3 sneaky keys for the Miami Dolphins to turn so that they can TCB against the Carolina Panthers
By Matt Serniak
Look, I get it. The Carolina Panthers are a winless team with exactly nothing going for them besides having access to incredible BBQ whenever they want. They're going through their growing pains with a young QB and there isn't anything around him to help him. Sound familiar?
The Miami Dolphins have everything in front of them right now. They lead the AFC East and with another win will be keeping pace with the Kansas City Chiefs a top of the entire AFC and second in seeding.
The Dolphins also avenged their week four beatdown at the hands of the Bills with a win last week against the hapless Giants.
Do victories over the Giants and Panthers mean much? Well, they do count as wins regardless of how "off" or "sloppy" they looked to some. Personally, I thought the Dolphins looked fine last week and were never not in control even if Tua threw a very dumb INT on the goalline. If that's what we're going to start complaining about, not beating teams bad enough, sign me up because I remember not to long ago sweating out games like last week.
Hopefully, this week the Miami Dolphins are making it a point to play a cleaner game than they did last week. I'd love to see them go up a few scores early and then just lean on the Panthers. Actually, I want them to do that every week.
Movies like Any Given Sunday, Miracle, Demolition Man, and Happy Gilmore have taught us that any team can rise up and shock the world. We've seen weird upsets this year and throughout the years so taking the Panthers lightly as if you can enter the game thinking any which way and you'll just win is not the way to go and it's a mentality I don't think Mike McDaniel and the veterans will allow to consume the team. They know what they are playing for and what is coming down the road.
We know who the Miami Dolphins play next week. It's their next measuring stick game. It's a game against one of the big boys in the league. It's a game versus an opponent that will either change some minds about what this Dolphins team can do or will reaffirm what most of us have been dealing with for decades. Next week on Sunday night in Philadelphia against the Eagles will be the game of the year.
What we don't want is for the Dolphins to stub their toe against the Carolina Panthers and have all the talk leading into the week be about if the Dolphins are even a good team and if they could even win a playoff game. We want the talk to be about how next week's contest may be a possible Super Bowl matchup. Yeah, I said it. The Miami Dolphins have a legit shot at the Super Bowl and I don't care who hears me.
For the Miami Dolphins to keep everything steady and to enter Philadelphia, a town that is on a real heater right now, in the best headspace, they have to do the obvious stuff. Those obvious keys or elements that need to happen such as winning the turnover battle, winning in the trenches, making more explosive plays, getting to the QB, taking care of special teams, football jargon, football jargon, football jargon, etc. This article is about those somewhat, or at least to me, somewhat under-the-radar keys that the Miami Dolphins need to turn to get to 5-1 and to stay focused.