Written by Armando Salguero at Miami Herald.com
Something’s different. You saw it Sunday because something significant happened.
It simply feels as though the Miami Dolphins have turned the corner on the 2017 season after Sunday’s satisfying 20-17 win over Atlanta. It feels as though this team is finding itself in much the same manner they did in 2016 and the timing is similar.
Last year it came after the fifth game. We saw a different team after that fifth game. I believe 2017’s turning point come in the fifth game. The difference is this year, Adam Gase’s team didn’t simply stink the first five weeks like it did last year.
Last year the team stunk early and their record showed how foul things were at 1-4.
This year the team stunk early but it still managed at 2-2 record and now sits at 3-2.
And so in the last 16 regular season games these Dolphins have played, they’ve posted a 12-4 record. And while there’s no guarantee this team will string together victory after victory like the ‘16 team did to dig out of its early hole, I kind of got that vibe being around the team Sunday.
That victory over Atlanta is meaningful. It was a huge game. A huge win.
It was palpable how meaningful this was.
It was big because the Dolphins beat the defending NFC champions. On the road. And they did it after spotting the Falcons a 17-0 halftime lead.
“It was a great win for us,” running back Jay Ajayi said. “With how we have been playing, it was great for us just to finish a game no matter what the obstacles are. We were down early. This week we really put it on ourselves to stay together and not get frustrated no matter what we do as an offense or whether we put points on the board. We didn’t want our emotions to get us out of the game. I think this week offensively we were really able to lock in as well and keep our emotions in check. That was big for us, and we were able to create big plays down the stretch. The defense did the rest.”
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