MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – OK, everyone got paid. Coach Mike McDaniel. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.
And now?
Are there higher expectations or demands from fans for the Miami Dolphins’ key players now that owner Steve Ross has paid them all?
If so, define those higher expectations for McDaniel, Tagovailoa, Hill and Waddle.
Is there a demand that the quartet lead the Dolphins, who lost 0-2 in the playoffs under their leadership, to a playoff victory?
Do McDaniel, Tagovailoa, Hill and Waddle bear greater responsibility if the Dolphins fail to win a playoff game in the third year of the McDaniel-Tua era?
Or will everything stay the same and the decision about the Dolphins will not be determined by the performance of their highest-paid people, but by injuries and the temperature at kickoff?
I hope the latter is not the case.
I don’t want the fans to turn against their heroes.
I don’t want fans to insult her, troll her on social media or anything like that.
They are all nice guys. I like them.
I don’t want anyone to lose their job.
I would just like to know the fans’ expectations and demands for McDaniel, Tagovailoa, Hill and Waddle.
And I would like to know if fans are holding those who earn the most money more accountable for the outcome of the season.
Most fans hope/expect a playoff win for the Dolphins.
The same goes for the media, both local and national.
A playoff win.
That’s it.
To be clear: The Dolphins players and coaches want to win the Super Bowl. They want to win it badly. I have no doubt about that.
But they are well aware that this franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since 2000. McDaniel, Hill and Tagovailoa have all alluded to it publicly.
An important goal is to end this play-off drought.
For that to happen, these guys need to perform better in big games and games against playoff teams.
In seven games against playoff teams last season, the Dolphins had a record of 1-6.
Tagovailoa had eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in those games.
Hill, who had eight 100-yard passing games last season, failed to do so in a single game against playoff teams.
Waddle, who had three 100-yard games this season, had zero points against playoff teams.
McDaniel could fix some of these deficiencies by playing differently/better.
But ultimately, players have to be better against the best teams on their schedule.
We’ll see if that happens.
By the way, the ultimate goal is not to end the drought without playoff wins. Hopefully, winning a playoff game will be seen as a stepping stone to greater success.
But that’s hard to say for sure.
The Dolphins do not always formulate their goals clearly.
Grier was asked last Wednesday: “How do you define a successful season this year? Does it require you to end the 24-year drought?”
He seemed to say “yes” before stepping back slightly.
“Yeah, I don’t think we shy away from it,” Grier replied. “Mike (McDaniel) has talked about it, yeah. For us, it’s always the same thing: every team wants to win the Super Bowl, and we’re no different. And at the end of the day, one team wins, and if you don’t win it, to me it’s not a successful season if you don’t win it. That’s how I’ve always looked at it.”
Hmmmm…
McDaniel was a little more explicit when asked whether there should be higher expectations of Tagovailoa due to the contract extension.
“I think expectations are important from one perspective, namely the personal expectations you have of yourself,” McDaniel began.
He went on to say that it is natural for expectations to evolve because you are always trying to be the next version of yourself and if you are not getting better, you are getting worse.
“External expectations will adjust, but I think it’s important that you focus on your internal expectations because that’s the best way to get the strongest results that will hopefully satisfy all of your friends, fans and everyone else,” McDaniel said.
Based on that, one might assume that McDaniel would say that the recently honored members of the Dolphins organization – himself, Tagovailoa, Hill and Waddle – should live up to their own expectations.
But what expectations do the fans have of them?
