For the Miami Dolphins, a four-game winning streak built a mountain of hope, but one Monday night in Pittsburgh was all it took for it to come crashing down. After losing the game 28-15, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn’t shy away from accountability afterward. Addressing the offense’s struggles, the Dolphins quarterback pointed inward, citing breakdowns across the unit.

Tagovailoa acknowledged that the Dolphins messed up big-time.

“We were messing ourselves up really,” Tua said while blaming his entire unit. “Just basically every aspect from my communication to the guys, with them getting in the huddle, calling the plays.”

This loss snapped a four-game Miami winning streak, but also showed how quickly the momentum can shift in December. Both teams were struggling with the offensive line in the first half, but once Pittsburgh finally scored a touchdown late in the half, it was a different game altogether.

Pittsburgh scored a touchdown on each of the next three series, which allowed them to extend the lead. By then, it was already too late to make a comeback. However, Tagovailoa wasn’t bad statistically.

He was 22 of 28 for 253 yards, including two touchdowns and one interception. But superficially, the issue was greater than the plays called. When the Dolphins needed a boost in momentum in the early going, the passing attack didn’t deliver it.

It’s been a consistent pattern that continues to repeat itself. Even in the recent streak of victories in Miami, there has not been much contribution from the passing game. Tagovailoa, who currently leads the NFL in interceptions with 15, never surpassed 200 yards in passing throughout the four victories. And, with a defense like the Steelers, who would put preparation towards containing the running game, the lack of a passing game to be considered reliable is evident.

But Tagovailoa certainly didn’t hold back in his personal responsibility.

“I’m pretty disappointed in myself with how ready I got our receiving corps ready,” the Dolphins quarterback said. “I kind of felt like I let our guys down.”

However, head coach McDaniel was wise not to place the onus entirely on his quarterback.

“Everyone has to do better. You have to coach better,” McDaniel said. “Passing, a lot of times, people squarely put all the focus on the quarterback. It’s been a multitude of things the way I look at it. It has to be better for us to be able to win games when you’re not owning time of possession or controlling the game on the ground. That limits you a ton. It’s not up to standard.”

The loss of the Miami Dolphins is all the more difficult considering how the season went.

Dolphins eliminated from playoff contention

First, the Dolphins started at 2-7 but went on a four-game run, thus qualifying them for a position in the AFC wildcard playoffs. However, the loss in Week 15 to Pittsburgh harmed their chances. It will be the second consecutive year that the Dolphins will not be included in the postseason games.

Though they theoretically can attain nine wins by winning every pending match. There is no way for them to end up with an improved AFC record of anything more than 3-7 since they have two more games on their conference schedule.

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Miami has already suffered losses in head-to-head encounters against the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens, thus rendering any possibility of winning a tiebreaker out of the question. Houston will definitely clinch a better conference record, whatever happens to them at the end of this season, and even a nine-game winning season will not be enough for Miami’s comeback.