Miami Dolphins cornerback Rasul Douglas landed the AFC Player of the Week, but this award signals a much bigger change for the team.
The Miami Dolphins have a lot of work left to do, but the team is currently riding a four-game winning streak that has them in the thick of the playoff conversation. Granted, they will need a lot of help to get there, but their current 6-7 record has them in the hunt.
A major reason for this massive change has to do with players buying into the "delusion" that they can turn things around. Dolphins linebacker edge rusher Bradley Chubb coined that term and said the team is delusional enough to believe they will make the playoffs.
Clearly, that delusion has spread to multiple places on the team, including the secondary. Rasul Douglas picked up the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against the New York Jets.
Douglas secured the third Player of the Week nod and became only the sixth Dolphins cornerback to be given the award.
Douglas picked up five passes defensed, two tackles, and an interception en route to his recognition by the NFL.
With five passes defended and an interception, he is also the first AFC player to bring in those stats since Eric Rowe did it in 2010. Simply put, Douglas' stat lines point to a much bigger change for this Dolphins team.
When the season began, the Dolphins were one of the worst defenses in the league, giving up 25 points or more to opposing defenses six out of their first seven games.
That's not to mention being gashed in the run game. The Dolphins remain eighth-worst in the league when it comes to rushing yards per game, as they are giving up an average of 131.9.
To be fair, this number is inflated due to the early season struggles.
The Dolphins have since turned things around in multiple categories since Week 8. It started by all but silencing Bijan Robinson when they played the Atlanta Falcons.
The normally All-Pro level talent only secured 25 yards on the ground, which is no easy feat in stopping.
The following week was a lot more cruel, as Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens hung 150 yards on the ground. However, the team tightened things up.
Apart from the Washington Commanders also getting 172 yards on the ground, no other opponent has rushed for more than 100 yards against the Dolphins' defense.
This includes the Jets, Buffalo Bills, and New Orleans Saints. All of which have good run defenses.
The points allowed have also diminished. After allowing more than 25 points to opponents, no team has scored more than 18 points, other than the Ravens, since Week 8.
Miami is believing in itself in a new way, which has been showcased on the field. Anytime a defensive player makes a big play, the rest of the squad runs up and surrounds them, engaging in a chant that fans often join in on.
A clip of this celebration can be seen above. After linebacker Tyrel Dodson made a play, his teammates rushed to him, clapped in unison, and said his full name.
The idea for the Dolphins players is to use someone's full name, and not their nicknames. It is a small, but important detail.
Earlier in the season, players were not celebrating with one another. There were multiple questions and narratives built around a fractured locker room.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa even publicly called out his own teammates for being late to player-led meetings.
The secondary for the Dolphins was already a question, and multiple injuries to Storm Duck, Kader Kohou, and Artie Burns left the position reeling.
Miami brought in veterans Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas to stop the proverbial bleeding.
Nobody quite expected the Dolphins' defense to rebound in a way that it has, especially the secondary.
The Dolphins spent the majority of their losing streak without momentum on both sides of the ball, but Douglas' award signals that a major change has occurred.
Stopping opponents has become a regular occurrence as well. The Dolphins had one interception through the first five games of the season.
Now, this Dolphins defense has six through the last four games. As stated, the delusion is starting to set in.
This Miami team has also been hounded by the idea that they cannot win in December in cold temperatures, and that was silenced on Sunday. They beat the Jets in under 45-degree weather, which snapped a previous 0-6 streak held by Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins have another chance to prove the narratives surrounding the team may be dead. Should they beat the Steelers on "Monday Night Football," it will push the team to 7-7 and .500 for the season.
Even more important, it will improve that record to 2-6 for Tagovailoa, and also shake the cold-weather issues even more. The temperature is set to be reported as 20 degrees or lower.
If the Dolphins can win with another dominant defensive performance, Douglas' award will just prove this team has taken major strides, and could be on its way to escaping mediocrity.