The fundamental, most important task of a defense is to, well, defend. To stop the offense from scoring. It’s a simple binary yes-no proposition: If the offense can’t score, your defense is good. If the offense scores, your defense is bad. No gray area, no room for interpretation.
So … what does that say about your defense if the offense always scores? The Miami Dolphins spent the first six quarters of the season answering that question, and the answer is as ugly as it gets. Miami lost to New England 33-27 on Sunday, in large part because the Dolphins were virtually unable to stop New England at any point.
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One week after allowing the Indianapolis Colts to score on literally every single possession — three touchdowns and four field goals — the Dolphins began Week 2’s game against New England by giving up touchdowns on the Patriots’ first two drives, and a field goal on the third. Through almost six quarters of the 2025 NFL season, the Dolphins had not gotten a single stop — not a punt, not a turnover on downs, not a takeaway. Nothing.
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Dating back to 2024, the Dolphins allowed scores on 13 straight drives, the longest such streak since 2000, per CBS. The 2025 10-for-10 streak of futility ended on only a technicality, as the Patriots knelt to run out the end of the first half. Miami’s defense can’t take credit for that. The streak officially came to an end with the Patriots’ first drive of the third quarter, when Miami managed to sack New England’s Drake Maye and force the Patriots to punt. It’s strange that a routine punt is notable, but this is where we are with Miami.
Miami scored a mere eight points last week, and couldn’t put anything on the board through the first quarter of Sunday’s game either. The Dolphins began to click only in the second quarter, with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Jaylen Waddle and, later, a 29-yard pass to De’Von Achane. A field goal in the third quarter allowed Miami to take the lead, but that may be as much a commentary on the Patriots’ own problems as the Dolphins’ skills.
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Excluding the two end-of-half runoffs, the Patriots scored on six of their eight drives. Miami, meanwhile, flickered out after an offensively successful first three quarters. The backbreaker: a Tagovailoa interception with just over two minutes remaining. The boos began to rain down from the fans in the stands, and it wasn’t hard to see why.
How much worse can it get for Miami? We’ll find out, but there’s not much room for optimism anytime soon.