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Dolphins DeskThe TapeGame center →

Dolphins go 0-for-3 in the red zone and fall to Lions 19-9 at Hard Rock Stadium

Miami kicked three field goals, finished 4-of-12 on third down and dropped to 1-7 with a 10-point home loss to Detroit.

919The TapeL 9–19vsLIONS
By Dolphins Desk, Pigskin NightlyNov 8, 6:31 PM ET3 min read

The deciding stretch

The Dolphins got inside the Detroit 20 three times and left with no touchdowns. That is the game. The final was Lions 19, Dolphins 9, and Miami's red zone line read 0-3.

The offense moved the ball in bursts and then stalled. Its longest drive ran 11 plays and 55 yards and ended in a field goal. The scoring by quarter was 3, 0, 3, 3, and all nine points came from kicks.

Third down finished the drives the early downs could not. Miami converted 4 of 12 and picked up 12 first downs, against 16 for Detroit. On fourth down the Dolphins went 1-for-2, while the Lions went 4-for-4.

The swing

The biggest swing against Miami came in the third quarter, with 1:20 left. J.Gibbs ran right end for 8 yards and a touchdown, and Miami's win probability fell 9 percentage points. It was the Lions' only touchdown drive, a 6-play, 65-yard march.

Six minutes earlier, Malik Willis threw deep left for Caleb Douglas on a shotgun snap, and C.Clark intercepted it at the Detroit 40. He returned it 34 yards to the Miami 26, and the win probability dropped 7 points. Detroit scored 10 points in that quarter.

Miami also had two plays that pushed the other way. Josh Uche got a hand in on a first-quarter pass intended for A.St. Brown, and C.Johnson picked it off at the Miami 40, a gain of 8 points in win probability. In the fourth quarter, Bradley Pinion took a punt-formation snap and threw short middle to Kaytron Allen for 46 yards to the Detroit 18, another 8-point gain.

Who moved the needle

The best two plays by expected points added (EPA, which measures how much a play changes the team's scoring outlook) were the Pinion-to-Allen throw, at 5.3 each. Kevin Coleman Jr. added 1.3 on his one carry, a 16-yard run.

The weight on the other side was heavy. Willis was 13 of 25 for 128 yards with one interception and three sacks for 23 yards. His passer rating was 50.1 and his total EPA was minus 11.5 over 29 plays. The Dolphins averaged 5.2 yards per pass, against 5.8 for Detroit.

Douglas was the first read most often, with 8 targets, 6 catches and 70 yards, and a long of 20. Malik Washington caught 2 of 3 targets for 21 yards. Greg Dulcich caught 2 of 4 for 14, a 7.0 average, so the short throws did not stretch the field.

Ollie Gordon II carried 16 times for 55 yards, 3.4 a carry, with a long of 11 and minus 3.7 EPA. The Dolphins ran for 77 yards at 3.7 per attempt, a shade better than Detroit's 3.6, but the Lions got 102 yards on the ground and 7 rushing first downs to Miami's 3.

On defense, Jacob Rodriguez had 10 tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. Jordyn Brooks led with 12 tackles. Uche had a sack, two quarterback hits and a pass defensed. Detroit's offense was not efficient either, at 0.009 EPA per play, but it was well ahead of Miami's minus 0.211. The Lions' success rate was 44 percent, to 29 percent for the Dolphins.

Where it leaves them

Miami is 1-7, on a two-game losing streak, and 0-4 at home. Its point differential is minus 74, with 126 scored and 200 allowed. The Dolphins sit fourth in the division, behind Bills 6-1, Patriots 5-3 and Jets 2-7, and 14th in the conference.

The next test is a road game in Week 10 against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1:00 PM ET on CBS. Miami's one win this season came on the road, where the Dolphins are 1-3.

How this was reported. Every number in this piece comes from the play-by-play, drive, injury and snap data Pigskin Nightly collects for every game. EPA (expected points added) is from the open nflverse model. We do not use anonymous sources or invent quotes. Read how we write; spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it in the open.