MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In the end, the narrative surrounding the Miami Dolphins was right. They got to the playoffs by beating the cupcakes. And they got bounced from the playoffs because they couldn’t beat the non-cupcakes, particularly on the road.
Including their three-score Wild Card round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dolphins went 1-6 against playoff teams in 2023 and 10-1 against everyone else.
Miami’s winning percentage dropped by a staggering .758 in games against quality teams.
Compare that to the eight teams still standing — the Texans, Ravens, Packers, 49ers, Buccaneers, Lions, Chiefs, and Bills — whose winning percentage against playoff teams (.529) has been far closer to its mark against non-playoff teams (.702).
Miami Dolphins Searching for Answers This Offseason
Closing that gap trend that should be — and apparently will be — the franchise’s No. 1 focus this offseason.
“I think we talk all season about progressing to be your best and we weren’t,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Monday. “… When you ultimately fall short, then you have to look it between the eyes and look at where we had successes and where we had failures, and not really harbor any defensive mechanism because it’s the bottom line.”
He continued: “We didn’t get the results that we wanted. We feel good about our process, but everything has to be really evaluated. First and foremost are the shortcomings. You also have to look at what you did do well, but that’s always the last thing on our minds in the offseason.
“… You get what you emphasize, so then it’s supremely important that we look at everything, not assume it’s correlation or causation, look at everything flatlined, and find the ways that you can get better. That’s what I think players sign up for and organizations depend on.”
Particularly since the Dolphins’ schedule should be harder in 2024 than it was in 2023. They play seven teams that made the 2023 postseason, plus could face Aaron Rodgers instead of Zach Wilson twice in their annual home-and-home with the Jets.
The Dolphins need to find answers to questions that still confounded them even Monday.
“I just think it’s a combination of things,” said Dolphins general manager Chris Grier.
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“We’ve played some good football teams, and a majority of the games were fairly close late in the game, and for various reasons, we weren’t able to pull it out and win it. So I think that will be something we’ll go through and evaluate and look at through here in the offseason, and that’s what the whole spring is for.
“As Mike said, you look at – it’s not necessarily improving the things you’re great at. It’s working at the things that we had struggled [with] or would like to finish better.”
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