Can we trust this year’s version of the Miami Dolphins?

Written by Matthew Cannata at 11:15 AM EST | Twitter: @PhinManiacs

The Miami Dolphins have been successful in the past only to cause heartbreak and collapse towards the end of the season. That’s why a lot of fans are cautiously optimistic in this year’s team. While they have had recent success and while they’ve gotten on the radar of the national media, can we really put our trust in them?

“The one thing about this team that I’m seeing, they know that it’s one week at a time,” Kevin Coyle said. “We had a good win, we were happy about it, we come back in here and Tuesday, Tuesday has become a very important day in our preparation. We come in in the morning, the players lift in the morning, they come back, we meet on the previous game and get that covered and then we start right away on the next opponent.”

Ryan Tannehill said he’s not comparing this season to last year, where the Dolphins collapsed towards the end and missed out on the playoffs after losing two in a row following their victory over the New England Patriots.

“I don’t really compare it to last year. I don’t think back that far really. I just think about this team and the fire that this team has to go out and win, to play well. You see our defense going out, playing really well. They have been for a string of weeks now and the offense finally came around, was clicking all Sunday. We want to go out and play complete games and that’s what we’re here to do. I think I said earlier, not every game is going to be a blowout win and everyone is happy and taking the fourth quarter off. There’s going to be a lot of games that we’re about to play that are going to come down to the fourth quarter. We have to be able to play four full quarters and be able to win it at the end.” 

Brian Hartline said that the team is content and they aren’t too high or too low right now while looking forward to their next challenge against the Detroit Lions. Samson Satele, who was part of the 2008 playoff team, said that everybody’s confidence is building and everyone is loose on offense and just having fun. Tannehill echoed those words and knows they have a lot to work on.

“It’s definitely in a good place I think. I think, when you go out and you win like we did last week, it sets off a good mindset. But we still have a lot of things to work on, especially offensively. So we’re not complacent where we’re at. We know we can get a lot better than what we played and we have to do it week in and week out, and that’s what we’re here to do.”

Mike Pouncey admitted that he’s not definitely sure this team is for real as the season still needs to shake out but said that he hopes this is the real Miami Dolphins.

“I hope so. We are playing well. I really think so. I think our football team has shown these flashes throughout the offseason program and throughout training camp. The NFL season is long. You are going to have splashes where you’re not playing well and splashes where you are playing well. Hopefully we keep our streak going. We just have to go out there and keep preparing the way we’ve been preparing and everything will work out.”

As far as the confidence level of the Dolphins at this current stage, Coyle said it’s high and they have momentum heading into Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

“I think each and every week you set out, you want to play a perfect game every week. That’s the intention. When you hit the field, usually after the first two minutes of the game, one way or the other it’s not perfect. The other team has a plan to try to score on you or stop you. Generally the game takes a life of its own and you kind of get into it. Hopefully, as the game progresses, you kind of figure it all out. I would say right now our team is confident. I think our team knows what they are capable of doing, but we also know that it all comes down to execution. When we execute in all phases, we can be tough.”

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