It was a typical Miami Dolphins shedding locker room Sunday, similar because the earlier six occasions it’s occurred this season.
True to their phrase via victory or loss, this was simply one among 17 regular-season video games, no extra essential than any of the others. That’s why nobody was loudly cursing, nobody was visibly fuming, and there have been no indicators anybody misplaced their mood and threw stuff round after Sunday’s 26-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
If these types of theatrics and episodes are what you wish to see, or have to see to turn out to be satisfied this workforce is obsessed with profitable, or shedding, you got here to the fallacious place. These Dolphins, who’re skilled their first winless December since 1993, once they have been 9-2 and missed the playoffs at 9-7, aren’t displaying any outward indicators of hassle.
Are these guys freaking out deep down inside? Are they frightened their playoff alternative that appeared assured once they have been 8-3 is slipping between their fingers now that they’re 8-7? Possibly. It’s solely pure such a thought would happen.
But these Dolphins, maybe taking a cue from even-tempered, wise-cracking coach Mike McDaniel, haven’t misplaced their heads all season. It didn’t occur via that three-game shedding streak earlier within the yr, and it didn’t occur after Sunday’s Christmas Day loss to the Packers, a sport that served as a the second-coldest dwelling sport in franchise historical past with a kickoff temperature of 46 levels and a wind chill of 40 levels.
In truth, to listen to veterans similar to linebacker Elandon Roberts (4 playoff appearances in six seasons, together with two Super Bowl wins) and defensive sort out John Jenkins (three playoff appearances in 9 seasons) speak about issues, yelling and screaming aren’t indicators of caring or being obsessed with your job. Losing your mood is an indication of not having religion in your self or your teammates to get the job carried out, it’s an indication of panic. And gamers say there’s no panic on this Dolphins locker room.
“You look at the big picture, man — it’s Christmas,” linebacker Jerome Baker stated. “Your job, you didn’t get it carried out at present. We’ll determine it out tomorrow and study from it.
“Today is Christmas, man. You go home, and don’t dwell on it; don’t bring that home to your family, don’t bring that energy to your family and just come back tomorrow and learn from it. Get better next week.”
Don’t get it twisted. The Dolphins care. They care vastly. But the old-school picture of indignant gamers slamming their helmets into tables or standing in the midst of the locker room and making impassioned speeches with plenty of gestures and profanity, nicely, that didn’t occur Sunday.
Special groups standout Justin Bethel, a former All Pro and Pro Bowl choice, has been via a number of playoff situations with Arizona and New England. He’s been to the playoffs 4 occasions in 10 years. He’s not panicking.
“We’ve still got everything we want to do in front of us,” stated Bethel, who has additionally hung out on the sphere from scrimmage as a security. “We’ve simply received to go right our errors, keep collectively as a workforce after which we’ve received the Patriots in Foxborough subsequent week.
“So, it’s all eyes on them right now. We’ve got to go there and do what we’ve got to do to try and handle business.”
Yes, the Dolphins, who had gained 11 of their earlier 12 dwelling video games, have been extremely annoyed after shedding to the Packers (7-8) in a sport that the Dolphins led, 20-13, shortly earlier than halftime.
Edge rusher Bradley Chubb referred to as it a “winnable game.”
It was a sport that marked a missed alternative in a season of now-dwindling alternatives. It’s a sport that would have taken them one step nearer to their first playoff berth since 2016.
But it was a sloppy, error-filled sport. Four turnovers. Eight penalties for 62 yards. Two of seven on third-down conversions.
The Dolphins offense, which has been (over)hyped for its capability to place factors on the board, was scoreless within the second half and ended the sport with six empty possessions of fumble-end of first half-missed subject goal-interception-interception-interception.
The Dolphins protection, which had allowed a median of 15.3 factors per dwelling sport, allowed 26.
The Dolphins particular groups missed a subject objective and allowed a 93-yard kickoff return that led to a subject objective. Those six factors, because it turned out, have been essential.
And Dolphins coaches didn’t appear to have solutions on offense, protection or particular groups.
So how does this get fastened within the subsequent two weeks when the Dolphins go to New England (7-8) and host the New York Jets (7-8) within the regular-season finale?
They’ve received to maintain their cool, that’s No. 1. And they’ve received to depend on their veteran leaders similar to Pro Bowl left sort out Terron Armstead, who has 5 playoff appearances in 9 seasons. He is aware of easy methods to get via such troubled occasions.
“It’s a collection of leadership, especially guys with experience that have been through this,” he stated. “But it’s really just an understanding of, ‘What does dwelling on the last four [games] do for you moving forward?’ Anything past doesn’t help your present or future, so learn from mistakes — the reasons we have fought going through this losing streak and then we build and move forward and get the next one.”
We’ll see if that works.
We’ll additionally see if the calm, cool, collected strategy is efficient. It’s been largely working all season for the Dolphins. They say the identical strategy will work once more.
“I don’t think it’s a time for us to blink,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa stated. “We just move on and we learn from it. We’ve got another tough team that we’ve got to go to and play.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
