The Patriots Remain Everything The Dolphins Aren’t

The Patriots Remain Everything The Dolphins Aren’t

The 2025 NFL season has mercifully come to a close for the Miami Dolphins. What started out as a season where expectations were all over the place ended with the people who believed Miami would be mediocre being proven right. Miami finishes with a 7-10 record after the New England Patriots steamrolled them to the tune of 38-10. Despite a late-season push after starting the season out 2-6, the Dolphins once again will end a year without winning a playoff victory, extending their league-leading drought to 26 years. 

The part that makes this finish more difficult to swallow is the fact that their opponents, the newly crowned AFC East champion New England Patriots, have managed to rebuild themselves into a Super Bowl contender after losing the greatest quarterback of all time and one of the greatest coaches of all time. Tom Brady last played for the Patriots during the 2019 season, and Bill Belichick left the organization following the 2023 season. 

The 2024 season saw the Patriots struggle under the leadership of Jerod Mayo. The Mayo experiment lasted just one season, with the team posting a 4-13 record. It was at this moment that owner Robert Kraft had a decision to make, and he proved that he is one of the better owners in the league when he parted ways with Mayo. It was an ugly situation, after growing close to Mayo, Kraft had named him the heir apartment to Belichick but it was clear that he was not ready to be a head coach. Instead of falling into a sunk cost fallacy, he cut his losses and hired former Patriots Linebacker and Tennessee Titans Head Coach Mike Vrabel. 

That move separates owners of successful teams and owners who spend each offseason wondering where it all went wrong. As you know, if you’re reading this, the Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross, spends much of his offseason doing just that, but even so, it’s unclear if he’s going to move on from Mike McDaniel. At the time of writing, which is Monday morning after the season finale, there has been no official word, but many are speculating that he will be retained, despite fans having soured on the fourth-year head man. 

Until we have an owner who is as decisive as Robert Kraft, we will never reach the heights that the Patriots have over the past two decades.

Instead, we’ll be caught in a never-ending Groundhog Day, repeating mediocre seasons over and over while the fanbase loses its enthusiasm for the franchise. Perhaps I’m being too dramatic; it’s possible that McDaniel will be able to turn things around with a quarterback of his choosing, but can you blame me for being pessimistic? Things will become clearer as the day goes on, and I will adjust my takes accordingly.

So, what do you think, will the Dolphins retain McDaniel? Let me know in the comments.

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