Can Miami Dolphins beat a good team? Only one way to make narrative go away & time is now | Opinion
Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel had some fun with the media this week, as he is wont to do. Among his many points of expertise is an ability to defuse or divert an unwelcome question in a way that leaves ‘em laughing.
So a reporter asked about the “narrative” out there on his Dolphins’ record against “other contenders.” It was a tiptoeing way of saying, “Y’all haven’t beaten a good team yet and now you finish with three of those in a row. Your thoughts?”
NFL head coaches are mostly a thin-skinned breed. Most (Bill Belichick comes to mind) would have begun bristling at the word “narrative,” cut off the question with some form of dismissive harrumph and moved on. Partly because “narrative” is code for a story line the media creates but attributes to what is “out there being said.”
In this McDaniel looked the elephant in the room squarely in the eye and in his droll manner said:
“As I talked to the team today, I instructed the players that anything other than to concern yourself with the next opponent, which for us is the Dallas Cowboys, any other narrative that has to do with good teams or playoff seeds or the next three games, all that stuff -- I gave them the clearance to tell all members of the media to – with all due respect – eff off ... with all due respect. The narratives will be what they be and we’re not really concerned. It’s inconsequential.”
I might argue (with all due respect) that the narrative is quite consequential because it is true, and real, and casts the last doubt left about the Dolphins’ ability to reach, and win, a Super Bowl.
And that truth will be real until the 10-4 Fins themselves make it go away by beating good teams. Good teams like:
The also 10-4 Cowboys, on Christmas Eve at Hard Rock Stadium.
The 11-3 Baltimore Ravens, up there, in a game that could decide the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.
And the 8-6 but coming on strong Buffalo Bills, here, in a regular season finale that could decide who wins the AFC East.
What McDaniel dismisses as inconsequential but accurately describes his team and its season thus far is this, in numbers:
The 10 teams Miami has beaten include zero with a current winning record, one that is now .500 and nine with a losing record. Those 10 teams’ combined are presently 45-95, a .321 winning percentage. It’s very likely none will make the playoffs. Because of that Miami’s strength of schedule to this point has certifiably been the easiest in the NFL.
The Dolphins’ four losses, by contrast, have been to three teams with winning records in the Bills, Philadelphia and Kansas City, with home loss to Tennessee the lone aberration that does not fit the ”narrative.”
Dallas has the same elephant in its meeting room, it needs be said. The Cowboys’ 10 wins have been against one team with a current winning record, two that are .500 and seven with a losing record. Combined their beaten opponents are 53-87 (.379), the fourth-easiest on the strength of schedule scale. (Dallas further must prove it can win on the road, where all four of its losses have come.)
The next three games will be delicious challenge of a finish because the stakes, at least for Miami, have not been this high for a long, long time. That’s because the team has not been this good in seemingly forever, or had Super Bowl championship dreams close enough to touch.
“You definitely kind of feel it a little bit. That December football,” says Christian Wilkins, the excellent defensive tackle. “The games mean a lot more now. There is always just a little extra something. You don’t know what it is but the games just feel a lot bigger. They are more fun and more intense. The focus is there throughout the week.”
South Florida sports fans can testify: Winning championships is hard. And rare.
Our big-five pro teams (Dolphins, Heat, Marlins, Panthers and Inter Miami) combined have won seven championships in 156 season, or a 4.5 percent likelihood on average.
Hurricanes football has won five in 87 seasons (5.7 percent), but UM’s men and women in basketball together have won zero national titles in 102 combined seasons.
The Dolphins, our pro flagship franchise, last won a Super Bowl in 1973, last played in one in 1984, last reached an AFC Championship Game in ‘92, last won a playoff game in 2000, and last hosted a playoff game in 2009.
It’s time.
It’s time and this seems the right team.
Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill both should be in the league MVP conversation, Raheem Mostert just set all-time club records for most touchdowns in a season. The defense, when at its best, is really good. McDaniel keeps showing the mind and motivator behind the quirky facade.
These Dolphins are capable of winning the Super Bowl, and the opportunity to erase doubts and prove that potential starts now.
Because the team that has yet to beat a winning opponent is facing nothing but those the rest of the way.
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 11:46 AM.
