Opinion: From 1-7, Dolphins soar above the line separating contenders from also-rans

At last, above the line.

At last, relevant.

At last, in control.

Just like the fight song says.

It has been a wicked climb, but the Dolphins somehow, some way, have done it. By beating the remnants of the New Orleans Saints 20-3 on Monday night, the Dolphins have gone where no team has gone before: from 1-7 to 8-7. They now own the No. 7 slot in the AFC standings, having bumped the Baltimore Ravens from atop the critical line separating teams on course for the playoffs and those whose course involves golf.

Plenty of work lies ahead. As difficult as it once seemed for this team to win one game, let alone seven in a row, things only get tougher with the two remaining assignments: at Tennessee and home against New England. Win both and Miami is in the playoffs. Period.

This is where the warm-and-fuzzy part of this story takes a turn. It would be nice to say damn the torpedoes (and the oddsmakers) and say the Dolphins certainly can go into Nashville and leave Ryan Tannehill singing a sad country tune, then come home and punch their playoff ticket against Bill Belichick & Co.

It would be nice to say that, but these are the Dolphins. After seeing this offense sputter against the Saints — after seeing the offensive line reverting back to September form and seeing Tua Tagovailoa throw up another ill-advised prayer that was intercepted — try concocting any possible eventuality for these final two Sundays that would shock you.

You can count on Dolphins' defense

There is one, and only one: Miami’s defense not holding up its end of the bargain.

Granted, the D was going against the Saints’ JV, but this was still a Sean Payton offense that was held to three points, 164 total yards and 0 for 12 on third down, not to mention conceding eight sacks. That’s playoff football.

“I’m sure Flo will have some corrections,” said linebacker Jerome Baker in what can only be termed a half-joke.

Hey — win two more and the Dolphins will be in the playoffs. That’s news to the players, they would have you believe, even now remaining in lockstep with Brian Flores’ tunnel vision. Flores, for his part after the game, reflected on the adversity the team endured during the seven-game losing streak.

"I think it revealed a lot," Flores said. "I would say it revealed the character of the guys in our locker room. Revealed that some people are with you and some people were on the fence."

Were those fence-riders on the team? Or was he taking a swipe at non-believers who figured a 1-7 team was hopeless simply because every other 1-7 team throughout history was just that? Asked to clarify, Flores didn’t.

"I’ve always had belief in this team — our players, our coaches," he said. "Maybe there were some people who didn’t share that same belief and I understand why."

Unbeaten since Halloween

The Dolphins get to celebrate New Year’s in playoff position after a frightful flight home from Buffalo on Halloween when they were 1-7. What kind of odds would you have needed right then to put even $1 down on a wager they wouldn’t lose again this calendar year? Maybe 100-1? Or 1,000-1?

Monday night’s victory means no need for watching any scoreboard unless the scoreboard has “Miami” lit up.

Miami is lit now, all right, the first team in NFL history to win seven in a row and lose seven in a row in the same season. Say what you want, but at least this team’s consistent.

If not for the Kansas City Chiefs, who have won eight straight, Miami would be the hottest team in the league. “The biggest single variable,” NBC’s Steve Kornacki called the Dolphins in the AFC playoff picture Sunday night. When you have the network guys rolling up their sleeves for you, that’s progress.

Unfortunately, the first look much of the nation had of these Dolphins wasn’t always pretty. The Dolphins, going against a Saints team that had 16 players on the COVID list, including its top two quarterbacks, waited until late in the third quarter to end fears they were allowing the Saints to hang around too long. Teams that do that, in that building, regret it, but the sharks on Miami’s defense kept circling, as if closing in on something special, even if they claimed they didn’t know the particulars of the playoff picture.

“You hear rumbles here and there,” defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said.

Not here and there.

Just here.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins take step in playoff climb with Titans, Patriots left