FanPost

Then & Now: Flores v Gase v Philbin, Game 31

This is part of my ongoing series in which I recall my thoughts and feelings at the same point in the careers of each of the Miami Dolphins' three most recent permanent head coaches.

My previous post on Game 30 is here.

Recap of Game 30

Joe Philbin: Back in 2013, Joe Philbin's Dolphins looked to have turned their season around. After floundering and taking some uninspired losses, they had won a nailbiter in the driving snow in Pittsburgh, and followed that with a nice, strong win in Miami over the previously 10-3 Patriots. They were now 8-6, looking like they only had to win one of their remaining two games to punch their ticket as a Wildcard team. This week: up to Buffalo for a matchup against the division rival Bills.

Adam Gase: Four years later, Adam Gase's injury-riddled, schizophrenic Dolphins team seemed to have had their last little bit of luck run out. They had pulled off their own fun upset of the Patriots two weeks prior, leaving a little spark of hope alive. Alas, they followed that up with a sad-looking loss to a below-average Buffalo Bills team, dropping themselves to 5-9 and having little to look forward to except the draft. Before all that could happen, though, they had to play out the string. That meant heading into Kansas City to face the 8-6 Chiefs.

Brian Flores: It was dicey and nerve-wracking through the entire first half, but B-Flo's team once again showed the ability to adapt and overcome against an inferior Patriots team that looked very little like the juggernaut that had ruled the AFC East for the previous two decades. By beating New England 22-12, our guys officially eliminated the Pats from any playoff chances, while keeping pace in a super tight Wildcard race between five good teams all playing really well. Next hurdle to clear: facing the 7-7 Raiders at "The Death Star" in Las Vegas.

Game 31 (a.k.a. season 2, game 15)

Philbin's 31st: On a fairly chilly Buffalo afternoon, the game got boring quick and stayed that way. The 5-9 Bills were playing for little more than pride, but they decided to get really old school with it. With Thaddeus Lewis once again under center (he had beaten us earlier that year), the Bills dinked and dunked along, with Lewis keeping things simple. He was a less-than-stellar 15-25, for no TDs and one interception on the day. But the Bills ran it. Then ran it more. And ran and ran and ran again. on fifty-one carries, the Bills racked up 203 yards on the ground, thanks mostly to Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. Meanwhile, our offense never even came close to getting off the ground. Tannehill was 10-27 for a measly 82 yards, while getting sacked seven times, before getting pulled out of the game. Matt Moore came in, toggled his switch from "Energizing Sparkplug QB" to "Clear Backup QB," and proceeded to quickly chuck two interceptions. On the ground, the Dolphins were somehow worse, mustering up a laughable 14 yards on 12 carries. As pedestrian as the Bills offense was, the 19 points they scored was far, far more than they needed, as their defense completely blanked our offense. We lose, 19-0, and drop to 8-7 with only one game remaining.

Gase's 31st: Give this team a bit of credit - they kept it semi-close well into the second half. In one of the final pre-Mahomes Era games, Alex Smith had the Chiefs offense moving along just fine. After a slow first quarter, when the score was 3-3, the Chiefs tacked on a touchdown in the second on a 9-yard pass to Travis Kelce. After another Dolphins field goal, the Chiefs put together another sustained drive, ending in a TD to put them up 17-6. Just as it looked like a blowout was imminent, Jay Cutler connects with a streaking Jakeem Grant on a 65-yard TD strike. The Chiefs would get a field goal before the half, but the score was still a very respectable 20-13 at that point. Then, of course, the offensive lights went out. Our guys didn't score a single point in the entire second half, while the Chiefs went total "Field Goal Fiesta," tacking on 9 more points via Harrison Butker's right leg. Final score: Chiefs 29, Dolphins 13. We drop to 6-9 and slouch back to Miami.

Flores's 31st: I probably don't need to recap much here, since much of this game is still replaying in our brains, complete with accompanying fireworks show. A sluggish offense was woken up early in the 4th quarter when, down 16-13, Tua was pulled and Fitz entered the game. And as we've seen more than once this season, the offense was jump-started with Fitz and his YOLO approach to the game. Slinging the ball with no fear, the Magic Man led scoring drive after scoring drive, with more than a little help from big plays by Mike Gesicki and Myles "Gallopin" Gaskin. But no play was bigger than the first play of the series that began with a mere 19 seconds left in the game, with the Fins down 25-23. With a defender's massive hand pulling Fitz's facemask and entire head into a gut-wrenching 90-angle, the 37-year old journeyman uncorked 34-yard bomb towards the sideline, where a wide-open Mack Hollins hauled it in. Once the 15-yard facemask penalty was tacked on, our Dolphins were already in field goal range. There, Jason $anders kicked the game-winner, sealing a pulse-pounding win and upping the Dolphins' record to 10-5.

Comparative Emotions

That loss to the Bills in 2013 was about as bad a gut punch as I recall getting in the Philbin era. Yes, there would be disappointing losses later, but this was still just early enough in Philbin's tenure that I was able to delude myself into ignoring his shortcomings as a head coach. Pair that ignorance with the momentous high that I was feeling from the previous week's great win over the Pats, and this horrible showing just felt like such a blindside. It took several days for me to rekindle any kind of hope in that team.

The Gase loss in 2017? Meh. I really didn't care much about that team anymore, so I don't even recall watching the game. I probably kept tabs on my phone, out of morbid curiosity, but no more. At that point, it was just about keeping as many guys healthy who might still be on the team in 2018.

This most recent Saturday night win over Jon Gruden's Raiders? What a wild, chaotic bag of emotions. I'm still feeling them now, a few days later, and expect to keep feeling them until our next game on Sunday. So great to get a win and keep ourselves right in the thick of the Wildcard race, but I'm currently not at all sure that we can truly compete with the other playoff teams. Awesome to see the grit of our guys to hang tough against a talented Raiders team that was playing pretty well, but that kind of late-game miracle is not a sustainable method of success. Fitz's game-saving bomb while getting decapitated is already a legendary, iconic play in Dolphins lore, but it's concerning to see Tua Tagovailoa struggle against certain defensive schemes like he did. Ultimately, I'm happy with where we are (only a real curmudgeon wouldn't be), but this team has several very obvious gaps in its game, along with a few pretty big question marks. Some of them are due to injury, but others are just position units that are low on real talent, something that can't be addressed until the off-season. One thing is for sure - I love Brian Flores, who's clearly going to do things his way, screw convention and your feelings. And it's working.

Next Up: The Season 2 Finale, Game 32

Seven years ago, with the team and all its fans reeling from a brutally ugly loss, Joe Philbin's Dolphins would have to buck up. They did, after all, still have a solid chance at grabbing a still-up-for-grabs Wildcard spot, if they could beat a 7-8 Jets team that seemed to be headed on a downward trajectory.

Four years later, the season had devolved to that same point it always is for teams that are mathematically out of the playoffs: playing for pride in what is essentially an early try-out for the next season by guys who aren't locked into contracts yet. This one would come against the Bills in Buffalo.

Currently, as we (blessedly) approach the end of 2020, the Dolphins are in pretty nice position to swim into the playoffs. They could back in if one of a few teams lose next week, or they could take matters into their own hands and fully earn it with a win over their final regular season opponent: the division rival, 2020 AFC East champs, the 12-3 Bills of Buffalo. Not an easy feat, by any means.

As always, share any thoughts or memories you have on any of the three games described here.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.