2016 Miami Dolphins season


The 2016 season was the Miami Dolphins' 47th in the National Football League, their 51st overall, their first under general manager Chris Grier and their first under head coach Adam Gase. The season saw the Dolphins trying to improve upon their 6–10 record from 2015. After a lackluster 1–4 start, the Dolphins claimed six straight wins, ultimately finishing the season on a 9–2 run. With their Week 15 win over the New York Jets, the Dolphins clinched a winning record for the first time since 2008, and clinched a playoff berth the following week after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos, ending their 8-year playoff drought. This made Gase the Dolphins' first rookie coach since Tony Sparano to end a year-long playoff drought and also lead them to a winning record of at least 10 wins. They were also the first AFC East team, other than the New England Patriots, to qualify for the postseason since the 2010 New York Jets. However, they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, ending their season and not winning a playoff game for the 16th straight year.

Offseason

Organizational changes

On January 2, 2016, two-year general manager Dennis Hickey was fired. On January 4, the Dolphins promoted director of college scouting Chris Grier to replace Hickey as the new general manager. Grier has been with the Dolphins for the past sixteen seasons, nine as the director of scouting.
The Dolphins front office, which is made up of owner Stephen Ross, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, CEO Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman Matt Higgins and Grier, developed a committee to find a permanent replacement for former head coach Joe Philbin, who was fired and replaced by tight ends coach Dan Campbell on October 5, 2015.
The Dolphins conducted interviews with seven candidates. The candidates included former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, former Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan, former Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone, Bills assistant head coach Anthony Lynn, Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and interim head coach Campbell. The Dolphins requested interviews with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, as well as Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.
Owner Ross expressed interest in New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton; however, on January 6, Payton announced he would remain in New Orleans for another season.
On January 9, Gase was hired as the twelfth head coach in Dolphins history. He was the only candidate to receive a second interview. On January 12, Gase hired Bengals' defensive back coach Vance Joseph as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Matt Burke, who worked with Joseph in Cincinnati, in the same position. Gase also hired Washington Redskins' offensive line assistant Shane Day as tight ends coach, San Francisco 49ers' offensive line coach Chris Foerster in the same position and former NFL wide receiver Shawn Jefferson as the wide receivers coach. Assistant general manager Eric Stokes was promoted to senior personnel executive.
On August 16, 2016, the Dolphins announced the naming rights to their home stadium had been sold to Hard Rock International. The stadium, which was known as Sun Life Stadium in 2015 and was being called "New Miami Stadium" during the $500 million renovations completed during the summer of 2016, will be known as "Hard Rock Stadium."

Roster changes

The Dolphins entered free agency with 11 unrestricted free agents.

Acquisitions

The Dolphins first addition of 2016 was the signing of wide receiver/cornerback Tyler Davis on January 4, on a futures contract. Davis became the first German Football League player to be signed by an NFL team.
March 7, 2016 – The Dolphins acquire LB Kiko Alonso and CB Byron Maxwell from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for swapping first round picks.
March 8, 2016 – The Dolphins sign DE Mario Williams on a 2-year, $16 million contract.
March 9, 2016 – The Dolphins sign S Isa Abdul-Quddus on a 3-year, $12.75 million contract.
May 13, 2016 – The Dolphins sign DE Jason Jones on a 1-year, $1.5 million contract.

Departures

The Dolphins first departure of 2016 was the waiving of offensive tackle Jason Curtis Fox, who had one year remaining on his contract, on January 12.
The Dolphins also released cornerback Brent Grimes and wide receiver Greg Jennings on March 5, 2016 after an uneventful 2015 season.
On March 9, the Dolphins lost Olivier Vernon, Lamar Miller, Derrick Shelby, Kelvin Sheppard, and Rishard Matthews to other teams during free agency.

Draft

RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollege
113Laremy TunsilOTOle Miss
238Xavien HowardCBBaylor
373Kenyan DrakeRBAlabama
386Leonte CarrooWRRutgers
6186Jakeem GrantWRTexas Tech
6204Jordan LucasCB/SPenn State
7223Brandon DoughtyQBWestern Kentucky
7231Thomas DuarteTEUCLA

Notes
  • The team traded its first-round selection to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a first-round selection, cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso.
  • The Baltimore Ravens traded its second-round selection to Miami in exchange for Miami's second and fourth-round selections.
  • Miami traded its fifth-round selection to the New England Patriots in exchange for New England's 2 sixth-round selections and a seventh-round selection.
  • The Dolphins acquired an additional seventh-round selection in a trade that sent cornerback Will Davis to the Baltimore Ravens.

    Staff

Final roster

Schedule

Preseason

This was the first preseason since 1999 that the Dolphins did not play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1at New York GiantsW 27–101–0MetLife Stadium
2at Dallas CowboysL 14–411–1AT&T Stadium
3Atlanta FalconsW 17–62–1Camping World Stadium
4Tennessee TitansL 10–212–2Hard Rock Stadium

Regular season

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Postseason

RoundDateOpponent ResultRecordVenueRecap
Wild CardJanuary 8, 2017at Pittsburgh Steelers L 12–300–1Heinz Field

Game summaries

Regular season

Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks

The Dolphins opened their 2016 season at Seattle. This game would mark their first visit to Seattle since 2004. In the first quarter, the Dolphins would trail early as Steven Hauschka nailed a 39-yard field goal, giving Seattle a 3–0 lead. Miami would tie the game 3–3 on an Andrew Franks 41-yard field goal. But, the Seahawks would retake the lead on another Hauschka field goal, this time from 38 yards. After a scoreless 3rd quarter, Miami would finally take their first lead on a Ryan Tannehill 2 yard touchdown run, giving Miami a 10–6 lead with 4:08 left. However, Seattle would march down the field and take the lead for good, as Russell Wilson found Doug Baldwin from 2 yards out. With the loss, Miami started their season 0–1.

Week 2: at New England Patriots

After trailing 31–3 for most of the game, Miami made the game close, but the comeback was short, as the Patriots held on for the win. With the loss, Miami fell to 0–2 for the first time since 2011.

Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns

Cleveland kicker Cody Parkey missed three field goals in the game, including a potential game winner with no time left on the clock. After both teams failed on their opening drive of the overtime period, Jay Ajayi capped a three-play, 44-yard drive with an 11-yard run into the end zone to give Miami the win. With that, the Dolphins improved to 1–2.

Week 4: at Cincinnati Bengals

The Dolphins wore orange Color Rush uniforms for this game. The Bengals dominated this game from start to finish, forcing two Miami turnovers. With the loss, the Dolphins fell to 1–3.

Week 5: vs. Tennessee Titans

In the first of three games at home before their bye, the Dolphins gave up an early lead to the Tennessee Titans that they failed to overturn, as they fell to 1–4. Tannehill was sacked six times in the game.

Week 6: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

was injured and taken out of the game briefly after throwing two interceptions and tearing his meniscus. The Steelers led 8–3 with less than 10 minutes played in the first quarter, but the Dolphins outscored the Steelers 27–7 for the remainder of the game. With the win, the Dolphins improved to 2–4, and started a six-game winning streak.

Week 7: vs. Buffalo Bills

The Dolphins trailed 17–6 going into the final minute of the third quarter, but three consecutive touchdowns by the Dolphins gave them a 28–25 win and they improved to 3–4. Running back Jay Ajayi became the first Dolphins running back to rush for over 200 yards in consecutive games since Ricky Williams accomplished the feat in 2002.