104 to 16. That’s the total score from the last three times the Miami Dolphins have traveled to play the Ravens in Baltimore. 

You probably could’ve guessed from the -88 point differential (almost -30 per game), but those games were all losses. 

Per a tweet sent out on Wednesday afternoon from The Palm Beach Post’s Joe Schad, however, the Dolphins also have the fourth most wins in the AFC over the last 36 games. Only the Chiefs, Bills, and Titans have more. And yet, Miami hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016 and hasn’t had a playoff win since 2000, more than two decades ago.

The Dolphins’ last three games against the Ravens cover a time span much longer than just the previous 36 regular season games, but these wildly dissimilar stats beg the question:

Just who are the Miami Dolphins?

Starting on Sunday, week two of the inchoate NFL season ahead of us, that question will be answered one way or another by virtue of the Dolphins’ next three opponents.

Ravens, Bills, Bengals. The indomitable team at home against the Dolphins over the past three matchups, the new bullies of the AFC East and possibly the entire NFL this year, and the defending AFC champs. 

It’s a fatal funnel of contending franchises for Mike McDaniel’s Miami Dolphins.

It’s also, however, something of a win-win for the team if viewed from a certain perspective. 

Looking at the regular season schedule before kickoff last weekend, everyone knew the general flow of events for Miami’s schedule. The team’s next three games are tough, and the end of the schedule features matchups against the Chargers, Packers, and Bills (in Buffalo, to boot). In the middle weeks, the team draws opponents like the Jets, Lions, and Texans. Kyle Crabbs of Locked on Dolphins described it as an Oreo cookie – hard on both ends, soft in the middle. 

It was key that Miami takes care of business and get off to a quick 1-0 start by dispatching the Patriots at home. Courtesy of a 20-7 victory thanks primarily to the defense’s efforts, the Dolphins made it happen. 

Now with a 1-0 record, the win-win of the difficult next three weeks works like this…

If the team can steal a win or somehow two during this stretch, that’s obviously a huge positive. That would prove that the Dolphins are already set to contend in McDaniel’s first year as head coach.

If the team struggles, dropping all three to favored opponents, that week one win will be huge in buoying playoff aspirations headed into the soft part of the schedule. And what’s more, is that fans can expect the team to improve markedly as the season progresses and the offense and its head coach become more settled.

Of course, you’d rather see the former where Miami pulls out an upset or two and enters week 5 holding at least a 2-2 record, but if that doesn’t come to pass, there is still plenty of hope.

And what this stretch will provide, worth even more than hope, is clarity on this team’s identity. If they’re to prove that they no longer need soft stretches on the schedule to stack wins, the Dolphins will have to start in Baltimore, where they’ve lost four in a row.

Though the Ravens dispatched the Jets in week one by a score of 24-9 and have the looks of a dangerous team ready to rebound from a disappointing 2021 season, injuries are the theme for Harbaugh’s bunch, much as they were last season.

The team lost offensive tackle Ju’Wuan James and cornerback Kyle Fuller to season-ending injuries in week one. Standout players Ronnie Stanley and Marcus Peters are still uncertain to play this week when the Dolphins visit. Running back J.K. Dobbins logged a full practice on Wednesday, however, so he looks set to return.

At any rate, this is not the same scenario as when the Dolphins miraculously beat the Ravens 22-10 at home last season on Thursday Night Football. The Ravens will be better prepared for the Dolphins’ defense, and personnel has changed as it always does. 

On top of that, the Dolphins have their own injuries to worry about. Notably, Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson were held out of Wednesday’s practice and are no safe bets to play this week. The team chalked up Armstead’s absence as a veteran’s rest day, but McDaniel was noncommittal on whether he or Jackson would be ready for Sunday. 

Going into Sunday’s prove-it game without both starting offensive tackles would be a huge setback for the Dolphins. On top of that, the Ravens’ defense is what stood out most in their victory, just as Miami’s did. With talents like Justin Madubuike, Calais Campbell, Justin Houston, Marcus Williams, and Marlon Humphrey scattered throughout Baltimore’s defense, Mike McDaniel will have to be on his game as the offensive play-caller. Sunday could be a defensive slugfest, a war of attrition, if neither team gets healthy on offense in the coming days.

All this is the beauty of the start of this three-game stretch for the Dolphins, though – good teams overcome the setbacks and the history. Average teams – what we’ve known the Dolphins to be for years now – often don’t. 

The Ravens, Bills, and Bengals are all franchises that have been able to find the win column regardless of the opponent or the circumstances in recent seasons. The Bills alone look to be the team to beat in the entire league this year. Now, the Fins have a chance to challenge all of those teams early in the season.

Whether or not the Dolphins can stop the franchise’s bleeding when it comes to visiting Baltimore remains to be seen. But between Sunday’s matchup and the two weeks following, opportunity knocks for the Fins to show their true colors under Mike McDaniel.

 

(Thanks for reading! For more Fins content, give me a follow on Twitter @EvanMorris72)