Flores says winning cost him his job: Dissecting the disputed 2019 Dolphins’ season
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Brian Flores lawsuit rocks NFL
Brian Flores sues the NFL for racial discrimination, alleging that Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross bribed him to “tank” in 2019.
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One of many bombshells in Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the Miami Dolphins and the NFL released Tuesday includes a claim that he was fired as the Dolphins’ head coach because of his reluctance to “tank” during the 2019 NFL season.
Flores contends in the 58-page document that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross “told Mr. Flores that he would pay him $100,000 for every loss, and the team’s General Manager, Chris Grier, told Mr. Flores that ‘Steve’ was ‘mad’ that Mr. Flores’ success in winning games that year was ‘compromising [the team’s] draft position.’”
Now, the Dolphins’ roster was all but set up for failure that season. Starters such as Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, Kiko Alonso and Vincent Taylor were gone before the season began. Minkah Fitzpatrick, the team’s first-round pick in 2018, was traded two weeks into the season. The team’s over-under for projected wins heading into the season was four-and-a-half games.
The Dolphins started the 2019 season 0-7 before winning five of their final nine games — including back-to-back wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots in to close the season — and finishing the year with a 5-11 record.
They had the No. 5 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft as a result, a pick they used to select quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Bengals, who are playing in Super Bowl 56 on Feb. 13, selected quarterback Joe Burrow No. 1 overall that year after finishing with a 2-14 record — with one of Cincinnati’s losses coming in that Week 16 matchup at Hard Rock Stadium.
Here’s a game-by-game look at how the Dolphins’ 2019 season unfolded.
The 0-7 start
It’s easy to see the state of a potential tank in the early going. Losing seven games out of the gate will do that.
▪ Week 1 — 59-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens: Brian Flores’ first game as the Dolphins’ head coach was the most lopsided of his three-year tenure. Lamar Jackson threw for five touchdowns against a Dolphins defense that allowed 643 total yards to a Ravens team that would finish the regular season 14-2. The 59 points were the most the Dolphins had ever given up in a regular-season game, and the 49-point margin of defeat was also the largest in franchise history.
“We’ve got problems on offense, defense and special teams,” Flores said after the game, adding that Miami’s failures “start with me.”
0-1.
▪ Week 2 — 43-0 loss to the New England Patriots: A second consecutive loss by 40-plus points against a team that went on to win a division title. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a pair of pick-sixes and was benched for Josh Rosen for a second consecutive game as Flores tried to figure out which starting quarterback could jump-start their offense.
0-2.
▪ Week 3 — 31-6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys: Flores made a quarterback change, going with Rosen over Fitzpatrick. Miami was competitive in this one ... for about 33 minutes before Dallas scored 21 unanswered points to close out the game.
0-3.
▪ Week 4 — 30-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers: For the first time all season, the Dolphins had a lead — 7-3 with 6:32 left in the first period — and were tied until the final minute of the first half. At that point, the Chargers scored the final 20 points for another blowout heading into Miami’s bye week.
0-4.
▪ Week 6 — 17-16 loss to Washington: One play from a victory. Fitzpatrick, back as the team’s quarterback after Rosen threw two interceptions and was sacked five times, threw a touchdown pass to DeVante Parker with six seconds left to put Miami within a point. The two-point conversion attempt — a dropped screen pass to Kenyan Drake that had no chance of converting anyway — failed.
0-5.
▪ Week 7 — 31-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills: The Dolphins led through the first three quarters before being outscored 22-7 in the final 15 minutes.
0-6.
▪ Week 8 — 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers: OK. Things are starting to sound repetitive. Strong first half (14-10 lead), bad second half (outscored 17-0). Another loss.
0-7.
The back-to-back wins
And then, the first of two winning streaks occurred.
▪ Week 9 — 26-18 win over the New York Jets: The losing streak finally came to an end. The Dolphins used a 21-point second quarter, fueled by three Fitzpatrick passing touchdowns, to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish against the then-one-win Jets.
Two of Fitzpatrick’s sons, Brady and Tate, celebrated in the locker room with dad after the win.
“It’s just fun to have them in there,” Fitzpatrick said afterward. “The excitement, the good things that happen, all the emotions. They see a lot of the bad things that happen when we’re not winning and people are asking them questions at school and my fantasy numbers aren’t very high for them. So they have been through plenty of downs, and it’s awesome to be able to experience the ups with them as well. Walking into that locker room with all the excitement is good stuff.”
1-7.
▪ Week 10 — 16-12 win over the Indianapolis Colts: Two Jason Sanders fourth-quarter field goals and a defensive stop on the Colts’ final drive of the game sealed Miami’s win. And they did it without Xavien Howard and Reshad Jones, both sidelined by injury.
2-7.
The struggles resume
The success was short-lived, with the Dolphins dropping four of their next five.
▪ Week 11 — 37-20 loss to the Bills: The Bills scored the first 16 points of the game, and Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes and added another score on the ground. Miami showed life late, but not enough to erase the early deficit.
2-8.
▪ Week 12 — 41-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns: Miami was down 28-3 at halftime before Fitzpatrick accounted for three second-half touchdowns to make the final score closer than the game appeared.
2-9.
▪ Week 13 — 37-31 win over the Philadelphia Eagles: Arguably the biggest upset (to this point) in the season, Miami rallied to defeat the eventual NFC East champion Eagles, outscoring Philadelphia 23-10 in the second half.
But the highlight came much earlier, a second-quarter trick play that saw punter Matt Haack throw a 1-yard touchdown pass to kicker Sanders to briefly give Miami its first lead of the game, 14-13.
3-9.
▪ Week 14 — 22-21 loss to the Jets: Miami rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take a two-point lead with 1:33 remaining on the clock. The Jets’ final drive? Seven plays, 49 yards, game-winning 44-yard field goal as time expired.
On that final drive, the Dolphins were called for a decisive pass interference call only after the non-call was overturned via review. Nik Needham, called for the penalty, called the decision “trash.” Flores sought out officials on the field postgame and yelled — a lot.
3-10.
▪ Week 15 — 36-20 loss to the New York Giants: The Dolphins were outscored 29-10 in the second half against a team that had lost nine consecutive games.
3-11.
The statement finish
Back-to-back wins — one against a team they were competing with for draft positioning, one against a division rival that embarrassed them at the start of the season — capped Miami’s 2019 season.
▪ Week 16 — 38-35 overtime win over the Bengals: It was the matchup of teams vying for the No. 1 overall pick. It was tied at halftime after the Dolphins allowed the Bengals to score 23 points in the final 6:11 of regulation to force overtime.
Each team punted on each of its first two drives of overtime, setting up the potential for a tie.
The finish? Miami marching 51 yards in 10 plays and Sanders converting a 37-yard field goal as time expired to give Miami another win and ensure the Bengals — not the Dolphins — would have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
4-11.
▪ Week 17 — 27-24 win over the Patriots: The season finale turned into the upset of the season. Mike Gesicki’s 5-yard touchdown catch with 24 seconds left sealed Miami’s stunning win over the Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
5-11.
Flores’ assessment of the final win — and the season overall: “With adversity, with defeat, when you struggle, I think one of two things happens. It either breaks you, or you get stronger. I think this team got stronger over the course of the season. And I am proud of that.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 7:04 PM.
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