The 31-17 loss at Philadelphia was a reality check for the Miami Dolphins and left a sour taste.

It doesn’t have to linger.

Losing on the road in prime time to an Eagles team coming off its first loss of the season wasn’t surprising. Especially given a ridiculously one-sided penalty assessment by the officials that bordered on scandalous.

It wasn’t crippling, though. It was an out-of-conference defeat. The Dolphins woke up Monday holding all the cards in the AFC East, thanks to the Bills’ loss at New England.

What will matter is how they respond to it. Upcoming games in the next month will carry more weight in defining the fate of this season.

Notably, a bounce-back opportunity at home this week against the Patriots followed by the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Germany. The first meeting with the Jets, who defeated these Eagles looms a month away at the Meadowlands.

High-scoring Dolphins humbled

Sunday’s defeat did put Dolphins shortcomings on display to a national audience. Their speed and scheme-driven offense found the going much tougher against a very physical defense.

The Eagles immediately shut down Miami’s league-leading rushing attack, holding it to minus-7 yards in the first half and 45 for the game. They applied more pressure on Tua Tagovailoa than he’s been accustomed to this season and sacked him four times.

This was not, however, a repeat of the humiliation at Buffalo. Though it seemed headed that way until the final drive of the first half when Tua made a remarkable 29-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson, Jr. on third-and-18 and then hit Tyreek Hill streaking past double coverage for a 27-yard touchdown.

The Dolphins were competitive against the defending NFC champions. They showed resiliency in coming back from a 17-3 deficit to pull even despite considerable adversity. They were on the brink of tying it again in the fourth quarter until Tagovailoa made the one regrettable throw of an otherwise commendable performance, tossing up a dying quail that was intercepted.

Tua’s former Alabama teammate Jalen Hurts, with a pass rusher bearing down, launched a 48-yard strike to all-world wide receiver A.J. Brown on the game-sealing touchdown drive and the night belonged to Philadelphia.

O-line health major concern for Dolphins

The Dolphins were left to pick up the pieces. Of greatest concern is the health of the offensive line, which had three backups playing most of the night after left guard Isaiah Wynn went out early with a quad injury. His replacement, Lester Cotton, promptly got flagged for holding that negated a touchdown — borderline penalty compared to some that weren’t called on the Eagles.

The officiating, which led to 10 penalties assessed against the Dolphins and none — that’s zero, zilch — against the home team was a disgrace for the NFL. There should be repercussions, but don’t hold your breath.

Any fans from other teams going to comment on this game I’m just showing them this. No words necessary. pic.twitter.com/qBoZNygrVr

— Dolfan (@DolphinsFan103) October 23, 2023

Miami coach Mike McDaniel was wise to avoid addressing what wasn’t called on the Eagles and focus on how the Dolphins hurt their own cause. Beginning with delay of game on their first offensive play and including defenders lining up offside more than once.

Roughing the passer on Christian Wilkins was tacky-tack, but why shove him after the pass was thrown? It was undisciplined, and the Eagles scored their first touchdown two plays later.

“You can’t just point a finger and say that it’s not fair. That doesn’t make any sense to me,” McDaniel said after the game. “It’s more about looking at ourselves, the stuff that we can control, and what things we can clean up in our game.”

Getting some injured offensive linemen back would help with that, notably center Connor Williams. Fill-in Liam Eichenberg struggles to make a clean snap and looks out of place, which he is. He’s never been a center.

Inexplicably, the Dolphins left themselves without a legitimate backup center when they traded veteran Dan Feeney to Chicago for a late-round draft pick.

McDaniel revealed late Monday that Wynn will be out for “weeks.”

McDaniel passively voicing his frustration with the officiating when talking about Tua’s INT:

“I was hoping Raheem could step back and make a play on the ball. He had an issue doing so with apparently what was legal contact down the field.”

Quick to add that’s not why they lost pic.twitter.com/n84lj7y1Cn

— King of Phinland (@KingOfPhinland) October 23, 2023

Dolphins’ defense shows encouraging signs

McDaniel said, “We weren’t as crisp as usual coming out of the huddle, which always leads to stuff, and we will take a hard look at that in terms of what we are doing and how we are doing it, and make sure that we get better because it definitely wasn’t good enough to win and to beat a football team like that. It was a shame because I thought our defense gave us a definite chance to win with the way they played and made some serious physical plays that were kind of wasted.”

The Dolphins’ defense played a solid game, for the most part. They limited the Eagles to 2.9 yards a carry rushing.

Having Jaelan Phillips back has greatly improved the pass rush. They put some heat on Hurts, forced him to fumble once and caused him to throw a pick-6 to Jerome Baker off a deflection by blitzing Kader Kohou.

.@MiamiDolphins defense did a lot of good things…like shutting down the @Eagles rushing attack. Hello David Long jr. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/bEMUiCCXZX

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) October 23, 2023

Hurts’ ability to escape trouble and make a productive play is why the Eagles QB was an MVP finalist last season. He repeatedly frustrated the Dolphins in that manner despite playing the second half with a brace on his left leg.

The defense was less effective after linebacker David Long Jr. collided with safety Jevon Holland and left the game and wore down in the fourth quarter.

Miami’s defense needs to be better and there is reason to believe it will be with cornerback Jalen Ramsey close to returning. Especially if Xavien Howard, who missed Sunday’s game, can get past his groin injury.

Turns out that Holland, who returned to the game, entered concussion protocol on Monday, but Long is OK, according to McDaniel.

Dolphins shift focus to AFC challenges

McDaniel will try to get his high-flying offense back on track quickly. He indicated that wide receiver Chase Claypool, who was active for the first time Sunday but didn’t get a touch on offense, is ready to contribute at least on a limited package of plays.

Looking further ahead, super rookie running back De’Von Achane is expected to return following the bye in week 10.

Mike McDaniel said he spoke with the team before the game and warned them that if they were to win the game last night they would likely have lofty expectations of being the "best team in football".

And if they were to lose they would be viewed as a team that can't beat good… pic.twitter.com/JaUQrPS86Q

— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) October 23, 2023

To be sure, Sunday’s defeat felt like so many Dolphins disappointments, going all the way back to the Marino era, of raising expectations only to get slapped down by a top team. To emerge from the pack of pretenders they are going to have to start winning these type of games.

For now, there is no choice but to focus on what comes next — Patriots and Chiefs before the break to regroup.
To be sure, Sunday’s loss hurts, but all is not lost for Miami.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @CraigDavisRuns.

In sports, there’s only so much you can script, and always so much you can’t. Or as Mike Tyson more eloquently stated, everyone has a plan ’til punched in the mouth. That punch can come in many forms, and from any angle, and can sometimes land in spite of all your preparation. Still, the best squads, the ones that stay standing, are the ones that find counters and contingencies, the ones who remain resilient instead of ruffled. The Miami Dolphins of 2023 — who enter Sunday’s game with winless Carolina at 4-1 — are showing themselves to be one of those squads so far. And they must be again, even as they’ve been hit with more unexpected adversity, this time in the form of rookie running sensation De’Von Achane joining projected pillars Jalen Ramsey, Terron Armstead, Connor Williams and others on the sidelines.

They showed their resourcefulness again last Sunday against the Giants, not because the opponent was formidable (it wasn’t), but because not everything went according to expectation. This was evident on the very first drive, a situation that has been a specialty for the coach, Mike McDaniel; his quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and the entire offense all season.

As with many teams, the opening drive is typically carefully orchestrated. It is typically a unit’s best foot forward, and the Dolphins have been exceptional in these situations this season, even if they win the coin toss and defer, and take the ball after the other team changes the field position or even takes a lead. Coming into last Sunday against New York, the Dolphins had scored 17 points on their four prior starting salvos, and it would have been three or seven more if not for a fumble on the Chargers’ 2. Tagovailoa was completing more than 75 percent of his passes, easily pushing the ball down the field with tempo and precision.

And he did it again.

On this drive, he completed six of seven passes, for 65, to four different targets, finishing in a Jaylen Waddle 2-yard reception for the score.

“I’m very comfortable, regardless of what Mike has,” Tagovailoa said of the success at the start of games. “Whether it’s on script, off script, of plays that we like. Or plays that are ‘OK, we’re calling this play, I didn’t really like this play throughout the week, but I put myself in the playcaller’s mind frame, and if they go out there, that’s how it ends up happening with how I see the field…..'”

Still, you would think, watching how he did see the field, and saw his receivers break free, that the Dolphins had practiced all week against the identical alignments the Giants had shown.

“It’s so much work, accumulated by players,” McDaniel said. “All the things that are happening, they’re executing, they’re prepared to do it against multiple looks. That speaks to their preparation and their ownership of when we go through, the openers, they’re the ones executing it. And sometimes we get what we were practicing again. Like, today, we saw absolutely, positively an extreme version of the antithesis of the defense that we prepared for.”

Wait, what?

“They came out in a different personnel package and play coverages than they have ever played before, and to be able to do that and have players not even blink, means that they are super prepared,” McDaniel continued. “On top of the fact that their coaches have taught them the appropriate way to digest the defense, so if there is a defense that you haven’t prepared for, they are still able to execute their job. It’s a group effort, and whatever plays that I call, if the players don’t really, really invest in what they’re doing, those plays suck.”

And so, for the Dolphins of late, the plays don’t suck even when they’re not the right play.

Like that 69 yard pass from Tagovailoa to Tyreek Hill, just 54 seconds into the third quarter.

When a reporter mentioned that Tagovailoa had executed it by seeing single high coverage, the quarterback couldn’t keep up the ruse anymore.

“Did it look like single high?” he replied. “Like from the beginning of it? It did?”

Then the laughter, of a kid caught with his hands in the candy jar.

“Yeah, um, well that… that was the wrong play call,” he said. “That was the wrong play call. And you can ask Mike about that. I don’t think I should be saying. That was the wrong play call. I just called the wrong play. So you guys might want to ask Mike about that one…”

More reporter repartee….

More honesty.

“Yeah,” Tagovailoa said, smiling. “That sounds weird, just taking the credit for that one… He said a play…. I told him I misheard him. As I was looking at it, I was like, ‘Oh.’ I did mishear him. I did. Yes. Yes.'”

So we did ask McDaniel.

“Yeah, apparently he stole my thunder,” McDaniel said, in his sardonic style. “I wanted to unveil that he’s now a playcaller. No, that’s one of the moments that in his journey, that is indicative of where he’s at. I just know that the way we were able to move the ball a little bit, and then those turnovers, the picks, it would have been hard to get him out of that, just how mad he would be at himself. But the disciplined work that he’s done with mind, body and soul to be in a moment like that, and just take the game into his own hands, that’s what you’re trying to build.”

All for a play like that.

“It was a really cool moment that when you’re watching the formation set up, I am not composed. ‘What, what?” McDaniel said. “You just don’t know. It was hard to actually visualize what play he actually called, because you just think that nine people are messed up. And then that’s the type of stuff you can’t manufacture, to be able to have the wherewithal to say, ‘You know what, let’s put it in mine and Tyreek’s hands.’ I’m just very very proud of him. Sometimes, the messy games are my favorite, with that stuff.”

It was a play reminiscent of Dan Marino, feuding with his coach Jimmy Johnson, once ignoring a call and just telling Oronde Gadsden not nearly as fleet as Hill — to just “f—– go deep” and hitting him for a one-point win against the Colts way back when. Except, this coach and this quarterback are aligned. And Tagovailoa and this offense are doing Marino-like things.

Will it continue today, against feeble Carolina?

It should.

Be sure, McDaniel and Tagovailoa have a plan for it.

Be sure, the plan will go awry at some point. A play will “suck.” A pass will float. A kick will miss.

For a change, when off script, the Miami Dolphins appear capable of staying on track.

Ethan Skolnick is the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network.

No one entirely understood what they were watching last Sunday, as the Greatest Show on Surf swamped the visiting men from the mountains. But perhaps one man had a bit more perspective, sitting in a Hard Rock Stadium booth with his sons, taking photos with former Dolphins such as Shawn Wooden and all-time sporting greats such as Wayne Gretzky.

“I love watching Mike’s offensive plans,” Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra texted back, as South Florida’s sports fans everywhere continued celebrating a 70-20 Miami Dolphins victory.

70-20.

70-20!

Even Spoelstra’s Heat — with their 12 playoff appearances, six NBA Finals appearances and two championships since his ascension in 2008 — have never been quite so overwhelming as Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins were last Sunday. Not even during a 27-game winning streak. Not even with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and now Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

But that’s the thing.

It’s not about the short term, no matter how spectacular, as Spoelstra and his new friend McDaniel know.

It’s about what you sustain.

And so that brings us to today, Sunday in Buffalo, against the only squad that stands in the way of AFC East supremacy — with the Jets and Patriots each in some semblance of disarray.

And that brings us to tomorrow, and whether McDaniel can prove as resilient, resourceful and permanent as Spoelstra has proven, just just for a game or season but for more than a decade.

McDaniel had more working against him than Spoelstra did when each was hired, even though he was roughly the same age. While the Heat have been the model of stability since Pat Riley’s arrival in 1995, with Spoelstra just the third official head coach in that time, McDaniel is the 9th, and 12th if you include the interims. The Heat have been the sturdy ship while the Dolphins have been a pool float over the past quarter-century, and so any hire is met with skepticism, as this one was. Yes, McDaniel was touted as a genius by many who had encountered him, but so was Adam Gase. He hadn’t played professionally, nor did he look the part, not for anything but the IT department. And unlike Spoelstra, whose rise was also unconventional in that he came up from the Heat video room, McDaniel didn’t have anyone of the gravity of Riley, someone who had seen him day after day, anointing him.

But McDaniel and Spoelstra, while somewhat different in terms of personality — McDaniel, for starters, enjoys silly media repartee while Spoelstra loathes any such small talk — share some qualities that may have been overlooked by many initially. It’s not just the willingness to innovate, norms and critics be damned, from Spoelstra’s Pace and Space to McDaniel’s “Cheat Motion” that will is now an NFL rage.

It’s their relatability — each self-deprecating in his own way, each willing to take the bullet for those under their command.

And, mostly, it’s their empathy.

Spoelstra has shown that in spades since he’s become the Heat’s singular voice during the season, with the way he speaks about and treats his players, others in the organization, opponents and even reporters — I have too many stories I could share. I’ll never forget the lengthy message Spoelstra sent a media colleague after his son passed, a message that turned my friends to tears as he showed it to me at the memorial.

McDaniel seems the same.

That quality has allowed his quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, to shrug off all the skeptics and take this satisfying star turn, following all the negative reinforcement from prior coach Brian Flores. McDaniel did more than just believe in Tua. He was vocal and adamant about such belief — again, critics be damned. And he was consistent with his support, not only for what Tua was doing and would do, but what had been done to him by the doubts of the prior regime.

That is a rare quality for a coach, and maybe that’s why McDaniel and Spoelstra have become so chummy so quickly.

A year ago at this time, I was in the Bahamas for Heat training camp and pulled Spoelstra aside to get his view of McDaniel, who was less than a month into his first NFL season. Spoelstra smiled broadly. He likes this stuff more than talking about tired NBA narratives, for sure.

And it was clear how much he liked McDaniel’s approach, from a visit to the Dolphins’ 2022 training camp.

When I noted that McDaniel was about the same age as Spoelstra was in 2008:

“It’s amazing. And he’s way more advanced. And just understands the picture and dynamics of building a team. I was really impressed. Our whole staff was impressed. By the whole vibe up there. During training camp, when we saw it, they were working really hard. And it was one of those South Florida hot days. But they had fun out there too. So they were trying to get something accomplished, they were doing it with joy, I really enjoyed that day, and came away impressed with him. Yes, he looks young. He fits right in. But his maturity and understanding of how to teach football, it belies his years.”

Of their shared unconventional path, Spoelstra said he related, “Just even talking to him. The sports are different. But how you think, I always find that really interesting in talking to people. I tend to now, at this point of my career, learn more from people outside the industry….. You tend to look at things a little bit more differently when you go outside our sport. That’s why I’ve enjoyed those kind of visits….. We had a terrific day, and he was very gracious to give us a couple hours afterwards, and just talk some shop. And you can kind of see how he in general thinks differently, and that leads to innovation. When you’re questioning things, and questioning the norm, and being open to new possibilities. It may be obvious but because it’s not what everybody else is doing, we all tend to fall into that trap sometimes.”

What did McDaniel want to know from Spoelstra?

“You know, I get that a lot of what it’s like to coach teams that are ready,” Spoelstra said. “And to take that real step. That was probably a decent amount of the conversation. He was probably getting frustrated with us, because every time he turned it to us, we flipped it and we were asking more questions about what they do and how they got to that point. I might not understand all the schematics of how they do it, but I loved seeing the process of ‘OK, how did you start with this, and why did you think of it differently to get it to that?’ And if the whole league is zigging and you may be zagging in different pockets, how can that create a competitive advantage.”

Sp9elstra found ways to create plenty of competitive advantages with an undermanned Heat roster this past season, particularly in the postseason, and McDaniel was there to see it, sometimes with Dolphins GM Chris Grier, sometimes with others, watching warmups, sitting in a courtside seat — with Spoelstra strolling and stomping right in front of him — and then spending time in the back tunnels, politely and earnestly chatting up Spoelstra, players and the staff.

Friday, I mentioned that Spoelstra not only was in attendance for the Dolphins’ scoring deluge against Denver, but praised McDaniel on his plan.

Why does McDaniel believe the men — leading two organizations that haven’t always felt aligned — have bonded so much?

Have they spoken about strategy?

“No, I think we’ve talked about the commonalities which we share, and different ways to look at the game,” McDaniel said. “And really the biggest commonality that we’ve shared is we’re in a business where our job is to motivate and curate and get the best out of the players that we have. And you know, it’s a complicated life of the professional athlete, where you have so many people in your ear, there are so many people making money off of you, and to be able to take these highly successful individuals and make them a team, I think there’s a shared experience that we have mostly focused on when we’ve talked. Because it’s some of the biggest problem solving that you really need to undertake.”

No matter the sport.

“I use basketball references all the time, and I think watching the Heat play gave me all sorts of motivation in the offseason, just by team over everything, and what is the saying, ‘The sum is greater than the parts… or whatever,'” McDaniel continued, in his typically folksy style. “That’s what I see from them. And I think that pretty much applies to professional football in general, because you always have talented players across the board, but working together is what generates results. We have a cool relationship. It’s not direct X’s and O’s. Like I can’t help watching basketball and following the ball. And I know that to be wrong from a coach’s perspective, because when I watch football I see all the things moving at once, I’m not just staring at where the ball is going. But I can’t do it in basketball. So I would be very little help. It would be very one-sided. Like, ‘Tell me how you do things again.’ And we have a more equitable friendship, I would say.”

He need not follow the ball in Spoelstra’s sport.

Just the success, and then sustain.

It’s been quite a start.

Ethan Skolnick is the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network.

Lately when the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots get together, the final act tends to be outlandish.

Such as the Miami Miracle when the Dolphins used several laterals for a you-gotta-be-kidding victory on the final play in 2018.

Sunday night the Patriots were trying to pull off an improbable comeback of their own and instead got a ‘Strange Ending’ when former Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki, coming up short on fourth down, pitched the ball back to guard Cole Strange.

It took seemingly everyone at the Dolphins’ disposal, including the driver of the team bus, to bring the bull elephant down an inch or two short of a first down and preserve a 24-17 Miami win and improve to 2-0 (both on the road).

Replay reversal got it right on ‘Strange Ending’

It was even tougher than it sounds, as it took a replay review to reverse the initial call. The reversal was clearly correct, though it left all of New England and NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth in disbelief.

It helped square the ledger on some head-scratching officiating that went against Miami earlier.

It also left Dolfans strung out, thinking, that was a lot tougher than seemed necessary when the Dolphins’ offense was clicking on the way to a 17-3 halftime lead.

The second half was a different story as the Patriots made things uncomfortable for Tua Tagovailoa and his high-flying receivers.

The refs missed not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 ineligible linemen downfield on the MAC Jones TD throw. 2 of which are at the 1st down marker (4 yards down field), or beyond it.

Not even including the offensive pass interference. pic.twitter.com/vOEf2cNTt2

— Ghost of Adam Gase (@GhostOfAdamGase) September 18, 2023

O-line paves way for Mostert

The Patriots brought the Miami offense down to earth, and that’s a good thing in the bigger picture for the Dolphins’ season. It showed they have the resources to win gritty as well as gaudy, which they will need to do more often than once.

Unlike last week when Miami put up fantasy league passing numbers to outscore the Chargers, this time it took running the ball and the defense making some impact plays to fend off the Patriots.

The offensive line, which has done an admirable job of protecting Tagovailoa in the first two games, cleared the path for Raheem Mostert to rush for 121 yards (6.7-yard average) and two touchdowns, including a 43-yard runaway for Miami’s only points in the second half.

Good to see the zone-blocking scheme find traction, springing Mostert to the outside on the first touchdown and inside on the long gallop.

Van Ginkel stands out in stand-in role

The Dolphins’ defense, embarrassed a week ago when shredded by the Chargers for more than 200 yards rushing, held the Patriots to 88 yards on the ground (3.5 yards per carry) and had two takeaways in the passing game.

The national TV audience was introduced to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who filled in for injured edge rusher Jaelan Phillips (back) with a Herculean effort, recording a sack, three quarterback hits and six tackles, including meeting Strange head-on on the final stop.

The key to that game-ending stop, though, was safety Jevon Holland having the good sense to go low and take out the big man’s legs.

But Van Ginkel’s effort was eye-opening. Hopefully, it showed defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who moved Van Ginkel to inside linebacker this season, that he is much more effective working from the outside.

The other defensive standout was Bradley Chubb, who had his best game as a Dolphin. The veteran linebacker, acquired at a steep price at the trade deadline last season, forced a fumble in the first half and had a sack on the final drive. David Long Jr., in his second game for Miami, also had a sack and finished with seven tackles.

X-man still has Parker’s number

Star cornerback Xavier Howard, picked DeVante Parker’s pocket for an interception, as he often did in practice during Parker’s seven seasons in Miami.

On the flip side, Eli Apple continued to be a liability filling in at the opposite corner while Jalen Ramsey rehabs. Can we try another stand-in?

On offense, early in the game the Dolphins gave another indication of how good they can be when operating Mike McDaniel’s system efficiently. With Tyreek Hill starting in motion and Tagovailoa getting passes off in just over 2 seconds, they are formidable.

In two games the Miami offense has put up 60 points and averaged 7.34 yards per play, which would be a record over a full season, as Travis Wingfield noted.

How good has the Dolphins offense been through 2 games?

They average 7.34 yards per play

No offense has ever averaged 7.34 yards per play over a full season. The record is …6.98 by the 2000 Rams.

You can certainly argue Miami has left some points on the board, but 60 points… pic.twitter.com/nGkUv8Krrc

— Travis Wingfield (@WingfieldNFL) September 18, 2023

But Sunday also showed that Tua and Co. aren’t infallible. Patriots coach Bill Belichick employed three deep safeties to blunt the deep threat and rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez demonstrated that Hill can be covered.

Tua 5-0 vs. Belichick

For all the progress Tagovailoa has made, he is still susceptible to getting frustrated and making bad-decision throws, such as the one he underthrew to a well covered Hill and Gonzalez picked off.

In a fair assessment, McDaniel said, “I was happy with a lot of the stuff that Tua did, you know, but I think that forced throw to Tyreek in the second half is something that he was trying to win the game after a couple frustrating drives. And that’s something you have to learn from. You know, you don’t force the hand.

“But overall, I was really happy with how he bounced back from things that, you know, I know frustrate him. Any time he’s off on any sort of throw, you know, in the past, that frustration has really bled into multiple drives.”

So definitely room for growth and improvement. But tough to quibble too much with two quality wins on the road to start the season.

Tua Tagovailoa averaged the 4th-quickest time to throw (2.08 seconds) of any quarterback in a game since 2020.

Tagovailoa is the only QB with a time to throw under 2.20 seconds to average over 8.0 air yards per attempt in a game over that same span.#MIAvsNE | #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/H1p3zXbTYF

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 18, 2023

As Tagovailoa pointed out, “I think our team is 5 and 0 against Bill Belichick. It’s never a me thing. It’s never a me thing. And I don’t think we ever look at it as, ‘oh, we beat them once, we beat them twice, we beat them five times in a row.’ Every time we face Coach Belichick’s team, it’s always a challenge.”

There will be another challenge next Sunday when the Dolphins open at home against the Broncos and the following week when they face a bigger road obstacle at Buffalo.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on former Twitter @CraigDavisRuns