https://champsorchumps.us/team/nfl/miami-dolphins/started-1-3 In the history of the Miami Dolphins, the team started the season 1-3 a total of 13 times. Of those times, they made the playoffs only once and lost the wildcard game in the 2016 season. Anybody can beat anybody on any given Sunday but history sadly is not on our side.
No way we're winning a playoff game with this defense. That alone changes the outlook for me the rest of the season. I still want a reset — no excuses not winning a playoff game after 4 years with McD — but I really liked the fighting spirit today.
A lot of the reason for that slow start in 2016 was how stubborn Gase was, unwilling to use players to the best of their ability and trying to jam square pegs into round holes. Which would of course be his calling card the rest of his time with the team. Once he relented and actually let guys do what they were good at, it turned around in a big way. The question now becomes whether McDaniel can relent and let Waddle, Achane and Malik Washington do what they're actually good at, instead of trying to run the offense centered around Tyreek that already wasn't functioning at a high level with him. I want drag routes to Waddle, circle routes to Achane, Malik in the slot catching slants and not on reverses, and for crying out loud, run the ball and stop getting cute on short yardage! One saving grace is that at the end of tonight, there will only be five teams in the AFC who have a winning record, half the conference is at 1-3 or 0-4, and the Bengals are dead without Burrow. So the Fins are as in it as most of the other WC contenders. And they face a lot of teams that are inconsistent or poor on offense the rest of the way.
My man, we aren't winning a playoff game until we win the division and get a home game, and I think we need to wait out Josh Allen's career a bit before that becomes viable.
I'll stand by what I said in the other thread; I can see us winning 5 of the next 6 (including this win tonight) and making the playoff push at the end of the year. Ironically, I predicted the same thing almost a decade ago and we won 6 or 7 in a row with Tannehill after a terrible start. This league is a very long season and we started with inexperience on defense and an offense that somehow wasn't in sync. That's not who this team is though because they're evolving each week (as are our opponents). The defense will improve. The offense will find its rhythm. And then we'll choke some as well. I still see around a 9-7 team fighting for a wild card. One last thing- I never like seeing anyone hurt. But the Tyreek injury may actually help this team come together and play more balanced football. I actually think it will help us long-term and if Tyreek comes back around playoff time, who knows?!? It may just get us that coveted playoff win.
Playoffs? I’m not convinced that will happen. If everything clicks into place and they use this win over the Jets to kickstart the season, then the team could turn things around. We’ve got a few winnable games coming up over the next four weeks, then we’ve got some winnable games after the bye week. Before week 1 I felt 9 wins was whereabouts we’d finish and if they kick on from here it’s still a possibility, though whether a 9 win season would be beneficial or not is debatable.
When McDaniel starting use Achane properly the offense was much better. Granted it's against a poor defense but we're also struggling with OL injuries. He'd be a star with a better scheme and solid line in front of him. Those two drives after getting turnovers though. I just don't get it. Attack a defense that is likely mentally unprepared. Stop running plays with an increased chance of negative yardage.
