The Miami Dolphins have had one of their best seasons in a long time. With the Dolphins in a prime position to make the playoffs will they finish as a disappointment?
In Miami there are two football teams that the fans love. One of those teams is the Miami Hurricanes. This Saturday the city of Miami got alerted that the state of the Hurricanes program is in worse shape than we originally thought.
Saturday was the first time since 2007 that the glorious Hurricanes ended the season with three straight losses. With a loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Hurricanes ended up tied for last in the ACC standings with Virginia and Virginia Tech.
With all the drama, turmoil and confusion that the Miami Hurricanes are facing as a program there is only one other football team that has the role of a winner, the Miami Dolphins. With all the pressure gone from the Hurricanes to become a great team again, every eye shifts back to the Dolphins.
The Dolphins always have a way of playing to the level of their competition. They win the games we don’t expect, but lose the games they should slaughter opponents
Can the Dolphins finally break the chains that have held them back for so long? Can this team finally live up to the pressure of the city?
To illustrate the state of the heart of the Dolphins fan, look at this example.

The Dolphins play the New York Jets on Monday Night Football, so as I arrived in the house I causally joked to my father to see if he knew their game was later in the week and said “You see the Dolphins are winning 21-7 now right?”
But my father, being an intelligent NFL fan, knew the Dolphins played on Monday and replied “I wish they were, that would be nice. The Dolphins always have a way of playing to the level of their competition. They win the games we don’t expect, but lose the games they should slaughter opponents.”
I didn’t condone his air of pessimism but I wasn’t shocked about it. Since I’ve been a child the Dolphins have only disappointed. They’ve made it to the playoffs 10 times since I’ve been alive and seven of their playoff appearances have come in the 1990’s. In fact in the 2000’s the Dolphins have only made the playoffs three times, and the most recent time was six years ago, in 2008.
Similar to the Miami Hurricanes, the Miami Dolphins have fallen on hard times, but from the beginning of the year everything has seemed different. It’s more than the victory against the New England Patriots where Patriots fans were claiming that we “won our Super Bowl for the year, and we wouldn’t make it to January.”
To those same Patriots fans I say this — The Dolphins have two Super Bowl trophies to their name, a lot more than any other franchises in the NFL can say. Also the Dolphins are the only undefeated team in NFL history. Did the Patriots go undefeated? Thats’ right, they didn’t.

Again, everything has seemed like the Dolphins have finally turned a corner. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is having his best season as a professional and it’s no coincidence the Dolphins are in the thick of the playoff hunt.
There are only four quarterbacks drafted in 2012 or later who are starting in the NFL this week — Andrew Luck, Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater, and Tannehill. He’s eighth in completion percentage, and 12th in passer rating.
In addition, the defense of the Dolphins is much improved. With Brent Grimes making incredible catches all over the field, and playing like a man possessed in the secondary quarterbacks think twice throwing his way.
Also, having Cameron Wake and Oliver Vernon running at directly at you doesn’t help a quarterback to think either.
With that being said since this is the most important stretch of the season the Dolphins next game against the Jets should become the beginning of a great playoff run, not the beginning of a season’s disappointing ending.
I picked the Dolphins to win the AFC East, and they still have a punchers chance to do it. I won’t sit here and prognosticate and say the Dolphins are going to get into the playoffs since the odds aren’t in their favor.
I will say this though, the Dolphins need to give everyone a reason to believe they can make the playoffs. If they can win the remainder of their games, they will end the season with an 11-5 record and a legitimate chance to accomplish big goals.
Hopefully unlike the Hurricanes, the Dolphins can get stronger in the fourth quarter of the season and win.
However it all starts on Monday night, don’t become the same old Dolphins please.
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