It's Christmas week, and sadly, thanks to a dreadful season, Dolphins fans aren't sure what to ask Santa to fling down the chimney. It feels like other teams are asking for fun things like clinching postseason home-field advantage or a Super Bowl title, Dolphins fans are left hoping to unwrap new school clothes under the tree.
'Tis the season for giving, but in all honesty, all this season has given us is a headache, and we won't be all that upset to wake up a couple of weeks from now and realize it went away.
Nonetheless, we're not about to Grinch up the place. We're not just playing out the string. No sirree. We're determined to finish out the final two weeks with a smile!
Here are some realistic last-minute gift ideas the discriminating Miami Dolphins fan would be ecstatic to find under the tree this Christmas.
Dolphins’ standout OLB Bradley Chubb did in fact tear his ACL, per source. Chubb was hurt with three minutes left in Sunday’s game, when Miami trailed by 30.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2024
Miami now will be without Chubb and Jaelen Phillips, who tore his Achilles vs the Jets the day after Thanksgiving. pic.twitter.com/IEBkPx8bAE
Stay Healthy
Above all else, what matters most in the final two games of the 2024 season is that it does no harm to the 2025 season. As much as we all love seeing De'Von Achane touching the ball 50 times a game and Tua Tagovailoa tossing touchdowns to Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill, the moment all hope to make the postseason is extinguished, those players should be garaged till next year.For an example of how the tail end of one lost season can bleed into the next, look no further than Dolphins defensive end Bradley Chubb, who sustained a torn right ACL in Week 17 against the Ravens last New Year's Eve. Chubb has missed the entire 2024 campaign to date and may not see the field in the final two games. The last thing anyone wants is an offseason spent stewing about whether Tua should retire owing to another concussion.
Win, lose, or draw, Dolphins players entering the offseason putting their feet up at home, not on the operating table, is of the utmost importance when it comes to going from meh to marvelous in 2025.
Tyreek Hill explains his viral tweet “it’s time for me to go coach” pic.twitter.com/YMCb3OXItc
— c. isaiah smalls ii (@stclaudeii) December 19, 2024
Stop Tweeting, Tyreek
When a player plays great, his social media shenanigans can be stomached. But when a high-priced player has one of the worst seasons of his career, it would be nice if we didn't have to deal with his cryptic and unhelpful tweets alongside his uneven performance on the gridiron.Just last week, Hill spent a good portion of his media availability explaining a tweet that read, "It's time to go coach." The one-liner was missing a comma, which saved it from seeming to call for the metaphorical head of Hill's head coach, Mike McDaniel. When asked about the statement, Hill said, "I just be lookin' at stuff, and then I just tweet, you know what I'm sayin'?"
Yes, we know what you're saying. We all do it. We want you to cut it out, OK? Thanks.
Calais Campbell might be the best signing of Miami’s offseason.
— The Kevin Harlan Effect (@KevHarlanEffect) November 18, 2024
Pure leader, on and off the field‼️😤🔥 pic.twitter.com/757ENugQS3
Calais Campbell, Super Bowl Winner
If you love something, let it go... to another team that can still compete for a Super Bowl this season.It's been a forgettable season for Dolphins fans, but one positive we can take from having endured the past few months has been seeing Calais Campbell shine in his 17th season, his first in Miami. Non-Hall of Fame quarterbacks or kickers having a 17-year career is unheard of in the NFL, but it also means next year isn't promised. That's why it's the worst-kept secret in Miami sports that once Miami is eliminated from postseason contention, they'll likely release Campbell, allowing him to catch on with another team for a Super Bowl run.
Campbell is still playing at a high enough level that just about every NFL team that makes this year's postseason would love to have him. It's too bad that the team can't be Miami, where he played college ball and would have loved nothing more than to finish his pro career.
Aaron Rodgers went into more depth about the possibility of taking a pay cut & potentially mentoring a young QB that the #Jets bring in:
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) December 23, 2024
‘If there was a situation where the new staff came in & wanted me to be there & also wanted to make a pick for the future & pick a… pic.twitter.com/vV8zNMa5fB
Beat the New York Jets, Bad
Misery loves company. It has been more than half a century since the Miami Dolphins won a Super Bowl and more than 20 years since they won a single playoff game. It's tough to say just how long and painful those years have been for Phins fans, but the one guiding light through it all has always been the pleasure of being able to look down in the AFC East standings to find the New York Jets somehow, someway, still shittier than the Dolphins.
The current Aaron Rodgers era has been a specific Chicken Soup for the Miami Dolphins Fan's Soul, with special, limited-edition laughs and unimaginable self-owns along the way. A pleasurable end to a long and frustrating 2025 season would be to end Rodgers's tenure in New York with one last J-E-T-S L-O-S-S in the season's final week.
Stephen Ross giving Mike McDaniel a game ball should tell you everything you need to know about his job security
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) December 23, 2024
pic.twitter.com/nKTT9Vnkzb
Run It Back
It's still up in the air as to how many, if any, significant changes Dolphins owner Stephen Ross plans to make this offseason. While some speculated head coach Mike McDaniel could be on the hot seat, Ross giving him the game ball this past weekend seemed to toss cold water on what many assumed was a hot seat. If McDaniel returns, the assumption is that general manager Chris Grier will, too. That would give the two who have worked closely together one last run at it before the slate is wiped clean next offseason. With one of the oldest, most expensive, and oft-injured rosters in football, it stands to reason that the Dolphins would be best suited to give the current roster one last run at things — with some reinforcements through the draft and free agency this offseason — rather than firing everyone and starting over.
As much as it feels good to speculate who should pay the price for the Phins' down season, closing it out strong and plugging the holes it exposed in the roster is the best route forward in 2025.
