Will the Miami Dolphins ever become a cutthroat football team?

On Thursday night the Miami Dolphins got their first win of the season but they throttled the offense in the 2nd half.

A win by the Miami Dolphins is a great thing but many fans are not thrilled with the fact that Miami played it safe in the second half.

On Twitter this morning, there was a lot of discussion regarding the second half playcalling and our own Matthew Stevens wrote about that as well this morning. While I tend to lean towards this side of the debate, there is something to be said about the other side’s point of view.

Alain Poupart made mention of the fact that Miami did win by 18 points and that they never really needed to continue driving the ball because the defense was playing well. While I disagree with that to a degree, he does point out that the opponent dictated that as well.

What he means is that had the Dolphins been playing a far better opponent, like the Chiefs, he believes the mentality of the Dolphins coaching would have been to continue scoring. I would also think that or at least hope that would be the case.

Perhaps a better point of view came from another Twitter user who pointed out that with a 14 point lead in the middle of the 2nd, the Dolphins were better off not taking risks.

This is a good point by Anderson and Miami is a young football team but there also comes a time that Miami needs to be more like the Patriots, Chiefs, and Ravens. When you can, you do.

At some point, and I get why right now may not be that time, I want the Dolphins to be more like Nick Saban’s Alabama teams. More like the Chiefs and Ravens who will pile on to the scoreboard until the final minute ticks off.

While waiting makes some sense, these players are at the prime level of absorption. Teaching them to never stop fighting can pay off in the future. How do you hold them back and then later say, “O.k. we are not holding it back anymore”? I’m not sure you can.

I can see the points from Poupart and Anderson and the others and I can agree with to an extent. For now.

It is too early to tell if Brian Flores has that kind of killer instinct that Bill Belichick seems to adhere to but we know from past experience that Chan Gailey does not. Maybe someday, maybe someday soon. Maybe when the pieces are not so inexperienced. Maybe.