Can the Miami Dolphins Make the Playoffs in 2020?
The Miami Dolphins are 3-3 coming out of there bye week and right now they are in 2nd place in the AFC East. With the team starting to play better some people feel the Dolphins could be a sleeper team for a wild card spot in the AFC with there being an extra wild card opening beginning this year and even stay in the hunt for the AFC East title. So, can the Miami Dolphins make the playoffs in 2020?
I’m sorry, but right now I don’t see the Dolphins as a playoff team. You are what your record says you are and the Dolphins are average. They could play better in the final 10 games to put themselves in the playoff conversation, but there are reasons why I feel they won’t.
First, we are starting our rookie quarterback Sunday in Tua Tagovailoa. I don’t know what to expect from him and honestly, nobody does. I know that fellow rookie quarterbacks Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert have started this season and played well, but is it realistic to think the will also happen with Tagovailoa?
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A rookie quarterback has to go through the growing pains of the speed of the game and facing the very best football players in the world week in and week out. This isn’t college anymore. Plus he hasn’t taken a meaningful snap in about a year after fracturing his hip. I worry about his first hit and how he will respond. I think he will be fine and get better in time, but I don’t think it’s realistic to think he will be a star right away. The offense is still a work in progress at all levels including the offensive line and the skill positions. The results have been mixed which is to be expected in the second year of a rebuild.
The defense is another area I’m worried about. They have gotten better after the first two games, where at times they looked lost. However, if you look at their 3 wins, in all 3 games the offense got off to quick starts and the defense was able to be more aggressive with a lead, but in their 3 losses at times they were sluggish. As we go into the second half of the season will the defense be able to step up when the offense struggles at the start?
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The other reason I feel the Dolphins will fade from potentially the playoffs is the schedule. The Dolphins will have to be sharp. They play the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angels Chargers all at home. Then have road games against the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and Buffalo Bills. It’s not an impossible schedule, but a tough one to say the least. The Bills they play in the season finale and if they could stay within a game of the Bills that game could be for the division title. I feel the Bills right now are the best team in the AFC East as hard as it is for me to say that. I feel they will win the division and it’s a matter of how by many games. I know the Bills are 5-2 and the Dolphins are 3-3, but the Bills already beat us in our backyard. The Bills schedule is just as tough, but they were in the playoffs last year and the Dolphins are still learning how to win. If the Dolphins win the AFC East, it would be because they grew up faster or the Bills aren’t that good.
Anything is possible in the NFL as it’s a week to week type of league. I mean last year we started 0-7 including getting smoked on opening day 59-10, who would have thought the Dolphins would beat the New England Patriots in Foxborough in the season finale. Teams can start fast and then fade or collapse. We’ll see if the Dolphins are good enough to contend for the playoffs.
Rams game will be difficult. I don’t think Phins match up too well. Rams run and can stop the run. If it gets to be an Air Raid, and Tua is sharp, a couple of Ram turnovers, then Phins can win. Otherwise as for a playoff run, I think they go 9-7 and then have to wait for help to get in. Steelers, Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, Titans are all going to the dance. That leaves only two spots. I believe Phins are better than Colts and Browns, but those two have a game up on them. Phins will need to keep winning and get some help.
They are not beating the Chiefs and probably not Bills in chilly Bufffalo – December, so they need to win the others to have a good shot. Maybe, just maybe, the schedule quirk, long trip and sun help sway advantage to Phins vs Rams on Sunday. However, there will not be much more of that going forward. Phins squeak by with a FG win Sunday 23-20. They have best kicker they may have ever had in Sanders.
The Dolphins not only can make the playoffs but they can also win the AFC east outright before the last game against Buffalo. The Bills have 5 tough games coming up that could easily be losses.
If Miami keeps starting each game fast by putting the game out of reach in the first half; they could actually run the table with Tua and his desire to go deep early and often! (Trading for Kenny Stills as our big deep threat and signing Cam Wake as a specialty pass rusher would put Miami over the top and win their division easily.