Cote: Loss, playoff elimination and Miami Dolphins’ half century wait for relevance goes on | Opinion
The good news, if you can call it that: The Miami Dolphins on Sunday evening were the last team eliminated from the NFL playoffs.
The reality, if you can handle it: The Dolphins were not close to being playoff-good, and their fans have started the new year as they have for the past half century of new years ... disappointed. And the end of the season also delivered controversy courtesy Tyreek Hill as the star receiver prone to drama suggested his Dolphins day may be done.
This marks the 51st consecutive football season since Miami last won a Super Bowl in 1973. And the 40th straight year (happy anniversary?) since the Fins last appeared in a Super Bowl in 1984. And the 24th season in a row since Miami last won a playoff game in 2000.
The Dolphins have been relevant since they last reigned as champion; Dan Marino made them so. But it has been a half century now since this franchise has been on top.
There is no sugar-coating this as Miami on Sunday night ended yet another season letting down its fans in a 32-20 loss at the really bad New York Jets.
A win would not have mattered, it turned out. The Fins needed Denver to lose Sunday to a Patrick Mahomes-less Kansas City to have a chance.
Denver won 38-0 — did what it needed to do.
The Dolphins lost — did what they typically do.
The Broncos led big and early and had clinched with around six minutes still left in Miami’s game.
“You looking at the Jumbotron, you know it’s out of reach,” said tight end Jonnu Smith.
Said defensive stalwart Calais Campbell of Denver’s clear domination: “You kind of realize you’re just playing for love.”
Everything will pivot immediately to “what’s next” now, of course. Because this is sports. And we are human.
Who will be fired? Who will be the scapegoat? Because an 8-9 season merits change ... right?
Coach Mike McDaniel, after playoff seasons (albeit two quick exits) in his first two years, should be back. But with pressure on him. Because the quirky, genius-nerd thing works better when you are an offensive juggernaut, like last season, than when you are left to say “we need to stop the self-inflicted wounds” way too much.
General manager Chris Grier will lead everybody’s scapegoat betting board. Because owner Stephen Ross is 84. How much patience do you think he has, exactly? Mustn’t he blame someone but himself? (It’s what owners do..)
McDaniel Sunday night said “my full expectation” is that he and Grier both would return. He added, “”We’re not approaching this year like 8-9 is good enough.”
Later Sunday, owner Stephen Ross put out a statement that both would be back.
A better question in the wake of this: Is quarterback Tua Tagovailoa the answer moving forward? I am pro-Tua. You all know it. But the most valuable ability in sports is “availability,” and Tagovailoa on Sunday just missed his sixth game (of 17). He has now missed 20 games injured in five seasons.
Added drama visited Sunday’s loss when star Tyreek Hill suggested he might want out. (Has he been taking a seminar from the Heat’s Jimmy Butler?) Hill did not play at all in the fourth quarter. I’d pass off Hill’s postgame thoughts to his mercurial temperament for now, but we’ll see.
“I was informed he wasn’t available,” said McDaniel, not mentioning Hill’s unavailability as injury-related. “I’m not going to make a rash judgment. Clarity will be found.”
Expertise in tea-leave reading is not required to surmise that a disgruntled Hill basically said “nah” to taking the field in the fourth quarter. If so, that’s quitting on your team, a potentially tradeable offense.
Sunday’s Dolphins performance became moot when it was obvious Denver would win big. And there was little doubt. It was as it should have been. This was not a playoff-quality season by Miami. Next week would have seen the Fins a sizable wild-card underdog.
The Dolphins had four turnovers, two interceptions by Tyler Huntley and two lost fumbles. That made the game easy for the dysfunctional Jets, who are openly shopping for a new coach and possibly a new quarterback — although Aaron Rodgers’ 500th career touchdown pass and hero’s role in a winning effort may have miraculously saved him?
Miami led fast 3-0 on a field goal after a Rodgers’ deflection-interception. It might have been 10-0 early. Miami was first-and-goal at the Jets 3. But settled for a field goal.
That’s when you knew the Dolphins were being the Dolphins and the night was doomed..
(Which following the Broncos score had independently confirmed.)
What’s next now?
The debate will happen in the rubble of reality:
Fifty-one seasons since the Dolphins’ last Super Bowl championship, 40 years since the last Super Bowl appearance and 24 seasons since Miami last won a playoff game.
Imagine. Fans don’t need to, because they have lived it. Dolfans have grown old and died waiting for another Super Bowl. Raised children, waiting. Raised grandchildren, waiting.
The next owner, or head coach, or star player, who ends the agony will be a Miami hero for all time.
We are waiting.
This story was originally published January 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM.
