The Miami Dolphins made too many mistakes in Tua Tagovailoa’s return. The mistakes also overshadowed another solid game by De’Von Achane, who rushed for 97 yards on 10 carries. He also caught six passes for 50 yards and a touchdown.

The Dolphins lost to the Arizona Cardinals 28-27 on a field goal by Cardinals tight end Chad Ryland. They have now lost five of their last six matches.

The biggest mistake was a fumble by center Aaron Brewer on Tagovailoa in the third quarter deep in the end of the field. The ball went out of the end zone for a safety after Tagovailoa knocked it back inside the goal line.

The safety cut the Dolphins lead to 20-12, and the Cardinals took the ensuing possession for a touchdown to make it 20-18 after the two-point conversion failed.

It was the second bad center exchange between Brewer and Tagovailoa of the game.

Tagovailoa muffed a snap in the first quarter, though he fell on the ball to save possession for the Dolphins.

After the game, Tagovailoa said he should have caught the ball in the shotgun no matter the placement.

The Cardinals then took possession after the free kick. They drove down the field and scored a touchdown when Kyler Murray found rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone on a 22-yard pass. The two-point conversion failed, and Miami clung to a 20-18 lead.

Miami would come back and score again to extend their lead to 27-18 on Raheem Mostert’s six-yard run.

However, the offense couldn’t seal the deal in the fourth quarter when they had a drive stall at the Arizona 47-yard line with 5:01 left to play. Miami gained 23 yards on eight plays. They had two first downs on the road, but couldn’t go any further before having to punt.

“I think if you asked both of them, Brew(er) would have said he should have gotten some energy. Tua said he should have caught him,” Miami coach Mike McDaniel said. after the match. “The bottom line is that, sustained, we can’t have these kinds of problems, you can’t just give people free points.

“You can’t expect to win a close game, that ended up being the difference in points. It wasn’t just that game. There’s a multitude of things that ended in points…Hard lessons and they have to be lessons learned if you want it to change.”

Tagovailoa said he wants to move forward. He said he looks forward to seeing the team improve in the future.

“It was a tough loss,” Tagovailoa said. “We have to keep chopping wood. We have to look within and encourage each other. It’s going to take all of us to get where we want to go.”

Miami’s pass defense, a strength of the team entering the game, could not contain Harrison, who had six catches for 111 yards and the score. Miami also couldn’t stop the tight end position, as Trey McBride led the team with nine receptions for 124 yards.

The Dolphins led the NFL in pass defense and allowed more than 162 passing yards to just the quarterback (Geno Smith) all season.

“I thought guys were in a position to make plays and they didn’t,” McDaniel said. “We’re going to go back and look at tape, me and Weave (Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator) and see where we can improve.”

Whenever the Cardinals needed to make a play, a pass to Harrison or McBride saved them.

The Dolphins defense failed to record a sack or a fumble. Despite applying significant pressure, the Dolphins couldn’t put Murray down all afternoon.

The loss dropped Miami to 2-5 on the season. Next week, they head to Buffalo for a game against the AFC East-leading Bills.