5 morale-sapping disappointments from the Commanders loss vs. Dolphins

The Dolphins final drive

I will never accuse professional athletes of giving up unless I have pretty overwhelming evidence. I do not think the Washington Commanders gave up in the fourth quarter of this game.

I think they were still trying. But if there was ever a portrait of a team that was simply demoralized and crushed under the weight of inferior performance, it was the Commanders' defense in the fourth quarter against the Miami Dolphins.

Miami was already up 38-15 with about 10 minutes left. They pulled Tua Tagovailoa and put in backup quarterback Mike White. They had also lost two offensive linemen by that point.

They took out Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Raheem Mostert. More than half of their offense was comprised of backups. And still, they ran the ball 13 straight times right down the throat of the Commanders' defense and scored a touchdown. They held the ball for eight minutes.

Okay, technically, one of the runs was a pass. It was a shovel to River Cracraft just before the touchdown. That is as close to a run as you can get.

I mean, when a shovel pass is dropped, everybody pounces on it before realizing it’s just an incomplete pass and not a fumble. So basically, Miami ran the ball down Washington’s throat, using a whole bunch of backups.

They didn’t give up, but this team simply no longer can put up any kind of fight. That is the biggest disappointment of all.

Except for this one pet peeve…