Miami Dolphins are on the ropes heading into Week 11
The Dolphins are on the ropes heading into Week 11 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be looking for the KO, but Miami isn’t quite dead yet.
Obviously things are not heading in the right direction for the Miami Dolphins right now. Coming off a brutal string of losses on primetime, the team will look to gather itself and bounce back against a Jameis Winston-less Bucs squad on Sunday in Week 11. Things feel awful right now as a Miami fan — but it isn’t as bad as it seems at the moment.
Granted, there is little hope this team can make a deep playoff run of any kind. With that said, the Dolphins are just one game out of the playoffs and the team holding the final spot is coming off an even worse string of beatings and just benched their starting quarterback. That team is the Buffalo Bills and they just happen to make two appearances on the Phins schedule before the year is through.
A playoff appearance is anything but out of reach. Yes, the team looks hopeless right now but they were far more embarrassing last year at 1-4 before making an incredible run to the playoffs.
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All things considered, the Dolphins are in as good a spot right now any fan could hope for. At 4-5 and one game out of a playoff spot, the team has been pretty awful, particularly the offense. The defense has been better, but inconsistent. For a team that had to pull their starting quarterback and middle linebacker out of retirement this season could be going much worse.
Plenty will say, “Well, what good is this if they even make a playoff spot and get blown out. All these wins are doing is costing them a great draft pick.”
In fairness, that is very accurate. Nonetheless, no one is sitting there rooting against them on Sunday so they can get a better pick and it would be a disaster if the players or coaching staff had that mentality. There is one way to change a culture. Battle and win. Slipping into the playoffs for a second season would be big for this franchise who hasn’t made back-to-back playoff appearances since 2001 when they made it five years in a row.
Next: NFL Week 11: 5 Players who need to step up
If the Dolphins lose this one to a backup quarterback and a miserable Bucs defense, that’s it. The season is a loss and hope will be gone. So let’s see if they can take care of business on Sunday.