California Trip Big for Dolphins in Many Ways
The Miami Dolphins begin a crucial two-game California road trip this week with a game against the San Francisco 49ers and then a contest with the Los Angeles Chargers. And the Dolphins will be staying in California between the games.
In fact, the Dolphins asked the NFL to put their matchups with the 49ers and the Chargers back to back. While it might be challenging for some players and coaches to be away from home, the team is hoping the opportunity to bond along the way will outweigh any negatives.
“It’s nice because you don’t have anywhere to go,” Coach Mike McDaniel said. “So, I think that time is very important. Again, you’ll always do more for your teammates than ultimately you’ll be able to muster up for just yourself. That kind of burns out. But when you have that extra incentive, maybe you learn about someone’s past, learn about a sibling they have, find an interest. All of those things are what’s special about a team. And the pillars of a team are always centered around relationships, and relationships grow when you invest in them. So it’s a mandatory investment that you don’t really have anywhere to go.”
Creating closer relationships within the team during the next two weeks will be a priority of the team’s player leadership as well.
“I would say, as captains and with our leadership council group, we don’t think that it’s necessary that when we do get downtime away from football, guys stay in their room, or, ‘Hey, I’m tired.’ Like, no, dude, you can sleep when it’s time for you to sleep,” quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said. “Let’s get guys to go out and let’s do things with our guys, whether that’s finding a basketball game to go to, trying to go rent out a movie theater, trying to go watch a baseball game, whatever that may be, Top Golf. I don’t know. We’ll try to find some things that we can do that’ll help us get closer with our guys on this team.”
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DOLPHINS HISTORY OF BACK-TO-BACK WEST COAST GAMES
This isn’t the first time the Dolphins have played back-to-back games West Coast games or decided to stay out West between two games. Miami did this in November 2016 — coincidentally also the last time they made the playoffs.
They played the San Diego Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams in back-to-back weeks and didn’t return to South Florida between the games. Miami won both games before returning home to play the 49ers, who they also beat.
In 2004, the Dolphins had back-to-back West Coast games against the Seattle Seahawks and the 49ers. They split the two games with their win coming against the 49ers, but finished just 4-12 that season.
During the 1980 season, Miami suited up for back-to-back games against the Oakland Raiders and the Rams. They split those two games as well before returning home to play the 49ers, making it a similar structure to their 2016 road trip.
This year’s team is looking to re-create the success of the 2016 team and use this road trip as a sling shot into the playoffs. Although two wins on the road would go a long way to cementing Miami’s playoff spot, they’re approaching them as just another game.
“No, we’re just looking at it as two more games on the schedule against two really good opponents,” wide receiver Jaylen Waddle said. “It’s going to be kind of different, us staying out there for a week, but I think we have a team that’s good at adjusting. So it’s going to be a good challenge for us.”
Overall, the Dolphins have won their last four games in California, most recently defeating the 49ers, 43-17, in 2020. The Dolphins opened the 2017 season with a 19-17 victory against the Chargers in Los Angeles, and then there were those two 2016 games.
DOLPHINS FOCUS SOLELY ON 49ERS
What makes the 2022 road trip different from previous ones is the Dolphins’ next game isn’t at home this time. Instead, they’ll be off to play the Bills in Buffalo, giving them three straight road games against playoff contenders.
Buffalo isn’t a place where Miami has had a lot of recent success either. Ironically, the last time they won there was also the last time they played back-to-back West Coast games and made the playoffs — 2016.
While it’s easy to look ahead, the Dolphins are just worried about beating the 49ers this Sunday.
“I’m very steadfast and consistent with this one where I hope that no player on our team or coach has any clue who we play after the next opponent,” McDaniel said on Monday. “Because to the point that I try to get people not to even know our schedule, because I don’t think that is how you win in this league. You just worry 100 percent about the challenge at hand, and you better versus the 49ers or they’ll quickly humble you.”
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