Playoffs are out of reach, but here’s what is on the line for Dolphins in finale vs. Patriots

When the Miami Dolphins mislaid their penultimate crippled of the 2021 season, a demoralizing decision astatine the Tennessee Titans, 34-3, it rendered their location finale against the New England Patriots meaningless.

The Dolphins (8-8) were eliminated from playoff contention, and the anticipation of a win-and-in script successful the AFC East rivalry matchup and 4:25 p.m. kickoff astatine Hard Rock Stadium connected Sunday was squashed.

But don’t accidental it’s meaningless to Dolphins manager Brian Flores, who, successful summation to ever coaching to win, would emotion thing much than to instrumentality it to his erstwhile enactment that helium spent a decennary and a fractional with arsenic an adjunct manager and scout nether Patriots manager Bill Belichick.

Does Flores judge successful the conception of finishing a play connected a precocious note? When his five-win 2019 squad finished with a triumph astatine New England, it sprung the Dolphins to a astonishing 10-6 run successful 2020. After that play concluded with a crushing nonaccomplishment astatine the Buffalo Bills that kept Miami retired of the postseason, the Dolphins past started 2021 with a 1-7 grounds earlier a seven-game winning streak brought them backmost into contention.

“I deliberation it’s ever important to enactment your champion ft guardant and compete,” Flores said. “That’s what this crippled is each about. So yes, I deliberation that’s precise important.”

There is simply a brace of two-decade firsts the Dolphins tin execute with a triumph implicit the Patriots (10-6). After Miami topped New England, 17-16, successful the play opener successful Foxborough, a triumph would signify the franchise’s first play expanse of the Patriots since 2000, Belichick’s archetypal play astatine the helm there. The Dolphins could besides decorativeness with back-to-back winning seasons for the archetypal clip since 2003.

“The extremity is to triumph the game,” said Flores, who besides has the enactment of getting an in-game look astatine immoderate younger signifier squad players. “We are going to play guys who springiness america the champion accidental to bash that.”

For the Patriots, they person already clinched a postseason berth, but Sunday’s crippled has important seeding implications. The Patriots could decorativeness arsenic precocious arsenic No. 1 successful the AFC with a triumph and arsenic debased arsenic No. 7 with a loss. The top-seed script is highly improbable arsenic it requires 4 different large upsets and could beryllium ruled retired by Saturday nighttime with a Kansas City Chiefs triumph implicit the Denver Broncos. A Buffalo Bills triumph Sunday evening against the New York Jets springiness Buffalo the part rubric and restricts the Patriots to a wild-card effect of 5 done 7.

There’s a possibility it’s backmost Tua Tagovailoa’s past commencement with the Dolphins arsenic helium concludes his 2nd season. Miami could look into the acquisition of a proven top-tier backmost similar Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers oregon Russell Wilson upon season’s extremity aft being heavy linked to Watson commercialized talks with the Houston Texans astir the commercialized deadline and past offseason.

The aforesaid could beryllium said with a fig of different Dolphins who are impending escaped agents — antiaircraft extremity Emmanuel Ogbah, choky extremity Mike Gesicki and others. Miami is projected to person an NFL-leading $74 cardinal successful headdress abstraction going into the 2022 offseason.

Dolphins rookie wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who was named the squad MVP for the season this past week, is 3 catches distant from breaking Anquan Boldin’s NFL rookie receptions grounds (101).

Waddle has said helium wants to assistance the squad triumph games implicit earning a record, and Flores indicated the play calling volition not needfully cater to Waddle aboriginal to get the grounds retired of the way. Miami plans to stay successful its earthy travel offensively.

The Dolphins volition get their 2nd of what could beryllium galore looks astatine rookie Patriots backmost Mac Jones connected Sunday. They faced him successful his NFL debut successful Week 1, and though Miami pulled retired the triumph late, Jones impressed, completing 29-of-39 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown.

Dolphins antiaircraft extremity Emmanuel Ogbah said this past week that Belichick “found a gem” successful Jones.

Said cornerback Xavien Howard: “When I saw him play and the worldly helium was doing, I’m like, ‘He’s not a rookie.’ He was doing immoderate worldly similar he’s been successful the league a small minute.”

Jones, who has completed 67.6 percent of passes for 3,540 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, handled astir of the blitzes the Dolphins threw astatine him Sept. 12 successful Foxborough. It near Flores impressed.

“Good bid of the offense, poised, bully decision-making,” Flores said of Jones. “As an full offense, it’s complementary to the accomplishment acceptable of each idiosyncratic player. The tally game, the walk crippled — I deliberation [Patriots violative coordinator Josh McDaniels] has done a large occupation of putting those guys successful bully positions to person success. They’ve obviously, with Mac astatine the helm, done a bully job.”

As opposed to the accustomed scenarios of an eliminated squad negatively impacting its draught presumption with late-season win, that’s not the lawsuit for the Dolphins this twelvemonth — astatine slightest not successful the archetypal round.

With Miami’s first-round prime going to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dolphins’ spot successful the archetypal is tied to wherever the San Francisco 49ers extremity up. Dolphins fans tin basal for San Francisco to get booted from the playoffs successful Week 18, clinching a top-18 selection. If the 49ers (9-7), with either a triumph against the Rams oregon a Saints nonaccomplishment to the Falcons, scope the postseason, the prime volition beryllium upward of that fig and tin autumn backmost deeper into the circular if San Francisco past pulls disconnected an upset successful the wild-card round.

The Dolphins spell into Sunday steadfast portion the Patriots person antiaircraft backmost Kyle Dugger and linebacker Dont’a Hightower retired with 8 others questionable entering crippled day.