Chris Perkins: This year’s Miami Dolphins 2-0 start feels more reliable than last year’s 2-0 start

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins didn’t know how to answer the question.

That’s understandable.

He needs to stay focused, level-headed.

I don’t.

So I’ll put it out there — this Dolphins 2-0 start feels different than last year’s 2-0 Dolphins start.

It feels stronger, more assertive.

This 2-0 start feels as though it’s built on a known, proven foundation.

For many Dolphins fans, this 2-0 start feels as though it could lead to a Super Bowl.

I’m not there yet.

But to me that goal seems a bit more attainable now than it did two months ago.

From being in the locker room, I can say this 2-0 start feels as though it comes from a more mature, more seasoned team than last year.

That makes sense. Consider what this team went through in 2022, finishing 9-8 and earning a wild-card round playoff berth despite numerous injuries to key players and a late-season five-game losing streak.

It goes a bit deeper than that, however.

Fullback Alec Ingold said this year’s team is at a different level of accountability. He said they’ve accepted a credo from running backs coach Eric Studesville, who won a Super Bowl after the 2015 season as Denver’s running backs coach.

“Coach E says this all the time, ‘You can’t accept in victory what you wouldn’t in defeat,’ ” Ingold said.

Here’s how that contributes to this year’s 2-0 start feeling different than last year’s.

“I think the biggest change would be just the process in which we approach every single week,” Ingold said. “I think you’ve got a lot of guys who have enough confidence to be self-critical with your assignments so that you aren’t letting things slip like we just said.”

Last year’s 2-0 start was almost exploratory.

The 20-7 win over New England at home in the opener was rewarding. The unlikely 42-38 come-from-behind victory at Baltimore that featured the Dolphins scoring 28 fourth-quarter points was energizing.

Through two games last year, the Dolphins were still figuring things out.

You had McDaniel, the first-year, first-time head coach, and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, whose confidence was being rebuilt after taking a beating from the previous regime. Neither was a known quantity.

Now, you know McDaniel and Tagovailoa. You know how well they mix with wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. You know what this offense can do.

Even the offensive line, perhaps the Dolphins’ biggest question mark as a unit, has been reliable so far.

“We’re just flying around,” right guard Robert Hunt said. “It’s the second year in the system, and I think a lot of guys are confident. And that’s what it’s about in this league. You have to have some confidence.”

The defense is still figuring things out under new coordinator Vic Fangio, and cornerback Jalen Ramsey is sidelined with a knee injury.

Also, let’s not overlook some of the other concerns. Injuries to key players, including Tua. Offensive line (yes, it’s still a concern). Field goals of 50 yards or more. The quarterback-center exchange. The minus-1 giveaway/takeaway margin after having a minus-7 last year.

And, biggest of all, this is the NFL, where the regular season is a brutal 17-game march into January.

Regardless, this 2-0 start still feels more solid than last year’s.

This team has maintained its dangerous passing game, flashed a running game, shown an ability to get sacks, indicated it can produce turnovers, once stopped the run, and on occasion made defensive plays in the passing game.

The Dolphins are still a work in progress, to be sure.

In some cases, such as offensive line, it’s been expected work.

That’s why it was tough to expect a 2-0 start.

I know that was the hope, but the Dolphins had questions, and they opened with two tough matchups.

The season opener was at the Los Angeles Chargers (a 36-34 Dolphins victory), a playoff team that beat the Dolphins last season.

That was followed by a trip to New England (a 24-17 Dolphins victory). Last year, Dolphins were winless in AFC East road games, including losing at New England on New Year’s Day.

Yet here they are now, with a 2-0 record that sits atop the AFC East, ahead of Buffalo, their opponent in two weeks.

That matchup with the Bills, in Buffalo, is one reason we should all remember this tenuous first-place status comes with an asterisk that says what happens in September usually isn’t relevant in January.

You’ll remember the Dolphins started 3-0 last year. Then they lost three consecutive to fall to 3-3.

And then they won five consecutive to get to 8-3, and then lost five consecutive to fall to 8-8. And then they squeaked by the New York Jets, 11-6, in the regular-season finale to finish 9-8 and earn the wild-card berth.

So, a lot can happen in the last 15 games.

Dolphins players are trying not to delve into the hype.

“We’re going to keep our heads down and keep working,” Hunt said. “I don’t think anybody is satisfied with two wins because we all have bigger goals of what we want to do.”

At this very early point of the season, those goals, even the most grandiose, seem within reach. That’s how solid this 2-0 start feels.