2 wins may ruin dream of a No. 1 pick
DAVIE — “Lookin’ back over my years, I guessed I’ve shed some tears. Told myself time and time again, this
time I’m gonna win,” Teddy Pendergrass sings in his classic “Love T.K.O.”
That song has been playing in my head on a steady loop since Sunday morning, because I feel heartbreak coming.
With Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett out because of his knee injury, I had a bad feeling the Miami Dolphins’ were going to win last Sunday’s game, sneaking out a victory against Brian Hoyer, and that’s exactly what happened. Hoyer threw three interceptions in Miami’s 16-12 victory over Indianapolis.
The ripple effect of pulling out a second straight win — improving the season’s record to 2-7 — is that it likely means we’ll have to say goodbye to the dream of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wearing the aqua and orange.
I love Tagovailoa’s talent, and believe he’ll eventually become a transformative quarterback that can carry a franchise for a decade, like Russell Wilson has for the Seattle Seahawks.
I hoped the Dolphins would lose enough games to land Tagovailoa, as many as it took. But this winning streak throws a monkey wrench into those plans, which were likely at the root of Miami’s scorchedearth rebuild of this franchise, no matter what coach Brian Flores wants to say.
After spending two decades on the mediocrity merry-go-round because of bad decisions, the South Florida fan base deserves Tagovailoa.
But now the Dolphins are on the outside looking in again and might have to
trade some of their assets acquired in painful moves made this year to move up high enough in the 2020 NFL draft to land Tagovailoa. Or even to get LSU’s Joe Burrow, who led the Tigers to a captivating 46-41 victory over Alabama and can make a claim to the top draft spot if he keeps winning this season.
Now, we must trust that Dolphins general manager Chris Grier and his staff are good at their jobs and will figure out a way to sort out this mess, finding the Dolphins something that has eluded this franchise since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season and Chad Pennington’s shoulder short-circuited in 2009.
I just knew 2019 was going to end the pain, but here we are again.
Pendergrass sings, clearly referring to the Chad Henne and Ryan Tannehill eras.
Flores and his team are providing the knockout blow, because they’ve been infected with the joy of winning.
The lust of victory Mondays, being cheered on by fans and family members, can indeed become infectious and intoxicating. Bobby McCain, Nik Needham, Steven Parker and Jason Sanders should be proud of their accomplishments on Sunday, and the 4-12 season Miami’s pushing toward.
Living in the moment is fun, but let me remind you it is temporary.
History will record this season as a failure, no matter how Flores wants to paint it.
When they realize these wins could cost the Dolphins all three of the team’s first-round picks to move up high enough to land one of this draft’s two top-tier quarterbacks, or forces Miami to settle on Oregon’s Justin Herbert or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts the same way the Dolphins settled with Tannehill back in 2012, hindsight will make them second guess whether these wins were worth it.
Maybe Grier can come up with a salvageable Plan B, like acquiring New Orleans backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who turned the Dolphins down this past offseason and then led the Saints to a 5-0 record as Drew Brees’ replacement while Brees was injured.
Maybe the Dolphins can convince Bridgewater they actually want to build a respectable team around him next offseason. Or the Dolphins could add a broken-down Cam Newton, who will likely be shipped out of Carolina this coming offseason.
Any takers for Andy Dalton? Hopefully Grier is putting together his list of consolation-prize quarterbacks to replace Ryan Fitzpatrick, who turns 37 later this month.
But those options will probably produce the same outcome we experienced when Miami acquired Trent Green or Daunte Culpepper because of the team’s shortsighted thought process.
We’ll likely be right back where we started, a heartbroken franchise desperate to love a good quarterback one day.
sings.
Pendergrass continues.
“Takes a fool to lose twice, and start all over again,”
“Think I’d better let it go. Looks like another love T.K.O.”
“Tried to take control of the love. Love took control of me,”
“Cause you lose all thoughts, sense of time, and have a change of mind.”
“Takin’ the bumps and the bruises of all the things of a two-time loser,” “Tryin’ to hold on, faith is gone. It’s just another sad song.”
Pedergrass