Miami Dolphins: Are They In Trouble When Playoffs Roll Around?

There’s nothing more disappointing than losing to a team with a losing record, especially when you’re in the hunt for a first-round bye in the playoffs. Unfortunately, that’s what the Miami Dolphins walked away with on their first and only Monday Night Football game of the year. Their matchup against the Tennessee Titans left a giant red flag in a very promising year.

First and foremost, the Dolphins left that game with plenty of injuries to key players such as Connor Williams and Tyreek Hill. Now Tyreek will probably return sooner rather than later as he has his heart set on the 2,000-yard mark. Connor Williams on the other hand tore his ACL and will be done for the season.

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Speaking of Tyreek Hill, a loss like that only highlights just how limited the Miami Dolphins are without their top playmaker. Without Hill, the Miami Dolphins look like this year’s Kansas City Chiefs, only Miami doesn’t have a star TE to dump it off to. That’s how much Tyreek Hill’s production means to teams. Fans can sit here and say “but we still have Jaylen Waddle” which of course is true, but without being able to split the field with two stud WRs it becomes a lot easier for defenses to double up and shift coverages.

Yet the biggest problem wasn’t injuries or productivity. The Miami Dolphins have no excuses for letting that game slip away after two fumbles put them up 14 with ~5 mins left. You have two of the best CBs in the league and the Titans marched down the field without fail. You have a quarterback who was in talks for the MVP race who came up short. They have the talk of the league/young coach who’s an “offensive guru” who couldn’t come up with plays to keep the chains moving on key drives at the end of the game.

We all can make excuses for the Miami Dolphins but the truth is, they didn’t look like a playoff-caliber team on Monday Night Football. If the 4-8 Tennessee Titans were too much pressure for them to handle, imagine what playoff contenders are going to do in the postseason. Miami fans should be sounding the alarm right now.