National Media Down on Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are heading into somewhat of a crossroads season after missing the playoffs in 2024, but a couple of national media outlets are predicting doom and gloom for the upcoming season.

First, there was the set of 2025 record predictions by NFL writer Nate Davis, who had the Dolphins at 5-12. The latest came from Sports Illustrated national writer Conor Orr, who predicted every game in the 2025 regular season and had Miami at 6-11.

"This was an exercise in ripping off the Band-Aid," Orr wrote. "Miami’s youth movement could hit early, but I just found myself tired of trying to buck narratives with this Dolphins team. I agree with the team’s fan base that the front seven is getting massively faded by the national media, though I have for years been saying that Bradley Chubb is highly underrated in terms of his ability to impact a game.

"All that said, I had a choice to make between growth and attrition. We have Tyreek Hill being an outward distraction and the man responsible for getting him the ball trying to clean up the mess and set the emotional thermostat for the locker room. While it may seem blasphemous, I had to pick a side. Also, three of Miami’s final five games come in cold weather, while another two come against the Buccaneers and Bengals."

Likewise, Davis mentioned the Dolphins' season-ending stretch being problematic because of potential cold-weather games against the New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, along with home matchups against the playoff-contending Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Buccaneers.

WHY THE DOOM AND GLOOM?

To be fair, the Dolphins aren't doing much in their current joint practices to dispute the idea they're in for a long year, though they're also practicing without some key players, like starting tackle Austin Jackson, starting fullback Alec Ingold and the team's most explosive player, Tyreek Hill.

But those still are shocking, or at least eye-opening, predictions considering the Dolphins had a winning record in the games Tua Tagovailoa started last season, and the team started 8-3 in 2022 and then 11-4 in 2023 before faltering at the end, with injuries playing a part in the sluggish finishes both times.

While they haven't gotten that elusive playoff victory, the Dolphins have been competitive every year since the rebuilding/tanking season of 2019, and even that season saw the team go 5-4 over the final nine games after churning the roster all year.

Since then, the Dolphins have finished 10-6, 9-8, 9-8 and 11-6 before the disappointing 8-9 record of 2024.

The Dolphins did lose key players Jalen Ramsey, Calais Campbell and Terron Armstead since the end of last season, but the offense still has Tagovailoa, Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De'Von Achane, and the defense has some high-end players with Zach Sieler and Minkah Fitzpatrick, along with the potentially dynamic pass-rushing trio of Chop Robinson, Jaelan Phillips and Chubb.

The bottom line is 6-11 or 5-12 seems like a prediction of worst-case scenario for the Dolphins. If it materializes, we would be looking at the strong possibility of major changes in light of owner Stephen Ross' statement at the end of the 2024 season when he decided to bring back head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier for at least another year.

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