It was midway through the third quarter during Monday night's debacle in New Orleans that a thought crossed my mind.
No, it wasn't whether or not the Dolphins would come back and win the game. I, like most of the world, knew that falling behind three scores to a team like the Saints, in the Superdome, was as good as a death sentence.
No, it wasn't an angry thought, either. I'm not angry about the loss, and nor should you be. Miami isn't the first team to get embarrassed in New Orleans, and they certainly won't be the last. As I stated earlier in the week, few teams can say they've beaten the Saints at home on Monday night.
The thought was this:
Next week's game just took on a whole new meaning.
And it has.
I'll even do you one better:
This game against the Baltimore Ravens will be the BIGGEST game on the 2013 schedule.
Not because it's a conference game against a potential wild card foe. Not because they're the defending Super Bowl champions. Not even because it would move Miami to 4-1 heading into the bye week.
But because of the message it will send, good or bad, to the rest of the league.
What's that message, exactly?
That this team is for real. That their quarterback possesses something a lot of quarterbacks don't, a short-term memory.
And, most importantly, that the 2013 Miami Dolphins can do something that past teams simply couldn't do. Something that held them back. Something that separates the pretenders, from the contenders; the good teams from the great teams.
Respond.
How will Ryan Tannehill RESPOND after his worst game of the season?
How will Mike Wallace RESPOND after a game in which he dropped three passes?
How will the offensive line RESPOND after yet another sack fest?
How will the secondary RESPOND to the arial show put on by Drew Brees?
For the first time this season, the flaws have been exposed. Flaws in Ryan Tannehill and his troubling sense of ball security.
Flaws in Mike Wallace and his lack of chemistry with Tannehill.
Flaws in the coaching staff and their inability to properly utilize Wallace.
Flaws in the secondary, the offensive line, and the pass rush.
You see, winning hid these flaws. Take baseball, for instance. If you have a great hitter and a great fielder on the bench, but can only play one, what do you do? You stick the hitter in right field, hoping to hide him out there without it costing you the game.
If you win, nobody notices. You're praised, worshipped, hailed, even.
But if you lose? Well, everybody notices. You're questioned, second-guessed, and doubted. Fair or not, that's the harsh reality of sports.
As loud as the voices are when you win, they double in decibel when you lose.
These aren't new problems for the Miami Dolphins. Ryan Tannehill fumbled and threw interceptions BEFORE Monday night. Mike Wallace looked lost BEFORE Monday night. The secondary struggled to cover Tight Ends BEFORE Monday night.
None of that mattered when the Miami Dolphins were 3-0.
But all of it matters now.
Joe Philbin summed it up best following the game: "We're going to find out what kind of football team we have now."
People don't remember the loss.
They remember how you responded TO the loss.
Buckle up, South Florida. Now the real fun begins.
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