The Miami Dolphins entered Sunday with a chance to win their fifth game in a row, and they accomplished that task after defeating the Houston Texans, 30-15, at Hard Rock Stadium.
While a win will always feel better than a loss, the fact that Miami had some injuries to impact players like Terron Armstead and Austin Jackson which kept them from scoring in the second half really left a sour taste in the mouths of players and fans.
After the game, linebacker Jerome Baker mentioned the standard set by Mike McDaniel this season to not overlook opponents despite their record.
“He just sets the standard of no matter what we do, we go out there and play the Dolphins brand of football,” Baker said. “We’re definitely doing a good job of that. We just got to keep stacking and keep doing better and we’ll be alright.”
He mentioned that same standard when he was asked about players feeling like they didn’t play their best game even though the result was a win.
“Yeah, I mean that’s credit to McDaniel,” Baker said. “We have a standard and he always holds us to that standard. No matter if we win or lose, we have a standard and he sticks to it no matter what it is. Even in practice, we might have a good practice to us, but he comes in and watch film and if it wasn’t to our standard, he’ll get on us. So it’s just a credit to our coaching staff and the leaders we have on this team and we just have to keep it going.”
At the end of the day, a win means the most. Miami was able to remain atop the AFC East, as they hold the tiebreaker over the Buffalo Bills, and they’re in sole possession of second place in the conference.
“I mean a win in this league, it means everything,” Baker said. “You know we have a few away games. This just gives the confidence and the momentum and we just have to keep it going.”
Going into a tough stretch of games against the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots, Miami will have to play much better than they did in the second half to keep building up that win column.
