Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Yes, the Miami Dolphins are technically still in the playoff hunt, but their chances of making the postseason took a huge blow in yesterday's 41-13 blowout defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots. It appears that for the second year in a row, the Dolphins are crumbling down the stretch. The team has scored just three offensive touchdowns this month and lost the final two games of the season last year to take themselves out of the post-season running.
If the Dolphins don't experience a dramatic and immediate turnaround, they will spend a sixth consecutive year watching the playoffs from their couches. In fact, Miami has failed to reach the postseason in 12 of the last 13 seasons. That's got to be frustrating.
Could all of this misery mean the end for head coach Joe Philbin?
"Philbin was hired with the promise he would improve this team game-to-game, month-to-month, season-to-season, but hasn't really delivered on any of that lately," wrote Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
"[Miami Dolphins owner Stephen] Ross wasn't going to lie and give Philbin an endorsement of any kind. That's because Ross is now likely to try and replace Philbin with Jim Harbaugh, if the San Francisco coach will get over his West Coast love affair and move east.
"What happens if Harbaugh doesn't want to come to Miami? That's going to be interesting. Before this debacle, one could easily argue Philbin could rightly still be the right guy for the job if the obvious upgrade to Harbaugh wasn't possible.
"It doesn't really feel that way anymore."
The Dolphins are just 22-24 under Philbin since he was hired in 2012. Additionally, while quarterback Ryan Tannehill is having a solid season, he has failed to develop into a significant difference maker under Philbin. If the Dolphins miss out on the playoffs again, it could be time for a change.
