Sunday vs the 49ers is A Must-Win For the Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins face the first must-win game of their 2020 season when they square off against the San Francisco 49ers. While the season is still young and there’s plenty of football left to play, this is a defining moment for the Dolphins.

The 49ers have plenty of players either out on injury or coming back from an injury that this game could be defining for Miami. Jimmy Garoppolo is returning for the Niners and could be bringing a little rust with his return. While Garoppolo has been with the 49ers a few seasons now, surely one of his former coaches has the scoop on his strengths and weaknesses having seen it first hand. From 2014-2017 both Brian Flores and Jimmy G. were part of the New England Patriots. Can the former defensive coach get one over on his old QB?

More importantly, the Miami Dolphins are 1-3 to start the 2020 campaign. The Buffalo Bills are running away with the division at 4-0 and the New England Patriots are holding strong at 2-2. Both teams Miami has already lost to. Yes, the Dolphins have back-to-back games against the New York Jets who are 0-4 right now. Starting 1-4 and down two divisional games doesn’t usually end well for teams hoping to make the playoffs.

The Dolphins aren’t free of injury themselves though as they just lost Austin Jackson to the injured reserve. The rookie offensive lineman was everything Miami had been hoping for and a staple along with the front five. Now they’ll have to shift players around to make sure they have the right combination for a stalling offense.

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The good news, however, is the fact the Dolphins will be getting some help back. Byron Jones is said to have participated fully this week and could come in in a limited role if not return completely. Miami has been hoping to get back to full strength as Jones and Xavien Howard were the pair to be feared this season. As their top free-agent acquisition, pairing the two DBs together could put the cap on their defense that is starting to gel.

While they’ve been sloppy at times, the Dolphins defense has kept stride with opposing offenses in most games. Defensively they’ve got a young group that is going through growing pains but could be the strength of their rebuild. If Jones is healthy, Howard bounces back and their young players develop, Miami could be a top defense.

Without the season being at the halfway point i hard to fully commit to a must win, but this Sunday might be as close as they get without truly being a must-win. If they can’t pull out wins against an ailing team, they could be further behind on the rebuild than originally thought.