3 things we learned in the Miami Dolphins "the sky is not falling" loss to the Eagles
By Matt Serniak
I think for many of us, this game sort of went the way we thought it would. Yes, I was one of the souls out there who had Miami winning. I just thought this was going to be the time they were going to exercise their demons and win that big game against one of the "real legit" teams in the NFL. Maybe it was blind loyalty that clouded my judgment but I thought Miami was walking out of Philly as a victor.
The Philadelphia Eagles were as advertised and they righted the ship that got sunk last week when they lost to the Jets. The biggest reason why besides the fact that they have a ton of talented players who have immense pride in not letting their teammates down(not that Miami has guys who don't have pride but this Eagles team has gone through the wars with each other where Miami is still experiencing that) is that their brand of football travels and can be woken up easier than the Dolphin's brand of football.
The Eagles know exactly what they have to do to not let losses like last week to the Jets linger. Their leaders know how to rally the troops and get everyone back to playing Eagles football.
The Miami Dolphins are laying the roots with their leaders to be able to overcome the negative circumstances that every team deals with every year. They still need to work on that, along with a bunch of other stuff. As time goes on with this nucleus intact, the ability to respond to adversity as a team quicker will get better.
But even though the Dolphins got leaned on to the tune of 31-17, and everyone has the absolute right to keep talking about how the Dolphins can't beat the good teams, something that is very much true until they actually do that, I think there is some optimism in thinking that the season isn't lost and that the sky is in fact not falling on Miami.
We're approaching the halfway point of the season meaning there is a ton of football left to be played. It also means there are a ton of different overarching thoughts we will have. Right now, I'm thinking same old Dolphins but in two weeks if they beat the Chiefs in Germany, we will be telling ourselves that they figured it out and will go on a run to the playoffs. That's how our primitive brains work.
I think last night we learned a good amount about this Dolphin's team and we also had some convictions confirmed. Here's what I got for you.