After a Week 7 road loss on a Sunday afternoon in Cleveland dropped the Dolphins to 1-6, owner Stephen Ross opted against making any changes. A Week 8 upset of the Falcons seemed to stop the bleeding.
Now, after a sluggish 28-6 home defeat before a national, prime-time audience, the tourniquet has come loose.
So what will Ross do?
The Dolphins are 2-7 and, as a practical matter, eliminated from playoff consideration. Barring a miracle. The mini-bye has arrived, two games before the team’s annual week off.
Will Ross make a major change as to coach Mike McDaniel, G.M. Chris Grier, or both?
These are fair questions to ask. Every year, roughly 25 percent of the league ends up looking for new head coaches. Coaches and General Manages get fired all the time. It’s the life they’ve chosen. The only question at this point for the Dolphins seems to be when, not if.
So when? That depends on Ross. Maybe he wants to ride out the bad season, to take his lumps in order to improve the team’s 2026 draft positioning, in every round.
The status quo is becoming a hard sell at Hard Rock Stadium. The boo birds were flapping their wings repeatedly on Thursday night. Paper bags were on the heads of plenty of fans. One guy poked two holes in a popcorn bucket.
It becomes embarrassing. It becomes non-sustainable. The fans eventually want something, anything. They want the owner to do what they would do.
At this point, the fans would say, “Enough.”
Will Ross?
Next up for the Dolphins is the annual visit from the Bills, followed by a trip to Madrid for a game against the Commanders. Before that, Ross will have to decide whether to stay the course.
Or whether to dramatically alter it.
Lamar Jackson is back, and so are the Ravens.
Jackson threw four touchdown passes, and Baltimore won its second consecutive game. The Ravens beat the Dolphins 28-6 to improve to 3-5.
Miami fell to 2-7, raising a question about the future of coach Mike McDaniel.
The Ravens led 14-6 at halftime despite the Dolphins having more yards (225 to 109) and fewer punts (one to four). Jackson, playing his first game since Week 4, worked off the rust.
The third quarter was all Baltimore as the Ravens outgained the Dolphins 166-39, outscored them 14-0 and held the ball for 11:10.
Jackson’s touchdown passes covered 2 and 20 yards to tight end Mark Andrews, 3 yards to tight end Charlie Kolar and 9 yards to Rashod Bateman. It was his second four-touchdown game of the season, and he has 14 for the season.
Jackson went 18-of-23 for 204 yards, and he ran for 14 yards on five carries. Eight players caught a pass, led by Zay Flowers’ five catches for 64 yards. Derrick Henry had 19 rushes for 119 yards.
Miami shot itself in the foot, going 0-for-3 in the red zone and turning it over three times. The Dolphins’ third drive foreshadowed what was to come: Right tackle Larry Borom had a false start on a fourth-and-1, prompting the Dolphins to send in the field-goal unit and Riley Patterson missed a 35-yard try.
Tua Tagovailoa completed 25 of 40 passes for 261 yards and an interception, with Jaylen Waddle catching six for 82. De’Von Achane ran for 67 yards on 14 carries and caught six passes for 39 yards.
The Week 8 slate saw 12 of the 13 games decided by double digits, with only the Jets’ 39-38 win over the Bengals close. Week 9 began Thursday night, and it continued the disturbing trend of blowouts.
Lamar Jackson hadn’t played a game since Week 4. He played like it in the first half, even while throwing two touchdown passes.
In the second half, Lamar Jackson has looked like Lamar Jackson.
He is 9-of-9 for 95 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, and the Ravens lead 28-6 with 4:15 remaining in the third quarter.
Jackson’s fourth touchdown throw of the night went for 9 yards to Rashod Bateman. Tight end Charlie Kolar had the other third-quarter touchdown on a 3-yard reception.
Tight end Mark Andrews had touchdown catches of 2 and 20 yards in the first half when Jackson went 8-of-12 for 89 yards.
Jackson also had a four-touchdown game in Week 2 against the Browns.
The Ravens had only 110 yards in the first half. They had 68 on their first drive of the second half.
Baltimore now leads 21-6.
Lamar Jackson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Charlie Kolar. His first two touchdown passes went to tight end Mark Andrews for 2 and 20 yards.
Jackson, who is playing his first game since Week 4, is 15-of-19 for 136 yards and three touchdowns. He has two carries for 13 yards.
Isaiah Likely has three catches for 60 yards and Zay Flowers four for 25.
The Dolphins have killed themselves, and the officials haven’t helped. Still, they trail the Ravens only 14-6 at halftime.
Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes to Mark Andrews, covering 2 and 20 yards on drives of 7 and 75 yards. The Ravens have been outgained by the Dolphins 226 to 110, but Miami had a turnover, a missed field goal and once turned it over on downs.
The Dolphins went 0-for-2 in the red zone.
The Dolphins gifted the Ravens a touchdown early. Wide receiver Tahj Washington lost a fumble on his first career catch, with Alohi Gilman forcing and recovering it. It set up the Ravens at the Miami 7, and Andrews scored his first touchdown on fourth down for a 7-3 lead.
On their next drive, the Dolphins were going for it on fourth-and-1 at the Baltimore 12 when right tackle Larry Borom was called for a false start. Riley Patterson then missed a 35-yard field goal.
The Dolphins also had some bad luck, with Ollie Gordon called for tripping on a 36-yard pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle. Replay clearly showed Gordon losing his footing and slipping to the ground, with the defender leaping over him. It was the only drive the Dolphins had to punt.
Miami reached the Baltimore 13 on its final drive, but went for it on fourth down and Tagovailoa and De’Von Achane couldn’t connect.
The Dolphins also have injury concerns, with running back Ollie Gordon in the X-ray room to have his left ankle examined and edge rusher Chop Robinson ruled out with a concussion. With Jaylen Wright inactive, the Dolphins will have only Achane at the position for the second half.
Tagovailoa is 15-of-22 for 152 yards, with Waddle catching four for 61. Achane has 12 carries for 67 yards and five catches for 34 yards.
Jackson looks rusty in his first game back. He is 8-of-12 for 89 yards with the two touchdowns to Andrews, who has two catches for 22 yards. Derrick Henry has nine carries for 30 yards.
The Ravens punted on four of their six possessions.
