McDaniel: Dolphins' late collapse vs. Titans 'as much of a team loss as you can have'
The Miami Dolphins suffered one of the worst late-game collapses in recent memory Monday night, losing to the Tennessee Titans 28-27 despite a 14-point lead with under three minutes to play.
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said postgame that the result was a complete failure from every area of the team.
"This was as much of a team loss as you can have, in my opinion, before watching the tape," said McDaniel, according to Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.
Teams holding a 14-point lead with under three minutes to play had won the last 767 games, dating back to 2016, per ESPN.
With star wide receiver Tyreek Hill sitting out most of the second and third quarters due to an ankle injury, the Dolphins' offense was uncharacteristically inefficient.
Miami went just 4-of-13 on third down, averaged just 5.5 yards per pass, and gave up five sacks on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Perhaps most impactful were the Dolphins' red-zone struggles, with Tagovailoa and Co. scoring only twice in five trips inside the Titans' 20-yard line.
"You can point that as the No. 1 reason we didn't win the game," McDaniel said. "For me, you call plays for them to work - and they didn't. ... We did out-of-character things to lose the game."
The prime-time defeat dropped Miami to 9-4, hurting its chances of securing the AFC's No. 1 seed - now held by the 10-3 Baltimore Ravens - and opening the door for the 7-6 Buffalo Bills to make a late run at the AFC East crown.
"These types of losses can be galvanizing, but it takes literally the whole locker room and coaching staff," McDaniel said.
The Dolphins will host the New York Jets in Week 15.