The inconsistent Dolphins showed their worst side in Sunday's 13-10 loss to the Browns, and probably lost all hope for the playoffs, too.
View full sizeShe might have been in the minority on Sunday, but this Browns fan got the last laugh as she enjoyed Mike Adams' interception that set up Phil Dawson's game-winning field goal at Sun Life Stadium. MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The biggest problem for Miami coach Tony Sparano, the one that still confounded him after he watched the Browns sneak away with a 13-10 victory Sunday, is that he doesn't know what to expect from his consistently inconsistent Dolphins team.
Will they be the group that is 5-1 on the road, or the one that is 1-5 at home?
Will quarterback Chad Henne have the kind of performance he had last week in a 33-17 victory over Oakland when he recorded the third-highest quarterback rating of his career? Or the three-interception showing that yielded a 37.8 rating, the lowest of his career, in Sunday's loss?
Will they be able to make the playoffs now that they've dropped to 6-6 with four games remaining?
"We just made it that much more harder for ourselves," Miami receiver Davone Bess said. "We just got to keep fighting and keep fighting."
It will take a lot of fighting and a lot of luck for the Dolphins. They have the Browns to thank for the latest dose of disarray that came with a combination of all the Dolphins' faults, as Henne played his worst game, Miami lost at home again, and the offense was inept against the stingy Browns defense.
Part of the blame can be assessed to injuries -- receiver Brandon Marshall was inactive with a hamstring injury, and Brian Hartline left the game in the second half with an injured finger.
But when Henne's final interception came with less than a minute left in the game, the Dolphins were at their own 26 on third-and-9, still confident that only a few plays would at least bring Miami to within field-goal range.
"We were right there," Miami linebacker Cameron Wake said. "It wasn't a game where you feel like they kicked our butts. We shot ourselves in the foot. I feel like it's not as much as they beat us as we lost the game."
Two previous Henne interceptions yielded just three points for the Browns, as Cleveland's offense struggled as mightily as Miami's. The two teams combined for 16 punts and converted just six third-down attempts.
As it turned out, six points off three turnovers was enough to decide the game.
"At the end of the day, if you turn the ball over three times in a close game, you're going to lose," Sparano said. "[Henne has] done some good things, but you just can't turn the ball at that rate."
The Dolphins also know there's only fading hope for the postseason. Mixing wins with losses -- Miami has flip-flopped results in its past eight games -- is making it difficult to know what to expect.
"We don't know what's going to happen," running back Ronnie Brown said. "But I like to be able to control our own destiny, go out and win games when we're supposed to win them, play the way we're capable of, and not have to rely on other teams and hope they lose."