Miami Dolphins Week 16 fan confidence ranking, teams needs moving forward

The Miami Dolphins head into their Week 16 meeting against the San Francisco 49ers coming off a loss to the Houston Texans, which reduced their slim playoff chances to nearly nil. Miami has to run the table through the last three weeks of the season to keep their streak of four straight winning seasons alive for a fifth year. Can they do that?

Do fans really care at this point, or has all confidence in the direction of the team dissipated? Our SB Nation Reacts poll, brought to us by FanDuel sportsbook, examines how the fans feel about the Dolphins’ direction in Week 16 and what the team needs moving forward.

Are the Miami Dolphins headed in the right direction? - Week 16 results

The Dolphins’ loss to the Texans in Week 15 just about ended their hopes of reclaiming a spot in the AFC playoff picture. They fell to 6-8 on the season, needing wins throughout all three remaining weeks, along with multiple losses by several other teams, to hope for a postseason berth. What was supposed to be a fun season with Miami able to make a deep playoff run has become a struggle to stay relevant.

Leading into the Texans game, 48 percent of Dolphins fans believed the team was headed in the right direction. Now, with the loss to Houston on the record, Miami fans are questioning the team and where they are headed. Well, maybe it is even more than “questioning” as the Week 16 fan confidence rating came in with just nine percent of the fans feeling the Dolphins are on the right track.

Can a win over the 49ers bounce the confidence rating back up? We will be back in Week 17 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%
Week 13: 79%
Week 14: 19%
Week 15: 48%
Week 16: 9%

What is Miami’s biggest need?

This week, we asked a second question in our SB Nation Reacts poll. We wanted to know what you think is the biggest need for the Dolphins. We provided four possible options for the poll, including the offensive line, the defensive line, the edge rushing, and the secondary. The comments of the article had a lot of off-field suggestions for how to improve the Dolphins, but we were looking at just on-field positioning.

The offensive line dominated the responses, coming in with 91 percent. The secondary received four percent of the vote, the defensive line picked up three percent, and the edge rushers came in with two percent of the vote. The fans clearly see the offensive line as the team’s biggest need, and it is not even close.

Dolphins opponent fan confidence: San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers are having a season similar to the Dolphins. After appearing in the Super Bowl last year, they were expected to have another strong season, potentially making it back to the NFC Championship and challenging for the Super Bowl. Instead, they are in last place in the NFC West and, like Miami, have a 6-8 record. This has not been the season San Francisco expected.

San Francisco fans have had a similar roller coaster of a season when compared to Dolphins fans, though they have not hit as low in their fan confidence poll as Miami’s fans. Heading into this week, they are seeing 48 percent of their fans believe in the direction of the team.

The 49ers’ team site, Niners Nation, also asked a second question this week. With the team sitting at 6-8, they asked if the team needs to start getting their younger players more playing time in preparation for 2025. The fans clearly believe it is time for San Francisco to focus on the development of their future rather than using the veteran players for this season.

49ers fan confidence:
Week 1: 93%
Week 2: 97%
Week 3: 59%
Week 4: 36%
Week 5: 88%
Week 6: 23%
Week 7: 68%
Week 8: 28%
Week 9: 69%
Week 10: 74%
Week 11: 70%
Week 12: 19%
Week 13: 15%
Week 14: 18%
Week 15: 64%
Week 16: 48%