Time for Dolphins to Make a Statement

The Dolphins could stamp themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders with a strong performance against Philadelphia

Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio called his team's showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night just another game — one of 17, as he put it.

And that's precisely how you'd expect a coach, especially one who has been around as long as Fangio has, to describe a Week 7 battle even when both teams are among those tied for the best record in the NFL.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, though, didn't object to the notion that maybe this was a statement game for the Dolphins because of the quality of the opposition, specifically a team that went to the Super Bowl last season.

“I think it’s always good when you’re facing a team that went to the Super Bowl, where they were just that short winning it," Tua said this week. "It’s always a test to go up against a team like this where they understand what it takes, they know the work that needs to be put in to make it there. And it definitely is a good opportunity to see where our team stands and where we’re at with that."

TIME FOR DOLPHINS TO STEP UP

It's going to be the second major test of the season for the Dolphins, who came up woefully short in Week 4 when they traveled to face the Buffalo Bills and came back home after a humbling 48-20 loss.

The Dolphins rebounded from that loss with convincing victories against the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers as they resumed putting up ridiculous offensive numbers, and they're to be commended for taking care of the inferior opponents on their schedule.

But the reality is that the Dolphins have put together their 5-1 record by defeating five teams that currently have losing records, five teams that currently are a combined 5-24.

By comparison, the other four 5-1 teams — Philadelphia, San Francisco, Detroit or Kansas City — have defeated teams that have combined for at least 12 wins.

Again, the Dolphins can only play who's on their schedule and they don't control what happens in games where they're not involved, but it doesn't change the fact that they still don't have a signature win, the kind of win that leaves zero doubt as to their legitimacy as a Super Bowl contender.

The closest thing they have was the two-point win against the Chargers in the season opener, but that came against a notoriously underachieving team in a road game that might as well have been a home game and probably would not be considered a statement game for Miami.

This would be a statement game.

Philadelphia clearly is one of the best teams in the NFL and it says here the Dolphins don't even have to win to stamp themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders; they just have to be competitive.

They can't be overwhelmed like they were in Week 4 against the Bills when they matched Buffalo's first two touchdown drives, then were outscored 34-6 the rest of the way.

“I mean, at the end of the day, it’s our next game, but let’s be real here: We’re 5-1, they’re 5-1," linebacker Jerome Baker said. "This is a great test for us to see where we stack up against other great teams in this league. If we want to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, we’re going to have to face some good teams. Is it a measuring stick game? Yeah, I guess you could say that. Is it a game that we must win? Yeah, you can say that only because it’s the next game we have. It’s going to be a good one Sunday.”

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