Kelly: Dolphins better find motivation to finish season strong, or else | Opinion
Let us not live in the land of delusion.
Any sentence that features the word “Miami Dolphins” and “playoffs” in it makes me laugh out loud at this point.
This 6-8 team wasted its opportunities to stay in the postseason mix, and now everyone needs to find their own motivation to keep playing inspired football for Sunday’s home finale against the San Francisco 49ers, and the two regular-season games that follow.
Want one? We’ll start with producing a winning record for the fifth straight season. And how about pride?
If that doesn’t work, how about the fact that nobody’s job in the Dolphins organization is secure, nor should it be.
Stephen Ross is 84, [whispering] coming off a divorce, just sold 10 percent of his franchise [probably made back all of his initial $1.1 billion investment], and already has a plan of succession [which is required by the NFL].
Ross owns the Dolphins for sport, the competitive nature, not profit, so if you think Ross is fine with Miami’s 24 consecutive years of not having playoff win you’re delusional. You’re also delusional if you think his cascade of spending big every single offseason will continue without expectations, and most importantly consequences.
Ross doesn’t want to be holding up a Lombardi Trophy sitting in a wheelchair, with an oxygen tank strapped to him.
And one change (say it’s general manager Chris Grier who gets whacked the way he did former team czar Mike Tannenbaum, and the way Tannenbaum shanked former GM Dennis Hickey) could push that first domino down, triggering other moves.
If the general manager changes is he going to be forced to inherit a head coach? If the head coach changes is he going to want to build around Tua Tagovailoa, and on and on and on.
That means from here on out, starting with Sunday’s 49ers game, facing a franchise having similar problems after falling short of expectations, every game is an audition for everybody.
“Your film is your resume as a player and a coach,” said linebackers coach Joe Barry, who was fired as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator last offseason when he was identified as the anvil holding down the Packers defense. “It doesn’t matter if you are 11-0 or 2-9.”
And Barry’s right, the NFL is a ruthless business, and the minute you forget about that is the minute you’re blindsided by someone younger taking your place.
So nothing should ever be taken for granted.
“I never shut it down. I never shut it down,” said Tyreek Hill, who has put on a brave face all year despite this being his second least productive statistical season. “You only get so many opportunities to play this game, and I feel like I’ve got to be able to take advantage of every opportunity that I get because football is not for long and you never know how situations unfold at the end of the year. I want to be able to play with all of these guys on this team one last time.”
Hill is 195 yards away from producing his seventh 1,000-yard receiving season, but the minute he falls short of that milestone you will start hearing how he’s washed.
Raheem Mostert went from a Pro Bowler in 2023 to an afterthought in 2024.
Mostert, who has accounted for 244 rushing yards on 71 carries this season, needs to find a way to resurrect his career in these final three games or the 32-year-old will be placed on the old back pile.
Much like Hill and Mostert, every player who steps on the field Sunday will have a narrative he’s fighting against.
Rookie Patrick Paul is laboring to prove that he’s the future at left tackle. Malik Washington’s trying to establish himself as Miami’s starting slot receiver.
The 30-year-olds are being pushed out the NFL, and these final three games might be the last games Calais Campbell, Terron Armstead, Kendall Lamm, Jordan Poyer, Durham Smythe in Miami, if not the NFL.
Then we have the impending free agents — Jevon Holland, Liam Eichenberg, Anthony Walker Jr., Da’Shawn Hand and others — whose film from 2024 will determine how much they earn in coming seasons.
Tagovailoa has never had a losing season in his five years.
Jalen Ramsey needs another Pro Bowl year to strengthen his Hall of Fame campaign.
Even though De’Von Achane has spent this season as Miami’s featured back, he’s 159 yards shy of the 800 rushing yards he produced last year on 103 carries. Achane, who has caught a career high 70 receptions for 509 yards and six touchdowns, should be focused on improving his disappointing 3.9 yards per carry average.
Everybody has something, and they better use that something to find their carrot.
“The second you disrespect the game, or you try to shortcut it, it disrespects you,” said defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, whose unit’s performance in these final three games might determine if he’s in the mix for head coach openings this offseason. “This is our last home game, and our fans deserve our best effort. We’ve got to go out there and defend the rock.
“Next week, we’ve got to win in the cold and put that narrative to sleep,” Weaver said, referring to a Dec. 29 road game against Cleveland. “And then that last game against the Jets, they hung up 400 (offensive yards) on us the last time we played. So we have something to play [for] in every single game, and I know our guys are going to answer the challenge.”
We’ll soon learn if that’s the case or if these Dolphins are going through he motions.
This story was originally published December 20, 2024 at 12:54 PM.
