At 4-4 the Dolphins are what their record says: a team that starts fast and blows it in the end. The Dolphins are a team that have yet to get a 4th quarter comeback win. With the looming contest versus the Tennessee Titans this weekend, the Dolphins can be over the .500 mark this late into the season since 2008, where those Dolphins were 11-5 and eventually finished in an improbable fashion by winning the division after a dreadful 1-15 season. This year's Dolphins have set their goals high and hope to achieve them. If their goal is going to the playoffs, they will have to fight like mad to catch the Steelers and Colts who have the last two spots locked up for the playoffs at 5-3 and 6-3 respectively. Standing in their way are critical contests that will decide if the Philbin and company makeover will prove fruitful.
Last week needs to be an aberration to the Dolphins and all Dolfans. Yes, the Dolphins got torched by #1 pick Andrew Luck and yes the Dolphins made a futile effort to control the line of scrimmage on offense and defense. The last play of the game was the dagger in the heart for the Dolphins as the Colts ran them over to finish the game. The Dolphins treated the Colts as a trap game, but in reality, the Colts played better and showed they made sound decisions in the off-season by replacing one legend in Peyton Manning with another future star in the making in Andrew Luck.
This contest versus Tennessee cannot come soon enough. The Titans are a team in quarterback turmoil having started Matt Hasselbeck after a critical injury to Jake Locker. Now Jake Locker, barring any setbacks, will be ready. The Dolphins must be ready. The Dolphins are at home where they have only one loss this season and aspire to make Sun Life an unfriendly venue for teams on the road.
This game may be the final game a stretch of winnable games. You see, after this game versus the Titans, the Dolphins have a short week and have to play Buffalo at night, on Thursday the 15th. Many young Dolfans weren’t even born when the Bills last hosted any night game in November. Why is this significant? At night, it gets cold. When it gets cold, it can snow. Snow and Dolphins don’t mix. Especially at nighttime. Cold and the Dolphins are never a good combination. Dolphins must win in Buffalo! It's not that the Dolphins can't win in the cold, they just seem to handle it differently then most teams since they come from the tropical climate of South Florida.
Then the Dolphins, starting on November 25th have a tough contest versus Seattle, New England, San Francisco, and then the Jacksonville Jaguars where ex-Dolphin OC Mike Mularkey wants to turn things around in Jacksonville and will stop at nothing to unleash a fury of Blaine Gabbert and his arsenal of Justin Blackmon and Laurent Robinson.
A true test for a potential playoff teams comes with a win this week and then wins versus all division opponents, Buffalo and New England.
Winning this week lifts the spirits in the locker room, from everyone to the defense to the rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
There is no better time for the Dolphins to play their best football than this part of the schedule.
This is the part of the schedule where football teams become contenders or pretenders.
If the Dolphins can sweep through their schedule, all Dolfans will be doing back flips and tweeting about I hearting the players, coaches, and the front office!
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