A Dynasty that Never Was

[absoluteLance]

Since the age of 4 when I shed the NYG off my heart for a #13 jersey I have seen and believed every year was the Dolphins year. Every year we seemed to stepup with SOMETHING better (or so it seemed) for our team. And every year we have fallen short of success. I have spent hours crying at watching Bills advance to the next round on occasions, seeing the AFC east get spit on. So much have I, and all of you seen.
And now I look at the big picture.
Every team in football has a Dynasty. every team has a team at one point that is recongized by everyone else. The dolphins lived such a dynasty in 1972.
And now, in the late 90's and new decade. We have seen the players and team and coaches and strategies and record breakers for another Dolphins Dynasty.
We have seen Jimmy Johnson who turned Dallas Around, do nothing.
We have had the quarterback we have always needed, without support.
We have had the outstanding running game we needed, fall short.
We have had the Defence to stop gods, walked around.
We needed all this in the same year.

We had a Dolphins dynasty built, and we all watched it crumble with no pretty trophy to show for it.
I love the dolphins and I expect them to prevail and showup in that superbowl every year.
But im starting to wonder if we didn't just watch our dynasty slip through our fingers.

1972 was a long time ago and frankly I was not alive to see it then, as were most of you, chances are.
but ill be damned if its the last time i see the dolphins win the big game.

Something will be done, and if memory serves me right.
it may not be this year we pull through, it may take until next year.
But home field advantage is the superbowl is something to look forward to... if my memory serves me right.

 

[saves]

:welcome: nice post :)

 

[Rugar]

Cursed?

Yes I know the feeling,my parents bought me a dolphin uniform in 1974 when I was six years old.Ever since then Ive bled aqua & orange and in truth theres NO WAY I could ever like another team. My love for football is passionate & unparalled and always the dolphins are there for me as I for them.Loves come and loves go but me & my team will always be together thru thick & thin, good seasons,bad seasons. It might be 5 might be 10 might be 30 but one of these years they will do it again and I will be right there by their side,for the love of the Dolphins

 

[the fin]

[/QUOTE]We had a Dolphins dynasty built, and we all watched it crumble with no pretty trophy to show for it.

Lance, I share your frustrations although I am lucky enough to have been around for the days when the Dolphins truly ruled the NFL. The thing is, since the Glory Days ended we never have had the makings of a dynasty. In the early 80s, prior to 1983, we had an awesome ball-hawking opportunistic D in the Killer B's but we were very limited on offense. In '84 we had the best offense in NFL History led by Marino but our D was starting to fall off at that point. From 1985-1989 we had no D, no running game, just the Marino led passing attack. From 1990-1994 Shula started to put some of the pieces back together for a more well-rounded team, but we still lacked a dominant D and a serious running game. Then came 1995 with all the expectations and we know how that turned out. On paper that team looked like a contender, but the truth was we had an erratic D led by the worst defensive coordinator in Dolphin history, and still no reliable running attack. Then came JJ with all of his pomp, and all of the expectations of him leading us to the promised land. From 1996-1999 we watched the D develop into a solid unit and we developed an improved running game that scared no one but was serviceable nonetheless if only because of JJ's determination to stick with it. The problem with JJ's teams was that he stripped the offense down around Marino, trashed Shula's playbook and handed the reins to Kippy Brown who was in way over his head as offensive coordinator. Then came Wanny in 2000 who has basically continued JJ's model. The problem with Wanny has been that he has expected too much out of this defense. I believe that Wanny (and JJ) truly believed that this D would grow into a dominant force that would be able to carry the Dolphins to the Super Bowl with little or no help from the offense. The truth is that we have had a good to very good defense for the last 7 years but it has never become, and never will become IMO, the truly dominant force that I believe Wanny was counting on. The defense is dominant at times, but sometimes (especially at crunch time) they fold like a cheap tent.

Basically what I'm saying is that we have had all of the pieces at one time or another, but we have never had all of the pieces together at the same time. I will say this though, I believe that in 1993 we would have given Dallas a serious run for their money had Marino not gone down. Even without Marino we ripped out to 9-2 and beat Dallas with Steve DeBerg at QB on Thanskgiving. After that our D was ravaged with injuries and we couldn't stop anybody, lost 5 straight and missed the playoffs. The Fins are cursed, but don't lose hope because when you least expect it things will turn around.

 

[Cannonboy]

Great post. I'm hoping too.