National Football League

Joe Philbin on Dolphins' loss: 'I have to do a better job'

Published Oct. 13, 2014 6:42 p.m. ET

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Hana Ostapchuk

DAVIE, Fla. -- With the Miami Dolphins attempting to turn the page from their 27-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the coaching staff took the hot seat Monday.

"I have to do a better job, first and foremost. I'm the head coach," Philbin said. "Players' performance is a reflection of the coaching as well. It's all tied together. We have to do better."

First-half struggles combined with Philbin's late-game calls created a recipe for defeat.

The slow starts have been trend through the team's three losses. They were shut out in the first half in Buffalo, and they were held to one field goal in the first two quarters against both the Chiefs and Packers.

"There's a lot of contributing factors, but certainly I have to get us off to a better start offensively," Philbin said. "We had 90 yards of offense or something in the first half. We didn't have a lot of rhythm and tempo. It's on me."

Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was most upset by his unit's failure to seize momentum in the first half when special teams set them up deep in Packers territory.

"My biggest disappointment was after the blocked punt where we didn't score a touchdown," Lazor said. "I thought it was a great decision by [Philbin] to go for it on fourth down."

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill played a large part in the Dolphins' first-half failure, completing only 8 of 16 passes for 84 yards and two interceptions.

"Everyone knows that those were disappointing plays by Ryan. He would be the first to tell you," Lazor said. "I don't think those same errors will happen again, because I know Ryan. It won't happen again."

Nevertheless, the Dolphins entered the fourth quarter with a lead and held it until Aaron Rodgers threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Quarless with three seconds left.

Covering Quarless was linebacker Philip Wheeler, who mentioned in the locker room following the game that he felt the play was 50 percent a bad defensive call and 50 percent bad coverage.

Though Wheeler was looking for Philbin to take some responsibility for the game-winning touchdown, the head coach refused to get into details Monday.

He did take fault for his quick decision to run the ball on third and long with nearly three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

"I got a little antsy," Philbin said. "I didn't want to see us fumble the football or do something potentially devastating."

In a similar situation against the Buffalo Bills in 2013, Tannehill fumbled, setting the Bills up for a short game-winning field-goal drive.

Philbin was also being second-guessed for calling a pair of timeouts on Green Bay's final possession, when the Packers had none left of their own. He claimed it was something he's done in the past and will continue to think about doing in the future.

"I'm most concerned about our team and what our team does, and if our team knows the call, maybe we can communicate one or two little things that could help them do their job," Philbin said. "I think it's well worth it. That was the rationale behind it."

Regardless of where the fingers were pointed after Miami's latest loss, the team will have to refocus and push for a better start when they take on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday.

"Each game, you invest a lot into each one, but you can't linger on that game," Philbin said. "We're one play away from a different outcome. That outcome didn't go our way. We didn't make that one play. They did. But now we've got to get ready for the next team and go forward."

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