What Ravens’ win Monday means to Dolphins. And revelations from Kohou and Wilson. And notes
A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Tuesday:
▪ Even with the Baltimore Ravens beating the San Francisco 49ers on Monday, the Dolphins still control their fate with regard to the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But one potential path to claiming the top seed was eliminated by the Ravens’ win.
Miami (11-4) now has two possible paths to claim the top seed:
1). Win on Sunday in Baltimore (1 p.m., CBS) and win the Week 18 finale at home against Buffalo.
2). If Miami loses to the Bills, Miami must win on Sunday in Baltimore and then would need a Baltimore home loss to Pittsburgh and a Cleveland loss to the visiting Jets or at Cincinnati.
For all of Miami’s playoff permutations, please click on my Monday post here.
▪ Cornerback Kader Kohou has become a very effective and physical tackler, but he said it wasn’t always that way. When he enrolled at Texas A&M-Commerce, “I didn’t like tackling,” he said.
Why not?
“That [expletive] hurts,” he said.
He said during spring practice after his freshman year, he had a clear shot to tackle a running back “and I whiffed.”
From that point on, he took the coaches’ instructions to focus on that area. That physicality has helped him force two fumbles and has earned him two cakes as a reward, part of the Dolphins’ Thursday ritual for rewarding players who do something meaningful, often involving a forced turnover.
Cornerbacks coach Sam Madison said Kohou’s durability also is a positive.
“He’s a very solid player, versatile, able to go outside [or] inside and do whatever defense is called and execute at a high level,” Madison said last week. “Is he getting everything correct? No. He’s still a young player... [But] he’s giving 100 percent effort, he’s a good tackler, will strike people and compete.”
▪ The Dolphins have now won 19 of their past 22 games at Hard Rock Stadium. It is the best 22-game stretch since the stadium opened in 1987.
The last time Miami won 19 of 22 home games was from Oct. 30, 1983, to Nov. 24, 1986, when they went 24-3 in a 27-game stretch at the Orange Bowl.
Miami’s .864 win percentage in its past 22 home games is the best of any NFL team in their past 22 home games. And Miami’s seven home wins are its most in a season since 2002.
▪ Receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. has been a very helpful component this season, and a friend of his mother contributed to his decision to take a pay cut and stay with Miami this season.
“My mom’s friend is like a guardian angel,” Wilson said. “She called my mom out of the blue [during the summer] and said, ‘The Lord and Savior said be patient. Stick with it and put my head down and work.’
“It entered my thinking [when the team asked him to take a pay cut]. I didn’t know which way to go” with staying or leaving.
He’s glad he stayed.
“When opportunity comes, your preparation shows,” he said.
When the Dolphins asked Wilson in August to shave $2 million off his salary and take $5 million that had already been guaranteed, he would have made that same $5 million from Miami whether he stayed or whether he left and sought work elsewhere or simply sat out the season. Wilson opted to stay because “I like it here.”
Wilson has 19 receptions for 245 yards and two touchdowns this season.
▪ Right tackle Austin Jackson said there’s “definitely some gratification” in seeing how far he and Liam Eichenberg have come in their performance.
“For Liam and I, with having some slower starts that we did, I think one thing we always did was just keep getting better, which is kind of like the motto of the team,” Jackson said.
“You take the opportunity to get better and you make something out of it. You don’t quit or curl up because it’s hard or you might be asked to do something you haven’t done before.”
▪ Nik Needham has played 60 snaps on defense — including six against the Cowboys — since returning in October from a torn Achilles’ tendon 54 weeks earlier. He has been splitting his time between the cornerback and safety room.
He’s “still coming off a major injury; it’s mental, working through those things,” Madison said. “Nik has done phenomenal job; is one of those swing guys. Last year, he was backup safety and starting at corner. We’re trying to work him back in the system and into this scheme.”
This story was originally published December 26, 2023 at 1:01 PM.
