Miami Dolphins-Tennessee Titans Week 4 Instant Takeaways

What stood out in the first half of the Miami Dolphins' Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans:

We start with the inactive list, highlighted once again by five injured players – tackle Terron Armstead, running back Raheem Mostert, cornerback Kendall Fuller, linebacker David Long Jr. and emergency quarterback Skylar Thompson.

Also inactive was rookie linebacker Mohamed Kamara, the fifth-round pick out of Colorado State.

Rookies Malik Washington and Andrew Meyer were each making their first appearances and were close to making their NFL debuts, while CB Ethan Bonner and LB Channing Tindall were also making their first appearances this season.

Dee Eskridge was called up from the practice squad Monday afternoon He joins Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Braxton Berrios and Washington in the wide receiver corps.

The Dolphins started on defense for the second straight game after winning the throw and deferring, and Tennessee began its first drive at its 23rd.

The Dolphins looked like they had a three-pointer right away, but Jaelan Phillips was called out for roughing the passer after he went down trying to get around right tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, but continued to get in Levi's legs rolled.

Linebacker Jordyn Brooks looked like he'd been shot out of a cannon on a pitch to Tony Pollard, bringing him down after Emmanuel Ogbah edged him inside, resulting in a 2-yard loss.

Jalen Ramsey traveled with Calvin Ridley on the third penalty against Phillips.

DeAndre Hopkins took advantage of a soft zone to catch a 16-yard pass from Levis as the Titans entered Dolphins territory.

On a second-and-9 from the Miami 43, Levis hurried a throw when Ramsey flashed from the slot and Ogbah made an easy pick after falling into coverage, squeezing the ball between his legs after failing to make the catch had cleaned.

Great start for the Dolphins offense with an easy completion over the middle by Jaylen Waddle for 14 yards and a 16-yard run by Tyreek Hill on a jet sweep.

However, a sloppy all-around play by Hill ended the drive in Titans territory after he failed to catch a swing pass from Tyler Huntley that was actually a lateral. Worse, Hill never attempted to pounce on the loose ball and it was an easy recovery for Tennessee.

After the Dolphins defense got a three-and-out thanks to a seemingly opportune spot on Will Levis' third-down scramble, the Dolphins offense also had a three-and-out, and it wasn't pretty.

On a third-and-6, two Tennessee rushers came from the left side and Austin Jackson took over as inside rusher, giving Harold Landry a free run to Huntley for the very easy sack.

In the next Tennessee series there were two tackles for losses on running plays, one each from Ogbah (who had a great first quarter himself) and Calais Campbell.

With Mason Rudolph at quarterback after Levis injured his right shoulder fighting on the previous drive, Tennessee moved into field goal range thanks to a 13-yard completion before the first quarter ended with a third-and-1. 6 of Miami ended 30.

Storm Duck stopped the drive with a great play as he fended off WR Treylon Burks' block and dropped running back Tyjae Spears for a 5-yard loss before Nick Foik kicked a 53-yard field goal to put Tennesee within 3 :0 to take the lead.

The Dolphins moved into Tennessee territory on their next drive thanks to a roughing penalty on Arden Key (also for hitting the QB deep), but that came after tight end Julian Hill was overpowered by Key on the way to Huntley.

The drive ended on a fourth-and-1 from the Titans 46 when Tyreek Hill went for a jet sweep but was never able to get around the corner before safety Quandre Diggs tackled him out of bounds, giving him a 1-yard loss, which continued the Dolphins' undernumbered problems.

Tennessee quickly got into field goal range thanks to four consecutive runs that gained 24 yards, and it looked like things could get worse when Tyjae Spears got through to the Miami 2-yard line, but the Dolphins were saved by a questionable holding penalty. In the end, the Titans settled for a field goal and a 6-3 lead.

The Dolphins finally got something on their next drive, starting with cornerback L'Jarius Sneed giving them 15 yards of free agency by knocking the ball out of Jaylen Wright's hands after he threw it out of bounds.

Tyler Huntley's agility came into play when he converted a third-and-11 with a 12-yard run on a QB draw.

The drive stalled after Huntley Jaylen Waddle gained just 4 yards on third-and-six and then Jason Sanders made it 6-3 with a 44-yard field goal.

The Dolphins' defense was stopped on the next drive after entering Miami territory thanks to Jaelan Phillips, who intercepted Rudolph's pass at the line on third-and-2.

It was another memorable drive for the Dolphins' offense, ending with a 5-yard completion to De'Von Achane on third-and-9 after a quick throw at the line.

After the defense held, a strange play occurred where Calais Campbell appeared to get his hands on a punt, but then Duke Riley tried to throw it downfield but couldn't control it and Tennessee recovered. The play was reviewed to determine if a Titans player touched the ball first, which ended the game and the replay negated the turnover.

And in doing so, the Dolphins avoided a potential problem.

And then the Doplhins were called for an illegal formation on a play where Aaron Brewer shotgunned the ball before Huntley was ready, negating a big loss.

There were boos from Hard Rock Stadium when Huntley simply gave up the ball on third-and-8 on the Dolphins' last offensive play of the half.

And then came a bad punt from Jake Bailey, a 26-yard completion up the middle to Tyler Boyd that allowed the Titans to score a 47-yard field goal on the final play of a truly ugly first half for Miami.

The Dolphins got the ball early in the second half but quickly went to 3-0, with Huntley coming under pressure on third-and-9 after Waddle missed a completion that would have been good for a first down on the previous play.

Campbell came up with another nice play as his penetration led to Zach Sieler unsuccessfully stopping Tony Pollard before Jordyn Brooks came in with a double blitz with a free run on Rudolph for the third-down sack.

Braxton Berrios then gave the Dolphins a spark with a 27-yard punt return, setting the Dolphins up at the Tennessee 48 for the start of their next drive.

The drive went nowhere, although a defensive holding penalty was enough to get Jason Sanders into position and kick a 56-yard field goal.

The Dolphins played conservatively on third-and-11, with Huntley running the ball on the option.

The Dolphins had a chance for a defensive three-and-out, but Kader Kohou was called for a 15-yard DPI against DeAndre Hopkins on third down, which was attributed to him not turning when the ball arrived, which has been a problem for him since he entered the NFL.

Two plays later came the big play that hurt the Dolphins' defense every game, this time a 41-yard run by Tony Pollard with some good blocking at the top.

This led to a 7-yard touchdown run as Tyjae Spears took the snap out of the Wildcat formation and hit Zach Sieler with a great move to make the final score 16-6.

The Dolphins' next series was another failure, starting with Huntley being sacked by Sebastian Joseph on first down.

Huntley had a chance for a big play on third-and-17 when Tyreek Hill lined up behind cornerback L'Jarius Sneed, but Huntley outplayed him.

A 15-yard penalty on Siran Neal on the ensuing punt, when he ran out of bounds and failed to immediately return to the field, set up Tennessee for another Nick Folk field goal, making it 6/19.

The third quarter ended with Huntley completing a 9-yard pass to Malik Washington for the rookie's first NFL catch.

A low point of this poor third quarter was Jaelan Phillips being sidelined with a knee injury.

More misery for the offense that just can't run the ball, this time because Achane went down for a 1-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 from the Miami 39.

Ogbah, who had a strong night, gets a tough break when his hand gets caught in Tyjae Spears' face mask.

The Dolphins' defense holds after Tennessee gets a first-and-goal, but Folk's fifth field goal makes it 22-6.

Thanks to a 70-yard touchdown drive, the Dolphins finally got back into the end zone – for the first time since the third quarter of the Buffalo game in Week 2 – but it took 7:09 minutes and Miami was down two points -Conversion failed.

The Dolphins overcame three illegal shift penalties on the drive and scored a fourth-and-12 conversion when Huntley hit Waddle on a short crosser for 18 yards.

The drive also included a 20-yard run by Jaylen Wright and a 21-yard scramble by Huntley.

Huntley scored the touchdown on a 1-yard QB draw.

The Dolphins' slim chances of a comeback ended when Tyler Boyd saved Jason Sanders' onside kick attempt – under the new rules, the onside kick must be declared.

Finally, the Dolphins gave up a safety when they got the ball back when Huntley was called for an intentional grounding in the end zone.

That made the score 24-12, and the Dolphins declared their intention to score another onside kick. And it was strange this time too, because punter Jake Bailey's onside punt ended up outside the setup zone, giving the Titans the ball at the Miami 10-yard line.

The Titans simply ran the ball after the takeover, but still managed to score a second touchdown when Tony Pollard outran the defense around the corner on fourth-and-goal, making it 31-12.

And that was the end result as the Dolphins suffered their back-to-back losses.