Lear Asplundh
Staff Writers
With the Philadelphia Eagles out of the playoff race, if you're looking for another team to root for, tune into the Miami Dolphins. After a 1 and 4 start to the 2016 NFL season, the Miami Dolphins had lost hope in contention for the playoffs. The Dolphins felt some hope after two straight home wins against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills. During those two wins running back Jay Ajayi joined OJ Simpson, Earl Campbell, and Ricky Williams as the only players to rush for 200 yards in back to back games. They ended their 3 game home stand with a win against the jets. These 3 straight wins gave life to the both the dolphins and the fans who have not seen a playoff game since 2008.
With two road games ahead, the dolphins were looking to extend their win streak to 5 against the San Diego Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams. The Dolphins hung on to a win over the chargers after a Kiko Alonso game winning interception for a touchdown. Next week's game against the Rams was a nailbiter. The Dolphins trailed 10-0 until 5 minutes remaining in the game when the Dolphins put together two scoring drives to Jarvis Landry and the game winner to Devante Parker to top the Rams 14-10 and extend their winning streak to 5. On November 27, the dolphins played the struggling 1and 9 San Francisco 49ers. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter the dolphins extended their lead to 31-10 but the 49ers never gave up. After two quick touchdowns the 49ers had all the momentum and the ball with 2 minutes remaining. After a big catch got them down to the six yard line with 10 seconds left the game came down to these last plays. After a quick slant incompletion the Dolphins had to stop them one more time to achieve victory. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Linebacker Kiko Alonso stuffed Kaepernick short for the game-tying touchdown. After this win, the Dolphins went on to win six straight. Currently that sitting in the 6th seed in the playoffs. If Miami can keep this success, they could potentially make a run for the Lombardi trophy.
