The Phinsider
abeyance (noun) - a state of temporary inactivity
Well, here we are again at everyone’s favorite place: call it the Miami Dolphins’ December to Remember.
Every year the Fins come in with playoff hopes in their little aquatic hearts and then proceed to get tangled in a bunch of fishing nets until they fully drown in a sea of poor play.
It’s true; Miami could still make the postseason. But they won’t. And they don’t deserve to.
If I have to see Miami sitting on the bottom right of that stupid ‘In the Hunt’ playoff graphic one more time, I’m going to be in the hunt for whichever poor intern is forced to make it.
So let’s just pack this one in and see what seeds we can plant for the future.
Maybe ones that turn into ents or something cool like that.
You think I’m ‘avin a laugh eh?
Despite the outcome, Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans looked like a normal football game between two teams who you could picture making the playoffs.
While that might not read like the sort of game fans are jacked up to watch, I think of how many games over the years didn’t even amount to that. Backup quarterbacks or backups to backups starting against teams with ten players missing or sitting all of their starters during ice bowl or hurricane conditions. So, I don’t know, if I can find one thing acceptable here, it was that Miami played Houston in a way that could represent a capable group.
The downside to that viewpoint is that a pretty consistent attribute of normal football games between two decent teams is that they come down to a handful of plays and the resulting momentum swings. And that downside was as big as Frosty’s rippling muscles for Miami as every momentum swing served to smother their hopes and dreams.
There were the obvious big things, such as a fumble that resulted directly in a Houston touchdown. Or a successful fake punt by the Texans (following a drop by John Metchie on a surefire first down pass, but let’s ignore that) that resulted directly in a Houston touchdown. Or three (3) interceptions by Tua Tagovailoa, including one to snuff out any remaining hope of a comeback on the first pass of a drive that started with 1:44 left in the 4th quarter.
There were also little things. For example, Mike McDaniel continued his favorite holiday tradition of wasting timeouts, leaving the Fins with none when attempting a game winning two-minute drill. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect him to grow out of by now, if you bothered having expectations.
If it wasn’t so sad, it’d be funny. The Dolphins are over 20 years without a playoff win and this season will do nothing to recify that. Preseason pundits were all over the Dolphins, gearing up for this to be their year. Yet, as sure...
