Dolphins season slowly slipping away

Even though the Dolphins sit at 4-4, and just one game behind for the AFC Wild Card, the general feeling is that the season is starting to trend downwards.

Last season, the Miami Dolphins dug themselves a 1-4 hole before Adam Gase made some necessary changes. Those changes would help Miami right the ship, and win 9 of their last 11 games to clinch their first playoff berth in eight years. The Dolphins are not nearly in the same type of hole they were a season ago, but the feeling of postseason aspirations seems to be dwindling.

Of course with a 4-4 record, Miami is obviously still in the postseason hunt, behind only Jacksonville and Buffalo, who are both 5-3, for the two AFC Wild Card spots. The second half of the season, however, gets very difficult for the Dolphins. The only opponents Miami has left with a subpar record are the Bucs (2-6) and the Broncos (3-5). All other opponents are at least two games above .500.

The reality is that even though Miami sits with an even record, they’re not as good as most of the teams they’re battling for a playoff spot. All four wins came in dramatic fashion against mediocre teams. In order to beat the teams remaining on their schedule they’ll have to put together complete games, something they’ve been unable to do all season. Teams like New England and Buffalo are simply not going to squander 14 point leads once they get ahead.

Most critics have claimed that the Dolphins have been exceeding expectations since Gase got here, and that they’re really not that good. My reaction to that is that they are good since winning in the NFL is never easy, but they don’t quite have it all together just yet. Gase and the Dolphins did exceed expectations when they reached the playoffs last year, but I warned that this season could be a sophomore slump shortly after Pittsburgh ousted Miami from playoff contention.

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Expectations were running high, however, heading into training camp. That all got shot down, unfortunately, when starting QB Ryan Tannehill went down with a torn ACL in early August, ending his season. In many ways, it ended the Dolphins season as well, but we held onto hope as Dolphins fans tend to do when they came to terms to bring in Jay Cutler. Some even believed that Cutler was an upgrade over Tannehill, but that hasn’t shown.

The Dolphins woes cannot all be put on Cutler. In fact, he played very well on Sunday night, but Miami still couldn’t come away with a victory. The truth is, Miami has been through it all this season, and it could be the time where we start to see it take its toll. From hurricanes to offensive line coaches doing drugs on camera to deciding to trade one of their best players, it’s been an eventful season to say the least for the Dolphins.

This season just doesn’t have the same feel as it did a year ago. It appeared a year ago that the offensive line was finally improving. Unfortunately, this season they look to have taken a drastic step back. With the trade of Jay Ajayi, Miami is now left without a true #1 running back. Gase has all the confidence in Damien Williams and Kenyan Drake, but it’s still a loss of a tremendous player even if Ajayi was an issue in the locker room. It should be noted that both Williams and Drake were terrific against the Raiders.

Another positive that Miami can take is the improved play from their defense. There are still some areas that need to be addressed, but it’s clear they are headed in the right direction. Miami’s young players are making an impact quickly, showcasing that the 2017 NFL Draft might be the Dolphins best class in quite some time.

As Dolphins fans, we always have to holdout hope that they can turn it around in swift fashion. They’ve done it more than once before, so it’s definitely premature to say that their season is lost when they’re just a game behind the playoff race. I would love to write a piece in a couple of months of how wrong I was, and that the Dolphins will be entering the postseason for the second consecutive season. From what I can tell, however, Miami doesn’t quite possess a playoff squad nor do they have the favorable schedule to become one. Let’s all hope that I am wrong.