Why The Miami Dolphins Are A Soft Team

Why The Miami Dolphins Are A Soft Team

Now, this is something that needs to be addressed, especially in recent days, when the Dolphins got into a scuffle with the Chicago Bears during their joint practice, and when Lions linebacker Grant Stuard basically called out the Dolphins. The fact is that the Miami Dolphins are a soft team.

This is not recent; their actions have spoken louder than what they are saying to try to address the situation. With that, as per usual, I have my three takes, but let me clarify one thing: this is not me badmouthing the Dolphins; it is me saying something that needs to be said because nothing is processing in the Miami Dolphins’ minds.

Now, let us take a deep dive into why I think the Miami Dolphins are and still are a soft team.

Proof Is In The Pudding

The Miami Dolphins have proven that they have not changed despite making you believe that they are. Whatever Bradley Chubb said during that press conference where he said they were trying to change their culture just is not registering with anyone in the locker room in my eyes, particularly Mike McDaniel, and he himself, I believe, said something about changing culture as well. Let me say a few things about this: Failing to score a touchdown from inside your opponent’s five-yard line is not what is going to change your culture.

This happened on several occasions during their tie with the Chicago Bears in their preseason opener. In the second half, they finally did the right thing by giving the ball to Ollie Gordon, who, I believe, should be getting more touches inside the five-yard line, given his role as a big bruiser back. Also, the inability to get first downs when it is third down and a few yards or even sometimes fourth down is just head-scratching.

If the Miami Dolphins cannot get those crucial first downs down the stretch and score touchdowns inside the five, then they will continue to be a soft team. But wait there is more, the Bears were I believe if my memory serves me right running press coverage in their joint practice with Chicago before things got out of hand.

There is one last thing about this, and that is that Detroit Lions linebacker Grant Stuard called out the Dolphins by saying, “I do not think they are ready.” This soft aspect of the Dolphins leads me to my next point, which I’ll discuss shortly. That’s why I believe the proof is in the pudding when it comes to why the Miami Dolphins are considered a soft team.

No Culture Means New Bad Narrative

The Dolphins have not had a winning culture like the aforementioned Detroit Lions, who I view as one of my “elite” teams in the National Football League. You expect to be elite when you have Dan Campbell as your head coach compared to Mike McDaniel, who is going into his fourth season coaching this Dolphins team. The difference between the Miami Dolphins and the Detroit Lions is the Lions actually have a culture a winning culture built around tough nosed hard football.

Meanwhile, what do the Dolphins have? You ask nothing, that is, and why is that? Because they still to this day even going on year four with Tyreek Hill, Tua, Achane, and Waddle as the main players on offense they still cannot beat good teams or teams over five hundred which I do not know why they always do this to the below five hundred teams but then they play say the Buffalo Bills in their own division which McDaniel has only beaten once in 2022. Then you say go on the road to the aforementioned Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Baltimore, Green Bay, Philadelphia, and even week eighteen against the Patriots.

These are all cold-weather teams, and the Dolphins do not play well in cold weather. It is a bad narrative to have, and then, on top of that, chances are these teams will be above five hundred at some point.

To have a winning culture that attracts top players to the Dolphins, you need to establish it by consistently winning games. Let me put it this way: for a team that has not won anything in twenty-five years, and going further back, thirty-three years since they were in the conference championship game, then forty-one since their last Super Bowl berth, and finally their previous Super Bowl win in 1973. Now that you are trying to do something, but it hasn’t worked yet, I see no culture as a new bad narrative for the Miami Dolphins.

A Certain Player Took Shots At Them

Jalen Ramsey, a former Dolphins cornerback, was on The Pivot with Ryan Clark and Channing Crowder, and if you have not watched it, basically, Ramsey took shots at the Dolphins without saying much about them. Jalen was essentially discussing with Crowder and Ryan Clark that he is excited to be a Steeler, and if you watch it, his tone of voice, I believe, was very different from his time with the Miami Dolphins.

It proves that players do not come to the Dolphins to be football players, but rather the lifestyle that comes with living in South Florida. If we are getting this out of players, including Ramsey, then the Dolphins may never win a Super Bowl in the future. Sure, there may be some, like Tyreek Hill, that is competitive each week, but it cannot be just him; it has to be the whole fifty-three-man roster that gives an effort each week. Ramsey, as I heard on Joe Rose this morning on WQAM, said that he is playing for a team that respects their coach. Like, how can you win if you cannot respect the coach?

Man, do I want to see Miami smack the Steelers right in the mouth come their Monday Night Football game in December. But basically, I don’t have much to say about the Ramsey situation since he didn’t mention the Dolphins too much.

What Can They Do To Fix It

The Miami Dolphins can fix their softness by simply balling out and winning more games. What can they do to fix that, especially with the secondary? They need to simply do that and go run it down someone’s throat when it comes to running the ball and scoring touchdowns inside the five-yard line. If you can do the things that you need to do against the above five hundred teams, then you can fix it. A lot can happen but they need to prove it rather than tell me I keep saying it but obviously no one from the Dolphins sees my stuff but hopefully it registers with them someday.

Dan Campbell said that this team needs to be tougher, and that was back when Campbell was the interim head coach of the Dolphins. That is all I have on what they can do to fix it: win more games, play tough, and you will fix your culture.

Miami Dolphins Softness In Conclusion

How does this sum up the Dolphins’ Softness? It sums it up by having the proof in the pudding, which is me saying that we have seen it before. Then I addressed how the Dolphins’ softness is a new bad narrative around this team, and I think that it is something that needs to be addressed and fast. I then mentioned how the former Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey was effectively taking shots at the Dolphins, even though he really was not trying to.

Lastly, I briefly touched on how the Dolphins can fix their softness problem. Now, the Dolphins are a soft team, but they can change quickly if they prove to the league that they are a tough-nosed team through their play. That is something just like always show me rather than tell me.