Dolphins not in playoff hunt, but getting closer
It’s that point in the NFL season when you’re seeing conference standings and playoff pictures with every game’s conclusion — you know, the ones that list columns of the division leaders, wild card teams and those in the hunt.
The Miami Dolphins, of course, at 4-7, are not in any one of those categories. However, after three straight victories after Sunday’s 24-17 win at the New York Jets, the climbing Dolphins could probably be described as: in the hunt to be in the hunt.
What the AFC looks like after Week 11: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs leading the four divisions; Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills holding wild card spots at 6-4 each. Just outside: Pittsburgh Steelers at 5-4-1, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns at 6-5, Las Vegas Raiders and Denver Broncos at 5-5. And then, 1 ½ games off of that mark are the Dolphins.
With such a cluster of teams vying for those playoff spots, Miami still has a long way to go. But with three consecutive home games against sub-.500 teams — Carolina Panthers, New York Giants and Jets — on the horizon, there’s a realistic path to 7-7. That would certainly get the Dolphins in the hunt with three games remaining.
“For every team in the NFL, that is the objective,” Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki said of still having playoff aspirations. “You just take it day by day and week by week and go out there on Sunday and try to put another good week together and strive to reach our goals.”
Of course, other challenges stand in the way — from the mere likelihood that the Dolphins can pull off such a run without a slip-up to the tiebreaker disadvantages set early this season with head-to-head losses to the Bills, Raiders and Colts.
Nevertheless, beating the bad Jets and Houston Texans and upsetting the Ravens has been an impressive turnaround for a team that had suffered seven consecutive losses to sit at 1-7 at the end of October.
The switch flipped when coach Brian Flores relayed a message to his players in the thick of the losses, as cornerback Elijah Campbell revealed.
“We hit the halfway mark,” Campbell recalled, “and [Flores] said, ‘From here on out, we’re going to have a better half of the season. We’re playing a whole different type of football.’ I think, when he said that, the whole team kind of bought into that.
“You kind of just have to put it out there in the air and then it was the elephant in the room, so he kind of went into the team meeting and said it, and everyone was kind of like, ‘All right, we need to turn this around.’ “
Flores downplayed any particular speech given as a turning point, indicating his message has been consistent throughout the season. Whatever it was, the team seems to have confidence it can overcome rough in-game stretches and still pull out victories.
“If you get down, you’ve got to have that confidence knowing that you’re going to win the game no matter what,” said center Austin Reiter, who joined the Dolphins this season in the middle of the losing streak. “I think that’s kind of where that switch mentally flips for a team.”
According to rookie Jaelan Phillips, the Dolphins never got down emotionally when they were losing.
“I feel like our energy has always been very optimistic and very positive,” he said. “Even during that seven-game [losing] streak, I didn’t feel like every day I came into the facility people were hanging their heads and people were down and out and worried about that. I think everybody realized that we were really close.”
In order to inch closer to being the hunt for the postseason, the Dolphins will have to overcome the Panthers (5-6) on Sunday, as they come off a loss to the Washington Football Team in Cam Newton’s first start since his return to Carolina.
As of early Monday afternoon, Flores did not have updates on outside linebacker Brennan Scarlett and defensive back Jamal Perry. He said the team was still running tests after both made early exits with knee injuries in the win against the Jets.
Wide receivers DeVante Parker (shoulder/hamstring) and Will Fuller (finger) are eligible to return off injured reserve. Flores appeared optimistic about their progress, but noncommittal on their availability.
“We’ll see how this goes for Wednesday practice,” Flores said. “Nothing definitive right now, though.”
There is also a possibility center Michael Deiter and running back Malcolm Brown could return for practice this week.
“Those guys are working every day to get back as quickly as possible,” Flores said. “Definitely making a lot of progress. … We’ll see if they’ll be available Wednesday. I’m hopeful that we can get a couple guys back.”