What’s Next for the Miami Dolphins?

Reboot to greatness won’t be quick or easy. But the first step is making a change at quarterback. We’ll see the initial outcome Sunday vs. the Bengals.

The Miami Dolphins were officially eliminated from playoff contention following a devastating 28-15 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. With their season over, the Dolphins must start thinking ahead to the upcoming offseason, including free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft.

Tua goes down against the Steelers (photo courtesy PennLive)

The quarterback position is the first order of business. The Dolphins are 31st in the league in passing offense since Week 10, and Tua leads the league in interceptions with a career high of 15 through 14 weeks of play.

In Monday night’s loss, Tagovailoa’s stats were 22 of 28 passing for 253 yards with two TDs and an interception. While those stats look reasonable, the reality is that the lion’s share came on three fourth-quarter drives when the Steelers had the game in hand.

Throughout the first three quarters, Tagovailoa completed 6 of 10 passes for 65 yards, threw an INT, and took two sacks on third down. During that time, the Miami offense gained five first downs and 93 total yards. It gets worse. In the third quarter alone, Miami produced -20 yards on two drives. Tua missed big-time plays with open WRs, and couldn’t put together more than one drive that ended with points: a lone field goal.

On Tuesday, during a press conference, Head Coach Mike McDaniel said, “I think the quarterback play last night was not good enough, and so for me, everything’s on the table.” McDaniel acknowledged that the offense has been struggling recently and “hurt us” in the loss, even though they had won five of the last six contests before playing the Steelers.

Quinn Ewers (photo courtesh Yahoo! Sports)

Tua Tagovailoa was benched on Wednesday morning. Per sources, the Fins will roll with the rookie QB out of Texas, Quinn Ewers, in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Ewers temporarily served as the team’s primary backup QB for its Week 7 loss to the Cleveland Browns, entering the game late in the fourth quarter. He completed 5 of 8 passes for 53 yards, including a nice 40-yard completion on the sideline to Dee Eskridge while being hit. Other than that, he has been the Dolphins’ emergency quarterback.

It is unclear whether Tua or Zach Wilson, the former No. 2 overall pick by the New York Jets in the 2021 draft, would serve as Ewers’ backup Sunday.