Dolphins Week 7 Power Rankings Roundup

How the national media stacks the Miami Dolphins after their bye week

Miami Dolphins linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah (91) celebrates during the second half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. / Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins enjoyed their bye in Week 6, fresh off an uninspiring but much-needed victory against the New England Patriots.

Based on the results of the matchups of this past weekend, the Dolphins moved up slightly in the national power rankings, though they remain firmly in the bottom third of the league.

Based on our survey of NFL power rankings from 10 national outlets—Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, NFL.com, The Ringer, USA Today, The Sporting News, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, and Bleacher Report — the Dolphins moved up an average of exactly one spot.

The Dolphins' average ranking went from 27.0 to 26.0, with a high of 22 (The Sporting News) and a low of 29 (USA Today). The Dolphins stayed in the same spot in six different rankings, and made their biggest jump with Yahoo, going from 29th to 24th.

Here's the breakdown of the Dolphins' ten power rankings spots heading into Week 5 of the 2024 regular season, along with the associated commentary.

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MIAMI DOLPHINS POWER RANKINGS

Sports Illustrated

• Ranking: 26
• Last week: 26
• Analysis: Knowing people who know Mike McDaniel, I would say that him actually uttering publicly that Tua Tagovailoa could play again this season was a big deal. But I want to note this: It’s a big deal because I know how much thought and care went into actually saying it out loud. I don’t know if there’s a coach who has put more personal equity into a quarterback in recent times than McDaniel and Tagovailoa, and, of late, this has been a clinic in how to respect someone going through a difficult time.

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Pro Football Talk

• Ranking: 27
• Last week: 27
• Analysis: If they don’t start winning, there will be no reason to bring Tua back this season.

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CBS Sports

• Ranking: 26
• Last week: 28
• Analysis:  They come off their bye hoping that Tyler Huntley can handle more of the offense. In a bad division, they are far from done.

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NFL.com

• Ranking: 26
• Last week: 28
• Analysis: A win over the Patriots and the bye week allowed for some of the pressure to be released, but it also opened the window of speculation on Tua Tagovailoa's return. Mike McDaniel indicated Monday that Tagovailoa wants to continue playing football and even playing this season for the Dolphins, adding, "But where that is exactly, we'll let the process continue." Tua won't be out there this weekend against the Colts, but he could be activated from injured reserve as early as Oct. 23. A win at Indianapolis would get the Dolphins to 3-3, and they have the currently 2-4 Cardinals the week after that prior to a big showdown at Buffalo (the opponent back in Week 2 when Tua sustained the concussion that put him on IR). The Dolphins aren't out of the race yet, but they need to hang on these next few games to have much of a shot. If they lose two straight, would Tua want to come back to pilot a 2-5 team? Hard to say.

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The Ringer

• Ranking: 24
• Last week: 24
• Analysis:  It would be easy to dismiss Miami’s 2-3 start and struggling passing offense as the result of being without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who is on injured reserve because of a concussion. But when you zoom out to evaluate things dating back to not just Tagovailoa’s injury but late last season, you can see that this offense hasn’t played at a high level since its win over Dallas last December. For all of Mike McDaniel’s schematic tinkering, Miami isn’t dictating terms of the game to defenses—and opponents don’t seem to feel the need to blitz to disrupt Miami’s offensive timing. Unless McDaniel comes out of the bye week with a drastic new adjustment, this team will keep feeling the squeeze, regardless of whether Tagovailoa is back on the field.

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USA Today Sports

• Ranking: 29
• Last week: 29
• Analysis: HC Mike McDaniel announced QB Tua Tagovailoa will return to action this season but didn't know when. Tagovailoa is eligible to come off IR before the Oct. 27 date with Arizona. The season feels salvageable if Miami can stay within a game of .500 until he's ready.

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The Sporting News

• Ranking: 22
• Last week: 24
• Analysis: The Dolphins are coming out of a bye with some big offensive questions related to Mike McDaniel being able to adjust to key personnel injuries. They need to come out run-heavy vs. the Colts.

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The Athletic

• Ranking: 27
• Last week: 28
• Analysis: It sounds like Tua Tagovailoa wants to return to the gamedespite suffering a third confirmed concussion in the past three seasons in September. Former college head coach Nick Saban told “The Pat McAfee Show” that the quarterback wants to return, and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa had an “expert consultation” last week. There’s “nothing negative so far, but we’re still in the process,” McDaniel said. Whether that’s a good decision or not, Miami would love Tagovailoa on the field. Since the start of 2022, the Dolphins are 20-12 in the regular season and averaging 26.8 points when Tagovailoa starts and 2-5 with 13.6 points per game when he doesn’t.

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Yahoo! Sports

• Ranking: 24
• Last week: 29
• Analysis: The Dolphins are planning on Tua Tagovailoa playing again, and from a football angle that’s a huge development. No team has missed its injured QB more. We’ll see if the Dolphins can win again before he returns.

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Bleacher Report

• Ranking: 27
• Last week: 26
• Analysis: The first month-plus of the 2024 season hasn't gone at all according to plan for the Miami Dolphins. With quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve with yet another concussion, the Dolphins have struggled mightily to move the football. Miami is barely cracking 300 yards of offense a contest, and the 12.0 points per game the Dolphins are averaging ranks dead last in the league. It will be at least one more week before Tagovailoa is eligible to return, leaving the Dolphins in scramble mode as they attempt to scratch out a win at Indianapolis in Week 7 to get back to .500 for the season.

DOLPHINS OPPONENT RANKING

For the record, the Dolphins' upcoming opponent, the Indianapolis Colts, has an average ranking of 18.9, with a high of 13 and a low of 21.