PITTSBURGH \u2014 Playoff hopes were on the line Monday night when the Dolphins faced the Pittsburgh Steelers. A Dolphins loss, and their playoff hopes were dashed for the second consecutive season. <\/p>\n
Guess what<\/a>?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dolphins\u2019 playoff hopes are over after Monday\u2019s 28-15 loss at Pittsburgh<\/a> ended their winning streak at four games and dropped their season record to 6-8.<\/p>\n The Steelers entered Monday\u2019s game riding an amazing 22-game Monday night winning streak \u2014 they hadn\u2019t lost a Monday night home game since 1991.\u00a0<\/p>\n There was another cool thing on the line Monday. The Dolphins<\/a>, who started the season 2-7, were trying to become the fifth team in NFL history to reach .500 after starting 2-7, joining the 2021 Dolphins, among others.<\/p>\n And, of course, there were personal and business stakes in this one considering the Dolphins and Steelers engaged in a blockbuster offseason trade.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we learned Monday night:<\/p>\n Dolphins in \u2018cold weather\u2019<\/p>\n When I talk about the Dolphins in \u201ccold weather\u201d the line of delineation is 45 degrees. It was 17 degrees at kickoff Monday but cold weather didn\u2019t cause this loss. For what it\u2019s worth, in the coach Mike McDaniel era, the Dolphins are now 1-6 in \u201ccold weather\u201d games.<\/p>\n Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is now 1-4 in suchgames under McDaniel because he didn\u2019t play in the Buffalo playoff game or last season\u2019s finale at the New York Jets.<\/p>\n Under McDaniel, the Dolphins lost to Pittsburgh in cold weather (28-9), defeated the Jets in cold weather earlier this season (34-10), lost to the Jets in last season\u2019s finale (32-20), lost to Green Bay on Thanksgiving 2024 (30-17), lost to Kansas City in the 2023 playoffs (26-7), lost to Buffalo in the 2022 playoffs (34-31), and lost to Buffalo in the 2022 regular season (32-29). \u2014 Chris Perkins<\/p>\n McDaniel road record, and December road record<\/p>\n McDaniel is now 12-21 (.364) on the road, and 12-22 (.353) including playoffs on the road. Both are poor marks. Typically, teams want to go at least .500 on the road.<\/p>\n McDaniel is now 3-6 (.333) on the road in December. He was 0-3 in 2022, losing at San Francisco, the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo; he was 1-1 in 2023, winning at Washington and losing at Baltimore; he was 1-1 in 2024, losing at Houston and winning at Cleveland; he\u2019s 1-1 this season winning at the New York Jets and losing at Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n McDaniel is 34-32 (.523) overall, 34-33 (.508) including playoffs.<\/p>\n Tua record in \u201ccold weather\u201d under McDaniel<\/p>\n Tagovailoa is now 1-4 in cold weather games in the McDaniel era. Tagovailoa entered Monday\u2019s game with a 1-3 record in these games in the McDaniel era. He was 87 of 136 for 891 yards, six touchdowns and one interception and a 94.3 passer rating.<\/p>\n In his cold weather games under McDaniel, Tagovailoa lost to Pittsburgh on Monday, defeated the Jets earlier this season and lost to Kansas City in the 2023 playoffs, lost to Green Bay on Thanksgiving last season and lost to Buffalo in the 2022 regular season.<\/p>\n Dolphins score first in seventh consecutive game<\/p>\n The Dolphins scored first Monday, taking a 3-0 lead on a 54-yard field goal by kicker Riley Patterson in the second quarter, and have now scored first in their past seven games. This was the first time in the stretch the Dolphins didn\u2019t score in the first quarter. It should be noted this was yet another occasion in which the Dolphins won the pregame coin toss and opted to receive the ball instead of deferring until the third quarter.<\/p>\n De\u2019Von Achane held in check<\/p>\n Running back De\u2019Von Achane ended with 61 yards rushing on 12 carries, his worst showing since 10 carries for 16 yards in a 27-24 loss against Carolina on Oct. 5. Achane had six receptions for 68 yards Monday, marking the third time this season he\u2019s had more receiving yards than rushing yards. He had seven receptions for 30 yards against Carolina, and in a 33-27 loss against New England on Sept. 14, Achane had 10 receptions for 92 yards and 11 carries for 30 yards.<\/p>\n Tua\u2019s INTs reach career worst<\/p>\n Tagovailoa (22 of 28, 254 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) threw his career-worst 15th interception Monday, and it came in his 14th game. In 2023, Tagovailoa threw 14 interceptions in 17 games.<\/p>\n Tagovailoa\u2019s interception on Monday came in the first quarter when he was targeting wide receiver Jaylen Waddle on a deep route. Cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., who attended St. Thomas Aquinas High, drifted over to record the interception on a pass that was slightly underthrown.<\/p>\n Tagovailoa had a potential interception that was dropped by outside linebacker Alex Highsmith.<\/p>\n Scoring defense takes a hit<\/p>\n The Dolphins defense entered Monday\u2019s game having allowed just 10 touchdowns in the past six games. But Pittsburgh solved that mystery by scoring four unanswered touchdowns from the second to fourth quarters.<\/p>\n The Dolphins ranked 15th in scoring defense (22.8 points allowed per game) before Monday\u2019s game and had only allowed one team in the past six games to score more than 17 points (Baltimore, which scored 28 points).<\/p>\n Sieler coming alive<\/p>\n Defensive tackle Zach Sieler, who sacked Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the second quarter, now has 4.5 sacks on the season, all of them coming in the past five games. Sieler is coming off back-to-back 10-sack seasons and signed a three-year, $64 million extension during the offseason. Sieler was shaken up briefly early in the fourth quarter when he was slammed to the ground on an extra point attempt but he returned to the game.<\/p>\n Special teams woes<\/p>\n Kicker Riley Patterson had a short kickoff, giving Pittsburgh the ball at the 40-yard line right after he made a 54-yard field goal. Special teams also had a delay of game on a punt as their woes continue to mount. So far this season special teams have run into the punter, roughed the punter, allowed kickoff and punt return touchdowns, failed to recover an onside kick and allowed a fake punt.<\/p>\n The Steelers scored a go-ahead touchdown to take a 7-3 lead after getting the short-field on the kickoff. They then scored another touchdown on their first possession of the second half and never looked back.<\/p>\n