2024 playoff selections see Colin Cowherd bypass the Dolphins.
Last weekend marked the conclusion of the 2023 NFL season, with the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers to capture the Lombardi Trophy for the third time in the previous five years.
No Dolphins coach since Dave Wannstedt in 2000 and 2001 has been able to send his team to the postseason twice in a row before Mike McDaniel, in only his second season as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
Nevertheless, some predict Miami won’t make the cut next year.
This week, Colin Cowherd of FOX Sports spent time predicting which seven teams would make the playoffs next season. The Dolphins were not one of those teams. The Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills, and Chiefs were among his selections.
Indeed, Cowherd provided a rationale for his perspective.”It’s nothing against Miami, but Tua was fully fit this year,” Cowherd remarked. Do you think that will occur once more in the upcoming year?
Cowherd is right; Tagovailoa did not play in all 17 regular-season games or in the team’s one postseason game until 2023. The Dolphins had an 11-6 record at the end of the season and fell to the eventual Super Bowl victors while he was starting quarterback. Tagovailoa achieved career highs in yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage in addition to leading the league in passing yards.
The fact that Tagovailoa had several concussions the year Miami qualified for the playoffs and missed several games, including the team’s playoff loss to the Bills, goes against Cowherd’s assertion.
If the Dolphins start the season with the same roster as they did in 2023, they would be better prepared for success in the event that Tagovailoa were to suffer an injury. However, a lot can and will change by the time the playoffs roll around in 11 months. Unlike Teddy Bridgewater and Skylar Thompson, who were asked to lead the team down the stretch in 2022, Mike White, the team’s likely backup, has familiarity with the scheme.
Tagovailoa is an excellent starting quarterback, and McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier have done a tremendous job of surrounding him with quality. However, even if he were to re-injure himself in 2024, they should be able to continue playing until Tagovailoa is cleared to return.
Furthermore, it is illogical to have Miami out of the playoffs due to quarterback health and to have the Bengals and Colts in.
Due to an ACL tear, rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson of the Colts missed the majority of the season. Drafted in the same round as Tagovailoa, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow missed seven games in 2023 due to a wrist ailment and experienced an ACL tear in his rookie season. Selecting and excluding is not very logical.