Greg Cote
Why it’s time to go all-in and finally start believing in Tua, Flores and Miami Dolphins | Opinion
Faith can be a tricky thing. Sometimes it takes a leap to get there.
Whether it’s falling in love, going all-in on a bet or trusting that this is finally the year for your team, you have to believe in something. Your heart. Your gut. Just a wisp of a feeling. Something.
It gets complicated when, for example, your football team has mostly let you down for the past 20 years or so. When your franchise’s best days are your father’s memories, not yours. That is when optimism gets calloused, replaced by cynicism. When the easiest thing to trust is that your team will let you down again.
What I am about to say, in this context, comes from both the innately skeptical veteran journalist and from the young boy who attended that first ever home game with his Dad in the Orange Bowl in 1966 — because those two are the same.
It is time to start believing in the Miami Dolphins again.
Believing that last year’s 10-win season was not a mirage.
Believing that Brian Flores is just the right coach.
Believing that Tua Tagovailaoa’s doubters are falling away, one by one.
Believing that a corner has (finally!) been turned.
Hope is free but not quite. It takes an emotional investment.
It is payback time for the Dolphins. Time for this franchise to reward a fan base loyal despite the constant letdowns.
So the Dolphins clobbered the sort-of Atlanta Falcons 37-17 on Saturday night in their only home preseason game. The Falcons played their scrubs (no Matt Ryan, et. al). The Fins used their healthy regulars the first half, playing it like a dress rehearsal.
Miami should have won big, and did.
The belief in this team isn’t a knee-jerk reaction from one exhibition game. It has been building for a couple of years.
There is talent all over the field now. And depth. Inside linebacker Sam Eguavoan on Saturday became the first Dolphin since 2002 with four sacks in a preseason game, one for a safety. He entered the game third string on the depth chart.
Miami has a wide receiver threesome as good as most in the NFL in rookie Jaylen Waddle, Will Fuller and DeVante Parker. Mike Gesicki is blossoming into a very special tight end.
The young offensive line seems to be coalescing. A nondescript running back room led by Myles Gaskin is proving productive.
The new offense fits Tagovailoa noticeably better than it did his rookie season. Simply put, it is designed to give Tua quick looks at open receivers and give speedy wideouts an opportunity for yards-after-catch.
“Give them the ball in space and let ‘em work,” said Tagovailoa after the game, wearing a ‘One Team One Fight’ T-shirt. “Let the playmakers make plays for you.”
The defense, top five in the league last season, looks good again. The cornerbacks are as good as just about any team’s.
Special teams, coaching ... everything looks solid.
Of course, all of the faith and belief starts with trusting that Tua is the guy, something we saw glimpses of but not consistently last season.
Well, he had completed 24 of 34 passes in two preseason games, for 282 yards. He has been accurate, decisive, looking in-command in a way he did not last season.
There is building evidence that “Year 2ua” could be special.
The even-keeled Flores isn’t getting carried away. What he sees first and most clearly, always, is the need for improvement.
“Stack good plays together, stack good drives together. That kind of consistency, it’s what we’re looking for,” he said after the Saturday win. “It was a game to build off of. We’re still growing as a team. We’re still building as a team. Still a long way to go.”
That long way to go — ultimately to winning the club’s first Super Bowl since 1973 — is getting shorter, though.
The Miami Dolphins finally have the people and the plan to foster belief they are getting closer.
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