The 7-4 Dolphins have won six straight and are on pace to make their first playoff trip since 2008, and the team’s players insist that rookie head coach Adam Gase has a lot to do with it. Many members of the team “love” playing for Gase, they told Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post. “He’s different. He’s … different,” backup quarterback Matt Moore said of Gase, 38, the youngest head coach in the NFL. “I think when he does talk to guys, both offensively and defensively, he’s got something working for him that resonates within guys.” Gase referred to the culture that existed in recent Dolphins regimes as “nonsense,” while longtime Miami defensive end Cameron Wake revealed that observing some past teammates’ commitment issues was “100 percent” difficult to digest. “He gives you the leash, gives you the rope,” stated left tackle Branden Albert. “If you mess it up, then he pulls it, and I think that’s how it should be. For the most part, guys have been good about not messing up.”

More from around the NFL:

• Even though he relishes working under Bruce Arians, Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin‘s “end all” goal is to become a head coach, he informed Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com. “I think B.A. has groomed me, kind of like he groomed Todd (Bowles),” said Goodwin. “Every year he’s given me more and more responsibilities. Obviously I get to see him work every day, how he handles the team, the administrative part of it. I think it’s helped me grow a lot.” Goodwin interviewed with the Buccaneers for their head coaching vacancy last winter, and the Cardinals’ status as an elite offensive team likely helped him earn consideration. Arizona has fallen off this year, though it remains to be seen if that will hurt Goodwin’s chances of landing a promotion during the upcoming offseason. Notably, Arians – not Goodwin – calls the Cardinals’ offensive plays.
• Sunday’s matchup between Jacksonville and Denver might seem relatively uninteresting, but not to Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall. The Jaguars chose Marshall in the fifth round of the 2012 draft and ended up cutting him three different times before he joined the Broncos in September 2013. Marshall hasn’t forgotten about his inability to stick with the Jags. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” he told Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post. “The scouts, the executives, some coaches, some players, there’s a lot of people still back there from my time. That gives me a little extra push, a little extra umph. It puts a little extra sauce on this game.” Latching on with Denver has worked out wonderfully for Marshall, who signed a sizable extension with the Broncos over the summer on the heels of a strong couple of years – including a Super Bowl-winning campaign last season. He ranks as Pro Football Focus’ 16th-best linebacker out of 85 qualifiers this year.
• Of the 49ers’ 17 players scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency in the offseason, the team should try to re-sign six – defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey, tight end Vance McDonald, linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong, wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, and quarterbacks Christian Ponder and Thaddeus Lewis – opines Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Armstrong has a fan in defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil, who gives the 25-year-old “two thumbs up,” but the coach’s uncertain future could affect whether the defender returns, writes Barrows.