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Dolphins Ups & Downs That Led To A .500 Record

Jimmy Bourbon

The Dolphins season was a letdown for fans, but it beat critics expectations

Dolphins have had more valleys than peaks.

The Miami Dolphins 2018 Season has been a roller coaster ride… for sure.

With only two games left and their playoffs hopes all but gone, a final record of 8-8 seems the most likely scenario.

Anything is possible of course, so 9-7 or 7-9 is on the menu a well.

But, let’s not forget that every betting software for bookies like AcePerHead.com and media outlet predicted the Phins to be at the bottom of the barrel.

While this mediocrity isn’t much of a consolation, worse was expected.

Here’s a recap of the ‘meh’ so far.

Weeks 1-3: ‘New Hope’

Miami started the season on fire with three straight wins. As only 1 of 4 undefeated teams going into Week 4, hope was in full bloom. As per usual for Miami, it was short lived.

Week 4: ‘The Letdown’

Hope died quickly and cruelly in Foxborough. The Dolphins were blown out and given a harsh dose of reality.

Week 5: ‘Gut-Wrenching Collapse’

The Cincinnati road game is my pivotal moment of the season.

Miami had a 17-0 lead late into the 3rd quarter… only to choke the game away. Gase and Tannehill made critical mistakes that cost Miami dearly. However, bad luck really set the plate for disaster. Laremy Tunsil was knocked out of the game and Gase didn’t have a quality replacement. The Bengals smelled blood in the water and teed off on Tannehill, who crumbled under the pressure to the tune of 2 fourth-quarter turnovers. Both turnovers led to defensive touchdowns. Besides losing the game, Tannehill picked up a bum shoulder for the next 5 games. Overall, a pretty sucky game

The Middle of the season started very well… but the good news didn’t last long

Weeks 6-10: ‘2018 Phlatline’

That ‘Tannyless’ 5 game stretch began with a thrilling, but shocking, overtime win against the Bears. Brock Osweiler led the Dolphins to victory and played his best game in a long time.

‘Maybe Brock was the answer’ some fans pondered’?

That question died as fast as it came because Brock went from prince to toad in a week.

The Dolphins stayed true to form and fell flat two weeks in a row against the Lions and Texans. Getting embarrassed in Prime Time continued to be a bad habit for Miami. But the following week, the Dolphins managed to pull out the nosedive with a win against the Jets in a pitiful game from both sides. The Jets lost the game as much as the Dolphins had won it. This was the one where team leader Reshad Jones quit and refused to play.

Then the week before their Bye, Miami went to Green Bay. The Endzone was once again a stranger on the road and another loss was tacked on.

Over the course of this stretch, Osweiler went 2 of 3.

Tannehill’s return began to sound sweeter and sweeter.

Week 11-15: ‘Tannehill Returns To Save The Day‘?

In Tannehill’s return, the Dolphins blew another fourth-quarter lead on the road. This time it was against the Colts on a last-second field goal.

Miami went back home for their next two games against two division rivals in the Bills and Patriots. They won both and had stormed back into real Playoff contention.

The Patriot game will probably go down as one of the most thrilling finishes to a Dolphin regular season game in their history. Whatever happens, going forward, this was a truly epic win. Time expiring victories against a bitter rival on double lateral touchdown don’t come around very often.

At 16-7 overall at home under Coach Gase, home-field has really come to mean something.

But the story turned hard south the following week. With everyone’s hopes on the rise, the Dolphins went out and had their worst performance of the year up in Minnesota.

So after all the extreme highs and extreme lows, we are left with an average record of 7-7.

While we can hope for another miracle that Playoffs happen, the real question is what becomes of this regime after the season? 

I think Gase will get one more year to see if he can get this team back to the playoffs. You have to at least like this team’s fight under his tutelage and ability to overcome a ton of injuries.

We are probably going to be stuck with Tannehill because barring any outrageous trade. Love him or hate him, Tannehill is one of the better options out there. But there’s no doubt Gase will need a much better backup. This is without a doubt the top issue that must be addressed in the 2019 Draft.

What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans thoughts about this up and down season so far?

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