Almost isn’t good enough for Jarvis Landry.
The Dolphins staged a huge comeback Sunday against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, but New England still managed to squeak out a 31-24 win when Duron Harmon intercepted a pass from Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the closing moments. The loss pushed Miami’s record to 0-2, and Landry was among those unhappy about the Dolphins’ inability to rally past the Pats.
“I hate to say it, but we can’t be an almost team,” the Dolphins wide receiver said after Sunday’s game, according to the Miami Herald. “We can’t be a team, ‘We almost won. Let’s build off this.’ That (expletive) is over with. Got to find ways to win the game.”
Landry did his part, hauling in a team-high 10 catches for 137 yards. But the Dolphins dug themselves too deep a hole. And when it came time for a big stop late in the fourth quarter, Miami’s defense still had no answer for New England running back LeGarrette Blount, who finished with 123 rushing yards, including 35 on the Patriots’ final possession, which ended with a missed field goal but ate up more than five minutes.
“This is a bottom-line business,” Dolphins cornerback Byron Maxwell said, according to the Miami Herald, echoing sentiments similar to Landry’s. “At the end of the day, we were at the minus-30 or whatever, but we have to make that stop. We have to play better and come out with a victory. It’s on our back.”
The Dolphins had a chance to do something special Sunday. Instead, as they’ve done far too often in recent seasons, they fell flat on their face as an “almost team.”
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
