The NFL's popularity can be traced back to the competitive nature of every game. Wins and losses are often determined in the final minutes in this league. For the 2025 Miami Dolphins, victory has been within reach but has slipped away in those deciding moments.
The Dolphins travel to Cleveland this week. Despite having a lead or a tied score in five of the six games, the Dolphins enter with the same record as the Browns at 1-5.
Ahed of the trip, the Dolphins are focusing on the details and what it will take to beat defensive end Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns.
Honing in on the details
DT Zach Sieler – "You can't win till you stop from beating yourself. We got to make sure we hone in on the little things, because guess what, other teams are paid too. Across the NFL, I don't care what the team's record is, they are capable of winning games. We see it every year. So we now have got to get good at the little things where if they make that play, we have enough of a leeway or enough of resolve to be able to still win the game and get through those ebbs and flows of the game is how I tell guys. That's what we're saying right now is what do we need to do to dial in the little things to make it so we can handle if someone breaks a tackle or whatever, that it's going to be, all right, we can take it on the chin and keep playing and finish the game with a win."
LB Bradley Chubb – "The reps and the intentionality, the focus on it. Not saying that we weren't focused on it in the beginning, but just laser-focused on that at this time and point. Especially when it's been hurting us in so many games, just finding that way that extra mile to go in practice, in the meeting rooms. Like I said, not saying that we weren't doing that but just finding that extra gear because at the end of the day, it wasn't good enough."
OL Aaron Brewer – "I'd say just you have to have that positive mindset and be honest with what you're saying. If we're saying we're this close, we're that close to knocking down the door and winning and succeeding how we're trying to succeed. If we're doing everything we need to do and it's just that one person off, it's that close – you wouldn't want to have that negative mindset thinking things are about to go left. It's a lot of season left, and it's still room for growth and to correct those little mistakes and be clicking how we need to click and do what needs to be done."
Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns
T Patrick Paul – "Definitely, he's an excellent player and I'm really excited to go against him. You could watch him, a tackle could be in great position and he still wins. He's a very, very good football player, so this is going to be really fun and I'm very excited."
Head Coach Mike McDaniel - "I think that's part of the challenge of this particular defense and why they're playing so well, because if you overcommit to one player, you leave yourself extremely vulnerable to the other players not focused on and this group has a plethora of really, really good defensive linemen. So you have to balance it. You have to understand that it's no single person's job when you're talking about one of the best players in the league at any position and it may take a receiver adding an extra bump to his pass rush, or a chip to help Pat (Paul) block him, or it may take the appropriate receiver route and quarterback timing to block him and to beat his pass rush by timing, or it may take a turn, or we may account on one play three guys on him."
QB Tua Tagovailoa on Browns QB Dillon Gabriel - "Smooth thrower. I knew of him as he was growing up, and then I think I might have played one year as he was maybe a freshman or something playing varsity. Knew about him then and as he went into college and did his thing. Smooth thrower, can run, sees the field really well, and he's a Hawaii boy, so you always got to support the guys from back home."
For more on Dolphins-Browns, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield, available wherever you get your podcasts.
