With a critical time of the season in view, Dolphins need to step it up

The Miami Dolphins are 2-3 and cannot afford too many more losses this season if they want any chance of making the AFC playoffs. That’s why it might be a little concerning to hear Ryan Tannehill speak about how the confidence of the team is building. While at first glance that may seem good, many want their team to have full confidence in themselves almost halfway through the season and with a big matchup on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

 “I think it’s building," Tannehill said. "I think it’s obviously we have to put a whole game together. We realize that we are coming to a critical point, 2-3, at this point. There’s a lot of football out in front of us, but we’ve got to make it happen sooner rather than later. We’ve seen the potential of this team, at times, I feel like during all of our games. It’s just a matter of putting a full game together. We have everything that it takes, every part you would want to have a great football team. Now, it’s just a matter of doing it for 60 minutes as opposed to 15, 30 or even 45 (minutes).”

You would also think that the team would have some sense of urgency and while Tannehill admitted they do, he also said that they aren’t going to go out and play like that.

“There’s definitely an urgency. Do I think we thought to go out and not play with urgency? No, but I think there’s definitely an intensity that it’s being brought to the practice field. I think some of the best practices we’ve had this year were the past two days, Tuesday and today. There’s an intensity on the practice field. Guys are hungry to make plays, hungry to get better. Just make the plays that are there and be crisp. We have the talent. We have every piece that we need to put this puzzle together. Now it’s just a matter of doing it.”

We’ll have to see how the Dolphins come out of the gates on Sunday. Let’s hope there isn’t too much of an emotional hangover from the game against the Green Bay Packers and let’s hope the Dolphins are able to come out strong and make a statement to the rest of the NFL.