MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Another Miami Dolphins season that begins in September and ends in January.
With three games remaining in the 2025 season, the Dolphins learned their fate in a frustrating 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday at Acrisure Stadium.
The team missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The Dolphins took a brief 3-0 lead late in the second quarter when kicker Riley Patterson barely made a career-high 54-yard field goal.
It was all Steelers from there.
Led by veteran and future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Steelers scored 28 unanswered points – including touchdowns on four consecutive possessions.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whose play has declined this season, threw two touchdown passes to tight end Darren Waller, impressive in his first season with Miami when healthy, but the game was already out of reach.
Meeting with local reporters Tuesday at the Baptist Health Training Complex, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel confirmed that “everything is on the table” regarding a change at the quarterback position.
McDaniel alluded that Tagovailoa’s performance “was not good enough.”
UPDATE: ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday that Miami will start rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers after benching Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa has thrown a league-worst 15 interceptions.
The Dolphins opened the season with a thud against the Indianapolis Colts and, at one point, were 2-7 following a disastrous prime time performance against the Baltimore Ravens at Hard Rock Stadium.
Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen Ross, normally quiet with the media, made a change the next day by firing general manager Chris Grier.
EDGE Jaelan Phillips, a first-round pick by the Dolphins in 2021, was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2026 third-round pick on Nov. 3.
With their season on life support, the Dolphins rallied to go on a season-best four-game winning streak, though not all four victories were impressive.
Aside from a 17-point blowout over the talented Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins squeaked past the Washington Commanders in Madrid without quarterback Jayden Daniels and other key Washington offensive players, nearly blew a fourth-quarter lead over the lowly New Orleans Saints, and dominated a struggling New York Jets team.
When the 2025 season ends at Gillette Stadium, the Dolphins will face many questions throughout the offseason.
Three of those questions are the futures of Tagovailoa and McDaniel, and whether interim Champ Kelly will be promoted to full-time general manager.
In 65 games under McDaniel, the Dolphins are slightly above the .500 point (34-31) but have yet to win the AFC East or a playoff game – extending the franchise’s postseason victory drought to now 25 years.
For the final three games, the Dolphins can turn their attention to playing spoiler.
Miami (6-8) will host the Cincinnati Bengals (4-10) on Sunday.
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