By Tyler Banks
At the beginning of the 2018-19 NFL season, the Miami Dolphins looked like an actual contender to make the playoffs, starting the first 3 games off 3-0. For the first time in years, the Dolphins were viewed as an actual threat to the current AFC champion New England Patriots and were set to play them in their next game.
This was the game that would change everything. If they were to win this game, it would have placed the Dolphins at the top of their division but at the top of the league. The Dolphins would have dethroned the monstrous juggernaut that has wreaked havoc throughout the league for over a decade. Bring the Dolphins back from their fall from grace. Most importantly, it would have given the fans hope. Hope that the Dolphins would finally be able to compete.
But that’s not what happened. The Dolphins failed the city of Miami again and in a crushing fashion. They lost that game 38-7 in one of the biggest blowouts of not only the season, but in Dolphins history.
That’s when everything changed
That was the game that crushed the Dolphins. Despite only being 3-1 and that time, the weight of that defeat by the hands of the Patriots seemed to carry on them throughout the rest of the season, finishing off 7-9 and missing the playoffs.
After that horrible end to the season that looked so promising, Dolphins fans were hoping that they could try to build on what they had to prepare for the new year. However, Dolphins management had other ideas.
Enter the offseason
The Dolphins front office decided to take the route that some NBA teams have taken and that is to strip the team dry. By doing this, the team become more likely to lose because although it looks bad in the short term—losing game after game—in the long term, what teams hope to accomplish is that they gradually get high picks in the draft over the next 3-5 years and eventually become contenders. This method of improving a team has been popularly referred to as, “the process,” a term made famous by NBA all-star Joel Embiid.
The Dolphins most likely wish to replicate the results of Philadelphia 76ers and use this time to “tank” the season so they can build their team through the draft. This “process” more than likely started two years ago when the Dolphins got rid of pro-bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry along with former pro-bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. From there, the Dolphins have gotten rid of Cameron Wake, Ryan Tannehill, Kenny Stills and other notable Dolphins players.
Where do they go from here
Currently at quarterback is a toss up between the two new acquired players, Ryan Fitzpatrick—the streaky veteran that’s played for 8 teams as of now—or Josh Rosen—the unproven rookie who’s escaping the terrible situation with the Arizona Cardinals. More than likely they will start the season with Fitzpatrick then transition into using Rosen as a way of helping him develop as a quarterback.
The Dolphins have also made a change with their head coach. No longer will Adam Gase run the Dolphins team, now they have Brian Flores, the former defensive coordinator for the current NFL champion New England Patriots.
The Dolphins front office along with their fans, hope that Flores along with Rosen can help usher in a new era of Dolphins football. However, that won’t happen overnight. The team is still severely under developed and they lack chemistry. So for the 2019-2020 NFL season, they probably win 5 games at best, and most definitely miss the playoffs.
