Dolphins Not Focused on Saturday Games

The Miami Dolphins could be eliminated from playoff contention after the first two games Saturday

Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel reacts on the field after the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium. / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins will be traveling to Cleveland on Saturday, and by the time 8 p.m. ET arrives, their playoff hopes could officially be gone.

Victories by the Los Angeles Chargers at New England and Denver Broncos at Cincinnati would put an "e" (for eliminated) next to the Dolphins' name in the NFL standings, but head coach Mike McDaniel says he's not planning on watching either game.

"No, I will prepare for the Cleveland Browns and do my normal Saturday routine for situational play calling, etc.," McDaniel said before practice Friday. "And I'm sure there'll be several people that will inform me, but I'm not too fixated at all. I know we have a game on Sunday that will be played, and my focus is that our team does the best in that opportunity. And that's where my focus has been with the team, and I think that's where their focus is."

It's the same approach quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said Thursday he would take.

“I probably won’t be looking at that," Tagovailoa said. "On the plane I’m just looking over the plays for normal down and distances, just making sure that I’ve got everything queued for the game on Sunday, going over third downs. And then if I have anything to talk to any of the guys about on the plane, just go and see if they’re up. If they’re not up, I just let them sleep and then get with them at the hotel. So that’s sort of the process.”

If the Dolphins indeed are eliminated this weekend, it would make their Week 18 game against the New York Jets their first meaningless season finale since 2021 when they defeated the playoff-bound New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium.

As a reminder, for the Dolphins to sneak into the playoffs this season, they need to win their final two games, and have two of the following three things occur: the Chargers lose their final two, the Broncos lose their final two, or the Indianapolis Colts lose one of their final two.

The Chargers and Broncos each will clinch a playoff berth with one more victory, allowing them to join the other five AFC teams already in the playoffs: Kansas City, Buffalo, Baltimore, Houston and Pittsburgh.

DOLPHINS LOOKING TO GET BACK TO .500

Regardless of whether the game at Cleveland has playoff ramifications for the Dolphins, it will represent their fourth opportunity to get back to .500 since September.

The Dolphins had a chance at 2-3 but lost at Indianapolis; again at 5-6 but lost at Green Bay; and again at 6-7 but lost at Houston.

"It feels like the team that I had hoped we were when we're looking in the mirror at 2-6," McDaniel said. "I think the team is very hungry to go after this game against the Cleveland Browns to make us 6-2 from that juncture. I think it's more to me watching people how they handle adversity and how do they what do they do with all the noise? Do you the sit there and justify what, who, what, where and why, and point fingers? Or do you get into the lab, get with your coaches, and then get on the field and technically address the issues that lead you to to losses?

"Starting the season off unfairly makes for a long season, and I've seen it go different ways. So I think the team has an opportunity to really exemplify their internal fortitude and their belief in each other because it's not easy to flip the script that way. And I think there's a lot of guys in the locker room that are very eager to have that. You're 2-6. Flipping it to 6-2 would be something meaningful that we're going after for sure."