3 reasons the Miami Dolphins will be 1-10 by Thanksgiving

With just four games separating the Miami Dolphins from the Thanksgiving holiday, they find themselves in a three-way tie for the second-worst record in all of football at 1-6. Unfortunately, Miami won’t end up earning another win before the holiday arrives because of how its schedule lines up.

The Dolphins’ next four opponents are the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and Washington Commanders, putting them in a bad spot as they try to stop the bleeding.

The Falcons have been surprisingly competitive this season, and Bills are arguably still the team to beat in the AFC East. Plus, while the Commanders and Ravens have underperformed, their offenses are led by incredibly talented quarterbacks in Jayden Daniels and Lamar Jackson when those are guys are healthy, making both teams dangerous.

And frankly, even if some of Miami’s upcoming opponents have flaws, they’re still all in way better shape Mike McDaniel’s struggling group. The Dolphins are going to be 1-10 by Thanksgiving. Let’s break down how they got here.

1. Tua Tagovailoa’s season from hell

This reason is self-explanatory to any Dolphins fan who’s watched the team for more than a few minutes this season. Perhaps no single person deserves more blame for how Miami’s 2025 campaign has unfolded than its franchise quarterback.

Tagovailoa’s play of late makes it feel like it’s been ages since he was considered one of the rising stars at his position, but that’s not the case. In the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he was a driving force behind two Dolphins teams that made the playoffs.

Miami also handed Tagovailoa a massive contract extension after the 2023 season, but now it’s hard to believe that fans are looking at the same player who threw for a league-best 4,624 yards not long ago.

Tagovailoa has already racked up double digits in interceptions this season with 10, and it doesn’t bode well for the Dolphins moving forward that he’s only been more woeful throwing the ball as the season’s dragged on.

He’s fresh off one of the worst showings of his career against the Cleveland Browns. He completed barely over half of his passes while throwing three interceptions compared to zero touchdowns.

The signal-caller was almost equally out of sorts against the Los Angeles Chargers the week before on Oct. 12. He threw three interceptions in that contest as well and accumulated just one passing touchdown.

2. Injuries, injuries and more injuries

While the players who are available are to blame for many of the team’s misfortunes, there have also been contributing factors out of the squad’s control. One of those factors is injuries, and the Dolphins have dealt with a particularly nasty case of the injury bug this season.

Far and away the most notable player to go down with an injury has been wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Hill led Miami in receiving yards in every one of his opening three seasons with the team, but his 2025 season was cut short after he suffered a devastating knee injury. He appeared in just four games.

Tagovailoa hasn’t played with his favorite target for a few weeks now, and perhaps that partly explains why his quality of play has fallen off a cliff.

However, Hill is far from the only majorly important Dolphin to be marred by injury this season. For example, cornerback Kader Kohou went down with a season-ending injury all the way back in the summer. A proven starter at the highest level, he could have been a steadying presence for a Dolphins secondary that is lacking highly effective players.

The list keeps going from there, with Miami also navigating hits at offensive line, tight end and elsewhere.

Ultimately, too many talented players for Miami have seen their seasons marred by injuries, and the team doesn’t have the personnel to fill all the holes left by their absences on the field.

3. A broken defense, especially against the run

Amazingly, the Dolphins’ defense has already given up 1,115 rushing yards through the squad’s opening seven games. They’re the only defensive unit in football that’s allowed quadruple digits in that stat.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Miami’s defense also ranks first in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game this season at 159.3.

A great microcosm of the Dolphins’ inept defense against the running game came in their contest against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 5. The Panthers were without key back Chubba Hubbard in that contest, and Rico Dowdle got a lot of snaps in his place. Dowdle didn’t play all that well to begin the campaign, yet he torched the Dolphins for a massive rushing performance.

Unbelievably, he racked up 206 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. He averaged nine yards per carry.

Miami’s issues on defense certainly don’t stop with its troubles against the run, but the team was going to need to be serviceable in this area to have a chance this season. It hasn’t happened.