These are fun times for Miami Dolphins fans, who are watching their team somehow put together a playoff run just one year removed from people thinking they actually were trying to lose on purpose.
The Dolphins are in the midst of a five-game winning streak that has moved their record to 6-3 on the season and has them currently holding sixth place in the AFC standings — pitting them on course for a first-round matchup with the division rival Buffalo Bills (playing the old "if the season ended today" game).
The Dolphins are shooting to make the playoffs for only the third time since 2001, and already there are striking similarities between this season and what the Dolphins did in their previous two playoff seasons in 2008 and 2016.
The first similarity that comes to mind is the long winning streak.
The Dolphins have had three winning streaks of five games or longer since the start of the 2007 season: in 2008, 2016 and 2020.
In 2008, the Dolphins won their final five games to finish with an 11-5 record and win the AFC East title.
In 2016, the Dolphins put together a six-game run in the middle of the season on their way to a 10-6 finish and a wild-card berth.
Then there's the team overcoming a slow start to this season.
Let's remember that the Dolphins started the 2020 season with losses at New England and against Buffalo and were 1-3 following a 31-23 loss against Seattle in Week 4.
In 2008, the Dolphins started 0-2 and then were 2-4 before making their run.
And in 2016, it was two losses to start the season and a 1-4 record before things turned around.
Here's a more peculiar similarity: In all three instances, the Dolphins' NFC opponents were the teams from the NFC West. Oh, and on all three occasions the Dolphins went 3-1 in their interconference games.
The other important comparison is that the playoff push this season is coming after a poor season, as was the case in 2008 and 2016.
The 2008 Dolphins, in fact, made history with their 10-game improvement by going 11-5 one year after finishing 1-15.
The 2016 Dolphins, meanwhile, emerged after a 5-11 finish in 2015 when head coach Joe Philbin was fired four games into the season.
But there also are clear differences between the three seasons, and it's those differences that should make Dolphins fans happiest of all.
For starters, the Dolphins' five-game winning streak has been way more convincing that the previous two, with an average winning margin of 14.4 points compared to 7.2 in 2008 and 6.6 in 2016.
Secondly, the 2020 Dolphins are young. There's only one player on the active roster older than 30, and that's backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The 2008 team was filled with veterans who had been brought in by Bill Parcells and the late Tony Sparano, including starting quarterback Chad Pennington. The 2016 team also had several key players who were in the latter stages of their career, namely offensive linemen Branden Albert and Jermon Bushrod and defensive end Cameron Wake.
The biggest difference of all, though, is that the 2020 Dolphins have a rookie quarterback — his name is Tua Tagovailoa, in case you weren't aware — leading the offense as they're continuing their streak and there's every reason to believe he'll do nothing but get better in the coming years.
That's a far cry from 2008 when Pennington arrived as a veteran who had battled injuries and whose stint with the Dolphins began going downhill when he sustained a season-ending injury early in 2009.
And though Ryan Tannehill had a good season for the Dolphins in 2016, there was this inevitable feeling that it was going to be as good as it got for him in Miami, which certainly proved to be true.
Oh, and if that weren't enough, the 2020 Dolphins also will get to build on whatever they end up accomplishing this season with the extra first- and second-round picks they'll be getting from the Houston Texans in the next NFL draft.
So, yes, it's like deja vu all over again for the Dolphins. Only better.
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November 17, 2020 at 02:08AM
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Why 2020 is Looking Like 2008 and 2016 for Dolphins, and Why It's Different - DolphinMaven
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