Miami Dolphins: Down and Out
By Sean Denison
After the game at Sun Life Stadium, empty beer cups sunbathe in the aisles; condiments, spit, and random spillage plaster the concrete floors; and the trash that has made its way onto the field aimlessly flutters whichever direction the brush of wind drifts. After an embarrassing loss to the Buffalo Bills 41-14, this sad mess resembles the Miami Dolphins and their fans.
The Dolphins 50th home opener in franchise history didn’t go exactly as planned. As the crowd made their way into their seats just before kickoff, the dark clouds that loomed over Sun Life Stadium foreshadowed what was soon to come. It was about to get ugly, and fast. For the second week in a row, a young, inexperienced quarterback had a field day against the Dolphins defense. Tyrod Taylor, once again, made playing quarterback look like a walk in the park against a unit that was supposed to be one of the best in the league.
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It’s safe to say that the Buffalo Bills have had the Dolphins’ number. Philbin—the milquetoast dweeb that would have trouble motivating a six year-old to dress as his favorite superhero and go trick-or-treating—has gone 2-5 against the division rival. For the past four seasons, this team has resembled its head coach in the worst of ways: mediocre.
Is it time to throw in the towel? Does this Dolphins team deserve any support after giving us such a false sense of hope before the season? As of right now, they don’t deserve crap. Three weeks into the season and this team has given up. They’ve surrendered and accepted defeat two consecutive weeks to one team that is so bad they make Rosie O’Donnell look good in a miniskirt, and to another team that they know well, yet still continuously get lambasted by.
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I mean, what’s going on here? There are so many questions that need to be answered. Is it Joe Philbin? Bill Lazor? Kevin Coyle? Is it the offense or defense? Ryan Tannehill? Is it snowflake? What the hell is it?
I believe it’s the culture. And it needs to change or the fan base—habitually obligated to wave the white flag midway through each harrowing season—will become small, and perhaps even nonexistent. On Sundays, Sun Life Stadium will soon resemble a Miami Hurricanes home game: empty.
There’s a culture in Miami like no other in football. Despite residing in the most transient market in the NFL, the Dolphins have the unpleasant admonition of having an incompetent owner who would rather see Miami host a Super Bowl than see the Dolphins play in one. Stephen Ross is everything that’s wrong with the Miami Dolphins. What Stephen Ross lacks in football knowledge, he most certainly makes up for in ear width. Because of the group of men that Mr. Ross has put in charge of all football operations, this team is a dumpster fire.
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Now, coming off the biggest home-opening loss in franchise history, the Miami Dolphins—because of the brilliant marketing scheme by Stephen Ross in hopes of growing the Miami Dolphins brand—have the displeasure of sacrificing a home game and instead must take a very long, inconvenient trip across the pond to play the New York Jets at Wembley Stadium in London next Sunday at 9:30 am EST.
Why wait for the inevitable? If Miami plans to start anew, start today. The best thing that can happen for this franchise is for Stephen Ross to give up and sell the team to someone who cares: a football guy, not a businessman.
They say, “When it rains, it pours.” And just like every mid-afternoon summer’s day in South Florida, such is the case for the Miami Dolphins.