The Phinsider
The Dolphins season ends in a loss to the New York Jets and I couldn’t think of anything more fitting.
MIAMI GARDENS — As the Miami Dolphins season struck twelve on their playoff hopes, they were left with a familiar feeling, mediocrity. They just lost 32-20 to the New York Jets, their season ended at 8-9, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed another six games, and their top-billing player is trying to get out of town.
The Dolphins have been the model for mediocre purgatory over the years, and Dolphins fans have been subjected to it for as long as I can remember. I’m in my 30s, and the Dolphins being a deep playoff team predates my memory as a football fan.
The 2024 season could be boiled down to injuries to Tagovailoa and a few other key players, Tyreek Hill not showing up when the lights were at their brightest, the worst guard play in a decade, and the team as a whole not being tough enough when the weather gets a bit chilly.
When you combine that with the Dolphins beating up on inferior teams, it equates to the middle of the pack. A typical 9-8 or 8-9 season and the Dolphins finished on the wrong side of it.
They head into another offseason with more questions than answers, but we’ll get deeper into that when more information presents itself, and tempers have settled.
Let’s get into why the Dolphins lost to the Jets, and this week it’s not that deep. The keywords here are turnovers and inspiration.
Everyone knew going into Sunday that the Dolphins had little to no shot at the playoffs. Not because they were statistically out of it, only a win and a Denver Broncos loss to get in, but because the Kansas City Chiefs indicated they were sitting their best players.
Still, there was a puncher’s chance that Carson Wentz and the Chiefs “B” team could pull out the upset, and Dolphins nation had a glimmer of hope. That all changed by the end of the first quarter, and all hope was shot.
This is where “inspiration” comes in. It was reported, and logic would also dictate that Dolphins players were scoreboard-watching the Broncos/Chiefs game during their own game.
Nothing wrong with that, but when the Broncos looked to have the last playoff spot secured, it felt like some Dolphins players started to play like the season was already over. Once that kicks in, I can’t really blame Mike McDaniel for not being able to rally them. It’s deflating.
I’m not going to name names, but it didn’t feel like I was watching a team that was giving it their all.
We can speculate how hard the Dolphins were playing after the Broncos locked up the last playoff spot, but the biggest problem on the field was turnovers.
Quarterback Tyler Huntley was asked about the offensive struggles after the game, to which he replied: “*One of those...
