Best Dolphin Teams that Didn't Reach the Super Bowl | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Best Dolphin Teams that Didn't Reach the Super Bowl

SF Dolphin Fan said:
Honestly, I don't remember much about that 1983 playoff game. I do remember thinking that Miami and Oakland would meet for the AFC title. Maybe the Dolphins felt the same way and overlooked Seattle a bit.

That was a talented team that certainly could have won it. Most of those 1990's teams likely wouldn't have won a title if they advanced to the super bowl. I don't think the 1994 team would have had much of a chance against the 49ers as an example. But, the 1983 team could have challenged the Redskins and won a title.
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it was crushing. We were the better team on a rain-soaked, muddy field all day but couldn't seem to cash in enough and pad our lead. Still, w a few minutes left to play we are up 20-17. Seattle would mount a drive and score a TD to go up 24-20. I remember thinking, it's ok, Marino has plenty of time. Sadly, he would never get on the field. Walker, the hero for us the year prior in the SB (MVP had we won the game), runs the KO and fumbles to Seattle. Game over, right? Somehow the D gets a quick stop and Seattle kicks a short FG. 27-20 - still a chance for Dan. Kick off. Walker. Fumble again. Game over. Not sure if they took them lightly but it was a big upset. Just one of those games where you don't put the enemy away and in the last 3 minutes you blow the game.
 
If Dan doesn't go down in 93 that team had the best chance of getting to the SB of any team since 85.
 
SmokyFin said:
If Dan doesn't go down in 93 that team had the best chance of getting to the SB of any team since 85.
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That team was good too and the Bills were starting to wane. In fact we had already blown them out in Bufflo early that year. I think we were 4-1 w Dan having the best year of his career from a QBR standpoint.
 
Barfalo, having very early picks is the previous 10 years of drafts finally got enough talent to be dominate. They couldn't have done it without us beating them something like 20 times in a row. They still have NO Super Bowl rings....
 
SmokyFin said:
If Dan doesn't go down in 93 that team had the best chance of getting to the SB of any team since 85.
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That team was very good and it wasn't just the Marino injury that did them in. They were decimated by injuries and played poorly after Thanksgiving when Troy Vincent blew out his knee on a punt return against Pittsburgh. Dallas was by far the best team in the league (I know we beat them on Thanksgiving), and the chances of beating them again without Marino were small.
 
Shula had a very difficult time beating the Raiders until 1992. I think had we beat Seattle in 1983, we still lose to Oakland the following week. We just couldn't match up with them.
I'm not sure we would have beaten Tampa Bay in 2002, but to say 99% chance we score zero points is a bit extreme. Tampa Bay looked so dominant in the Bowl against the Raiders because their coach (Gruden) knew everything about Gannon and the Raiders offense and knew how to beat them. We were a totally different machine. I'm not saying we would have won- it just would have been a very interesting, defense-dominated slugfest. Remember, tampa bay back then didn't have a whole lot to counter with on offense either.
 
Bopkin02 said:
Man, that list is good.
The 1992 team started 6-0 but finished the season 5-5 with a stagnating offense. I remember thinking we would beat Buffalo to get to the Super Bowl but they destroyed us. That team may not have been as good as perceived.
Had the 2002 team not suffered brutal injuries during the season(Fiedler replaced by Lucas, Chris Chambers and Oronde Gadsden missed key time) maybe, just maybe...I'd like to mention that team as well. That defense and Ricky's running would have been an interesting matchup vs Tampa Bay in the Super Bowl that year.
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2002 hurt! We beat Oakland and it seemed like the sky was the limit but then couldn't close against Minny and crumbled after out classing NE for 56 minutes. Those defenses always crumbled when it mattered though.
 
This post has me wanting to start a post about most overrated Dolphins teams over the years and it begins and ends with the 2002 team.
 
rickd13 said:
I don't think that '85 team could have beaten the Bears again if they would have made it to the Super Bowl.
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I certainly do. The NFL is often about matchups. And Miami was a bad matchup for Chicago's defense as great as they were. Marino was the perfect antidote for that blitz happy 46 defense and we saw just that in the 1st game. Marino's quick release, ability to recognize pressure and accuracy wasn't something others could duplicate. Also, they exploited matchup issues such as Nat Moore on a linebacker or safety. While Chicago certainly would have made adjustments, their defensive philosophy was still the same and played right into Marino and the Dolphins offense's strengths.
 
JG13 said:
Did a little research and here's a brutal stat...the Dolphins lost 15 of 18 games against the Bills from 1987 thru 1994

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Well, we did beat them 20 straight times in the 70's. And we were 11-3 vs them 1980-1986. Yes, that is a 31-3 record vs the Bills from 1970-1986. That might be the most dominant record ever in the NFL given that many years and games played between 2 teams.
 
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EJay said:
I certainly do. The NFL is often about matchups. And Miami was a bad matchup for Chicago's defense as great as they were. Marino was the perfect antidote for that blitz happy 46 defense and we saw just that in the 1st game. Marino's quick release, ability to recognize pressure and accuracy wasn't something others could duplicate. Also, they exploited matchup issues such as Nat Moore on a linebacker or safety. While Chicago certainly would have made adjustments, their defensive philosophy was still the same and played right into Marino and the Dolphins offense's strengths.
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agree. And also, the Bears run-first offense and low-powered pass game wouldn't have been able to take advantage of our sub-par defense the way teams w more potent offenses could. I don't think Walter Payton would have been enough to beat us. Their offense was a bad matchup for them vs our D in that sense.
 
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