Dolphins face off with Ravens for AFC’s top spot: ‘You dream about these type of games’
MIAMI GARDENS — Instead of Bill Parcells’ “This is why you lift all them weights,” this is why you made all those moves — or got all them players.
It’s games like this.
Tyreek Hill. Terron Armstead. Bradley Chubb. Jalen Ramsey.
This is why the Miami Dolphins invested money and trade assets to bring them aboard with a young core built through the preceding years’ drafts: Christian Wilkins, Tua Tagovailoa, Austin Jackson, Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillips, Jevon Holland.
It’s to compete for Super Bowls, which the Dolphins haven’t been shy to talk about before, and make playoff runs. And before a team can do that, it fights for playoff positioning.
There is no greater opportunity than what the Dolphins (11-4) have in front of them, a Week 17 showdown for the AFC’s top seed against the Baltimore Ravens (12-3) in a 1 p.m. kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium.
“The opportunity to play the NFL’s best is just that for us,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “We’re excited about that opportunity because, as competitors, that’s what we want to do. We want to go against the best and put our best foot forward and see how it plays out.”
A Dolphins win clinches the AFC East division crown and a top-two seed in the playoffs. It puts them at No. 1 in the AFC with one week remaining before the postseason. The Dolphins would be in position where a win the following week back home against the Buffalo Bills seals a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
A loss Sunday in Baltimore means the Ravens clinch the top spot in the conference and all that comes with it. Miami would then, if the Bills beat the Patriots at home Sunday, duel Buffalo with the division on the line in a scenario where a win in the finale gets the Dolphins the No. 2 seed but a loss drops them all the way to No. 6, where they would likely travel to the third-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round.
“This is what you work so hard in the offseason for,” Chubb, Miami’s outside linebacker said. “At the end of the day, this is not the end goal. We still have a lot to do and a lot to prove. This is just one step in the right direction.”
Said running back Jeff Wilson Jr.: “This is the football that you really love as a kid, you dream about, you fantasize about these type of games.”
A Dolphins visit to M&T Bank Stadium, once a house of horrors for the franchise, now brings back memories of last season’s epic Week 2 comeback, where Miami won, 42-38, after trailing by three touchdowns early in the fourth quarter. Tagovailoa threw for a career-high 469 yards and six touchdowns, and wide receiver Tyreek Hill exploded for two deep scores to ignite the rally.
But that’s not to say it’ll be just as easy as that fourth quarter. Especially as the Ravens come off a 33-19 statement win against the San Francisco 49ers where they intercepted Brock Purdy four times.
“It’s a new year. They’ve made some changes to their defense,” Tagovailoa said. “They’re very sound in the back end. They’ll get to you on the front end and then also with their front seven in the run game.”
And any time a team faces the Ravens, it has to look out for electric quarterback Lamar Jackson, a Pompano Beach native and Boynton Beach High alum who is the betting favorite to win the MVP this season, which would be the second of his NFL career after winning a Heisman in college at Louisville.
“The only other player that’s been like him in the last 50 years is Michael Vick,” Dolphins defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “The pure definition of a great quarterback is there’s no one way to play him. Because if there was, everybody would do it. So you just have to mix up what you’re doing.”
Said safety DeShon Elliott, once a teammate of Jackson’s in Baltimore: “There’s no stopping Lamar Jackson, but you can try to contain him as much as you can.”
Jackson and rookie Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers are South Florida products playing against their hometown team. The Dolphins have key defenders in Elliott and defensive tackle Zach Sieler as former Ravens. They were part of the same Baltimore draft class as Jackson and tight end Mark Andrews.
Both teams have their share of injury concerns. Miami won’t have standout No. 2 receiver Waddle, out with a high ankle sprain. Elite cornerback Ramsey suddenly showed up on the team’s Friday injury report after the final practice of the week. He is questionable with a knee ailment. Flowers is questionable with a calf injury. Rangy Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week responsible for two of the picks on Purdy last Monday night, is questionable due to his ailing knee.
“I think adversity is an opportunity,” said McDaniel of not letting the injuries distract those who are playing. “There’s kind of a mindset that things happen in football — or in sports as you relate it — and not focusing on, ‘Oh, our guy’s hurt,’ and focusing on what my job is. Let the people that have to step up to replace that player worry about their game; I’m going to worry about mine.”
A Dolphins win to clinch the division and a top-two seed would mark the first time the franchise finishes top two in the conference since the 1992 season. Getting the No. 1 seed would be a first since 1984, the last time Miami reached the Super Bowl.