Biggest Takeaways from Miami Dolphins' Week 12 Loss

The times, they are a-changin'. The results, however, are not.

The Miami Dolphins lost 38-20 to the New York Jets on Sunday. This marks the fourth loss of the Dan Campbell era and the final loss of the Bill Lazor era; the Dolphins announced they have fired their offensive coordinator and promoted Zac Taylor to the interim position for the remainder of the season.

But at this point, these changes aren't going to make much of a difference. A new offensive coordinator isn't going to turn the Dolphins from this hot mess into a playoff team. Even without a trip to the postseason, though, they still have plenty left to play for.

It's clear there will be a ton of changes at the end of the season. It's only a matter of time before the heads start rolling when the Dolphins evaluate the performance of the coaches and players when December ends. It's imperative that everyone puts his best foot forward so those evaluations work out in his favor.

Here are some of the takeaways from Sunday's loss to the Jets.

The Jets Are the Dolphins' Kryptonite

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

In two games this year, the Jets have defeated the Dolphins twice by a combined score of 65-34. Beyond just the points on the board, the Dolphins have had two of their worst games on both sides of the ball against the Jets. Miami gave up 207 yards rushing against the Jets in London in Week 4, which is the 10th-most rushing yards allowed by a team in a game this season.

On Sunday, the Dolphins allowed Ryan Fitzpatrick to toss four touchdown passes and pile up a 118.9 passer rating. In these two meetings, the Miami offense has posted 565 offensive yards and 4.4 yards per play. On Sunday, those numbers were 333 yards and 4.8 yards per play.

It's no wonder both of these games resulted in major changes to the Dolphins coaching staff. Last time, both head coach Joe Philbin and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle were relieved of their duties, and on Monday, the Dolphins fired offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.

Dan Campbell Is Not the Problem

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Bill Parcells once said, "You are what your record says you are." If that's true, Dan Campbell (3-4) isn't much different then Joe Philbin (1-3). That being said, the Dolphins just aren't a much different team since Campbell took over than they were before Philbin was fired. 

There have been some moments in the sun for the Dolphins since Campbell took over, but the team he inherited was flawed from the start. 

The only way he could possibly have landed the full-time head coaching job would have been to turn the team around and make it into a playoff contender. The deck was stacked against him, as the team he took over was missing offensive linemen, defensive linemen, defensive backs, linebackers and more.

Whoever is the next Dolphins head coach, he's going to need a better roster than the one that's been assembled over the past four years.

Jarvis Landry Is the Dolphins Offense

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Week after week, Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry carries the offense to whatever success it finds.

On Sunday against the Jets, Landry went off for a season-high 13 receptions, a season-high 165 yards and a touchdown. He has had five or more receptions in eight of the Dolphins' 11 games this season and has scored at least one touchdown in five of the 11 games. He has 46 receptions for 506 yards and four touchdowns in the past six games.

The Dolphins need Landry to keep it up, quite simply because no one else is putting up numbers that come anywhere close to what Landry has done lately. With the Dolphins offense going through some major changes following the firing of Bill Lazor, interim offensive coordinator Zac Taylor is probably going to lean on Landry to keep the offense afloat.

Brent Grimes Is a Weak Link

Associated Press

It's rare to watch a player decline as dramatically and as quickly as cornerback Brent Grimes has. Less than 12 months ago, he was hot off his second consecutive Pro Bowl season. Now, 12 weeks into the 2015 season, Grimes has dropped off like Wile E. Coyote from a cliff.

On Sunday, Grimes allowed nine receptions for 131 yards and two scores to Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall, according to Pro Football Focus. Make no mistake: Marshall is still a dominant wide receiver, even at this stage of his career, but Grimes had kept up with players like Marshall for years despite being undersized against nearly all of them. This time, the 5'10" Grimes stood little chance of stopping the 6'4" Marshall. 

On the season, Grimes has allowed 41 receptions for 645 yards and four touchdowns. Sunday was by far his worst game of the season, but he has laid several eggs over the past month.

The Dolphins thought they had at least one building block at cornerback in Grimes, but now it appears they might be headed for a complete overhaul of the depth chart at that position in 2015.

The Dolphins Are Pretty Much out of the Playoffs

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Not only is the Dolphins' fate no longer in their own hands, but their fate may be sealed.

For the seventh straight season, it appears the Dolphins will fall short of the postseason. At 4-7, they would need to win every one of their remaining games, but the wild-card race is full of 6-5 teams right now, so the Dolphins would also need a little help from a few other teams losing at least three games apiece in order to make the playoffs. 

With five games left in the season, the Dolphins aren't really playing for January anymore. Don't let anyone in that locker room tell you otherwise. That being said, they still have a lot to play for: mainly, their jobs. They still need to put good tape out there for the offseason, so that whoever is handed the reins of the organization can make the right choice on who to keep and who to cut.