Dolphins’ overhead bins on LA flight carrying plenty of hope

Each of the last three seasons, at least one 2-4 team has rebounded to reach the playoffs. San Francisco, Philadelphia and New England did it in 2021, Jacksonville in 2022 and Green Bay in 2023. Now, both the Dolphins and Rams are hoping to continue that trend.

Miami (2-6) and Los Angeles (4-4) have taken similar roads to their meeting at SoFi Stadium on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN). Both clubs have battled significant injuries during the season’s first half, the Dolphins losing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for four games and the Rams struggling without their starting wide receivers, Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua.

Now that each team is healthy, that restoration is fanning the flames of hope. And among the NFL’s two-win teams, no one has more hope than Miami.

“My hope is real is because the football that I’m watching and detailing is improving,” Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said this week, “and I think the team is focused on trying to have a game where they feel like their brand of football was mastered. I think the football team knows that when that occurs, things will take care of themselves in the win column.”

That column is a place Miami hasn’t reached since Tagovailoa returned from a concussion, but not because the salty, savvy quarterback has played poorly. In fact, since coming off injured reserve in Week 8, Tagovailoa has an 80.3 completion percentage (53 of 66). Only Jared Goff (81.1 percent) in that span has a higher mark. The Dolphins’ veteran leader also owns a 111.2 passer rating since his return, with 465 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

“I think it starts in practice and how we prepare,” said Tagovailoa, who led Miami into SoFi Stadium to open the 2023 season and beat the Chargers by passing for 466 yards and three touchdowns. “With conversations you have as a leader of the defense, as a leader of the offense, as a leader of the team, having those conversations with the guys of what the expectation is and continuing to harp on the guys to stay in it, stay in it. We could be one game away from going on a streak and hopefully turning this whole thing around.”

The Rams have already turned their season around. Last week at Seattle, they won their third straight game after opening the year 1-4. Rookie Kamren Kinchens was key in the resilient win over the Seahawks, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his 103-yard interception-return touchdown. Kinchens and the Rams’ defense might pave the path to victory Monday night if they can stop Tagovailoa, who didn’t have trouble scoring points in Miami’s narrow loss at Buffalo last week.

For more information on the Dolphins and Rams, visit the Miami and L.A. Rams team pages at ProFootballPost.com.