Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t backing off his bold Dolphins forecast.
After Miami opened the season with a 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the former quarterback turned Amazon Prime analyst said his preseason prediction that the Dolphins could go 0-17 in 2026 still has a real chance of hitting. Fitzpatrick pointed to the Dolphins’ schedule and the shape of the roster as the main reasons he’s holding that line.
He said he sees echoes of the 2019 team he played on, the one that entered Brian Flores’ first season with little expectation and still managed to win five games.
"We started 0-7 (in 2019). We lost the first four games by an average of 34 points a game.
A game! We were not even given the chance to succeed," Fitzpatrick told the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson.
"So 0-17 I feel is within reach, and part of it is because of who they're playing. They're playing the NFC North and AFC West, which I think is really important."
Miami’s next chance comes Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. After that, the Dolphins are set to host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 27 before matchups with the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals in the following weeks.
Fitzpatrick also zeroed in on the financial mess left behind by the previous front office, saying the roster turnover has played a major role in his skepticism.
"Part of it is self-inflicted with all the dead money," Fitzpatrick said. "They've got over $180 million in dead cap. Tua (Tagovailoa), Tyreek (Hill), Jaylen Waddle, (Bradley) Chubb, (Jalen) Ramsey, Minkah (Fitzpatrick) - all those guys that are on the books but not on the roster; that's part of it."
Even with his grim outlook, Fitzpatrick said he’s still pulling for Miami to prove him wrong.
"The people that can get in the way of a tank are the coaches and the players. And that's what happened in 2019.
I'm rooting for them to screw it up and get in the way of it. But I think 0-17 is (realistic)," Fitzpatrick said.
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