The Miami Dolphins have recorded four consecutive winning seasons and back-to-back trips to the postseason. But you still have to go all the way back to Dec. 30, 2000 to find the last time the Dolphins won a playoffs game.
After the team’s 2023 season came to an unceremonious end in January with a 26-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — Miami’s fifth straight postseason loss — Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel isn’t going to let the team forget it.
“We need to finish the season better,” McDaniel said Friday. “You get what you emphasize. Well, why not find ways to emphasize finishing in everything you do? Obsess about it. Why not have for half the offseason, you’re trying to have staff meetings at different times during the day. 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.”
Late season collapses have plagued the Dolphins in recent seasons. Last year, the team was 11-4 when it battled the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC on New Year’s Eve. Instead of securing a bye, Miami lost its last two regular season games to slide into a Wild Card berth.
In 2022, the Dolphins were 8-3 before five consecutive losses ended any hope of securing an AFC East title.
“This is a different team, but I want these players on this team to make right of the journey of the last two teams,” McDaniel said. “I know no matter how much I tell people to not listen, it’s impossible not to hear the noise coming. There’s always going to be noise. Whatever, just address it and let’s do our jobs deliberately and with a mindfulness today that can be applied in the future.”
