Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and Dolphins in Germany is one of the biggest on the Week Nine schedule.
Both teams are 6-2 and leading their respective divisions as they head into Sunday, so the result of the game is going to give birth to narratives about where the teams stand at the start of the second half of the season. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said on Friday that he’s aware that will happen and that he has a good idea what they will be for his team, but that no conclusions people draw will have bearing on where the team is going.
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen with the Miami Dolphins. We lose, we can’t beat good teams. We win, we’re going to win the Super Bowl,” McDaniel said, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com. “None of it matters. You have to be your best when your best is required, and that’s when there’s elimination games. So you’re trying to build towards that and take advantage of every opportunity to best service yourself for the situation at end of the season.”
McDaniel is right that a loss to the Chiefs won’t knock the Dolphins out of playoff contention and beating them won’t guarantee any future success, but none of that is likely to stop people from viewing the team differently once the final whistle blows on Sunday morning.