South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Dolphins wish list: Hope, faith, clarity
This eventually will be a column about the Miami Dolphins final home game of the year, and what it means, if anything at this point, beyond signifying why the Dolphins should win and Jacksonville has the better tomorrow.
But the movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life” is on the television again and I can’t stop watching again. If you missed it, don’t worry, it’s on again as you read this. Whenever you’re reading. It’s always on this time of year.
The final scene always delivers. The upbeat themes overflow with holiday cheer, good friends, aw-shucks Americana and, yes, the idea of an angel named Clarence helping lives.
The central theme, though, is hope. Hope in yourself. Hope in your world. Hope in today, most of all, no matter how difficult that is to conjure at times. And, let’s face it, hope is scant Sunday for both the Dolphins and Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium.
Oh, the Dolphins still can finish 9-7. That beats most every preseason expectation. So there’s that. Then again, low expectations are the first step to success. If you’re picked to go 7-9 each year for the next decade and deliver 9-7, is that success?
The playoffs are as likely as the last-gasp, double-lateral, beatGronk-to-the-end-zone touchdown against New England that spawned a thousand patent claims of the phrase, “Miami Miracle,” by the Dolphins. What’s more, most miniscule playoff chances send them on the road, where they’re 1-6.
Bottom-line: If the Dolphins do finish 9-7, they can’t trust it. They can’t believe injuries wrecked them, especially considering many came to thirtysomething players they just signed who — news alert — tend to get hurt in football.
Another reason not to trust a winning record instead of what your eyes tell you comes Sunday. Look at Jacksonville. Look at Blake Bortles, among the worst quarterbacks in the league, on the bench. Look at Cody Kessler, who is even worse, playing again Sunday.
Jacksonville’s offense ranks
26th in yards per game.
The Dolphins’ offense ranks
29th.
That is the hard slap of reality the Dolphins don’t want right now. They want to stay in the moment of this game, as they should. In some form, these teams are alike. Unwanted seasons. Bad offenses. Bad road records. Jacksonville is 1-5, too.
But if you pull back the lens of perspective, everything looks different. The Jaguars have a sturdy foundation for building. Their defense is full of talent. It led the Jaguars to the AFC championship game last year.
Jacksonville ranks sixth in defense even with its putrid offense.
The Dolphins’ ‘D’ ranks 30th. So Jacksonville moves toward the offseason knowing it needs to get the quarterback decision right that it blew last offseason. A capable quarterback gets them to the playoffs. A great one makes them a contender.
The Dolphins move toward the offseason knowing they need a new plan. Another new plan. First, owner Steve Ross will have to answer whether the issue is the people making the plan and picking the players for it, starting with Mike Tannenbaum, the vice president of football operations.
Depending on what Ross decides, that’s when the dominoes can start falling again inside the franchise. Who would replace Tannenbaum? What kind of freedom would that person have to make changes inside the larger regime?
That decision is coming. For Sunday, there’s a final home game to this regular season that arrives with little of the suspense and none of the stakes you hope for at this time of year. Jacksonville just wants to end the season. The Dolphins want to keep their jobs.
This should be the time of hope for NFL teams. Not draft day. Not preseason. Not even the kickoff to the regular season. For the good franchises, late December is a time when hope starts to spike.
Meanwhile, we’ve got Dolphins versus Jaguars.
Hope arrives on the television in the form of Clarence getting his angel wings.