MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Midway through the fourth quarter Sunday, the song “This Is How We Do It’’ blared out of the Sun Life Stadium loudspeakers.
But this was not how you do it if you want to win a football game. The Miami Dolphins were at the time trailing the Tennessee Titans 37-3, which turned out to be the final score.
“I’m embarrassed by the way we played,’’ Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill said.
Most of all, it was unexpected. When the Dolphins (4-5) lose, it’s usually because they choke and suffer a heartbreaker. They lost their opener 30-10 at Houston, but their three other defeats had each come by three points after losing second-half leads.
Not this one. The Dolphins fell behind 21-0 early in the second quarter and went on to suffer their worst home defeat since the Lyndon Johnson administration.
The only Miami home loss ever worse was 48-3 to Kansas City on Sept. 28, 1968, when Dolphins coach Joe Philbin was 7 and the team was playing in the AFL. It was Miami’s worst overall defeat since a 62-7 playoff loss at Jacksonville on Jan. 15, 2000, and the worst regular-season loss since 41-0 at Indianapolis on Dec. 14, 1997.
“It’s the worst game by far we’ve ever played as a defense and as a team,’’ said Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby, who watched Tennessee’s Chris Johnson gain 126 yards to become the first back to rush for 100 or more yards against the Dolphins in 22 games.
Nobody’s arguing that. But it seemed quite a strange time for such a lopsided loss.
The confident Dolphins had been talking playoffs in recent weeks, and nobody had been snickering. But they came out flat in a very winnable game and might have really wrecked their playoff hopes.
The Dolphins were facing a Tennessee outfit that was walloped the previous week 51-20 at home to Chicago and looked to be going nowhere. But give the Titans (4-6) four turnovers, and even they can look like the 1972 Dolphins.
All three Tennessee starting linebackers picked off Tannehill passes, including Colin McCarthy returning one 49 yards for a touchdown and the 21-0 lead in the first minute of the second quarter. The interceptions ended a streak of 107 straight passes the rookie Tannehill had thrown without a mishap.
“I didn’t play well, and we didn’t play well as a team,’’ Tannehill said after the loss before an announced crowd of 60,165, which looked to be a fourth of that late in the game. “We have a big divisional game (Thursday) in Buffalo, so we have to learn from this, take everything we can from it, but get over it quickly.’’
At least Tannehill, who completed 23 of 39 passes for 217 yards, was spared from being benched until the fourth quarter. It didn’t take long for running back Reggie Bush to be yanked, which came after he lost a fumble midway through the first quarter.
“I didn’t deserve to be back in the game,’’ Bush said. “I fumbled the ball and I’ve had two (other) fumbles lost this year, so I’ve got to do a better job protecting the ball.’’
Bush said he never was told directly the fumble led to the benching. He finally returned in the second half but didn’t get another carry, finishing the day with 21 yards on four totes.
Bush wasn’t the only veteran sat down by Philbin. After tackle Richie Incognito was called for a personal foul early in the second quarter for shoving McCarthy after the whistle, Philbin sent him to the sidelines until the second half.
“I take full responsibility for it,’’ Incognito said of the penalty that wiped out a play that led to the Titans 14 and pushed the Dolphins back to the Tennessee 43 before they settled for a field goal. “It hurt the team and pushed us out of a scoring opportunity. It’s just a dumb mistake on my part.’’
The Sporting News last week released a player poll that dubbed Incognito the second-dirtiest player in the league behind Detroit’s . It doesn’t look to be a good time for Incognito to request a recount.
But credit Philbin for not being wary about disciplining two veterans. The Dolphins are in this for the long haul, and continued lost fumbles by Bush and foolish penalties by Incognito have no place in Philbin country.
“We all have to accept responsibility for the performance,’’ Philbin said of what he told his players after the game. “It’s not one person’s fault. It’s a team loss. ... It’s not a finger-pointing game, but obviously we need to do better. It starts with me.’’
There was little levity on the Dolphins side after the game. The only thing close to a quip was Philbin saying about what Tannehill learned: “Don’t throw it to the other team.’’
Rather than angry, the Dolphins seemed more stunned. Even last season, when they started 0-7 and finished 6-10, they were in just about every game.
“I was more surprised than (anything) else,’’ said Miami defensive end Cameron Wake. “It was very uncharacteristic. One thing that we’ve been very good at is going out and playing to the level of the league, regardless of whether it’s the Super Bowl champs. To go out here (Sunday) and have what happened, it’s terrible.’’
The Titans entered the game giving up a whopping 34.2 points per game, last in the NFL, and were just 23rd in the league in scoring with a 20.2 average. But the Dolphins made the Titans look like Super Bowl champs on both sides of the ball.
Johnson’s big game marked the first time an opposing back has rushed for 100 or more yards against the Dolphins since Houston’s Ben Tate in last season’s second week. Johnson averaged 5.5 yards on his 23 carries, including a 17-yard touchdown run that put the Titans up 14-0 late in the first quarter.
“Everybody wanted me to have 100 yards against them,’’ Johnson said. “It was really a best-man-win-type scenario.’’
Johnson and his teammates really showed the Dolphins how you do it. At least after the game, the song that blared out of the loudspeakers was the more appropriate “Don’t Stop Believing.’’
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
