3 things the Miami Dolphins need to do to defeat the Giants

Do you feel that? That’s the feeling of the Miami Dolphins ascending. Their rise has been an impressive one, though I’m sure there will be a group of folks who are going to point out that they really haven’t beaten anybody besides the #1 team in the AFC. You can go ahead and say that if that’s what really makes you feel better. I’ll be over here with the rest of the regulars being in a good mood that the Dolphins are playing excellent football.

Are there areas that the Dolphins need to improve? Absolutley. Their running game is pretty much non-existent, their passing strategy, thought better of late, lacks creativity, and their offensive line is a disgrace to this house(Frank Costanza people will get this, others, not so much). So yes, the Dolphins have big areas where they can be better.

But, this team was 1-7 a month ago and now they’re 5-7. If things hadn’t changed, like Mack Hollins said they did, then we would be much miserable, hopeless people. We’d be making worse wagers on other teams, medicating with not official medicines, and would potentially be a bunch of Scrooges right now. Nobody wants that.

The biggest reason for the turnaround has been the attitude of the defense. We can wonder all day why the defense wasn’t playing like this earlier in the year, but let’s focus on what they’ve been doing the past month. Regardless if it’s been a running quarterback or a drop-back passer, the defense has been up close and personal with all of them. I’d say this new mantra, which is actually last year’s mantra, started against the Bills, but over the last four games, the Dolphin’s defense has been everything we thought they would be.

Defense doesn’t get the publicity or fan-fare as offenses do, but when the Dolphins are on defense, it’s appointment television. Everyone knows what’s coming but that doesn’t matter and that’s what’s so fun about it.

Also, and if you want to act like it’s not happening that’s on you, Tua Tagovailoa has been playing much better. I know you can’t go 15 consecutive seconds without tripping over 10 articles or videos that set out to explain Tua’s success as lucky or solely a byproduct of the defense but use your eyes. Yes, Tua isn’t going to throw any frozen ropes too often, but if you block for even two seconds, he won’t usually throw the ball over to the other team and will find one of the receivers. As he plays more, even those cringe throws that he makes will happen less.

This organization, for all its faults, which they have many, has given us hope and possibly more. We’ve all seen the upcoming schedule. The Dolphins will play Mike Glennon, Zach Wilson, Taysum Hill or Trevor Sieman, Ryan Tannehill, and Mac Jones. I gotta tell you, I don’t fear any of those quarterbacks or the teams they play for. It’s unlikely that the Dolphins run the table, which would be a nine-game win streak. Too much would have to go perfectly. But a somewhat realistic path is for the Dolphins to get to the postseason exists. That would be a ton of fun and very on-brand for the Dolphins. I’m here for it.

First, the Dolphins need to take of business against the New York Giants something that me, Vegas, and most others think they should be able to do. Typically however when everyone is on the Dolphins, this is the time that they inexplicably lay a massive egg. That can’t happen and I don’t think it will, right now. To avoid that tragedy and feeling of heartbreak, there are three things the Dolphins need to do to bring the Giants into a fine paste. Oh, and I’m not going to mention how the Dolphins need to score more points. Folks like telling me, weekly, that I forgot that one so I’m just going to throw it in now.