Dolphins suffer gut-wrenching, shocking, inexcusable loss to Titans | Schad

MIAMI GARDENS - This was demoralizing, shocking, gut-wrenching and inexcusable.

The Dolphins, before a national television audience, were upset by the Titans, 28-27, in a "Monday Night" debacle.

"We did out of character things to almost find a way to lose the game," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said.

He's not kidding. In fact, after this game, McDaniel, who almost always jokes around, was in no mood to.

That's what happens when you blow a 27-13 lead with 4:39 left, at home, against a woeful opponent with a rookie quarterback.

That's what happens when you allow two long drives, in the blink of an eye, to turn around a sloppy game it appeared you had found a way to win.

"Multiple coaches and players came up to me and let me know how the game ended is not acceptable to them," McDaniel said, adding everyone shares in the blame.

Blame everyone for this atrocious Dolphins loss

Oh, yes, plenty of blame to go around.

Jason Sanders had a field goal blocked.

Bradley Chubb had a terrible unsportsmanlike penalty, crashing his helmet after a missed sack. Instead of facing fourth down, Tennessee quickly scored a touchdown.

Forced to play center after a knee injury to Connor Williams, center Liam Eichenberg was called for three penalties. And he had a faulty snap exchange with Tua Tagovailoa at the Titans' 2-yard line.

The snap was short. Tua fumbled it. Picked it up. Then fumbled again when hit.

"My fault," said Tua, who always the blame, of course.

Defensively, there was some poor communication, especially on the final two Titans drives.

Yes, there are excuses that can perhaps more fairly be described as reasons.

Miami played without four of the five players who started on their offensive line in the opener - Terron Armstead, Isaiah Wynn, Connor Williams (after injury) and Robert Hunt.

There was too much pressure on Tua. And he was sacked on a 4th-and-2, not having even a glimmer of hope to identify a receiver to target.

And, yes, Tyreek Hill, who is Miami's most important player, missed large chunks of this game battling an ankle injury.

“It was a lot of pain," Hill said. "It sucked. I’ve been dealing with ankle injuries this whole season. I texted my wife it hurt. She said ‘You better get your a** back in that game.’”

Hill did. But he did not have quite the same explosiveness. And Miami's offense is nowhere near as capable when he's not on the field.

Tyreek Hill's importance never more clear

That's why fans chanted "MVP! MVP!" for Tyreek, when he made a few key plays on Monday.

All year, critics of the Dolphins have said they've only beaten the teams they're supposed to beat.

Well, on this night they lost to a team they were favored to beat by two touchdowns.

They beat themselves.

It is true Miami faltered on defense, after a strong start, in part because key communicators Jerome Baker and Jevon Holland were out, injured.

Vic Fangio will need to answer tough questions

But perhaps defensive coordinator Vic Fangio would change a few or more than a few calls in the fourth quarter.

It was too easy for Tennessee to move the ball, too quickly. It seemed too soft.

McDaniel openly admits he'd change up some red zone play calls that haven't worked (usually pass plays over run plays.)

Fangio has been a very good addition overall. But the fourth quarter was not good..

After the game, Tua said he does not think this is the same old Dolphins.

"It’s one loss," Tua said. "The world does not end."

That may be true. But this was truly one of the most, if not the most, crushing losses of the hopeful McDaniel era.

Instead of 10-3 and tied atop the AFC with Baltimore, the Dolphins are 9-4.

Instead of thinking about how they're capable of beating any team - upcoming Dallas, Baltimore and Buffalo included - they're left with the realization they could lose to many, if not all teams, as well.

"It’s a hard lesson," McDaniel said. "But no lead is safe."

Our Hal Habib's Instant Takeaways Dolphins shocking loss to Titans on MNF

Joe Schad is a journalist covering the Miami Dolphins and the NFL at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com and follow him on Instagram and Twitter @schadjoe. Sign up for Joe's free weekly Dolphins Pulse Newsletter. Help support our work by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: So much blame to go around as Dolphins blow late lead to pitiful Titans