The 2020 season was the Miami Dolphins' 51st in the National Football League, their 55th overall and their second under head coach Brian Flores.
This was the first season since the 2016 season that the Dolphins finished with a winning record.
Despite being 2nd in their division, and having double digit wins, the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs due to Indianapolis beating the Jaguars in the last week of the season. This was the fourth time in franchise history that the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs with ten wins
The Dolphins ranked 6th in defense this season.
Season Summary
The Dolphins dedicated their 2020 season in memory of legendary Dolphins' head coach Don Shula, who died on May 4, 2020, at the age of 90, at his Indian Creek, Florida home. At both home and away games, the Dolphins wore patches bearing Shula's surname and the number 347, the number of Shula's all-time number of wins in his 32 years as an NFL head coach. Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history, served as Dolphins' head coach from 1970 to 1995 and had led the franchise to five Super Bowl appearances, winning back-to-back championships in 1972 and 1973. Famously, in 1972, Shula led the Dolphins to their first Super Bowl title, as well as the only perfect season by a team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
The Dolphins improved on their 5–11 record from the previous season, following a Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. After beginning the season 1–3, the Dolphins established themselves as playoff contenders by winning five straight games and starting with a 6–3 record for the first time since 2001. They also started 8–4 for the first time since 2003. The team clinched their first winning season since 2016 after a Week 15 win over the Patriots, which eliminated the Pats from the playoffs for the first time since 2008. On December 26, the Dolphins clinched their first 10-win season since 2016 with a 26–25 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
A significant factor in Miami's dramatic improvement over their 2019 season of 5–11 was the story of their defense. In 2019, the Dolphins allowed more points than any other team in the NFL. In 2020, only five teams allowed fewer points-per-game than the Dolphins.
However, despite the improvements, the Dolphins were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year following a blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills and the Indianapolis Colts' victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17, becoming the first team to miss the playoffs with 10+ wins since the 2015 Jets, which, coincidentally, were also led by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Despite their elimination from the playoffs, 5th-year cornerback Xavien Howard joined Antonio Cromartie as the only players since the 1970 merger to record at least 10 interceptions in a season, and was the most by a Dolphins player since Dick Westmoreland in 1967. The Dolphins also clinched the rights for the 3rd overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which is one of the two first-round picks they received from trading Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to the Houston Texans a season prior. The Dolphins had also finished the 2020 season by scoring a total of 404 points, which is their third highest-scoring total in a season in franchise history (the franchise's highest being 513 total points in 1984).
This season was also highlighted by the emergence of rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the 5th pick in the 2020 Draft, who was named the Dolphins' starter in Week 8, after the team began 3–3 under the leadership of Ryan Fitzpatrick. As the Dolphins' starting quarterback, he went 6–3 and also became the fifth rookie quarterback since the 1970 merger to win his first three starts.
Signings
The Dolphins signed former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones, former Philadelphia Eagles running back Jordan Howard, and former New England Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy. The Dolphins also picked up San Francisco 49ers' RB Matt Breida in a trade for a fifth-round draft pick which later became Colton McKivitz.