South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Midseason culture change led to streak
MIAMI GARDENS — Many have wondered what exactly has led to this season’s turnaround for the Miami Dolphins to go from seven consecutive losses to four straight wins.
What is it that has the Dolphins finally playing to their potential coming off the 10-win season of 2020 to go from 1-7 to reinserting themselves into the playoff conversation?
Defensive back Elijah Campbell recently pointed to an inspirational speech that coach Brian Flores gave the team about a month back, but his words could only have done so much. At the end of the day, professional football players had to find their own motivation, prepare the right way and have it translate to the field.
Much of the talk, even through the losses, had to do with “doing the same things.” Miami stuck to the team’s process and core values, even through tough times.
Or so the Dolphins (5-7) said. Wide receiver Mack Hollins revealed this past week, as the team looks to win a fifth straight in a 1 p.m. kickoff against the New York Giants (4-7) at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, that wasn’t necessarily always the case.
“Honestly, I don’t think we were doing the same things,” said
Hollins. “I think we talked about it a lot more than we did it. We said we practiced hard, but we weren’t really practicing hard. We said we were studying extra film. We weren’t studying extra film. We said we were coming in in meetings, and we weren’t.”
And so it wasn’t until the recent success that the culture inside the facility changed midseason.
“When guys realized we can win if we do it, we started doing it more, and now it’s second nature,” Hollins added. “This is what we do. We come in, get extra work in. We come in, lift hard. We come in. We practice hard. And now we’re getting the result.”
As Hollins made those Thursday comments, fellow receiver Albert Wilson was in the room waiting to stand at the podium, and he offered his perspective once he got up there.
“We’re a young team,” Wilson said. “I think guys kind of figured out what they needed out of those
meetings and out of that practice and out of those film studies. Instead of just being in there for an hour and a half just wasting time, guys are actually putting in the work in those sessions.
“I think guys are kind of coming into their own and figuring out, ‘When I’m in the meeting room, I need to look at this. When I’m on the practice [field], I need to work at this.’ … Just showing up, that’s half the job, but actually putting in the work, that’s everything.”
The schedule during t his stretch also has something to do with winning under this renewed approach. But then there was also how the defense made electric Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson look mortal. The Dolphins are getting after opposing quarterbacks with 16 of the season’s 28 sacks coming during the four-game streak. It’s also leading to turnovers and batted balls at the line of scrimmage.
Then there’s Miami’s improved quarterback play. Tua Tagovailoa has gotten himself back healthy, posting a quarterback rating of better than 108 in the wins over the Jets and Panthers. He even provided a spark in the second half of the Thursday night upset win over Baltimore.
The Giants are reeling with injuries heading into Sunday’s matchup. Quarterback Daniel Jones is out with a neck strain, so that means journeyman veteran Mike Glennon, who is 6-21 in his career as a starter, gets the nod. New York also has receivers Sterling Shepard and Kadarius Toney unlikely to play, while star running back Saquon Barkley hasn’t been himself since coming back from this year’s ankle injury and last year’s knee injury.
Flores, however, has still treated the Giants with utmost respect in this past week, showering New York with praise and naming countless players that concern him in matchups at every opportunity he got. It’s a signal that he doesn’t want his hot Dolphins team to take the Giants lightly as it looks to match the longest winning streak under Flores.
Flores also gets to go up against defensive coordinator Pat Graham, whom he had in the same role in 2019, Flores’ first season at the helm for Miami.
“I would never stand in the way of somebody doing something that they wanted to do,” said Flores this past week of letting him go to lead the Giants defense. “That was something that Pat wanted to do. I have a lot of respect for him and his family. … I support him in that situation. I’m always going to support him.”
Flores also spent years with Giants coach Joe Judge from the time they both had as assistants under Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots.
“Our wives are friends. My son and his daughter were in the same Pre-K class, so we’re talking about people that I have great relationships with,” Flores said. “But on Sunday, we are going to compete. That’s what I know we are going to get from them, and they know that’s what they are going to get from us.”
Week 13 also marks the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” initiative. Players can select causes and organizations that they want to represent on their cleats, and they will wear custom, special-designed cleats on Sunday to express themselves and what’s important to them.