Dolphins-Titans Complete Week 14 Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' 28-27 loss against the Tennessee Titans at Hard Rock Stadium

Here's what caught our eye during the Miami Dolphins' Week 14 loss against the Tennessee Titans at Hard Rock Stadium.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which was led by tackle Terron Armstead, guard Robert Hunt and safety Jevon Holland all out because of injuries.

-- Also inactive WR Robbie Chosen, CB Eli Apple and TE Tyler Kroft, along with Skylar Thompson again serving as the emergency third quarterback.

-- Guard Robert Jones was back in the lineup after missing three games with a knee injury.

FIRST QUARTER

-- With Armstead and Hunt out, Kendall Lamm started at left tackle, with Lester Cotton at left guard and Liam Eichenberg at right guard.

-- The Dolphins, though, started on defense after winning the coin toss for the 12th time in 14 games this season.

-- It was a massively impressive first defensive series that began with David Long Jr. shooting the gap and dropping Derrick Henry for a 1-yard loss.

-- On third-and-10, Xavien Howard had tight coverage to force an incompletion, but he got hit by safety Brandon Jones coming over to help and sustained a leg injury. Remember that it was Brandon Jones taking out Jerome Baker that caused the knee injury that landed Baker on IR.

-- On Miami's second offensive snap, Tua threw an absolute dart between defenders to Jaylen Waddle for a 16-yard gain, but Waddle left the game after sustaining an upper-body injury.

-- The Dolphins then converted a third-and-6 when Tyreek Hill went low to catch a 19-yard pass near the sideline.

-- On the next play, center Connor Williams left with a lower-leg injury, the third Dolphins player hurt in nine snaps.

-- With Williams out, Eichenberg moved to center, with Robert Jones replacing Eichenberg at right guard.

-- On the next play, Jones had the key block to open a huge hole for Raheem Mostert for a 14-yard run.

-- The Dolphins moved to a second-and-goal from the 2, but a botched handoff from Eichenberg to Tua set in motion a disastrous play.

-- Tua initially dropped the ball, but was able to pick it up. But almost as soon as he started dropping back he had a defender in his face, who knocked the ball away from him and the Titans recovered the fumble at their 7.

-- The Dolphins began the next series with Howard back on the field, but it was Zach Sieler who stepped up with the biggest play of the game to that point.

-- On third-and-11 from the 6, Levis tried to throw a screen pass, but he put it right into the gut of Sieler, who waltzed 5 yards for the Dolphins' third defensive touchdown in three games and a 7-0 lead.

-- Tennessee got its first first down on its next possession when Levis threaded the needle to tight end Chigo Okonkwo despite tight coverage from Howard.

-- The drive ended when Christian Wilkins looped around Sieler on his pass rush and had clear path and dropped Levis for a sack.

-- The Dolphins began its second drive on its 12 and got a second good run, this one by De'Von Achane good for 15 yards on an end-around.

-- As Howard before him, Waddle returned to the game and caught a 13-yard pass from Tua.

-- On the next play, though, Hill was left with no room after catching a screen and it was his turn to get injured when the tackler landed on his lower left leg. After staying down and limping, Hill sprinted the final few yards to get to the Dolphins sideline and then stood on the sideline without his helmet but without going into the blue tent.

-- The quarter ended with a 7-yard run by Achane after Eichenberg was flagged for holding downfield.

SECOND QUARTER

-- The Dolphins began the quarter in Titans territory, but the drive stalled after a third-down incompletion where safety Amari Hooker dropped what looked like an easy interception over the middle after Tua moved to his left in the pocket.

-- The Titans began their next drive at their 14 and held the ball for half the quarter while picking up seven first downs.

-- It was a bad drive for Bradley Chubb, who had pressure on a play that ended in an 11-yard completion to rookie running back Tyjae Spears.

-- But that was nothing compared to his blunder later in the drive. On third-and-10 from the Miami 30, Chubb had a sure sack that would have knocked Tennessee out of field goal range, but Levis somehow got away from him and managed to gain 5 yards on a scramble. Walking off the field, Chubb's frustration came to the fore when he threw his helmet to the ground while in the field of play and he got a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

-- Levis then gained 11 yards on another scramble before Henry ended the drive with a 1-yard touchdown off the Wildcat formation to tie the score 7-7.

-- The Dolphins came back with another productive drive, spurred by the running game.

-- Mostert started it with a 14-yard gain, followed by an 11-yarder for Achane before Tua converted a third-and-1 with an 8-yard run off the option.

-- A sack when Julian Hill was late to pick up rusher Arden Key derailed the drive and the Dolphins faced a fourth-and-6 from the Tennessee 26 at the two-minute warning.

-- The score remained tied when Sanders' kick was blocked by defensive lineman Denico Autry.

-- The Dolphins offense got another shot late in the first half after forcing a Tennessee punt — thanks in large part to a holding penalty on a second-and-5 run.

-- On first down from the Miami 31, Tua did a nice job of maneuvering around pressure in the pocket and found Achane near the sideline for an 8-yard gain.

-- The drive stalled after pressure forced two incompletions.

-- Tennessee got the ball at its 21 with 28 seconds left and maybe surprisingly threw the ball, and a second-down completion of 22 yards to DeAndre Hopkins over Howard put the ball at mdfield,

-- Tennessee then got a huge play with a 45-yard completion to Hopkins, but as ESPN analyst Louis Riddick correctly pointed out, it happened after Hopkins pulled down Howard by dragging his right arm.

-- Howard then came up with two nice pass breakups to force Tennessee to settle for a field goal, but it still meant a surprising 10-7 lead for Tennessee at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

-- As they usually do, the Dolphins had success offensively on the first drive of the second half, though it didn't end the way they had hoped.

-- The two big plays of the drive involved wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., who made a nifty catch near the sideline good for 22 yards and later drew a DPI on cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.

-- On the 22-yard completion, the Dolphins might have caught a break by being able to run another play before Tennessee could challenge because it did look that Wilson's right foot touched out of bounds before he got his left foot down. Either way, it was a nifty catch by Wilson.

-- The DPI gave Miami a first-and-goal at the 10, but they had to settle for a field goal when Tua's third-down pass to Wilson on a fade fell incomplete. Murphy-Bunting had his hands on Wilson's jersey as the ball was getting to him and easily could have been called for another penalty, but no luck that time.

-- Sanders' 20-yard chip-shot field goal tied the score at 10-10.

-- Tennessee's ensuing possession features a couple of nice plays by the defense, starting with Kader Kohou forcing an incompletion when he blitzed and drilled Levis just as he released the ball.

-- Then on third down, Xavien Howard and Brandon Jones teamed up with good coverage to force an incompletion on a long shot to Trey Burks.

-- The Dolphins' ensuing three-and-out drive ended with a deep incompletion on a pass intended for Achane, who seemed to slow down a tad at one point and couldn't catch up to Tua's throw.

-- A couple of defensive miscues on the next series helped Tennessee drive for a field goal.

-- On a third-and-5, Bradley Chubb went inside hard on his pass rush, opening up space for Spears to run and gain 8 yards after taking a pitch.

-- The Dolphins then allowed a 15-yard completion down the left sideline to Derrick Henry after Jalen Ramsey moved inside for another receiver and safety Brandon Jones was late coming over.

-- On another third down, Levis threw a nice pass to Spears downfield between Howard and DeShon Elliott for a 30-yard gain that was upheld after an unsuccessful challenge by the Dolphins that Spears didn't complete the catch before Elliott's hit knocked the ball loose and eventually out of bounds.

-- That play set up Nick Folk's 23-yard field goal, which gave Tennessee a 13-10 lead.

-- On the final play of the quarter, Tua connected with Hill near the right sideline for an easy pitch-and-catch good for 23.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- Two plays into the quarter, Tua delivered one of his prettiest passes of the night when he floated the ball over a defender and right to Hill near the sideline at the Titans 6-yard line.

-- The Dolphins called for three consecutive pass plays, but the end result was a loss of 7 yards and having to settle for a Sanders field goal that tied the score again, 13-13.

-- After Tua's 3-yard scramble on first down, the Dolphins went back to the fade, but. Hill didn't create much separation and Tua threw the ball far ahead of him. On third down, Tua slipped while trying to avoid pressure in the pocket and the result was a 10-yard sack.

-- After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Dolphins got close to midfield before a couple of offensive line miscues stalled the drive.

-- First there was a holding penalty on left guard Lester Cotton that put the Dolphins in a first-and-20 situation and it was followed on third-and-6 from the Tennessee 49 by right guard Robert Jones getting beat for a sack.

-- That's when the Dolphins caught a break with Titans punt returner Eric Garror's gaffe and quick reflexes by gunner Elijah Campbell to jump on the ball after it Garror, giving Miami the ball at the Tennessee 7-yard line.

-- Two Mostert runs and the Dolphins were in the end zone and back on top, 20-13.

-- Another break for the Dolphins on the very next snap when Levis' pitch to Henry was off the mark, it was bobbled and ended on the ground, where Chubb recovered at the Tennessee 12.

-- Two more runs, sandwhiched around an offside penalty, and Mostert scored again, making it 27-13.

-- There was 4:34 left in the fourth quarter and the Dolphins appeared well on their way to a 10-3 record and regaining the top spot in the AFC standings.

-- Not so fast, as somebody famous once said.

-- Though we can't imagine they would have punted, the Titans did convert a third-and-4 from their 31 early in the next drive before two big plays — a 21-yard screen to Spears and a 23-yard completion to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine between Kader Kohou, Elijah Campbell and David Long Jr.

-- Props to Levis for his improvisation on his 3-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins, which set up the two-point conversion that put the Titans to pull the upset comeback in regulation.

-- On that two-point conversion, Howard and Kohou both stayed with Hopkins as he ran toward the middle, leaving Westbrook-Ikhine wide open after he ran outside.

-- Up 27-21 with 2:40 left, the Dolphins probably needed only one first down (maybe two) to seal the victory, but they failed after a disappointing three-and-out that included a declined holding penalty on Eichenberg when Tua scrambled for 4 yards on third-and-6.

-- After a mediocre punt of only 31 net yards (45-yard punt, 14-yard return), Tennessee began its final drive at its 36.

-- In two plays, the Titans were at the Miami 12.

-- The crushing 36-yard completion to Hopkins after he ran across the middle looked like a case of miscommunication because it's hard to think that Jalen Ramsey would be asked to cover him in man after starting the play off the ball.

-- Then came the weird "abrupt movement" call against Sieler that resulted in a delay of game penalty when it first appeared Tennessee would be flagged for a false start that would have made it second-and-8 from the 11. It is in the rulebook, but the interpretationcomes down to whether Sieler's movement was considered a normal football move as opposed to a deliberate to make the offense move.

-- In any event, the penalty was followed on the next play by Henry's 3-yard touchdown, with the extra point giving Tennessee a 28-27 lead.

-- The Dolphins used up all their timeouts on Tennessee's final drive to save time, but they only needed a field goal to win the game after they started at their 26 following Braxton Berrios' kickoff return with 1:45 on the clock.

-- This was not a good two-minute drill because while Tua completed four of his five passes, none of them were for more than 7 yards and all but one saw the receiver tackled in bounds to keep the clock moving.

-- The one incompletion came when Harold Landry beat Austin Jackson and was ready to sack Tua until the QB flicked the ball away at the last second.

-- The crucial play came on third-and-3 from the Miami 44 with 48 seconds left at the snap when Tua threw a swing pass to Achane. The rookie did a nice job of avoiding a tackle in the backfield, but could only gain 1 yard and then confusion ensued when the official closest to the play signaled he had been tackled out of bounds before another official came in from downfield and overruled him and kept the clock moving — all this while Dolphins players had their backs turned walking toward the huddle.

-- In any event, it was now fourth-and-2 from the 45 and the ball was snapped with 26 seconds left. The pocket quickly collapsed around Tua and when he tried to escape by going forward, Robert Jones accidentally hit his leg, which made the QB stumble. By that time, Harold Landry was on top of him, ready to take him for a game-clinching sack.

-- And, just like that, as unbelievable as it was, the Dolphins had lost at home for the first time all season, 28-27.

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