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Dave Hyde: Thirty fearless predictions for Miami Dolphins and NFL season

dave hyde, south florida sun-sentinel
·4 min read
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Before putting myself in upright and locked position with the burning NFL question of “Do the Dolphins make the Super Bowl?,” let’s take a moment and build up to it with 29 other predictions for the NFL season:

1. The Dolphins have a top-5 scoring defense under new coordinator Vic Fangio, even with cornerback Jalen Ramsey not returning until November.

2. Yes, November.

3. That’s the same month New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers takes his offensive line to his dark room and leaves them there.

4. Tyreek Hill repeats as Dolphins’ Most Valuable Player and continues with Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson as the best receiver in the game, but won’t get that massive mark of 2,000 yards receiving he has mentioned.

5. The AFC playoff teams: Jacksonville, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Miami, Buffalo, Los Angeles Chargers, Baltimore.

6. The NFC playoff teams (by seeding): San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, Green Bay, New Orleans, Seattle and Detroit.

7. AFC surprise team: Jacksonville, with a wind-at-their-back schedule, gets the No. 1 seed.

8. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs enter counseling by Week 8.

9. Tua Tagovailoa throws 28 touchdowns against 14 interceptions to help the Dolphins to the playoffs but misses three games, doesn’t finish two others and the same, unfortunate debate that raged over his standing last offseason rages next offseason.

10. NFC surprise team: Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers leaving helped two teams.

11. Comeback of the year: Running the ball. The NFL’s base defense is five defensive backs and a team like Atlanta that zigs when everyone else zags can have a year. Rookie Bijan Robinson gets anointed as the best back in the league.

12. The Dolphins trade a second-round pick next year and conditional fourth-round pick for disgruntled Indianapolis running back Jonathan Taylor in October. All in goes further all in. (And not a trade I’d make.)

13. Dolphins over-under at 9 ½ wins: Over at 10 wins. They have too much talent and so much need to make this season work.

14. Jets over-under at 9 ½ wins: Under at nine wins. They’re the team that gets left out of the playoffs.

15. Yes, the AFC East will be as close, tough and as down-to-the-wire as you think.

16. Cleveland Browns join the rest of the world in wondering what they were thinking in giving Deshaun Watson that contract.

17. Everyone realizes legendary coach Sean Payton’s career reads the same as dumb-dumb Dallas coach Mike McCarthy’s career.

18. Dolphins backup quarterback Mike White goes .500 in games he plays. And that’s what you want.

19. Tom Brady is rumored for a comeback in December. Doesn’t happen.

20. Patriots over-under at 6 ½ wins: Over, but at just seven wins so New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft keeps the heat on as Bill Belichick pursues Don Shula’s 347 career wins. Seven wins brings Belichick within 12. That’s two seasons. If New England wins nine games this year, Belichick is within 10 of Shula. That’s reachable in 2024.

21. Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips will be the team’s breakout star and ordained a top-10 pass rusher.

22. Arizona gets the No. 1 draft pick by tanking the smart way: Dumping veteran quarterback Colt McCoy before the season. That separates them from the Dolphins, who signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to win a couple of franchise-altering games in 2019.

23. The Dolphins’ need for a legitimate red-zone target becomes more pronounced than the need for running back.

24. No one has to ask coach Mike McDaniel if he can command a room, run a team, get plays in on time or remember to run the ball as Year 1 lessons help in Year 2.

25. Over-under for tackle Terron Armstead: 10 games.

26. Over-under for Buffalo at 10 ½ wins. Under at 10 wins. Its window is closing with too much reliance on Allen and a suspect defense up the middle. Question of their season: Can Sean McDermott taking over the defense save it?

27. Dolphins management adds another throwback jersey game to appease fans.

28. Detroit’s Dan Campbell is named coach of the year, and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Brandon Staley is the first coach fired.

29. The AFC East is the toughest division and the NFC South is the easiest. Look at the quarterbacks. Atlanta’s Desmond Ridder, Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield, Carolina’s Bryce Young and New Orleans’ Derek Carr.

30. The Dolphins win the AFC East, win a playoff game for the first time since 2000, but Jacksonville rides its soft-scheduled home advantage into the Super Bowl and beats San Francisco.