Any Given Sunday Holds True
If I told you that the Miami Dolphins could possibly be 8-4 at the start of Week 14 with a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs, you would take that. In year two of a rebuild, Miami is already ahead of schedule, and they are playing with house money.
The Mile High City is never an easy place to play, just ask Tom Brady who has lost more games than he has won in Denver.
A lot of fans and people in the media saw Miami as the more talented team and picked Miami to win heading into the game. That didn’t happen though as we know.
The reality is in football, you will win games you’re not “supposed to” win. You will also lose games you’re not “supposed to” lose. Sunday was that, and that is why you play the games. “Any given Sunday” is the old saying and was on display this past week in Denver, Colorado.
So where does Miami go from here? Well, luckily Miami will be facing the 0-10 New York Jets in New Jersey in Week 12. A team who Miami beat 24-0 in Week 6 at Hard Rock Stadium. In Week 13, Miami will be back at home against the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals. So it is a great opportunity for Miami to bounce back against two inferior teams in the AFC.
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) November 24, 2020
I think we will see a more focused team these next two weeks. Did they overlook the Denver Broncos? Maybe, I mean I don’t know what the chatter is in the locker rooms, team planes, and hotel lobbies as they were heading to this game. That might have been the case. However, a lot of credit goes to Broncos head coach Vic Fangio for crafting a great game plan with making Tua Tagovailoa uncomfortable and getting 6 sacks on the young quarterback.
Brian Flores did not have his best game as the Dolphins head coach. I can see why he made the move to Ryan Fitzpatrick about midway through the 4th quarter. When your offensive line is letting your franchise QB get hit over and over again, and with Tua being an average scrambler, Fitzpatrick gave the Dolphins at that point in time the better chance to possibly made some positive plays via scrambling and give Miami that spark. Let’s not forget that Tua was on the injury report earlier in the week, so it looked like a precautionary move, even though Flores said that it was not injury-related.
However, I still would not have pulled Tua. Young quarterbacks need to go through their downs as much as their up’s. Tua needed an opportunity to bring them back in this game, to see what he’s got. You robbed a young kid of an attempt at a comeback. Let’s see what the kid’s got.
After Andrew Van Ginkel got the forced fumble on Melvin Gordon in the 4th quarter, I needed to check myself. I also advised everybody else to check themselves after that, saying, “Even if Ryan Fitzpatrick brings the Dolphins back and wins, there isn’t a quarterback controversy.”
As Tom said on Tuesday’s (11/24) edition of the DolphinsTalk.com Podcast, it’s not the time to overreact, though a group of Dolphins fans and media are.
DolphinsTalk Podcast: Media and Fans are Overreacting About Tua https://t.co/xlj7dJp8ch #NowPlaying
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) November 24, 2020
After picking up big wins against the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals and having two weaker opponents on the schedule with the Jets and Bengals coming up, Miami has an opportunity still to make a run. At the moment, Miami is on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, but you take care of your games and it will all fall in place. It starts this week against the Jets on the road in New Jersey. The Dolphins will miss having the Dolfans NYC crew this year at the game.
The Jets have played close games as of late, almost beating the Patriots on Monday Night Football, and having a lead early in their matchup against the Chargers. The Jets will come out and play hard, you can’t blame them because they’re 0-10 and desperate for a win. However, I don’t expect Miami to lay another egg.
Most of us were wrong about the Broncos game, but will we be wrong again? I doubt it, but you know what they say, “Any Given Sunday.”
