Miami Dolphins fan confidence Week 12: Rebound continues with another win

The Miami Dolphins have won their last two games and are clawing their way into the AFC playoff picture. After a rough first half of the season—and that may even be an understatement—Miami’s fans seemed ready to abandon the team and the season. A strong performance in a loss to the Buffalo Bills, followed by wins over the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders, the fans seem to be coming back and are ready to believe in the team again.

Sitting at 4-6 on the year, the Dolphins have a lot of work to do, but, the important part is, they still have things they can work toward. This year is not over yet, and the Dolphins will be looking to keep the positivity as they host the New England Patriots in Week 12.

Our SB Nations Reacts poll, brought to us by FanDuel sportsbook, takes a look at how the fans are feeling about the direction of the Dolphins in Week 12.

Are the Miami Dolphins headed in the right direction? - Week 12 results

This season has been frustrating for Dolphins fans, and the fan confidence rating has shown the frustration. After starting at 85 percent of the fans feeling positive about the Dolphins, the confidence had fallen to single digits by Week 4, with just nine percent of the fans behind the team. In Week 5, it cratered to just five percent of the fans saying the Dolphins were headed in the right direction, an all-time low in our polling. We also saw single-digit ratings in Week 6 (eight percent) and Week 9 (seven percent).

According to our poll, the fans are back. After Miami beat the Rams, fan confidence jumped to 41 percent. With another win, we are closing in on two-thirds of the fan base believing the team is headed in the right direction. As the team heads into Week 12, 65 percent of the fans trust that Miami is on the right track.

Where will the fan confidence rating land after this week’s game? We will be back in Week 13 to take a look.

Week 1: 85%
Week 2: 82%
Week 3: 15%
Week 4: 9%
Week 5: 5%
Week 6: 8%
Week 7: 20%
Week 8: 22%
Week 9: 7%
Week 10: 12%
Week 11: 41%
Week 12: 65%

Dolphins opponent fan confidence: New England Patriots

New England fans seem to have realistic expectations toward this season. The team is are currently 3-8 on the year, but the fans see the team in a positive light, knowing they are probably in for a rough year as they transition from the Bill Belichick era into Jerod Mayo as the team’s head coach - the first change in head coach the team has had since 1999.

Fan confidence in the Patriots has fluctuated throughout the year, though it has never been as low as that of Dolphins fans. They reached their high point in Week 2, ahead of the team’s first game against Miami in 2024, with 90 percent of their fans thinking the team was headed in the right direction. It fell to its low point in Week 8, when just 18 percent of the fans thought the team was worth a positive response.

Ahead of their second meeting with the Dolphins, 63 percent of Patriots fans think New England is headed in the right direction.

Raiders fan confidence:
Week 1: 66%
Week 2: 90%
Week 3: 77%
Week 4: 41%
Week 5: 28%
Week 6: 34%
Week 7: 65%
Week 8: 18%
Week 9: 48%
Week 10: 28%
Week 11: 75%
Week 12: 63%