The Miami Dolphins have posted consecutive winning seasons but neither resulted in a playoff berth. New head coach Mike McDaniel has a talented squad.
It was a very active offseason in South Florida. It began with the dismissal of the head coach and the hiring of a fresh face. The Miami Dolphins are now under the guidance of Mike McDaniel. General manager Chris Grier added new offensive weapons for young quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The trade for speedster Tyreek Hill and the free-agent addition of wide receiver Cedrick Wilson should open things up all over the field. The offensive line and backfield have a new look as well.
Elsewhere, the defense took a step forward in 2021. This is a club that knows how to make the big play on this side of the ball. The Dolphins came up an NFL-high 29 takeaways in 2020 and followed that up by forcing 26 turnovers a year ago. Expectations are high regarding this club. So are the following predictions unrealistic?
3. Dolphins finish in NFL’s top half in rushing
While this may not sound like an amazing feat, it would be a dramatic turnaround for a team that has struggled to run the football for far too long. A year ago, only the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons gained fewer yards on the ground than the NFL team from South Florida.
From 2017-2020, the Dolphins were ranked 29th, 18th, 32nd and 22nd, respectively, in the league in rushing offense. And it’s worth noting the last Miami finished in the upper half of the NFL in this category was 2016, when the Dolphins were ninth in the league running the ball. That also marks the last time the team reached the playoffs.
There are new faces in the backfield in Chase Edmonds and Raheem Mostert. The offensive line has been bolstered by free-agent additions in left tackle Terron Armstead and center Connor Williams. This ground attack will be much-improved in 2022.
2. Team ends 7-game losing streak vs. the Bills
The Dolphins take a three-game winning streak over the New England Patriots into their Week 1 clash with Bill Belichick’s team in South Florida. The club has also had its way as of late with the New York Jets, prevailing in four straight and 10 of the last 12 encounters with the Green and White dating back to 2016.
But it has been a much different story when the ‘Fins have had to deal with their AFC East rivals from Orchard Park, New York. Granted, the Buffalo Bills have two straight division titles. But dating back to the clubs’ second meeting in 2018, it’s been all Bills in this series. And in more instances than not, the contests have been extremely lopsided. Miami’s current losing streak in this rivalry has reached seven games and by a combined score of 258-123.
After seeing the Bills dispose of the defending Super Bowl champion Rams in the NFL’s season opener at SoFi Stadium (31-10), Mike McDaniel’s squad certainly has its work cut out for itself. But the Dolphins may be catching the defending AFC East champions at the right time when they host Buffalo in Week 3. The Bills will have a short week after a Monday night clash with the Tennessee Titans.
1. Dolphins halt their five-year playoff drought
In 2020, the National Football League expanded its playoff field from 12 to 14 teams – seven clubs per conference. Hence, it’s been a little easier for a team to qualify for the opportunity to get to a Super Bowl.
But don’t tell that to the Miami Dolphins. Their last postseason appearance came in 2016 under head coach Adam Gase. That was followed by three straight losing campaigns. In 2020, Brian Flores’ club finished 10-6 and followed that up with a 9-8 mark a year ago. But neither of those showings materialized into a postseason invitation.
Of course, getting to the playoffs is a tall order in the highly-competitive NFL. And the Dolphins are certainly overdue when it comes to returning to the postseason. The team must be more successful when it comes to matching up with the other teams within the conference. In 2021, Miami was .500 vs. teams in the AFC – just 2-4 outside of the AFC East.
But there’s also the matter of actually winning a playoff game. And that hasn’t happened for this franchise since 2000 when they beat the Indianapolis Colts in overtime in the wild card round. Of course, you have to crawl before you can walk.