One Big, Painful Dolphins Lesson from Wild-Card Weekend

As we examine the NFL wild-card weekend and what lessons learned could apply to the Miami Dolphins, it would be easy to start with the idea that making headway in the AFC is going to be difficult as long as Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen continue to play at MVP levels.

Or how having a dominant offensive line — hello, Philadelphia Eagles and, again, Bills — makes things so much easier on offense, particularly if you have the defensive front to match.

Or how at this point there's not one QB from the draft class of 2020 (after the brutal performances by Justin Herbert and Jordan Love and the ho-hum outing by Jalen Hurts) who really stands out above the rest, except for Joe Burrow, whose team was so bad on defense this season that it wasted a performance that was on par with what Jackson and Allen did.

No, what really stood out unfortunately was the Eagles defense and how it continued its brilliant turnaround season behind first-year coordinator Vic Fangio, the same Fangio whose departure from the Dolphins last offseason was followed with complaints that maybe he was too tough on his players.

And if that doesn't scream volumes about the whispers of the Dolphins not being tough enough and being "soft," then we don't know what does.

Because, yes, Love looked bad for the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, but Fangio's defense played a large role in that.

FANGIO, THE DOLPHINS AND HIS OLD-SCHOOL WAYS

But this was just a continuation of what the Eagles have done all year.

This was a group that finished first in the NFL in total defense (yards allowed per game) in 2024 after finishing 26th in the same category a year ago before Fangio arrived.

And before anyone suggests that it's all about great personnel, understand that the Eagles are starting two rookies in the secondary, proving that Cam Smith not seeing the field in 2023 wasn't the result of Fangio having a problem with playing rookies.

Fangio got on star defensive tackle Jalen Carter about his conditioning and he went from playing 51 percent of the defensive snaps to 84 while dominating up front on his way to making the Pro Bowl.

Eagles 2023 first-round pick Nolan Smith was a non-factor as a rookie and there were questions about whether he would become a bust, but he emerged as a pass rusher under Fangio to finish with 6.5 sacks in the regular season before adding two sacks Sunday.

And one of the best Eagles defensive players in 2024 was linebacker Zack Baun, who is such an accomplished player that he never averaged more than 20 snaps on defense per game in his first four NFL seasons before he became an All-Pro selection this season.

What Baun told SI national reporter Albert Breer after the Eagles' 22-10 victory against the Packers on Sunday should resonate with Dolphins fans.

“He’s a hard stone to crack,” Baun said. “He wants things done, and he wants things done his way and he wants them done right. That’s all we want is someone to hold us accountable. From there, it’s all about execution.

“I don't know what happened in Miami, but I love what’s happening here."

What happened in Miami is that some players didn't care for Fangio's old-school methods, and one of those players likely was safety Jevon Holland as evidenced by his famous "kicking rocks" Instagram post.

The Dolphins, as it turned out, managed to replace Fangio very well with coaching rising star Anthony Weaver, but seeing Fangio having this kind of success with his hard-nosed style really isn't a great reflection on the Dolphins.

And the revelations last week of habitual tardiness and an overall lack of professionalism, while the Eagles defense continues to thrive, certainly would seem to serve as proof that it wasn't Fangio who was the problem in Miami.