Miami Dolphins are at crossroads in 2015 under interim head coach Dan Campbell

By Will Stabley | November 20, 2015 |

The Miami Dolphins fired head coach Joe Philbin four games into the 2015 season not only because it was losing games should have won, the team had all but quit on him. Midseason coaching changes almost never pay off in the NFL, but the Dolphins had reached such a humiliating point that change simply had to be made. Dan Campbell took over as interim coach by default, and then something surprising happened: Miami started winning.

Now with a 4-5 record just past the midpoint of the season and the playoffs a remote possibility, the team finds itself at a crossroads. The 2015 Dolphins season seemed straightforward on paper: most of the weak opponents were early in the season, meaning wins had to be amassed early on before the schedule turned much more difficult.

Philbin failed in that regard. But now that the team is at least passable under Campbell, something else surprising has happened. Would-be difficult opponents like the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens are having surprisingly weak seasons, opening a door for the Dolphins to do some damage in the second half of the season. But is Miami up for it?