The Miami Dolphins crack the top 10 but ESPN still disrespects them

The Miami Dolphins have cracked the top 10 in many NFL power rankings but is that right?

If I told you that the Miami Dolphins were a top 10 team in the latest round of NFL power rankings would you think I’m crazy? Yet, they are.

NFL power rankings are rather subjective but to see that many of the bigger sites that do them have the Miami Dolphins in the top 10 is eye-opening and great to see. The media doesn’t like to give the Dolphins much street cred but why would they? For the last decade, the Dolphins have been a tease or just outright disappointment. Remember all those years that the media predicted a turnaround for Miami? Guess they got tired of being wrong.

Now that narrative seems to be changing. Brian Flores has a roster that is still being rebuilt and has turned them into a playoff contender. Whether they make the post-season or not, the fact we are talking about them nationally is incredibly surprising.

Then comes the aforementioned power rankings. I looked over a few from some of the top sites. Sporting News, Bleacher Report, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and of course ESPN. NFL.com has yet to update their rankings.

Of those mentioned above, all of them have the Dolphins coming in at number 10 and frankly, I can’t remember the last time they Dolphins were ranked that high. Every single power ranking has the Dolphins at 10 and in the SI poll, the Dolphins received a vote for 8th overall. All of them but ESPN.

ESPN doesn’t like the Dolphins. In part, they have had their head so far up the Patriots helmets that they simply can’t say anything nice about Miami. ESPN has the Dolphins ranked 14th. I want you to let that sit in for a second.

Beat writer Cameron Wolfe had nice things to say in the write-up but the fact Miami is in 14th is another ESPN slap in Miami’s face and the Dolphins should simply spend the rest of the season reading the vitriole that comes from that network.

It wouldn’t be so bad if the Dolphins were simply not in the top 10 but the Cardinals are still ranked higher than the Dolphins. In fact, the Cardinals are ranked 10th, the same they were last weekend. Coming in at number 11, the L.A. Rams, the same team the Dolphins beat a week earlier.

The Dolphins are not getting respect and that is o.k., this isn’t a team that likely cares what others outside of the organization are thinking about them. That’s a good thing. As fans, we are given another reason to not watch ESPN or really care what they have to say. Not that anything really has changed much over the last decade.

Frankly, power rankings don’t mean anything but it is nice to see that other media outlets are recognizing that this Dolphins team is not what everyone expected. As for the other one, well, they are not what fans expected either.