‘Soft’: Cold weather affected Dolphins, says LB Jordyn Brooks

GREEN BAY, Wisc. – At least one Miami Dolphins player believed the team let the cold temperatures dictate its performance in Thursday’s 30-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

According to NextGen Stats, the Dolphins missed 20 tackles in the loss, which directly led to 132 additional yards for the Packers. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks said bluntly that he believed the 20-degree temperatures played a role.

“I thought we were soft,” Brooks said after the game. “Simply put, I thought we were soft today. I don’t know if it was too cold for the boys… I don’t know what it was. I feel like the elements played a part in how we played as a group and that was the result we got.

After going five straight games without allowing an opponent 100 yards, the Dolphins allowed 108 rushing yards in the first half on Thursday. They also allowed Green Bay an average of more than 7 yards per play and failed to force a turnover for the first time since Week 8.

Although Miami outscored the Packers 14-6 in the second half, the poor defensive performance and 24-3 deficit in the first half were too much to overcome.

Defensive linemen Calais Campbell grimaced when he was told the final number of missed tackles after the game.

“That’s the game, man. Twenty missed tackles – it’s hard to win,” he said. “I think it was one of those days where everything that could go wrong went wrong… I never want to apologize, but I felt like today the ball bounced their way and they made the plays um to win the ball. “If we had the opportunity to make tackles in critical spaces, we have to find a way.

Miami forced a three-and-out on the Packers’ first drive of the game, but rookie returner Malik Washington parried the punt and gave the Packers the ball at the Miami 7-yard line. Green Bay scored three plays later on a pass from Jordan Love to Jayden Reed.

Campbell said it’s hard to make up for mistakes like that, but the Dolphins’ defense also failed to force Green Bay into a field goal after losing the ball, which would have been much more gratifying.

Miami’s offense was not without some blame in Thursday’s loss, as it went 4 of 14 on third down and failed to score touchdowns on half of its visits to the red zone. On one of those red zone trips, the Dolphins faced a second-and-goal from the 1-yard line and ended up turning the ball over on downs. Head coach Mike McDaniel said technical errors kept them from leaving the end zone on first and second downs, but he took blame for the incomplete pass on third down and the sack on fourth down.

“It was an accumulation of things over a four-game period that will be hard for us to swallow when we watch film,” McDaniel said.

The loss leaves Miami two games behind the Denver Broncos and the AFC’s seventh and final playoff seed. With five games remaining, the Dolphins likely need to win to have a realistic chance of a third straight playoff berth.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he wouldn’t say “the dream is dead” for the Dolphins yet, but as Campbell said, they will likely need help to get to the playoffs.

“You focus too much on the next one and take it one game at a time, like we did when we were 2-6,” McDaniel said after the game. “I told them that 5-7 pales in comparison to 2-6. “We’ve put ourselves in a situation where we can take a setback in a game and still get things done… It gets really frustrating when you know each other.” “You’re capable of winning a game and you’re able to explain yourself why you lost it.”

Thursday’s loss was also the Dolphins’ seventh straight loss when temperatures were below freezing at kickoff – a disappointing result for a team that openly welcomed the opportunity to change the narrative that playing in cold weather couldn’t be played .

While three of the remaining five games will likely take place in favorable weather conditions – two at home and one at domed NRG Stadium in Houston – Miami will play back-to-back road games to close out the season against the Browns and Jets, both of which could be close or worse freezing temperatures.

McDaniel said when the time comes, he believes his players will be ready to take on the challenge.

“At some point you have to overcome it if you want to achieve anything in this league,” he said. “I think our boys will look forward to training in cold weather at the next opportunity. I think they know they can do it, so they have to and want to.”