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It may be sunny in Miami, but there’s a cloud hanging over the Dolphins’ 2025 season after an 0-2 start.
One team legend, however, isn’t hitting the panic button just yet.
Dan Marino, the Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, has been watching his former team closely. The Dolphins looked much better in Week 2 than they did in Week 1’s blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but the New England Patriots still escaped with a win in Miami’s home opener.
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Dan Marino enters the field prior to a preseason game between the Miami Dolphins and the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium on Aug. 9, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Marino, who played 17 NFL seasons, knows a lot could happen over the next 15 games.
“I think that if you ask every player on the team, and they’re all pros and the coaches too, they’d all be disappointed in the fact that they’re 0-2,” Marino told Fox News Digital while also highlighting his personal health battle with MASH, a serious liver disease. “But once again, I was talking about it earlier, you have to be positive.”
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The history of 0-2 starts doesn’t favor Miami. Over the last five seasons, 42 teams opened 0-2, and only five went on to make the playoffs—a success rate of just under 12%.
The Dolphins reached the postseason in 2022 and 2023 but slipped to 8-9 last year. Now, the onus is on head coach Mike McDaniel to reignite Miami’s high-powered offense, which looked sharper in Week 2 than in the opener.
Still, questions linger about how long the franchise will ride with McDaniel, especially after a sign was seen at Hard Rock Stadium asking for his firing. Marino, though, voiced confidence in the coach’s ability to steady the ship.
Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel runs to the locker room after the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
“I think it’s a group effort obviously. Mike is a brilliant offensive mind. He’s proven that,” Marino said. “Yesterday (SundaY), it’s just at the end, like all the games in the NFL, come down to the fourth quarter. Almost all of them are like that, and you have to play all four quarters. We did and we had a chance to win.
“The Dolphins, if (De’Von) Achane didn’t step out of bounds, I really feel like we would’ve won that game. That happened, there’s a couple mistakes, and next thing you know you lose the game. That’s why it’s so critical at the end especially to play mistake-free football. But Mike’s a very good football coach.”
In the NFL, the word “urgency” often comes up with only 17 games to decide postseason chances. Marino believes urgency isn’t about an 0-2 record—it should exist every week.
“If you’re playing in the NFL and you’re a true pro, which those guys in the NFL are, you have to have a sense of urgency every week no matter if it’s the first week or 15th week or seventh week—whatever it may be,” he said. “They have it. They understand that there’s a possibility you can go on a win streak and you can be in a losing streak. You just gotta find a way to be positive and work through that thing.”
The Dolphins face a short turnaround as they prepare for their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills, who are 2-0 to start the season. Marino recalled Miami’s close 30-27 loss in Buffalo last year, a game that showed the Dolphins could go toe-to-toe with one of the league’s best.
Former Miami Dolphins and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino talks with Tua Tagovailoa #1 prior to the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Hard Rock Stadium on Oct. 24, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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This week, Marino says, brings another opportunity. And for him, the only way forward is optimism.
“The Dolphins have another game to play on Thursday night in Buffalo. Last year, they played them really tough up there and almost won the game. So, it’s there for us. 0-2 is something you can come back from. It’s not the worst thing in the world, so I would say that’s it. You gotta be positive about it,” he said.
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