National Football League

Dolphins observations: Defense holds up well enough, until it doesn't

Published Oct. 12, 2014 5:27 p.m. ET

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- With the team eager to build off its success in London, the Miami Dolphins hosted the Green Bay Packers at Sun Life Stadium in front of 70,875 fans seeking to make a statement.

Thanks to the defense -- which did its best to limit the Packers offense all game long -- and a resurgent offense in the second half led by Ryan Tannehill, the Dolphins had the game in hand to secure the crucial home victory. But they couldn't contain one last Green Bay drive that resulted in the Andrew Quarless touchdown with three seconds left for the heartbreaking 27-24 loss.

For a second straight game, Tannehill executed several big plays when it mattered most and shook off early struggles to lead his team on scoring drives of 80, 80 and 79 yards to briefly take the lead in the fourth quarter.

But questionable game management, including several late-game timeouts called by head coach Joe Philbin, appeared to help the Packers more than it helped the Dolphins.

"I thought Green Bay deserved the win," Philbin later said. "They had more plays in the fourth quarter. I thought it was a good, hard-fought football game, but they certainly deserve the win."

Here are five takeaways from the stunning loss that drops the Dolphins record to 2-3 with a difficult road game in Chicago coming up:

1. Tannehill and the offense struggle again to start the game.

Any expectations that the offense would pick up right where they left off from their last game were dashed with another weak showing in the first half. Through the first two quarters, Miami had 87 total offensive yards and 10 rushing yards against the NFL's worst rushing defense, even with Knowshon Moreno back in the fold.

The defense did its job to limit the Packers to 10 first-half points but Tannehill again looked tentative and indecisive and was picked off twice through the first two quarters, robbing the Dolphins of any momentum.

"We just didn't make enough plays in the first half in general," Tannehill said. "You can't depend on one half. [The] defense played great and kept us in the game. But we didn't make enough plays in the first half."

2. But they recovered quickly to start the second half.

Despite their struggles, the Dolphins were down by just one score at the half thanks to the efforts of the defense. Tannehill responded early in the third quarter with a 40-yard run, the team's longest play of the season. Jarvis Landry then caught his first career touchdown to tie the game at 10.

On their next drive, Tannehill again stepped up when he managed to keep his balance while avoiding getting tackled and somehow escaped free to find Mike Wallace. That play kept their drive alive, and Lamar Miller would soon score on a 5-yard rush to raise hope for a victory.

3. The defensive line was stellar.

Against a potent Packers offense, the Dolphins defensive line held their own for much of the game. Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon each took down Rodgers on big plays to end drives. They were able to consistently apply pressure to Rodgers all game long, but he burned them on a 5-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter as he moved out of the pocket to find Randall Cobb.

But mistakes like that were few and far between against a team that had averaged 40 points in their last two victories. The defense didn't force any turnovers and it yielded two scoring drives in the fourth quarter to allow the Packers to steal the victory, but it shouldn't be held responsible for the loss.

"Fourth and 10, the whole situation, in my opinion at the time played into our hands," defensive end Cameron Wake said. "That's exactly what we wanted. I'd love to have it on my back to close the game out. That's the game. One play, one play will change the finish of the game. We had a lot of opportunities to not even be in that situation, but it went down to the last drive and we didn't close it out."

4. The rushing game had its problems early but rebounded in the second half.

With the return of Moreno in time to face off against the NFL's worst rushing defense, big things were expected for the Dolphins running game.

But just 10 total rushing yards in the first half contributed greatly to the Dolphins struggles from the outset. Time and again, Miami's drives ended up nowhere without any significant plays from either Moreno or Miller. All that changed during the course of the second half, as they totaled 102 yards in the final two quarters.

Though Moreno was still clearly limited with his arm brace, Miller was once again steady in the backfield with 53 yards on 14 carries for a 3.8 average.

5. Unable to get it done late to finish the deal.

Dolphins fans were likely nervous even with the late-game lead amid fears of a letdown. Unfortunately for them, they watched the Packers score twice in the final quarter, first with a 68-yard drive that ate up five minutes and led to the Mason Crosby field goal.

After the Dolphins couldn't keep their last drive going, the Packers went on to steal the game after the two-minute warning over the course of 11 plays and 60 yards with Rodgers' 4-yard pass to Quarless.

"You have to give Green Bay credit," Philbin said. "They made plays. They made the play on fourth and 10 and they made the play at the end zone to win the game. They made plays in the fourth quarter."

Game over, and plenty of questions for Philbin to answer for.

You can follow Surya Fernandez on Twitter @SuryaHeatNBA or email him at SuryaFoxSports@gmail.com.

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