It’s not fair that one game can define how you view an entire season, but that’s what likely will happen with the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins finished the regular season with the No. 1 offense in the league (401.3 yards per game) and No. 2 scoring offense (29.2 points per game), but fans aren’t feeling great about the future following the 26-7 Super Wild Card Weekend loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night.
The Dolphins underachieving against good teams was a common theme all year. Miami went 1-5 vs. eventual playoff teams in the regular season, and 10-1 vs. teams that did not make the playoffs. If you count the most-recent Chiefs loss, Miami went 1-6 vs. playoff teams, and finished with a -110 point differential in those games. The monster victories over teams like the Denver Broncos or New York Jets don’t seem as great when you’re disappearing against teams that are half-decent.
Miami also crumbled down the stretch. Over the final four games of the 2023 campaign, the Dolphins scored 20-plus points just one time, and scored one touchdown on their final 16 offensive possessions. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but the play of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is and will continue to be a major storyline.
Tagovailoa had a great year overall. He finished the regular season as a top seven favorite to win NFL MVP, and helped guide the Dolphins to their first 11-win season since 2008. The 25-year-old led the NFL in passing yards with 4,624, was tied for fifth in passing touchdowns with 29, finished third in completion percentage (69.3%) and picked up 222 first downs through the air, which was tied for the second-most in the NFL. But, he was not dominant consistently or vs. everyone.
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W-L
1-5
10-1
Completion %
65.0
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71.7
Passing yards per game
232.3
293.6
TD-INT
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7-6
22-8
Against Kansas City on Saturday night, Tagovailoa completed 20 of 39 passes for 199 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while Miami recorded just 264 yards of total offense. Tagovailoa froze in what was the fourth-coldest game in NFL history, as one of the best offenses during the regular season didn’t even get to the red zone. Even Tagovailoa’s lone touchdown pass wasn’t a thing of beauty.
Tagovailoa entered this week having lost each of the five coldest starts of his career. It’s a narrative that has been around for a couple years now. Tagovailoa is 6-14 in games under 70 degrees, and 23-4 in games of 70 or more degrees. Is Miami just doomed to lose every road playoff game it will play in the future that’s not in a warm climate or indoors?
This offseason will be an interesting one for Miami. Tagovailoa is under contract for one more year thanks to Miami picking up his fifth-year option, which is fully guaranteed. So, sorry to those overly outraged fans who are hoping Tagovailoa will be cut this offseason. That’s not happening. Instead, Tagovailoa’s representation will likely ramp up talks on a potential extension.
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Spotrac’s market value tool predicts Tagovailoa is in line to sign a six-year, $302,781,786 extension that carries an AAV of $50.46M. That hypothetical contract would place Tagovailoa over Russell Wilson as the fifth-highest paid quarterback in the NFL. Is Miami comfortable locking in Tagovailoa on a deal near $50M per year? Is Miami even sold on Tagovailoa as its future quarterback? These are questions general manager Chris Grier and the front office will have to ponder in the coming months. There are benefits to locking down the quarterback you’re sold on as soon as possible, but Tagovailoa’s situation is not like the ones of Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert.
Some will look at how the 2023 season ended and be completely sold that Tagovailoa cannot take the Dolphins where they want to go. I don’t know if we can say that definitively. I think we can say Tagovailoa is not someone like a Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson who can shoulder the load by themselves offensively, and will teams to victories. I also think we can say Tagovailoa is not the first quarterback you’re choosing in a game played in freezing conditions.
If I had to guess what happens next, it’s that the Dolphins do not sign Tagovailoa to an extension, and handle the upcoming season as a true “prove-it” campaign. Tagovailoa has made strides each year under Mike McDaniel. What’s that next step? Performing well against your best competition, and winning postseason games.
Christmas Wonderland throws big ‘Noche Buena’ party in Miami-Dade
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — There is a park — that aims to please both adrenaline junkies and fans of colorful lights — open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Miami-Dade County.
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There is a special for four tickets for about $100 on the “Noche Buena Party” in Miami-Dade’s Westchester neighborhood.
Admission includes unlimited rides from 4 p.m. to midnight at Tropical Park, at 7900 SW 40 St.
The Local 10 News Weather Authority meteorologists don’t expect rain on Wednesday night in the area. The probability of rain on Thursday is low.
For more information and tickets, visit this page.
More on Christmas in Miami-Dade
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Local 10 News Afternoon Weather Edition: 12/24/25
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
Magdala Louissaint
Magdala Louissaint joined WPLG in August 2025 and is thrilled to call South Florida home.
Andrea Torres
The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.
Doug Myers is a digital content producer for CBS Texas. A longtime journalist, Doug has worked for four newspapers in Texas and Louisiana and for three television stations in Texas. He has also spent time as a digital content manager for a national trade association and as communications director for a state agency.
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/ CBS Miami
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A London‑bound passenger was arrested Monday at Miami International Airport after federal officers found more than 130 pounds of vacuum‑sealed marijuana – 60 bundles in all – packed into two suitcases, authorities said.
Begum Mulazimoglu, 22, of London, is facing a first‑degree felony charge of trafficking in cannabis after she was taken into custody before boarding a Virgin Atlantic flight to Heathrow Airport, according to an arrest affidavit. Mulazimoglu appeared before a judge on Tuesday.
Suitcases flagged during outbound check
Begum Mulazimoglu, 22.
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Miami-Dade Corrections
The Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer flagged two hardsided suitcases during an outbound inspection after detecting a strong odor of marijuana.
According to authorities, Mulazimoglu claimed ownership of the bags and had about $1,000 worth of U.S. and British currency – $330 in U.S. dollars and £530 in British pounds (about $713 USD) – in her possession.
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Affidavit details marijuana discovery
An arrest affidavit said Homeland Security Investigations notified the Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office after the passenger was detained with the two marijuana-stuffed suitcases at the airport.
An X‑ray scan revealed 60 bundles, 30 in each suitcase, weighing a combined 59.74 kilograms (131.7 pounds), along with two Apple AirTags hidden inside, the affidavit said. The bundles were sealed in black nylon vacuum‑packed bags.
Federal prosecution declined
An Assistant United States Attorney declined federal prosecution, according to the affidavit.
The Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office was notified, and Mulazimoglu was provided a meal before being taken into custody and transported to Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
The property was impounded at Miami‑Dade Sheriff’s Office headquarters.
Item 1 of 5 A resident stands in an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 23, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
[1/5]A resident stands in an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine December 23, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Broad Russian attack follows Miami peace talks
Ukraine says western regions hit hardest
At least three killed, including child, Kyiv says
Poland scrambles jets
KYIV, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Russian missile and drone attacks killed at least three Ukrainians including a child on Tuesday, triggering widespread emergency power cuts and prompting neighbouring Poland to scramble jets.
The attacks, days after another round of U.S.-led talks to end the nearly four-year-old war, hit energy facilities in western regions the hardest, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
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Poland, a NATO member bordering western Ukraine, said Polish and allied aircraft were deployed to protect Polish airspace after Russian strikes targeted areas near the border.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had targeted at least 13 regions as Ukrainians prepared to celebrate Christmas with their families in an attack that showed Russian President Vladimir Putin was not serious about peace talks.
“Putin still cannot accept that he must stop killing,” Zelenskiy wrote on X. “And that means that the world is not putting enough pressure on Russia. Now is the time to respond.”
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YOUNG CHILD KILLED
A four-year-old child was killed in the central Zhytomyr region, another person in Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine and a third person outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where local officials said at least five were also wounded.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had attacked Ukrainian energy and military facilities and captured two villages along the front line in Ukraine. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv, which often disputes Russian reports of territorial gains.
Moscow has stepped up strikes on Ukrainian energy and logistics to boost pressure on Kyiv as it seeks to alter the terms of a U.S.-backed peace deal. Ukraine has targeted Russian energy exports.
A Ukrainian overnight drone attack sparked a fire at an industrial facility in Russia’s southern Stavropol region, the region’s governor, Vladimir Vladimirov, said. Authorities also reported a fire at the fuel oil supply pipeline at the port of Taman in Krasnodar region, saying it had been put out.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 635 drones and 38 missiles, most of which had been downed.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said all regions were experiencing emergency power outages, adding that nearly all consumers in the western Rivne, Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi regions were without power early on Tuesday.
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Critical and energy infrastructure was damaged in the northern Chernihiv, western Lviv and southern Odesa regions, local authorities said. Private energy firm DTEK said one of its thermal power plants had suffered damage.
Weekend peace talks in Miami brought together U.S. officials with Ukrainian and European delegations, alongside separate contacts with Russian representatives, as Washington tested the scope for a settlement.
Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede its eastern Donbas region and significantly restrict its military capabilities before it stops fighting, terms which Zelenskiy has rejected.
Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Dan Peleschuk; Writing by Lidia Kelly and Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Himani Sarkar, Michael Perry, Philippa Fletcher
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