The Miami Dolphins, to put it bluntly, did not have a good weekend. The Dolphins lost ground in both the AFC playoff standings and also in the 2020 NFL Draft order, a 1-2 punch that left quite the bitter taste in the mouths of Dolphins fans everywhere after such a fantastic stretch to move Miami into the thick of contention for the postseason.
But if you thought a 20-13 loss to the Denver Broncos was bad, even with how ineffective rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa looked, we’ve got some good news. The Dolphins didn’t have the worst weekend in the NFL. Not by a long shot.
Here are three NFL teams who endured a worse weekend than Miami.
New England Patriots
Why: Lost 27-20 to 2-win Texans, now 4-6 with 8% playoff odds in 2020
The Patriots needed some late game magic to steal a win against the New York Jets and then soundly defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the rain to bring their season back from the brink of disaster, only to see the team come up short against the Houston Texans. The Patriots, at 4-6, are now facing the steepest of odds to make the playoffs. With a loss to the Arizona Cardinals next week, the Patriots’ playoff odds would be cut to just 2%. New England couldn’t afford to lose to Houston and hope to rebound. They must now run the table to make a serious playoff push.
Baltimore Ravens
Why: Lost 30-24 to Tennessee Titans, now 6-4 with road trip to Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving
The Ravens might want to consider unplugging the console and blowing the dust out of the cartridge — something isn’t right. Since their Week 7 bye week, the team is 1-3 with losses to the Steelers, Patriots and Titans. And now they’re set to hit the road and play the 10-0 Steelers in Pittsburgh in just three days. Ouch. A loss to the Steelers this week would mean Baltimore would need to run the table to avoid a potential let down.
The good news for Baltimore? They play the Cowboys, Browns, Jaguars, Giants and Bengals after this week. 11-5 is still in play, although 10-6 feels like a safer bet.
Cincinnati Bengals
Why: Lost 20-9 to Washington Football Team, QB Joe Burrow suffers season-ending knee injury
This is one of the reasons why Miami shouldn’t feel any remorse about pulling Tua Tagovailoa late in the game against the Broncos. Whatever the game plan was supposed to be, it wasn’t working. And Tagovailoa, a young quarterback, was taking hits at a rate we have yet to see this season — and at a rate that Joe Burrow had been taking hits in just about every game they’ve played this year. And it finally bit the Bengals, who saw their young star quarterback carted off the field and already shifting his eyes to 2021. That’s way more painful than any loss of a game.
