Calais CampbellKevin Sabitus/Getty Images
Week 16 Result: Won vs. San Francisco 29-17
After losing to the Buffalo Bills in Week 9, the Miami Dolphins were a 2-6 mess of a football team headed nowhere fast. Now, after winning five of seven, Miami is within a game of .500 for the first time since Week 3 and are still alive in the AFC playoff hunt.
After downing an injury-ravaged 49ers team Sunday, cornerback Kader Kohou told reporters that even when the team was struggling the players never lost faith that they could turn things around.
“The whole year, even when things weren’t going our way, I always knew we had a playoff team,” said Kohou. “So, there’s not any thoughts in our mind about going to Cancun or anything like that. We’re still thinking playoffs, and we’re just trying to win every game.”
Defensive lineman Calais Campbell also stated that Miami isn’t about to give up on moving on to the postseason.
“There’s a lot of fight left in us,” Campbell said. “If we have a chance, we’re going to fight for it. I was proud of my guys. We kept believing and kept fighting. As long as we’re alive, we’re going to act like we’re alive.”
With games left against the lowly Jets and Browns, there’s a real chance the Dolphins will finish the season 9-8.
The question is whether that will good enough to get the team into the postseason tournament.
The Dolphins have been significantly more competitive since Tua Tagovailoa returned to the lineup in Week 8. Their offense still hasn’t been as explosive as it was a year ago, but it’s been good enough to complement a sneaky good defense that came into Week 16 ranked sixth in yards allowed.
That combination hasn’t been enough to beat playoff-caliber teams like Buffalo, Houston and Green Bay, but the Dolphins have proven that they’re not in the same tier as “bad” teams like next week’s opponent, the Browns. — Knox
This content was brought to you by: Bleacher Report – Front Page
