The Phinsider
They aren’t who we thought they were? I mean. Not as bad as we thought they were.
Sadly, they’re still on the hook.
R.I.P. Dennis Green.
At least Tyreek Hill agrees with me.
Look. I sincerely thought the Fins were looking at a 40+ point blowout loss on Thursday night. The fact that the game was 14-14 at the half, the Dolphins were in it until the end, and they were only really derailed by two major mistakes (Zach Sieler and Tua, please stand up), was wholly unexpected.
Ollie Gordon scored his first career touchdown and looked the part of a power back who can spell De’Von Achane’s speed. Achane was his usual productive self, while both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle found the end zone alongside Gordon. The previously (let’s face it, probably permanently) problematic offensive line surrendered 0 sacks on the evening and the defense even decided to stop Mr. Janu-Alien himself a few times.
Compare that to the absolute joke of a display opening week, the slightly less comical (but still paltry) showing in Week 2, and the team is ever so slowly climbing its way toward being functional.
Is that good enough?
Of course not.
0-3 teams have a 2.5% chance of making the postseason. Not great odds.
The Fins still have problems all over the place. The linebackers looked overmatched, with Tyrel Dodson standing out to me a few different times as someone in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing, even though he racked up a lot of stats by the end. The defense still gave up over 30 points. That’s 3 weeks in a row, but who’s counting?
Me.
I’m counting.
No matter how many silver linings we can dig up or layers of lipstick we can slap on this here pig, the Dolphins still lost and are sitting at 0-3 to start the season.
That said:
One of the main narratives coming into the game against Buffalo was head coach Mike McDaniel’s job security (or lack thereof). If the team laid an egg and/or the players looked like they’d given up the ghost, the theory was that MM could be gone before the return flight plane was loaded.
The Dolphins’ performance in Orchard Park was instead illustrative of a group that still gives a flying fin. My guess is that alone will be enough to buy McDaniel considerable good will with upper management and keep him in charge until the Week 12 Bye.
Counter arguments will point out that the Fins still lost and McDaniel himself spoke out against moral victories. But institutions hesitant to change will take the devil they know more often than not and point to the team’s glacial pace of improvement over the first 3 games as evidence of a massive ship wrestling against the waves to right itself. Comparisons to The Titanic notwithstanding.
Obviously what happens between Week 4 and...
