Cote: CFP snubs Canes, but Miami Dolphins keep playoff hopes alive with huge OT win vs. Jets | Opinion
It was looking like a sullen, somber Sunday for Miami’s two favorite football teams, college and pro, Hurricanes and Dolphins.
The Canes were bracing for a loss they saw coming, but when the snub by the College Football Playoff officially came, it still hurt. The Dolphins could not see their loss coming, but trailed the New York Jets twice in the fourth quarter, their NFL playoff hopes fading by degrees.
But the Fins would rally for a 32-26 victory in overtime on Tua Tagovailoa’s 10-yard scoring pass to Jonnu Smith — so now at least one of Miami’s big two football teams still has playoff hope, however slim. Smith’s only three catches of the game came in the winning drive.
“I think Jonnu came up to Mike [coach McDaniel] and had to say something to get him more involved,” said Tagovailoa, smiling. “Not getting the ball can be discouraging. That’s Jonnu being Jonnu. The new and improved Jonnu! That was big. That was fun.”
The Fins have now beaten the AFC East rival Jets four straight times and eight of the past nine — and won a ninth straight meeting held in Miami — those both of those streaks were in peril.
For UM the sobering reality preceded the Dolphins’ overtime celebration.
The Hurricanes, once 9-0 and headed for the ACC Championship Game and perhaps a first-round bye in the CFP, finished 10-2 instead and felt their punishment like a hard slap Sunday. As feared, they finished ranked 13th in a playoff bracket that fits only 12. And, as expected, they settled for a consolation bowl game that will only serve to underline how much UM once had to play for, and how much was lost.
It was announced the Canes season will end December 28 in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando vs. defense-first Iowa State. Will NFL Draft-bound star quarterback Cam Ward even bother to play and risk injury in a meaningless second-tier game? Why would he? For coach Mario Cristobal, the late-season tailspin from a likely CFP bye to the Pop-Tarts Bowl is a dizzying fall.
Dolphins coach McDaniel could maybe relate? His Dolphins were an 11-6 playoff team last season with the NFL’s most exciting offense.
Sunday, his beleaguered Fins were coming off a Thanksgiving night loss in Green Bay that left them 5-7 facing the 3-9 Jets.
The Fins were on the precipice of out of playoff hope as Canes fans had.
Now at 6-7, the Dolphins’ four regular-season games left are at Houston, vs. San Francisco, at Cleveland, then at the Jets. Miami must win all four — three of them on the road, two in likely freezing cold — to end 10-7 and but assure itself a wild-card playoff ticket. A 3-1 finish from here for 9-8 would them a chance, but much slimmer.
“We have no room for error to lose another game,” Tagovailoa said. “We control our own destiny.”
Said McDaniel: “I was 4-10 in seventh grade. A lot of people said I couldn’t do it. Our team feels like that. People say we can’t [make the playoffs]. But our players chose to believe.”
The Fins trailed 23-15 entering the fourth quarter Sunday but puled even with Tyreek Hill’s 4-yard scoring pass from Tua Tagovailoa and then Jaylen Waddle’s two-point extra point catch with 9:04 left in regulation.
“It was a special moment for all of us. Hopefully we continue to build on that momentum,” said Hill. “Tua has been playing lights out, man. I don’t think he gets enough credit. At 23-15, we knew if we didn’t win, its over. Our season’s over.”
At 23-23, Miami’s defense then allowed Aaron Rodgers to drive for a 42-yard field goal with 52 seconds to play — the veteran QB’s 17-yard completion to Davante Adams shortening the kick.
But Tagovailoa countered with a field goal drive of his own ending in Jason Sanders’ tying 52-yard strike with seven seconds left to a send a 26-26 game into overtime, after Malik Washington’s huge 48-yard kickoff return made it a short field to get to the kick.. Those were the seventh and eighth field goals of the game, four by each team. And the Washington return that led to the last was redemption for him, after special teams fumble was big in the holiday loss at Green Bay.
“I couldn’t be prouder of [our] fourth quarter,” McDaniel said.
Then came the late Tagovailoa magic as he went 6 for 6 for 68 yards on the winning OT drive. The tight end Smith caught three of the passes for 44 yards including the game-winner — his first three catches of the game.
Since Tagovailoa’s return from a concussion in Week 8 and entering Sunday, Miami’s offense leads the NFL in fewest three-and-out drives (four), fewest punts (14), most completions (167), most yards after catch (845), and second in highest percentage of scoring drives (56.2).
That is the Tua effect, his impact. His play the past month should see the elevation of his stature, finally, to top-tier consideration among NFL QBs. It made a better-late-than-never hero of Jonnu Smith Sunday.
“When my time comes I gotta be ready,” said Smith.
It did, and he was.
So what began as a somber day for Miami football, college division, ended with celebration, and relief, and hope, on the pro side.
The Hurricanes learned they won’t be a playoff team.
The Dolphins earned the chance to still believe.
This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 4:52 PM.
