The Miami Dolphins’ 2023 season sputtered at the finish line with a 26-7 demoralizing defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs on the road during the Super Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs — an outcome made even harder to swallow after such a promising, hope-inducing beginning to the year.
Where did things go wrong for the Miami Dolphins this season?
Pick your poison.
You can look at the magnitude of the injuries suffered on both sides of the ball for Miami this year. I could sit here and name the Pro-Bowl caliber players the Dolphins lost to various ailments this season, but I’ll spare you the read which would likely rival the length of Miguel de Cervantes’ humorous tale, Don Quixote — except the only laughs that would escape your lips would be the ones you forced out in an attempt not to cry.
Oh, you don’t want to blame the late season collapse on injuries? Okay, then.
Maybe you’d like to point the finger at the playcalling on both sides of the ball. Miami’s boy-genius head coach Mike McDaniel couldn’t seem to find the answers for how to counter the wrenches opposing defensive coordinators threw Miami’s way once enough tape on their new offensive wrinkles was available.
McDaniel refused to stick with the run in games where Miami was making hay on the ground. The Dolphins’ head coach also continued to force-feed wide receiver Tyreek Hill even when defenses knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Dolphins were hyper-focused on getting the ball into the hands of the man whose loudly stated goal was to surpass 2,000 yards receiving on the year.
On defense, grizzled veteran coordinator Vic Fangio seemed to make necessary adjustments a game — or even some times just a drive — too late. Fans were calling for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey to shadow opposing star pass-catchers once Miami’s other All-Pro cornerback Xavien Howard was lost to a foot injury.
Outside of one game against the New York Jets’ bright, young receiver Garrett Wilson (a game in which Ramsey nearly erased his opponent) and a wishy-washy, half-commitment to have Ramsey travel with Buffalo Bills’ standout Stefon Diggs in Week 18, it was a proposition that Fangio didn’t seem all too keen on.
Despite that, Miami’s injury ravaged defense performed well enough most weeks to keep the Dolphins in a position to win games… if only the offense could have matched their effort
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