Miami Dolphins takeaways after loss at New England Patriots | Schad

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The Miami Dolphins' disappointing 2025 season came to a painful conclusion at the New England Patriots, with a 38-10 loss.

The Dolphins were 8-9 in 2024 and 7-10 in 2025, coach Mike McDaniel's fourth season.

Miami owner Stephen Ross must hire a new general manager and make a formal decision on McDaniel, who has a 35-33 regular season record, and 35-35 including two playoff losses.

Rookie Quinn Ewers was decent in this game and appeared to be unaffected by a temperature of 29 degrees at kickoff.

On the bright side, kicker Riley Patterson, tight end Greg Dulcich, linebacker Jorydn Brooks and defensive tackle Zach Sieler all finished the season strong.

But Jaylen Wright, Tyrel Dodson, Jonah Savaiinaea and Patrick Paul had some tough moments in the season finale.

Miami's run defense was obliterated, allowing more than 240 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. The Dolphins must get more physical on defense in 2026.

And the Dolphins were once again crushed in the third quarter, 14-0 on this day.

Among the players the Dolphins played without: De'Von Achane, Jaylen Waddle, Darren Waller, Austin Jackson, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Chop Robinson.

How did Quinn Ewers do against the Patriots?

The third and final start of the 2025 season was pretty decent for rookie Quinn Ewers.

He was better in the first half than the second.

Ewers led Miami 57 and 65 yards on their first two drives, the second capped by a short touchdown pass to Malik Washington.

Ewers was composed and at times quite impressive on third downs.

Ewers did have a poor third-quarter interception after leading Miami 52 yards.

Greg Dulcich and Cedrick Wilson were wide open when Ewers was intercepted in the end zone while targeting Theo Wease or Tahj Washington. It was a poor decision and throw.

Overall, Ewers has proven to be at least a highly capable backup for the Dolphins in 2026 and perhaps beyond.

It's also possible Ewers competes with a quarterback Miami adds this offseason for a starting position. There's no reason to not be encouraged by Ewers' arm strength, movement in and around the pocket, confidence and poise.

It was a bit better than may have been expected of a seventh rounder.

Ewers did not finish the game, relieved by Zach Wilson after sustaining a knee injury late in the fourth quarter.

Did Bradley Chubb earn those Dolphins incentives?

Bradley Chubb had more than $5 million in potential incentives on the line depending on the performance of the team defense in the finale as well as the Falcons' performance.

Chubb needed Miami to finish in the Top 20 in scoring defense in order to qualify for attached sack total incentives.

Entering the game, Miami was 21st and Atlanta was 20th.

The Falcons defense allowed only 17 points in a defeat of the Saints, putting pressure on Miami's defense. Then the Dolphins defense was hammered by the Patriots.

The Dolphins allowed 17 first-half points to New England, keeping the Dolphins behind the Falcons, which was very bad news for Chubb. It got worse in the second.

An extreme longshot hope for Chubb would be if somehow Baltimore's defense were to be destroyed by Pittsburgh on "Monday Night Football." But that was a near impossibility.

Where do Dolphins pick in NFL Draft order?

The Dolphins got no help in the NFL Draft order as they hoped to climb from No. 11.

They had a chance to catch the Saints and Bengals, but both teams lost.

The Saints lost to the Falcons. The Bengals lost to the Browns.

The only other team Miami had a chance to catch on the final day was the Chiefs, who were playing the Raiders. The highest they could have finished was 10th.

On a related note, the Giants won in their last game. This put Las Vegas and the Jets in the top two positions of the draft, which is not great for Miami.

Both of those teams need quarterbacks and would seem unlikely to deal with the Dolphins. Perhaps Fernando Mendoza and Dante Moore will go 1-2.

What is the Dolphins' schedule of opponents in 2026?

The Dolphins will play road games at the: Jets, Bills, Patriots, Packers, Vikings, Raiders, Broncos, Colts and 49ers.

That's a pretty cool road schedule for reporters who still travel. And fans who like to check out a road game or two.

The Dolphins will play home games against the: Jets, Bills, Patriots, Bears, Lions, Chiefs, Bengals and Chargers.

That's a pretty neat season ticket with quarterbacks like Caleb Williams, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert coming to town.

Which of these opponents are playoff teams? Well: Denver, New England (twice), Chargers, Bills (twice), Bears, 49ers or Rams and Packers. That's nine games against playoff opponents, a pretty strong schedule as of, well, January, 2026.

Who may have played their last Dolphins game?

Here are some players who may have played their last game for Miami.

Nothing is certain. But these are the ones worth monitoring:

Tua Tagovailoa ($99.2 million dead cap hit).

Tyreek Hill ($28.2 million dead cap hit).

Bradley Chubb ($23.9 million dead cap hit; could return on new deal).

Zach Wilson ($3.8 million dead cap hit and not under contract).

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (1.6 million dead cap hit).

Minkah Fitzpatrick (trade candidate).

Jaylen Waddle or De'Von Achane (trade candidates, but likely only if teardown occurs).

Jake Bailey, Riley Patterson, Rasul Douglas, Jack Jones, Darren Waller, Cole Strange, Cedrick Wilson, Greg Dulcich (all among unrestricted free agents).

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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 on X @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: Miami Dolphins schedule of opponents for 2026 set after loss to Pats

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