Steelers vs Dolphins Brings Another Painful Loss To Sunday Night Audience

Coming off a big upset against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Steelers looked to do it again against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium before a national audience on Sunday Night Football. They were not able to accomplish that goal in a 16 – 10 loss to the Dolphins making them last in the AFC North with a record of 2 – 5.

After being ruled out for a concussion the past few games, Dolphins Quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, came back with a strong drive in the first quarter. He drove the Dolphins down the field and threw a short touchdown pass to Raheem Mostert, Dolphins running back, to go up 7 – 0. Soon after, Jason Sanders, Dolphins kicker, nailed two back-to-back field goals from 59 and 30 yards, which widened their lead, 13 – 0.

Heading into the second quarter, the Steelers were able to put some points on the board with a 45-yard field goal by Chris Boswell, Steelers kicker. This score was followed by a touchdown pass from Kenny Pickett, Steelers quarterback, who was released from concussion protocol after leaving in the third quarter in last week’s game. He found wide receiver, George Pickens, and he was able to keep his feet in-bounds for a spectacular catch, closing the score gap to 13 – 10. Sanders kicked a successful 47-yard field goal to go up by six at halftime, 16 – 10.

After halftime, each defense held their own and proceeded to lead to a scoreless quarter. However, the Dolphins made a risky play and decided to go for it on fourth down rather than going for a field goal, which would make it a two-score game for the Steelers. Unfortunately, they were not able to convert. This decision almost came back to haunt them.

Once again, the fourth quarter was scoreless, although the Steelers had some momentum winding down into the final minutes of the game. After two critical penalties by the Black and Gold, Pickett threw an interception. They were able to stop the Dolphins one more time and get another chance to score, but Pickett threw another interception right on the goal line leading to an unfortunate defeat.

Steelers Head Coach, Mike Tomlin, said in a postgame interview, “When it is a defensive battle the way that game developed, it is about who catches their interception opportunities and who doesn’t…The Dolphins caught theirs and we didn’t catch ours and that’s probably the difference in the game.”

Story by: Carlin Whalen (cjw6426@psu.edu)