Just How Good Are the Dolphins?

The Miami Dolphins are among the hottest teams in the NFL, but still have to prove they belong among the elite

You all remember the famous Bill Parcells line, right? "You are what your record says your are"?

That one.

Does it still apply when your record is 8-7, but you got to that mark after losing seven straight and then winning seven straight?

Are you still an 8-7 team? Or are you something more because you're 8-7 but in the middle of an incredible streak?

And then, does it matter who you beat during that winning streak? And should it matter?

All those questions apply when it comes to the Miami Dolphins as they head into the final two weeks of the 2021 NFL regular season because the bottom line is we still don't know just how good they are.

We also still don't know whether they're a legitimate playoff team or just a team that got hot and took advantage of a soft schedule.

No matter how you slice it, a seven-game winning streak is a seven-game winning streak and it's impressive regardless and, besides, the Dolphins could only play the teams on their schedule.

It's not their fault if almost all of their weakest 2021 opponents were scheduled during this one stretch.

THE DOLPHINS WINNING STREAK

But no one — looking at you, Dolphins fans — should get insulted at the suggestion that the schedule played a part (maybe a big part) in the streak.

Let's be honest, the streak began with a game against Houston that featured ugly performances by both teams and the Dolphins might not have beaten all that many teams that day.

The Dec. 19 game against the Jets was similar — though not quite as ugly — and the Dolphins also were lucky to win that one.

Through 15 games, by opponents' combined winning percentage, the Dolphins have had the easiest schedule in the NFL. Dolphins opponents have a combined .444 winning percentage, with Cincinnati and Atlanta tied for second-easiest at .451.

And of the 17 NFL teams with a winning record, only the Philadelphia Eagles (.354 combined winning percentage for the the teams they have defeated) have a weaker strength of victory than the Dolphins (.375).

The opposing starting quarterbacks during the streak have been Tyrod Taylor, Lamar Jackson, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Mike Glennon, Zach Wilson and Ian Book.

So that's why you have national pundits express skepticism about how legitimate the Dolphins are as playoff contenders. Longtime NFL reporter Michael Silver asked after the six of the seven victories in the streak whether any six-game winning streak had even been less impressive — and then the Dolphins defeated the massively depleted Saints on Monday night.

The flip side, though, is that we can talk all we want about how bad the Jets are, but they still defeated Tennessee and Cincinnati; and the Texans still have defeated the Titans and Chargers.

So, again, a seven-game winning streak is a seven-game winning streak.

CAN DOLPHINS AVOID REPEAT OF 2020?

But, opponents aside, is it possible that skeptics also look at these 2021 Dolphins and remember their last image of the 2020 Dolphins?

The Dolphins were a 10-5 team when they went to Buffalo in their regular season finale needing simply to win to make the playoffs, but instead looked like a team that had massively overachieved and didn't belong anywhere near the postseason while they were getting blown out 56-26.

Don't think for a second that 2020 season finale isn't at least a bit of a factor in how the Dolphins are viewed and how they need to produce a "quality" win to get that national stamp of approval.

The Dolphins have beaten two teams this season that currently have a winning record — New England and Baltimore. And even then, the Patriots got off to a 2-4 start and the Dolphins escaped that game thanks to Xavien Howard's late fumble recovery. And the Baltimore game came on a Thursday night, which always heavily favors the home team.

Beating Tennessee would be completely legit in the eyes of the national media and erase any and all doubt about the 2021 Dolphins.

At least it should.

A victory against New England in the regular season finale, now that Patriots have turned it around and are headed to the playoffs, would do the same.

The bottom line, from this vantage point, is you don't win seven games in a row — regardless of the opponent — without being a quality team, a good team.

But are the Dolphins more than that? Are they a very good team?

Unfortunately, we simply don't know that yet. The next two weeks will provide that answer.