Last night I discussed the Super Bowl and our Miami Dolphins’ trouble making it out of the first round of the playoffs, let alone making it to the big game. I then asked the following question

So beyond getting through the first round of the playoffs how far away do you think this team is from making it back to the Super Bowl or winning the Super Bowl? Please tell us how far away the team is from making it to the big game in your opinion and why.

Below are some of your answers and thoughts on the subject-

Bill Moody sees some positives and the obvious negatives.

This was year 5 of the rebuild, starting with the tear-down in 2019. My expectation was that in year 5 we would win a play-off game. I didn’t set the bar at the Super Bowl or even Conference Championship, just simply, win a play-off game. The team failed in this regard. I’m not quite at the point of saying the rebuild has failed since the team has been decimated with injuries over the past two years. However, the team now has cap issues and missing draft picks, and it’s getting hard to envision what’s next. Hopefully, they can carry something forward, and I do think that they can be competitive next season, but the team could also just as likely be headed for another teardown.

On a positive side, the team has had 4 winning seasons in a row, a feat not accomplished in over 2 decades. The team also made the playoffs two years in a row, again, something not done in over two decades. The next step is to be competitive against the top-tier teams and in the post-season. If we can’t jump that hurdle, then may as well dissolve the team. Nobody wants to be an eternal cheerleader for the fodder teams.

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daytonadolfan thinks the team gets there in the next two seasons, but he was once wrong…or maybe it was more than once.

We’ll see after this year’s offseason coaching changes but I’d say we are within 2 years of going all the way. Of course, I have been wrong before!

wolfpack1 has no faith that it will happen anytime in the near future.

Probably not for a very long time and I have been a dolphin’s fan since 1972. So, as a kid I became a fan during ‘that’ season and watched all the games that I could including the SB. The current formula of Tua+Grier+McDaniels = 1st round playoff loss. There are just too many good teams in the AFC to have inconsistent QB play and that will end your playoff run quickly, no matter how many Tyreek Hills you have on the team. McDaniels isn’t adaptable and was often outcoached as many on this forum have pointed out. Grier is who he is and no sense wasting words on what needs to be done with him. So, I don’t know when the Dolphins will win another championship. That is why you suit up and play the games, other than the paycheck, but for the fans it’s disappointing to watch other teams celebrate as they move on in the playoffs and your team is cleaning out their lockers. Just another year as a dolphins fan.

coach k 13 is always an optimist!

I always go with next year!!!!!

Call_for_the_Priest’77 has rolled out a two-point plan!

In order for our team to become relevant we need two things. The first actually helps achieve the second.

1: STAY HEALTHY!!

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2: Plan B offense

#1 is obvious. How we achieve it is not so obvious. But what we can do (and I will be thoroughly disappointed if we don’t) is turn this team upside down and inside out with help from outside the organization to find out why our guys are dropping like ducks at a shooting gallery. Everything and everybody, coaches, players and other staffers need their roles examined to figure out why this decimation has occurred for the past two years running and how we stop it next season.

#2 refers to McD and Tua running plays that are NOT designed to throw the football like it were some live grenade to be tossed back to the enemy! We need plays where Tua can take his time and pick his options when Tyreek isn’t open off the snap. Certainly a healthy bunch of OL regulars will be a tremendous help in facilitating this. Working in some smart QB runs would also work in this Plan B format.

I trust Grier to do a good job at getting our most important FAs signed up for next year and beyond. I also think there will be some opportunities in the draft to get some help in key areas (transitional OLB to ILB stud, DE, CB, OL). We won’t fill everything from the draft but current and new FA signings should fill all the remaining gaps. I also think there are opportunities for Grier to manage the cap effectively with workable player cuts / trades and restructuring to keep the team competitive into future years.

We will have the talent to be relevant, provided our guys stay on the field and off of the medical carts!

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heatforlife thinks it’s soon! Just need to wait for all of the good QBs in the AFC to retire.

when pat josh joe lamar retire

sdphinsfan says it’s from two years to who the hell knows!

Talent-wise, we’re a couple of years away. To get to the big game, you have to be good enough to get to December and then you have to be healthy or getting healthy. Who the hell knows when that could ever happen again….

SlayerNation1 wants some realignment.

Easiest path: petition the NFL to swap Carolina to AFC East, Miami to NFC South

The AFC is going to be brutal for the foreseeable future.

Spok507 believes that it all falls to the level of defensive play.

If Weaver can turn this defense into a tougher, meaner, tackling force, we have a chance. But I still can’t see Tua taking the team on his shoulders in December and January and helping make things happen. So it’ll have to be the D peaking at the right time, keeping the game in check while the offense does just enough to win. In other words, I’m not all that hopeful we’ll make it past the Wildcard round for the foreseeable future.

budglo doesn’t believe that it all falls on the QB.

Well Griese had to get through KC, Steelers, Colts, and Jets just to get there. There were several QBs that were better than him. The Dolphins had a better team overall and went to 3 straight Super Bowls, winning 2 including the perfect season. Instead of throwing in the towel, find a path and stick to it

21Dave said some nonsense but I swear that he makes a lot more sense in person!

Nevuary 32!! Save the Date!

DolphinsKings1 is my age and I feel his pain, all of it all of it only I have been a fan since early childhood so yeah, um, yeah…

As long as this team is in the AFC East and AFC period we will not win any time soon that’s the sad reality plus, I don’t think Tua and McDaniel will do it. But if they do, the best chance to win and get to a Super Bowl is having the #1 seed and playing at Hard Rock Stadium. It gives you a stronger chance to win 2 games at home. But, I just don’t see it as long as Mahomes, Burrow, the kid Stroud, Jackson, Trash Allen, and the others are better than Tua. I have been a fan for 42+ years (age 12 1982) and I hope one day to celebrate a Super Bowl Championship in my lifetime now at 53 going on 54.

dedstrk316 says save the date!

2027

DX@TX says it will take a new GM.

Never as long as Grier runs the draft.

Miami7 says that the attempt to “buy” a championship is not working out.

I don’t see our Phins winning a SB anytime soon.

Grier tried to ‘buy’ a Champion. That’s just not a viable plan. Next season the foibles of that direction ‘may’ hinder this team? Extending Tua prematurely is dangerously unnecessary. That could work out OK or it could set this organization back another 4-5 years?

Thusfar Tua has shown a propensity to wilt in the biggest moments. He is now 0-7 in the end of season games he has played in – in Dec./Jan. under McDaniel.

McDaniel (while very likable) is stubborn and hasn’t provided much when 2nd half adjustments are needed. He’s been outcoached numerous times by the heads of the teams he would need to go through, at least in the foreseeable future. He doesn’t appear to have the comradery of defensive minds to bring in (maybe didn’t foster or nurture relationships as he developed in his path)? So Weaver becomes almost a lame duck hire, who ‘may’ work out (for however long – or short) he’s here, or, he may be another in the Dolphins eternal string of poor coaches post Shula.

Tyreek ‘IS’ the Dolphins right now. He alone makes the team, elevates the team to heights it wouldn’t come close to without him. Jitterbug Wrs aren’t necessarily known for longevity so he’s got a couple year window maybe before his toes are off the edge of a cliff.

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This team was [built?] to win NOW. But they’re still a ways away & in a precarious situation both financially and via the draft opportunities. As much as I’d LOVE to see another Championship – I just don’t see it happening anytime in the foreseeable future.

Miami needs better talent. Build thru the draft and with undrafted free agents. Tua will get better this year. He will work on mobility and his reads.

There seems to be a wide range of time for which our fan base believes that this team will once again be a true championship-caliber team. Thank you again to everyone who took the time to stop in and answer the question of the day. Check back with us tomorrow evening for another question of the day post.