Miami Dolphins: The soft spot on schedule is no longer soft

What was once a soft spot on the schedule for the Miami Dolphins might no longer be. Can the late-season stretch save the team’s hopes?

While plenty of fans and pundits predicted a slow start for the Miami Dolphins based on the difficulty of their schedule, very few of them saw the team being this bad. We knew that the first five games would be a serious test, and getting through the tough early stretch with a winning record would be considered a big win for Miami, given the soft spot in their schedule in November and December.

But the Dolphins have stumbled out to a 1-3 start, and have looked nothing like the improved squad that they were supposed to be. Their offensive futility is starting to make headlines around the league, and the defense that they could once count on has given up 93 points in the last three contests. The final game of the brutal start to the schedule will come against Tom Brady and the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

1-4 is not only a possibility, it is a likelihood.

An optimist can point to the slow starts that head coach Brian Flores has had in his other seasons in Miami and be confident that he will pull the team together for a late-season push. Tua Tagovailoa should be returning within a couple of weeks, and the shuffling offensive line has to be solved at some point, right?

Most of all, the optimist will point to the calendar. There is a stretch starting on November 7th in which the Dolphins play against a group of mostly underwhelming teams, including some of the worst the league has to offer. But the six-game slate might not be such a cakewalk after all, especially if Miami continues to perform the way they have in the early going.

They’ll start the stretch in Week 9 against the Houston Texans, who have somehow looked even worse than the Dolphins so far this season. A loss by Miami here and you can put a cap on the 2021 campaign. Over the next six weeks, they’ll play the Jets twice, along with home games against the Panthers and Giants.

The games against New York teams looked like given victories when looking at the schedule before the start of the season, but the Dolphins certainly don’t look head and shoulders above either one of them as it stands today. The Panthers and Sam Darnold have enjoyed an early resurgence, and are currently sitting at 3-1.

There is also a terrifying matchup on the board during the otherwise “soft” stretch. The Baltimore Ravens will visit Miami on a Thursday night in November, an opponent that should strike fear in the hearts of all Dolphins fans. Over the last three matchups between the two teams, Miami has been outscored 137-10. Since 2008, the Ravens are 8-1 against the Dolphins and have outscored them 284-99.

Attempting to remain optimistic about the Miami Dolphins playoff chances this season is becoming more and more difficult by the week. But if they are somehow able to pull another miracle and right the ship before it’s too late, then November and early December could be an interesting time to be rooting for Miami.