Miami Dolphins get first peaceful Monday of season. Will there be more panic next week?

The Monday after the first week of the NFL season, the Miami Dolphins were seemingly in panic mode.

The run defense was a mess against New England the day before. The quarterback had thrown three interceptions and there was a question whether coach Brian Flores was making a change to rookie Tua Tagovailoa. And, yes, there were significant questions about both the coaching staff and personnel department because what happened on that Gillette Stadium field seemed to paint both as a failure.

The Monday after the second week of the NFL season, the Dolphins were seemingly in panic mode.

The pass defense was a mess against Buffalo the day before. The quarterback, while better, still wasn’t good enough to help his team win. And those significant questions about the coaching staff and personnel department persisted because whatever strategy was employed on that Hard Rock Stadium field the day before failed as did the players carrying out the plan.

The Monday after the third week of the NFL season, there was peace.

The Dolphins beat Jacksonville to collect their first win of the season. The quarterback played great. The run defense was good. The pass defense was good. The coaching was good.

All good.

So good, Flores opened his morning news conference Monday wearing a Marlins hat and took time out to celebrate both the Miami Marlins qualifying for the playoffs and the Miami Heat advancing to the NBA Finals.

“Congrats to Derek Jeter, Mike Hill, Don Mattingly,” Flores said of the Marlins’ CEO, president of baseball operations and manager as he tugged on his hat. “Same thing for the Heat. Great accomplishment. They played well last night. So congrats to both organizations — the Miami Heat and the Miami Marlins. Happy for them and supportive.”

So no panic for once.

(By the way, “panic” is not a word the Dolphins have used. It’s my word to describe the significant concern, unhappiness with results, and sense of urgency that was evident inside the organization after the first two losses.)

But here’s the truth: Amid the relative break from the drama of the first two weeks on this Monday, the view the Dolphins face just ahead is way, way more chilling than the one they saw following those two losses.

Because just ahead — on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium — the Dolphins are facing perhaps their best opponent of the season so far. And the best quarterback in the NFL right now.

So this is Monday is actually the calm before a storm.

The storm personified is Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson is the early MVP candidate for the league. (I know this because I get an actual vote in the matter).

After Sunday’s five-touchdown outing in a victory over the Cowboys, Wilson has opened the season throwing 14 touchdowns to one interception. Put another way — albeit with some stats hyperbole — Wilson is on pace to throw 74 TD passes in 2020.

How does that make you feel when the Dolphins can respond with a secondary that yielded a 100.7 rating and 78.9 percent completion percentage against Cam Newton and a 147 passer rating, 417 yards, four touchdowns and a 68.5 completion percentage against Josh Allen?

“This is a spectacular player,” Flores said of Wilson. “This guy is tough to defend. He makes really good decisions. He can extend plays. He’s accurate with the football. He pretty much knows what you’re in from a coverage standpoint because he’s seen a lot of exotic defenses. He’s one of the best players in the league, if not the best.”

Now, Flores is from the Bill Belichick school of tossing verbal bouquets to opponents before the game and then trying to lay a wreath on their grave during the game.

And he was true to form on this when discussing the Seahawks as a whole:

“Obviously it’s going to be an extremely challenging game for us because it’s not just [Wilson],” Flores said. “They’ve got receivers, they’ve got backs, they’ve got a good o-line, they’ve got tight ends, they play really good defense. They play really well in the kicking game. They’re well-coached. They’ve played together for a long time. This is going to be a tough challenge for us.”

Yeah, um, the Seattle offensive line is average with the run, gives up three sacks per game on average, and is banged up. That really good defense is allowing an average of 28.7 points per game, which is exactly one touchdown more per game than Miami’s 21.7 points per game allowed.

And as for the Seahawks playing together for a long time, there are 11 new starters on that team so far this year — which is exactly 50 percent of the starters on offense and defense.

Despite this, the Seahawks seem more tested than any team the Dolphins have played so far. The Seahawks have beaten the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys at home the past two weeks.

Now Seattle must make the longest trek across the American continent of any NFL team this season (2,724 air miles).

There you go: Your first reason to believe next Monday might also offer peace for the Dolphins.