Back in August, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier mentioned that with the team they had built, he and coach Mike McDaniel expected to compete for a Super Bowl this year.
“Health and luck all contribute to it and team chemistry,” Grier said. “It’s been exciting to watch these guys all together. So yeah, we feel if we’re healthy and ready to go, that we have a chance to compete, which is what we always want — that chance.”
However, halfway through the season, the Dolphins (2-6) are now struggling just to get above a .500 record, despite having a talented roster. Injuries have also been a challenge for the team.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he still believes in his team but emphasized that they can’t focus on their slim playoff hopes right now.
“We’re not worried about anything else but the next opponent,” Tagovailoa said after Sunday’s loss to Buffalo. “Playoffs, any of that, we’re not worried about that. We’re worried about who the next opponent is, and we’re trying to win out.”
The Dolphins’ offense, which was the best in the NFL last season and includes stars like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Odell Beckham Jr., has been one of the worst-scoring offenses in the league this year.
Miami’s two wins have come against the Jaguars (2-7) and the Patriots (2-7). Meanwhile, they’ve lost to three teams with losing records: Seattle (4-5), Tennessee (2-6), and Indianapolis (4-5).
The season began with a rough start when Hill was arrested and forcibly put on the ground during a traffic stop by Miami-Dade police. Then, just days later, Tagovailoa suffered his third known concussion and was placed on injured reserve.
Tagovailoa’s injury caused the Dolphins’ offense to struggle, as backups Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle, and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley “weren’t good enough,” as coach McDaniel admitted.
While Tagovailoa was out for four games, the Dolphins couldn’t score more than 15 points in any of those games and only passed for over 140 yards once.
The team went 1-3 without their starting quarterback, so they couldn’t afford to keep struggling once he came back in Week 9. However, despite the offense showing major improvements in the past two games, the Dolphins have lost both since Tagovailoa returned.
Defensive tackle Calais Campbell doesn’t think the season is lost, considering the progress made over the last two weeks — the offense scored on all but two drives in their loss to the Bills.
“The problem is,” Campbell said, “we’ve pretty much put ourselves in the position where our margin for error is zero.”
