Where Have the Dolphins Gone After 1-4?

The Miami are 1-4 through five games for the sixth time in franchise history

Miami Dolphins head coach Adam Gase reacts during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium in 2018. | Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins' latest disappointing loss left them with a 1-4 record on the 2025 season with more discussion now about possible changes in the organization as a potential playoff run.

The Dolphins have been here before because this is the sixth time the Dolphins have started the season with four losses in the first five games, and disappointingly it's the fourth time in the past 10 years.

If there's any consolation where there seems to be little reason for hope or optimism at this time, it's indeed that the Dolphins have been here before and they managed to dig themselves out of this same hole after the last two 1-4 starts.

In fact, the Dolphins found a way to make the playoffs after a 1-4 start in 2016, Adam Gase's first season as head coach.

And then there was the 2021 season when the Dolphins also started 1-4 and were able to finish with a winning record at 9-8.

The other 1-4 starts in Dolphins history came in 1967, 1986 and 2006 and they went on to finish 4-10, 8-8 and 6-10, respectively.

Being able to turn things around in 2025 won't be easy, nor will making the playoffs because that 2016 Dolphins teams was one of only 12 out of 174 since 1990 to reach the postseason after starting 1-4.

That's a 6.9 percent success rate.

THE PARALLELS, DIFFERENCES TO OTHER 1-4 STARTS

While the recent history says there's reason to think the Dolphins can pull off another dramatic turnaround, there were a couple of factors at play in both 2016 and 2021 that are not part of the equation this time around.

In 2016, the Dolphins went into their sixth game of the season with starting offensive linemen Laremy Tunsil and Branden Albert headed back to the lineup after missing time with injuries. There's no such help coming Sunday against the L.A. Chargers because head coach Mike McDaniel said right guard James Daniels and right tackle Austin Jackson still need more time before they can return from IR.

The 2016 schedule also was a lot more favorable than what awaits the Dolphins the rest of 2025, though injuries always make it hard to predict whether the opponent will be as expected down the road — for example, Baltimore currently is without Lamar Jackson and Cincinnati is without Joe Burrow.

In 2021, the Dolphins were getting ready to get QB Tua Tagovailoa back from IR after they fell to 1-4.

That 2021 team, of course, lost the first three games after Tagovailoa's return before going on a seven-game winning streak that put the Dolphins in the playoff picture heading into their next-to-last game against the Tennessee Titans.

At this time, maybe the biggest reason for hope is that no one has stood out in the AFC this season and the games against the Chargers, Ravens and Bengals — to name three — don't look quite as daunting now as they once did.

Daniels and Jackson also logically should return at some point and who knows what impact that will have on the offensive line and the offense in general.

Most importantly, though, we've seen it happen before, a dramatic turnaround after a 1-4 start.

Nobody is suggesting or predicting it will happen. But we saying it has happened with the Dolphins before. And not that long ago.