Everyone, it seems, is mad about the Dolphins' sucking at football except for the people tasked with putting together the Dolphins. They're not exactly happy the Dolphins are an amazing form of 0-3, but they aren't fuming online about it like some others either. There is a bigger plan, you see. Trust the process and all.
Many think it's an outrage that the Dolphins might try to lose on purpose in hopes of scoring the first overall draft pick, likely Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Those people need to take a walk and get some fresh air, then maybe drink some chamomile tea and screw off about it. The Dolphins aren't the first to tank a season in the name of getting better, and they certainly will not be the last, unless all of this crying about it leads to rule changes.
Everyone needs to mind their own business and let the Dolphins take their ass-kickings all the way through Christmas in peace. Deal with it.
5. Miami has spent the past two decades trying everything else to no avail. The Miami Dolphins haven't been to a Super Bowl since 1984 or an AFC Championship game since 1992. They haven't won a playoff game since 2000, but it's not due to lack of effort. The Dolphins have tried everything. You name it, they've given it a whirl.
Hiring established Super Bowl coaches and letting them run the show? See: Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells. Signing big-money free agents? From a star quarterback in Daunte Culpepper to the best defensive player available in free agency in years, Ndamukong Suh, none of it mattered. The Dolphins still stank.
The Dolphins are owed one solid rebuild from the foundation up. If cleaning house and sacrificing a season is what it takes to make the franchise healthier moving forward, everyone is gonna have to live with it. The Dolphins earned the right to try it a new way.
4. The Dolphins aren't the first team in the NFL to ever get their asses kicked. For whatever reason, the narrative going around seems to be that the Dolphins are the first team in NFL history to ever get their asses handed to them. That's just not true. In fact, as you can see from the graphic above, other teams that eventually finished 0-16 were as bad or worse this far into the season.I keep hearing how other teams that were 0-16 or close to it didnt get their asses kicked like the Dolphins are now...then came across this.
— Ryan Yousefi (@Rizzmiggiz) September 21, 2019
Stop acting like the Dolphins are the first team to do this. It's been 8 quarters. pic.twitter.com/igrlw4Zahc
Do the Dolphins suck? Yes. Real bad. Are they changing the NFL with their degree of terribleness? Not even close — it's happened many times before.
3. Contrary to popular belief, this is actually the Dolphins trying hard. The Miami Dolphins are a terrible football team by design, not functionality. Yelling at the clouds about the Dolphins sucking every week shouldn't involve the players or coaches — because they're actually trying to win.
Anyone who watched Sunday's 31-6 loss to the Cowboys will tell you the game was much closer than the final score, and the Dolphins did their best at all times. There were no "tank plays" or players fumbling on purpose. Everyone involved is just that bad right now. This isn't the first time a front office has put together a team they knew would be bad. This might be the best a front office has ever been at accomplishing that feat, though.
2. Miami has traded away good players, but the team has also continued trying to find new ones. The Dolphins traded away former first-round picks Laremy Tunsil and Minkah Fitzpatrick. That's confusing to some and infuriating to others. But in those deals, the team received three first-round picks and a second-round pick. They weren't given away for free. It's part of a bigger plan.
What's also part of a bigger plan is the constant churning of the bottom of the roster, especially when it comes to claiming players such as the Cowboys' 2017 first-round pick, Taco Charlton, a guy who had a sack against his old team this past Sunday. Starting Josh Rosen in place of the struggling Ryan Fitzpatrick is also a sign the Dolphins aren't in the business of being bad just to be bad. Giving Kenyan Drake more playing time last week because Kalen Ballage is terrible is yet another example of this.
The Dolphins have received expected criticism for making their roster worse, but they've done the most with what is left while continuing to try to add the talent other teams dump. Not doing so would be much easier and a bigger reason to take them to task for being bad on purpose.
1. At least the Dolphins are being bad on purpose, like, as part of a plan. The Dolphins are the poster child for terribleness this season in the NFL, but they have company when it comes to the category of stinking. According to the website Tankathon, the Dolphins wouldn't even have the first overall pick if the draft were held today — that honor would go to the New York Jets, led by the former Dolphins coach Adam Gase. The Jets were trying superhard to be good, and they suck worse than the Dolphins! New York paid guys like running back Le'Veon Bell a bunch of money only to get the same result as Miami.The Dolphins have some serious competition for the top pick. Where is all the outrage for some of the trash these teams are trotting out?
— Rob Slater (@RobSlater10) September 22, 2019
At least the Dolphins are tanking on purpose, with a solid plan to get better as soon as next season. They'll be fueled with a massive amount of high draft picks and a boatload of salary-cap money to spend. What are the Jets or Bengals gonna do to un-suck themselves? What's worse for the NFL — the Dolphins being bad one season with a clear plan, or the Jets, Broncos, and Redskins being just as bad with no end in sight?
Leave the Dolphins alone and let them stink in peace. Nobody wants to win more than the Dolphins want to win — that's why they're doing this whole tanking thing in the first place. It's not that crazy of an idea, and they've earned the right to try it.