There was a hit single in 1980 by the famous Grammy award winning rock anthem band, Queen, named Another One Bites The Dust; Sunday the Miami Dolphins lived out this song on the field. Having another opportunity to make a December playoff push slip through their hands, the ‘Fins are left looking for answers as to why they can’t get over that proverbial hump.

Getting off to the fast start they so rarely race out to, the Dolphins pulled up lame for the final half of Sunday’s game. Missing out on making noise league wide by beating the Baltimore Ravens and gaining a foothold of the wild card race in the AFC with Cleveland and San Diego suffering losses as well.

Securing a victory Sunday would’ve meant another valuable conference win and potential tie breaker in a wild card race that features an AFC North division crashing everyone’s party. Instead the Dolphins are faced with reliving last year’s nightmare of losing control of their own destiny.

The unfortunate thing is Dolphins players understood the importance of this game and still couldn’t prevail.

“We knew what it was,” Dolphins wide receiver Mike Wallace said of Sunday’s game. “We had it in our hands again, controlling our own destiny. Now we have to leave it up to other people and try to win out.”

A 1-3 record in games decided by three points or less sitting in the wake of comeback victories by Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, and Peyton Manning. A devastating loss at home in the biggest game of their season leaves Tom Brady standing in line ready to put the final nail in the Dolphins’ coffin, avenging a Week 1 embarrassment.

What has to be the most disturbing theme of the past few weeks where the Dolphins are 1-2, is how they’re getting dominated at the point of attack on both sides of the football.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was sacked six times on Sunday and it wouldn’t have mattered if his name was Peyton Manning. When a team’s quarterback is getting crushed in the backfield that many times in a game, it’s never a recipe for success.

Did Dolphins’ coaches get it wrong by putting their trust in replacement right tackle Dallas Thomas who was abused by Elvis Dumervil?

“Personally, it’s bad,” Dallas Thomas said of his performance at right tackle. “But as a team we just have to look at the film and see what went wrong.”

Of course it was bad, his job is to protect the quarterback. If his job were to give up sacks, well then, he did a great job of that. The writing was on the wall weeks ago after Mario Williams abused Thomas in a Thursday night victory over the Buffalo Bills where the ‘Fins overcame his deficiencies. Miami should have rethought their strategy back then.

That’s just part of the nightmare in the trenches.

For the third week in a row, the Dolphins defense has been manhandled in the running game surrendering an average of just over 220 yards per game on the ground. After 11 weeks of being one of the stingiest run defense’s in the league, the Dolphins are forgetting who they were at the most inopportune time and players see this.

“I guess the most frustrating thing is it’s not inability,” All-Pro defensive end Cameron Wake said of his team’s follies against the run. “You’ve watched us play for 10 games or the first half [of the season]. We can get the job done. Whatever inconsistency there is, we have to put a stop to it really fast.”

So the question is, if Dolphins players know the importance of the games they’re playing in December and they know where they’re hurting themselves on the field, who’s left for the blame to be placed on?

The coaches?

It was obvious on the sideline Sunday that at least one player was disenchanted with the coaching staff as defensive tackle Jared Odrick was seen yelling at and having to be ushered away from head coach Joe Philbin.

Even Dolphins’ head coach Joe Philbin says the issues start with him.

“I thought, No. 1, I have to do a better job coaching first and foremost.

“I don’t feel like we played well in the fourth quarter yesterday. That’s my responsibility as the head coach of the team,” Philbin continued to explain. “The team should play well in the fourth quarter and there is no case to be made that we played well in the fourth quarter. That starts with me. We have to do better there. We have to finish games better. We have to learn from the mistakes. We have to correct them.”

Sure, coach Philbin continues to be politically correct and shoulder the blame for his team’s inconsistencies but at what point in a playoff or bust season does his words start to ring hollow? The Dolphins are too talented and aware to continue having reoccurring issues.

When will they learn from their mistakes? Probably when they’re under new leadership.

Even if the Dolphins win out the next three games, a winning record just might not be enough to save coach Philbin’s job. Joe better pray for a playoff Christmas miracle or his New Year’s resolution could be to find a new job.