First home game of the year, a 24-10 loss to Kansas City, and somehow still the best Sunday I've had all month.
Let me start with the part that went right, because a lot did. The lot on Sunday morning was everything I missed all offseason. Smoke in the air, music coming from three directions at once, strangers handing you a plate before they've asked your name. Aqua everywhere I looked. That's home.
Then we went inside, and for a while it felt like the building might carry them. You could feel people wanting it. 24-10 is how it ended, and I'm not going to pretend the walk back to the car was fun. It was quiet. A lot of folks looking at their shoes.
0-3 is heavy
I'm not going to tell you it isn't. Three weeks, three losses, and this one in front of our own people. I got home, sat in the driveway for a minute with the engine off and let it be what it was. You're allowed to be frustrated. Being frustrated means you still care, and the day I stop caring about this team is the day they can have my hat.
The tailgate went 1-0. I'm counting it.
What I'm holding on to
The people. I talked to more Dolphins fans on Sunday than I had all offseason, and not one of them said they were done. Mad, yes. Loud about it, yes. Done, no. That's the thing about this fan base. We complain like family, because that's what we are.
A kid a few cars down was at his first game. He lost his voice before halftime and he was still trying to yell on the way out. He doesn't know what 0-3 means yet. He just knows he was there. I want to be more like that kid.
Next up is Minnesota, on the road. I want one thing: a fourth quarter that matters. Give me a game that's still a game late and I'll take my chances. Fins up. Yes, still.