The Miami Dolphins secured their most impressive win of the season in Week 16 against the Dallas Cowboys, as the 22-20 victory on a walk-off Jason Sanders field goal gives Miami their first victory against a team with a winning record while also clinching a spot in the playoffs.
The narrative surrounding the Dolphins for weeks has been their inability to beat other playoff teams. They came into Week 16 0-3 against winning teams. Many Dolphins, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, have made it known they have heard the noise on social media and mainstream sports media outlets. Tagovailoa stated that he “keeps receipts” following his impressive performance against the Jets a week prior.
It appears the Dolphins have used this outside noise as motivation for the whole team. This win over the Cowboys should give some satisfaction to the players, as the playoffs are fast approaching.
“I think it’s really hard to ignore the noise. I think you’re going to hear it,” said head coach Mike McDaniel after the victory. “This is a big win for this team because it’s always big when you do something that internally you know you’re capable of. Nobody on this team thought we were going to lose that game.”
Handling the media is a growing challenge for NFL players, especially with social media increasing the amount of content created daily. Everything going on with NFL teams is magnified.
If the Dolphins didn’t emerge victorious against the Cowboys, the “pretenders” narrative would’ve been a topic of discussion in the sports world ahead of a Week 17 clash with the Baltimore Ravens.
Instead, the win over Dallas will put Miami in position next week to earn the top spot in the AFC heading into the final game of the regular season.
“This team was fully confident, and knew it would take all 60 minutes,” continued McDaniel. “It’s a cool one to be a part of. I think a lot of the guys are happy because their Christmas isn’t ruined.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the mainstream media will react to this Dolphins’ win. How will the narrative shift?