A curse or ping pong? Fans wonder what’s behind the Dolphins’ downturn

It is trying just like the Dolphins might nosedive their approach by one other disappointing season — a fall from grace for a crew thought of a possible Tremendous Bowl contender simply two months in the past.

• The Fins’ decline has left followers questioning whether or not one thing sinister and otherworldly is at play.

Catch up quick: The Dolphins gave the impression to be hitting their stride after they completed November with an 8-3 file, boasting two of the most effective vast receivers within the NFL this yr and younger quarterback Tua Tagovailoa proving doubters mistaken.

• However Miami has misplaced its final 5 video games, Tagovailoa is injured and the crew may miss out on the playoffs for yet one more season.

What they’re saying: Followers pondering what’s behind the crew’s dramatic downturn this yr is likely to be contemplating dangerous damage luck, poor teaching or maybe … one thing deeper.

• Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote suggests: Possibly the entire crew is cursed. The idea goes that the Fins offered their souls to the satan for his or her back-to-back Tremendous Bowl wins within the ’70s, together with the crew’s undefeated season in 1972.

Flashback: The final time the Dolphins received a playoff recreation was 22 years in the past, when Jay Fiedler was their quarterback.

One other (half-serious) idea: The crew could also be hooked on ping pong.

• After early losses motivated gamers to take away the ping pong desk from their locker room, they received 5 video games in a row, per the Sun Sentinel’s David Furones.
• Since they acquired a brand new one, they’ve misplaced 5 straight.

The newest: This Sunday, Miami is in a tough place. With Tagovailoa in concussion protocol once more and back-up Teddy Bridgewater additionally harm, the Dolphins’ playoffs possibilities might relaxation on the rookie shoulders of Skylar Thompson.

• To clinch the ultimate playoffs spot, Miami must defeat the Jets and the Patriots should lose to the Payments — a crew recovering from the emotional fallout of security Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest on the sector Monday night time.

The underside line: As gamers throughout the league come collectively within the remaining week of the common season, we’re left with another idea:

• Possibly that is only a loyalty check. Our hopeful prediction is: the Payments will finest the Patriots, then the Fins will beat the Jets and storm by the playoffs.