The Dolphins Need to Drop the Miami Habit of Showing Up Late

Last night the Miami Dolphins took down the Buffalo Bills in a great game. While it wasn't a perfect game by any means, in Kyle Orton the Dolphins finally found a mediocre Bills QB they could stop after falling to EJ Manual this season and Thad Lewis twice last year.

Once again, we had a slow start on offense before turning it on in the second half. We are currently  25th in the NFL in first half scoring (9 points) and 1st in the NFL in second half scoring (15.9 points). This leads me to a huge way the Dolphins can improve their team.

The Dolphins Need to Drop the Miami Habit of Showing Up Late

There's a huge list of positive things that have come from South Florida culture (Pollo Tropical, Cuban Coffee and Trick Daddy to name a few) but one bad South Florida habit has taken hold of the Miami Dolphins this season and that is the habit of showing up late. For a city built on cocaine, Miami as a city is surprisingly laid-back. Starting times for events are often taken as suggestions. Watch any Miami sporting event and you'll see a lot of fans arriving a half hour into the game (or for the Florida Panthers, not at all). While you may think showing up late makes you look cool, in the NFL it makes your team look incompetent and unprepared.

I'm obviously not the first person to point this out. When your team averages more points in the 3rd quarter (11.3) than they do in the first half combined (9), that is going to draw some attention. While some try to suggest it shows that they are making smart half-time adjustments, it makes you wonder why the entire week of film study and practice they had leading up to the first half didn't lead to a better showing. If we are going to have any chance against high-scoring offenses like Denver next week, we are going to need 4 quarters of play. So Miami Dolphins, by all means keep the Publix subs, the sandals, and the Cuban sandwiches but please stop showing up late.