Dolphins Getting a Lot of Love ... Not That They're Listening

The Miami Dolphins are starting to draw a lot of attention around the country but are doing their best to eliminate outside noise

The Miami Dolphins certainly opened a lot of eyes with their three-point victory at Arizona on Sunday and appear to have convinced most national observers they are legitimate playoff contenders.

The Sports Illustrated Morning Morning Quarterback staff unveiled their 2020 midseason predictions Wednesday, and the overwhelming feeling is the Dolphins will be returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

All but one of the eight members of the MMQB staff predicted the Dolphins to make the playoffs, the only exception being former Green Bay Packers executive Andrew Brandt.

Staff writer Jenny Vrentas even projected the Dolphins to win the AFC East title, while the other six members had them as wild-card entries.

Furthermore, Brian Flores is being projected as the winner of the NFL Coach of the Year.

Staff writer Michael Rosenberg picked Dolphins first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa as his Offensive Rookie of the Year. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow got four votes for the award and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who the Dolphins will face Sunday, got three.

The compliments and accolades no doubt are music to the ears of Dolphins fans, but Flores made it clear he's not particularly interested in any outside noise.

"We all understand, I understand, that it’s there, that we’re being talked about," Flores said. "But really the only thing that matters is what’s going on in our building. I’m not sure how much anyone outside of our building really actually knows what’s going on inside the building, so the way we practice, the way we prepare, how we walk through. The only people who could really tell them the truth about how they played in a game or how they played in practice or how they did in a meeting are the people that are here. That’s kind of my message. I’m going to tell them the truth. I’m not going to blow smoke up anyone’s behind. They know that.

"We’ve got a whole half of a season left, so I think we need to focus on that and even more than that, this week it’s a good team that we’re playing this week, the Chargers. Putting our energy anywhere else or listening to anything else in a lot of ways is less energy on a good opponent with a lot of good players and a lot of good coaches … Hopefully it doesn’t get to the point where they spent too much time on something else and not enough on the Chargers. They would feel the effects of that on a Sunday, so that’s my message.”