How a ‘delusional’ mind-set has shifted the Dolphins’ outlook for rest of 2025
It started last Sunday after the win over the Buffalo Bills.
“We’re all delusional, man,” Miami Dolphins edge rusher Bradley Chubb said after the 30-13 victory against their AFC East rivals. “We know what we can do, and we believe that if we put our minds to it, we can play complementary football like we did, the sky is the limit, man. You know what I mean? It’s not delusional, at the end of the day, because we know we can do it. We know we’re going to go out there and do it, and it’s just about each and every day having that same faith, the same mindset and trusting the plan.”
And after a gritty 16-13 win against the Commanders, one that saw Washington have a two potential go-ahead opportunities at the end of regulation and in overtime, it would seem that the phrase has morphed into a mantra for the rest of the 2025 season as the Dolphins head into the bye week.
“It was far from being the cleanest game,” coach Mike McDaniel said of Sunday’s contest in Madrid, later adding “you need to win games that are one-score games that go down to the wire” in order “to succeed.”
Although McDaniel wouldn’t take credit for the origin of the phrase, he certainly identified with it.
“If I had a dime for every time I was called delusional,” McDaniel quipped. “This is right down my alley. I support it just because the biggest thing is that there are six days of preparation, there’s a lot of talk, there are a lot of things that you can get involved in but at the end of every week, you have a game to play, and the winner goes to the team that plays the best that day, in that stadium, at that moment. You have a lot more control over circumstance at that moment when you just win the next thing during the week.”
A key part of that delusion has been the ability to tune out the outside noise. At 2-7, apathy could have consumed the team. The Dolphins had just traded one of their best defensive players in Jaelan Phillips. The injuries had begun to pile up. And the Bills were in town.
Outside the Baptist Health Training Facility in Miami Gardens, virtually no one believed that they could beat Buffalo, the winners of seven consecutive games against the Dolphins. That, however, didn’t matter. As McDaniel said, it’s all about who’s the best team when the sides line up, something that even the rookies have bought into.
“I feel like, as long as we just stick together and be ourselves, everything will be fine,” running back Ollie Gordon II said after the Commanders win. “Don’t listen to the critics, don’t listen to the outside noise. As long as we keep building bonds with each other, we’ll be fine. Continue forward and know that we lean on each other and not anybody else, and we’ll be good.”
Now that the Dolphins have won consecutive games for the first time in 2025, the conversation around this team has changed. Former NFL coach Jon Gruden said Miami will make the playoffs. The Dolphins’ potential general manger opening seemed to be viewed as “an exceptional front-office opportunity,” according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. And national pundits such as Ryan Clark appeared pleasantly surprised that the Dolphins continue to play hard.
“We just continue to stick together, play together,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “I don’t think anyone is worried about any of that external noise when it comes to that. When we play this game, we know what we sign up for. We know this is a business as well. We want to play for each other; we’re going to do everything we can.”
Added McDaniel: “I’m just very impressed, but not surprised. It matches a belief that I’ve had the entire time with these guys — that they’re made of the right material that it takes to succeed in this league and a lot more often than not, you have to succeed on the heels of failure.”
After their Week 12 bye, the Dolphins will host the 2-8 New Orleans Saints then travel New York to face the Jets. Some tests do remain — the away game in Pittsburgh to face the Steelers, back-to-back home matchups against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals as well as the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as a trip to Gillette Stadium season finale against the two-loss New England Patriots – yet optimism abounds.
“This was a good team win,” said cornerback Jack Jones, who made a game-changing interception on the first defensive series of overtime against the Commanders. “If you were on the field, you just felt it, you know what I’m saying? Nobody was hanging their heads off of bad plays or bad drives, so to speak. You know what I’m saying? Everybody just came back, regrouped, and went out there and just was dominating as a team. I think, if we just carry that week in and week out, we’re really hard to beat, because we’re a good team.”
The question will now become whether the Dolphins’ can maintain their momentum through the bye.
“Our momentum that we’ve built up util this point of the season has been built on our work week,” McDaniel said. “I’m not as nervous about the momentum altering. I think we kind of learned the hard way, or were forced to learn the hard way. The rest is necessary when you empty the tank.”
