The Pressure’s On Miami To Secure Home Field Advantage In 2024
Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Miami Dolphins have a monkey on their back from not winning a playoff game since December 30th, 2000. Heading into this year, most believe the Dolphins are a lock to make the playoffs, and many are overlooking the next 18 weeks of football. The fans might be able to get away with that, but the players better not. The Phins can’t win their 18th, 19th, or 20th game of the year unless they pay attention to how they play for those first 17 contests.
Last season, the Dolphins finished with an 11-6 record during their regular season, which was only good enough for a Wild Card berth after the Buffalo Bills beat them in Week 18. A win would have gotten them a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers instead of having to head to Arrowhead and play the Kansas City Chiefs in January. Who knows what may have happened if they were able to play in South Beach? It’s very possible we wouldn’t even have to talk about the playoff drought.
Oh, well, that’s all in the past.
All Miami can do now is ensure that 2024 isn’t a repeat of 2023. To do that, they can’t just be a playoff team. The Dolphins need to dominate and pile up wins during the regular season to secure home field advantage. Mike McDaniel’s offense is all about speed, and Miami is the perfect spot to run that type of offense. Not Kansas City, Cincinnati, or Buffalo. Their path to a Super Bowl run goes through Hard Rock Stadium.
All teams would prefer to be higher seeds, but some teams are built to play on the road. Even though the Chiefs have only played two road playoff games since Patrick Mahomes’ arrival, Kansas City is a team built to play on the road. The Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles are a a few of the other teams whose playstyles can find success in tough conditions on the road.
For Miami, though, they have proven time and time again that their style doesn’t travel, especially to cold-weather towns late in the season. The top teams in the AFC heading into this season are the Chiefs, Bengals, and Bills, and playing playoff ball in any of those three cities in January means braving the cold, snow, or ice. Or all three.
The Pro Football Network ranked their ten fastest players heading into the 2024 season, and that list included four Dolphins. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill kicked off the list at number one followed by De’Von Achane at three, Raheem Mostert landed at four, and Jaylen Waddle at nine. No one has to tell you that a frozen field can slow down a team, as we’ve seen exactly that happen last year. When the weather takes away Miami’s speed without the defensive coordinator lifting a finger to gameplan it away, the Dolphins go from an elite offense to an average at best.
Other teams can afford to lose some regular season games and expect playoff success, but not the Dolphins. This means that Miami can’t have any lapses of concentration this season, they can’t drop winnable games, and they can’t take a week off. McDaniel has been preaching all offseason about finishing in everything they do, including emphasizing winning games.
“What can we learn from all of this and how do we adjust what we do now to hedge our bet? … You get what you emphasize,” McDaniel said. “Well, why not find ways to emphasize finishing in everything you do? Obsess about it… I had every staff meeting I put at like 7:24 or 3:24 or 5:24 — the number 24.
“To you guys, it means nothing. That’s how many years it’s been since the organization has won a playoff game. We are going to hear about that come playoff time. You think? So to me, you do that to empower guys to know what’s coming. To understand it, to not run from it. Because if you’re going to achieve success where people are predicting failure, you’re going to have to go above and beyond.”
Everyone wants to hit fast-forward and see how the Dolphins do in the playoffs, but that mindset misses the point. For the Dolphins to finally get over that hump, they need to do everything they can to set themselves up in the best position possible during the regular season. Getting the third or fourth seed isn’t good enough; the Dolphins have to have a close-to-perfect. If they don’t, we can expect the Dolphins to once again travel somewhere like Kansas City and for next year’s meetings to start at the 25th minute of the hour.
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