, no, Brian Flores shouldn't have challenged the ruling because there was no replay that provided clear evidence of a Dolphins recovery and therefore the call on the field would have stood.

The Dolphins had another chance when Tannehill muffed a handoff to Dontrell Hilliard, but the Titans were able to recover that ball.

The offense certainly could have used a short field considering how badly it struggled, finishing with only 256 total yards and converting only 3 of 12 third-down situations.

That big turnover, that momentum-swinging play, that was what was missing from the Dolphins' defensive performance against Tennessee.

But, beyond that, the defense actually played a solid game. Don't get blinded by the numbers. Watch the game again and trust your eyes.

The defense easily was the biggest reason for the seven-game winning streak that put the Dolphins in a playoff position — if only for a week. It most definitely wasn't the defense that brought about the end of not only the winning streak but the playoff hopes as well.