Miami Dolphins record prediction: Picks for every game in 2020

How far can the Miami Dolphins turn around their record in 2020?

Is quarterback Tua Tagovailoa the savior of the Miami Dolphins? Frankly, the 2020 season is too early to determine that — but he might be. The No. 5 overall pick from this year’s NFL Draft isn’t joining the same Dolphins team that entered last season with the expectation to potentially go 0-16. It’s clear they have entered the next stage of the rebuild.

Miami spent big in free agency, specifically on defense as they signed guys like Byron Jones, Shaq Lawson, Kyle Van Noy and Emmanuel Ogbah, among others. They then used the draft to fortify the offensive line, even if some of the newcomers are projects. Regardless, the roster talent is substantially improved from a season ago.

However, it should be noted that the Dolphins are in good hands. The aforementioned team from 2019 went 5-11 after first-year head coach Brian Flores led his rag-tag bunch to higher heights than anyone would’ve expected. And if he can continue on that trend with guys such as DeVante Parker and Christian Wilkins taking staying the course, the Dolphins could enjoy a big leap forward.

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Just how big of a leap could the Miami Dolphins make? Let’s go game-by-game through their 2020 schedule making picks to come up with a record prediction for this season.

Week 1: at Patriots – Loss
With the tumultuous offseason resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, both the Dolphins and Patriots are going to be playing from behind the 8-ball. However, Bill Belichick’s defense will have enough answers to pick up the win in New England.

Week 2: vs. Bills – Loss
Frankly, I don’t see Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Breida or any of the Miami offensive attack finding much success against Buffalo. While the defense may find some answers against Josh Allen, there won’t be enough.

Week 3: at Jaguars (Thursday Night Football) – Win
This one’s pretty simple. Jacksonville is entering their own rebuilding stage as a franchise and, though they have young talent, the coaching and lack of infrastructure right now makes this a Dolphins win, their first of the 2020 season.

Week 4: vs. Seahawks – Win
Seattle is clearly the better team in this matchup. However, the Seahawks have a propensity for losing at least one early-season game that they shouldn’t. With Flores getting 10 days to prepare, give me Miami in a stunner at home.

Week 5: at 49ers – Loss
While the Dolphins might catch one NFC West team slipping, the same won’t be true in San Francisco. Despite the defensive improvements, I don’t expect Miami to be able to handle the Kyle Shanahan offense.

Week 6: at Broncos – Loss
I’m not as high on the Broncos as many people are, despite a great offseason, due to reservations about Drew Lock. Even still, the Dolphins staying on the road and the overall roster talent of Denver leads me to believe they pick up the win at Mile High.

Week 7: vs. Chargers – Win
The Chargers had one of the best offseasons in the league — except for creating an issue at quarterback. Tyrod Taylor will limit the ceiling of the offense and, across the country in Miami, the Dolphins take advantage with a narrow victory.

Week 8: vs. Rams – Loss
Last season was a down year for the Rams and I don’t think they’ll be able to fully bounce back. I tossed back-and-forth on this one but I think Sean McVay’s club has enough offense to get the win here.

Week 9: at Cardinals – Loss
Though I don’t believe that the full plan in Arizona is in effect just yet, this team is going to be dangerous on offense. This might be a shootout but the Cardinals have more weapons, especially in the desert, to top Miami in this matchup.

Week 10: vs. Jets – Win
There’s growing dark-horse buzz about the Jets but it’s forgetting one very important detail: Adam Gase is still their head coach. I don’t have faith in Gase to get this team where they need to be, meaning the Dolphins get a win going into the bye week.

Week 12: at Jets – Loss
In an odd scheduling factor, the Dolphins have back-to-back games against the Jets separated by the bye week. Though I have my concerns with Gase, the Jets are talented and should pick up a win at home here to split the season series.

Week 13: vs. Bengals – Win
Hopefully Tua is starting by Week 13 in order for us to get the Tagovailoa vs. Burrow matchup that we all want to see in this one. For my money, the Bengals are going to be better than expected — but so too are the Dolphins and they’re at home in Week 13.

Week 14: vs. Chiefs – Loss
No matter how much the Dolphins improve, they aren’t on the level of the Chiefs. Even if this one is in Miami, the Fins have no answer for the reigning Super Bowl champions.

Week 15: vs. Patriots – Win
New England, for whatever reason, has found their Kryptonite in recent years: trips to Miami. With Brady now in Florida himself, I don’t expect that to change, especially as the Dolphins could be finding themselves at this point in the year.

Week 16: at Raiders – Win
As the Dolphins continue to establish their identity late in the year, they travel to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders. While I’m higher on Gruden’s club than others, I’m riding some Miami momentum to put them at 7-8 going into the final week of the regular season.

Week 17: at Bills – Loss
With a .500 season in sight, the Dolphins will fall short in Buffalo. While Josh Allen still gives me some pause about just how good the Bills can be, the totality of the roster is good enough that the Bills, who should be playing for playoff seeding here, will get the Week 17 triumph.

Miami Dolphins 2020 record prediction: 7-9

Getting to seven wins would obviously be considered a victory for the Miami Dolphins. The scope of the rebuild they embarked on is grand and it’s clearly not complete yet. With two first-round picks in the 2021 NFL Draft and more cap room next offseason, they can continue to make even bigger strides.

However, if Flores’ team can show improvements on the defensive side of the ball while developing a more sustainable offensive formula, which seems possible with the additions they’ve made and if Tagovailoa sees the field, they are going in the right direction. It won’t result in the playoffs but the Dolphins should inspire a good deal of optimism with their 2020 campaign.