Who deserves the blame for the Miami Dolphins’ 31-23 loss to Seattle?
Week 4 for the Miami Dolphins felt a lot like the first quarter of the 2020 season for the Dolphins as a whole. There was plenty of improvements from last year’s lethargic team in the early portions of the 2019 season — but overall this team’s youth and inexperience proved to be too much as the Dolphins butted heads with a superior opponent.
That’s perhaps the most frustrating piece of the puzzle for the Dolphins. This is a team that has had to play two legitimate MVP candidates in the first four games of the season in Josh Allen and Russell Wilson — both of whom have quarterbacked their teams to undefeated 4-0 records. And in Miami’s other loss, the Dolphins entered the season against the greatest coach of all-time,. who enjoyed unveiling a brand new offense for the first time in twenty years. The schedule makers weren’t overly kind to a Dolphins team that needed some generosity if they were going to hit the ground running this season.
But who deserves the bulk of the blame for Miami’s most recent loss, a 31-23 decision against the Seattle Seahawks? Here are our five biggest candidates:
Oct 4, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) attempts a pass against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
This was a full-on “Fitztragic” meltdown performance for Ryan Fitzpatrick. One week after he was incredibly in rhythm and seemingly couldn’t miss, Fitzpatrick seemingly couldn’t get anything right against Seattle’s zone coverages early on. While he did endure pressure on both of his two interceptions that seemed to influence his throws, Fitzpatrick threw at least two additional would-be interceptions that were simply just dropped by the defense.
His decision making was poor and he seemed to predesignate his reads on a handful of occasions instead of working progressions to find a more available receiver to target with the football.
Oct 4, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf (14) runs with the ball around Miami Dolphins cornerback Noah Igbinoghene (23) during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
DB Noah Igbinoghene
The rookie had a bad, terrible, no good day against Seattle. With the Dolphins trailing 17-15, the Seattle Seahawks’ headsets reportedly went out, leaving Russell Wilson to operate the offense on his own. And, conveniently enough, that was right about the time that Seattle seemed to find Igbinoghene again and again. There was the deep crosser for a big gain and then the touch pass that came to Igbinoghene’s side of the field — where he was stuck on a block for far too long. Finally, that drive was capped with a looping touchdown from Wilson to David Moore in the back corner of the end zone. Igbinoghene seemed to underestimate the room Wilson had to work with in the end zone on the play, sagging off in his zone before frantically trying to close the gap.
That doesn’t even work in Miami’s most egregious gaffe on defense, Igbinoghene’s poor judgement in the final 20 seconds of the first half — when he jumped down out of deep third coverage to try to jump a throw from Wilson. That play left Moore streaking down the left sideline and gained 57 yards before Wilson promptly got Seattle into the end zone to take a 17-9 lead into halftime less than 30 seconds after Miami kicked a field goal to cut the score to 10-9.
Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, September 20, 2020. [ALLEN EYESTONE/The Palm Beach Post]
Head coach Brian Flores
Brian Flores is not above critiques for his performance against Seattle — this was not his best coaching job. The Dolphins punted the ball back to Seattle early in the game after it was ruled that Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an illegal forward pass to Mike Gesicki to convert a third down. But every replay of the toss seemed to show Fitzpatrick behind the official line of scrimmage — yet the Dolphins did not challenge the play and ultimately punted the ball back to Seattle instead.
But the root of Flores’ issues stems more so from the decision making. The Dolphins were 1 of 3 in the red zone and opted to kick field goals on five consecutive possessions — including passing up 4th & 3 from the 11, 4th & 4 from the 27, 4th & 5 from the 25 and 4th & 5 from the 11 once again at the end of a 17 play drive.
You can’t “take the three points” against quarterbacks like Russell Wilson. That’s how Wilson ends up seeing his offense marginalized in the second half and still magically outscoring the other team — which is exactly what he did.
Oct 4, 2020; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah (91) and defensive end Zach Sieler (92) sack Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Seattle QB Russell Wilson
Wilson finished 24-34 passing for 360 yards, 2 touchdowns and one interception. The Dolphins managed to sack him twice and, if you’re into silver linings, held Seattle to their lowest point total of the season thus far. Wilson is playing as one of the best quarterbacks in the game and you have to play a full 60 minute effort against him or he’s going to kill you. Miami played well against Wilson for probably 55 minutes worth of game clock — but those other five minutes were enough to get Seattle over the top.
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The officials
Through all the field goals, would-be Fitzpatrick interceptions and Noah Igbinoghene’s lapses in coverage — Miami found themselves down one score and facing 3rd down on defense near midfield with a minute left on the clock. RB Chris Carson plunged into the pile and seemed to get a generous spot from the official — and even then the Dolphins appeared to have space between the yard marker and the tip of the ball. But it was called a first down anyway, reviewed and ruled to have no conclusive evidence to change the call.
Add in Seattle not having a single penalty logged against them all game (the only Seattle calls came with an offsetting Miami foul) — including a no call on a clear shot to the head/neck of a defenseless Dolphins’ receiver — and the officials did Miami no favors in Week 4.
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Conclusion
So who is most to blame for the Dolphins’ 31-23 loss to the Seattle Seahawks? Here’s our best allotment of blame:
Seattle QB Russell Wilson
Dolphins coach Brian Flores
Dolphins CB Noah Igbinoghene
Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
The officials
