There is no way that we do as badly as we did last season. The 2004 off-season went as badly as it could, with Speilman overpaying for back-up quarterbacks and head case/roid rage wide receivers, followed by another Wannstedt led draft, which culminated to the coup de grace, the retirement of Cheech Williams. This sequence of events exposed a team that was already lacking confidence and direction under Wanny, dooming the team before they even played a down.
Things didn't get any better when we lost both of our starting defensive tackles in the first two weeks of the season and with the offense running plays out of my little brother's pop warner playbook, the Dolphins hit rock bottom with a humiliating 24-23 home loss to Arizona. That loss thankfully put the lights out on the failed Dave Wannstedt era as defensive coordinator Jim Bates took over.
The arrival of Bates didn't save the season, but the Dolphins showed marked improvement over the final seven games, finishing with a 3-4 flurry to end the season, which included a 29-28 Monday Night upset of the 3-time champion Patriots. The 2nd half of the season also saw the belaugered offensive line begin to gel, which led to the improved play of AJ Feeley.
Since Nick Saban agreed to coach Miami this season he has accomplished the following:
-Assembled a top of the line coaching staff that included the architect of the Vikings' high-flying attack in Scott Linehan and offensive line guru, Hudson Houck
-Acquired defensive ends Vonnie Holliday and Kevin Carter. Carter can play both end and inside.
-Acquired veteran quarterback Gus Frerotte, who ALREADY LEARNED Linehan's offense in Minnesota and was 5-1 as the starter in '03 when Culpepper was hurt. As well as offensive tackle Stockar McDougal who was solid in Detroit the past two seasons.
-Purged the Dolphins of mediocre veteran turds from the Wanny era (See: Jay Williams, Jay Fiedler & Morlon Greenwood)
With better coaching and execution, which will come with Saban, along with a good draft (PLEASE RONNIE BROWN), there is no reason why the Dolphins couldn't win seven or eight games in St Nick's first year.......4-12 is out of the question if you ask me.
