Complacency can be devastating in sports: The Dolphins must bounce back after their loss

The Miami Dolphins will face a Jets team that is finding confidence and this will be a good barometer of what the Dolphins players and coaches learned from their loss.

Complacency is a bad thing. In sports, it can be devastating. The Miami Dolphins got complacent. They started going over playoff and number-one seed scenarios ahead of the Titans. The Titans were just focusing on winning a football game. When it mattered the most, the Dolphins caved.

The 49ers, Ravens, Eagles, Cowboys, Chiefs, and now the Miami Dolphins have all lost to bad teams. Each of those teams is still closing in on clinching a playoff birth. All of those teams did something that the Miami Dolphins must do now, they bounced back.

This week the Dolphins face the Jets. They will be favored to win and they should win. How they win will also be scrutinized just as much as how they lose. Miami has coasted against bad teams most of the year and now, they have to show that last week was nothing more than a bump in the road.

Win, and the Dolphins set themselves up for a playoff push. The Dolphins still control their destiny from making the postseason, winning the division, and yes, holding a first seed in the AFC. Miami still plays the Ravens and if they beat the Ravens and win out, Miami will get an extra week of rest.

Lose, and there is a real chance the Dolphins could fold. If they lose to the Jets, the confidence will be shaken. They will have three games ahead against top teams and coming off huge losses to two bad teams.

Miami has to turn it around this week. On Hard Knocks Tuesday night, Raheem Mostert's wife was shown in the stands stunned in silence. "Is this for real?" she said after the fans had left, sitting there with her family. It is that shock that needs to resonate with the players as well.

This week is a statement game for the Dolphins. So far this year, Miami has responded after they lost to the Bills, Eagles, and Chiefs. Now they have to respond after losing their fourth game.

The path to the playoffs is still very much in the control of the Miami Dolphins but the Jets are out to play spoiler. Miami needs to know that, they should know that.