Playoffs basically begin Sunday for Dolphins vs. Patriots
The numbers are striking:
If the Dolphins win out, they have a 100 percent chance of making the playoffs.
A loss in any of the next three games, and those odds are no better than 16 percent, according to Five Thirty Eight (and much lower if the loss is to New England or Las Vegas).
So the Dolphins, in essence, begin the playoffs this week.
Just don’t tell that to Brian Flores.
We asked him Wednesday: Are you approaching the final leg of the season with the mindset that you need to win each of your last three games?
His answer was predictable to anyone who knows him.
“We just take it one game at a time,” Flores said. “The focus is this week. Like we’ve said for the last several weeks, we’ve got to take care on what’s in front of you and focus on that. If you don’t, the rest doesn’t matter. We’ve got a big game this week against a division opponent. It’s a good team. That’s where our focus is.”
That division opponent is the New England Patriots, who handed the Dolphins one of their five losses in the season opener, but have gone 5-7 since.
And yet, Flores sees an improved Patriots team when he watches tape.
“They’re well-coached,” Flores said. “They do a good job in situational football. They run the football well. Cam [Newton] is athletic … extending plays, giving his receivers time to get open. I think he’s done a very good job. They’ve got a lot of good players. They make it hard for offenses. I think they’ve done a very good job in the kick
ing game.”
The Patriots’ best defensive player is Stephon Gilmore, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year.
The Dolphins’ best defensive player is Xavien Howard, who might be the 2020 Defensive Player of the Year.
Howard leads the NFL with nine interceptions and has one in five consecutive
games.
So Sunday is a showcase game for perhaps the two best corners in football. Flores has coached them both.
“They’re both very competitive, obviously very talented,” Flores said. “Both have very good ball skills. Both are excellent players. They’re both team-first guys. They’ll be the first to tell you it’s not about their personal situation, but about the team. Both are excellent players.”
●●mong the best changes Flores has enacted within the organization in his two years on the job: cutting out the drama.
You don’t hear many stories of friction and conflict coming out of Miami’s locker room. (Of course, the NFL’s decision to bar reporters from inside the practice facility due to COVID-19 has played a role in that.)
Flores might have learned that skill from Bill Belichick and the Patriots, who for years were the kings of keeping everyone on message.
But in New England, which with a loss would be eliminated from postseason eligibility Sunday, some cracks are starting to show.
A trainer for second-year receiver N’Keal Harry — a former first-round pick who has caught just 41 passes in 18 career games — blamed his client’s lack on production partially on the play of Newton.
“We’ve got a new quarterback,” Rischad Whitfield told USA Today. We’ve “got to put some of that [expletive] on Cam. Cam hasn’t been the most accurate this year. Like if [N’Keal] had Tom Brady, Tom Brady would’ve fed him. But we’re back there with Cam and Cam’s getting acclimated to the offense, too.”
●NFL owners on Wednesday discussed adding a 17th game to the NFL season but did not vote to add the game in 2021. Center Ted Karras said Wednesday he was open to the idea — with a caveat: “As long as we get compensated for it.”