In Week One, the Dolphins hung with the Seahawks for almost the entire game and led until there were 30 seconds left to play before losing 12-10.
In Week Two, they almost came all the way back from 28 points down before the Patriots were able to run clock late and then intercept Ryan Tannehill with seconds to play in the game. That iced a 31-24 win for New England that saw the Dolphins offense do nothing early and the defense fail to get off the field late as the team fell to 0-2. After it was over, wide receiver Jarvis Landry said there was nothing positive to take from getting close.
“I hate to say it, but we can’t be an almost team,” Landry said, via the Miami Herald. “We can’t be a team, ‘We almost won. Let’s build off this.’ That [expletive] is over with. Got to find ways to win the game.”
There’s a good chance no one would be talking about almosts after the Patriots loss had Jimmy Garoppolo remained in the game or if Stephen Gostkowski had not uncharacteristically missed a 39-yard field goal with just over a minute to play. As it is, the Dolphins’ focus should be on their miserable start to the game rather than how close they might have come at the end because scrambling back against a third-string quarterback isn’t many people’s idea of a badge of honor.
Losing by a combined nine points in the first two weeks may look better than losing by 40, but 0-2 is 0-2 and the biggest almost for the Dolphins now is that they’re almost at a point where everyone will write them off as having any playoff chances in 2016.