The Miami Dolphins’ 2024 season may rest in the hands of Carson Wentz and other Kansas City Chiefs backups.
With a win next week against the New York Jets, the Dolphins would finish the regular season with a 9-8 record. That’ll only be good enough for a spot in the playoffs if the Chiefs manage to beat the Denver Broncos in Week 18.
How motivated the Chiefs, who already secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC, will be to beat their division rival remains to be seen. Kansas City will presumably bench several starters, including two-time NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes. But Dolphins veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell is keeping faith.
“We’ve got a shot,” Campbell said. “I don’t know what the percentage is, but it don’t matter. I just know for the first time in my life, I’m about to be a big Chiefs fan for at least a week. A huge Chiefs fan.
“I don’t know what [Chiefs coach] Andy Reid is going to do with his players and all that. But in football, it’s nice to have a shot. In sports, period. It’s never over ’til it’s over. … It might not happen, that’s part of it. But we gotta go out there and do our part.”
Campbell, 38, is a six-time Pro Bowler, a Walter Payton Man of the Year Award winner, and a shoo-in to eventually make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But the 6’8 defensive lineman has never won a Super Bowl ring. His only appearance in the big game was Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009 during his rookie season with the Arizona Cardinals.
“Every week you’re just like ‘wow, we’re fortunate to have this guy,'” Campbell said. “His appetite for the game is real and every time he speaks, the team takes it super serious and it leaves an impression on them. I think he’s one of the absolute reasons we’re still alive for postseason play, and we get an opportunity to play one guaranteed game.”
In 16 games with the Dolphins, Campbell has four sacks, five pass deflections, 11 tackles for loss, and 11 quarterback hits. His 82.7 grade on Pro Football Focus ranks as the best on the Dolphins defense.
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