In this weekly column, I outline three reasons why the Dolphins won or lost their previous game, and provide a short preview for next week’s game.

It’s ironic that I was penning the exact identical Miami Dolphins piece this time last year. Like, absolutely the exact same. In any case, let’s get started.

A 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs ends Miami’s season. The Dolphins are leaving early this year for the following three reasons.

First of all, Tua Tagovailoa

If you’re familiar with me and follow my weekly posts, you’ll be aware that I’m a huge Tua fan.

That being said, Tua completed 20 of his 39 pass attempts (51%) for just 199 yards, tossing for one touchdown and one interception in Miami’s offense, which was shockingly poor against the Chiefs.I understand that the offensive line is completely destroyed, that the ground game was suffering, and that it is cold. However, that is football. In Kansas City, January is a time when everyone is hurt, exhausted, and cold. Furthermore, he is in no way alone in this tragedy. That being said, he is the franchise’s face and its starting point. Even if the circumstances are seldom ideal during crucial occasions, the greatest people manage to make it work. In any situation, the finest will rise to the occasion and perform for their team. In other words, I didn’t witness that from Tua on Saturday evening.

Keep things basic and stop getting all cutesy with the football.

A lesson that, it seems, the Dolphins failed to learn weeks ago. The Dolphins attempted to play cute football against the Chiefs much too frequently, which cost them the game in circumstances with short yardage. Against the Chiefs, the Dolphins were 1/12 on third down, and a big portion of that was because they did not take the handoff from the defense. Seriously, ENOUGH with the swing passes, the reverse tosses, the bubble screens. Numerous of these plays cost the Dolphins negative yards, meaning that strong drives soon culminated in punts, which the Chiefs immediately converted into points.