Ready to make a run

The Dolphins head into the second half of the season with a lot of momentum and lot of reasons to be optimistic.

- Alian Poupart

Before the Dolphins faced the New York Jets in Week 9 after coming off their bye, Head Coach Adam Gase made it clear that he wasn’t concerning himself with the playoff picture, playoff positioning or anything relating to the playoffs.

While the question wasn’t specifically asked after the 27-23 victory against the Jets, one can safely assume his answer would have been the same, that he wants his players to focus on the upcoming game, that the goal is simply to be 1-0 every week.

Fine, we’ll say it for him.

The Dolphins have put themselves in position to make a run for the playoffs.

It’s not just because they closed out the first half of the regular season on a three-game winning streak with victories against the Steelers, Bills and Jets to get their record to 4-4, but rather it’s the way they’ve done it.

They discovered the perfect formula for this team in that big victory against Pittsburgh in Week 7, and followed it against Buffalo and New York.

The formula is simple: Rely on the running game, eliminate mistakes as much as possible, and try to come up with some big plays on defense and special teams.

Do you think it’s a coincidence that Ryan Tannehill didn’t throw a pick during that three-game winning streak? Or that he was sacked twice in those three games after being dropped six times in that ugly loss against Tennessee that preceded the winning streak?