Denny
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Scares you, doesn't it?
This Minnesota game on yet another short week.
What if Randy Moss decides this is one of those days he's going to care?
What if the Dolphins linebackers get stuck in the open-field asphalt with a quarterback who implausibly outweighs each of them by at least 20 pounds?
What if nothing-to-lose Minnesota coach Mike Tice goes for two at the end, like he did to short-circuit New Orleans last week?
What if the Dolphins defense again decides to cough up 38 points on the road?
This feels a little too much like the Dolphins' late-season visits to other domes, doesn't it? Remember that 41-0 loss to a bad Indianapolis team in 1997? And the 38-16 debacle against Atlanta the following year?
Miami's players say this year is different, but they've betrayed South Florida's trust plenty over the years, inflating it only to puncture it, and now Jamie Nails is suddenly out and this is a trap game sandwiched between two tougher ones and . . .
No.
Stop it.
You don't worry against a 4-10 team.
Not if you are the championship contender the Dolphins aspire to be.
Miami is better than Minnesota, period, and not by a little bit, either.
Minnesota is terrible. The standings do not lie about this. Minnesota's recent success does not change this. There are exceptionally few NFL teams as bad as Minnesota. Only 1-13 Cincinnati and 3-11 Detroit are worse. The expansion Texans have the same record as these Vikings.
So what if Minnesota has beaten Green Bay and lost to Atlanta in overtime in its last two home games?
Champions do not lose games like today's.
Not when one team is playing for everything, for a cushy path to the Super Bowl, and the other was long ago relegated to road kill along that path.
Let's not complicate this with talk of tiebreakers and parity and the quicksand quagmire that is the AFC.
The formula for the Dolphins is very simple now.
Win the next two games, and Miami is likely going to the Super Bowl.
Beat Minnesota and New England on the road, and Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and Tim Bowens will likely get the chance they've been chasing unsuccessfully in all these years of being very good but never good enough.
Nobody is beating Miami in Miami. Not Oakland. Not Tennessee. Not anybody. If the path to the Super Bowl goes through South Florida, the Dolphins will probably be playing for the championship for the first time since 1984.
Here are the scores of Miami's home victories this year: 49-21, 30-3, 26-13, 26-7, 30-3, 27-9, 23-17. Aside from the last Oakland game, which Miami led 17-3 at one point, none of those games was even close. The only loss, 23-10 to Buffalo, came because of six turnovers under the shaky hand of a Ray Lucas who hadn't played in three years, and Miami was still in that game in the fourth quarter.
''Let's win on the road now,'' linebacker Zach Thomas says, ``so we don't have to play on the road later.''
Never mind this idea that Miami can lose against Minnesota and still win the division next week at New England. Miami is thinking bigger than winning the division. Miami wants to win the conference. The playoffs start today. The Dolphins need that home-field advantage and first-round bye. And you don't get that by losing today to a team as bad as Minnesota. You don't deserve it if you do.
This week, Miami's peers spoke, confirming what the Dolphins themselves have maintained all season even though the scoreboard hasn't always concurred:
The Dolphins have more talent than anybody in their conference.
The Dolphins should go to the Super Bowl.
That's what the Pro Bowl voting shouted. Yes, the Pro Bowl can be a popularity contest, but Miami had five defensive players voted starters on defense. That's more than Tampa Bay, more than Philadelphia. That good a defense has to be able to crush a 4-10 team no matter the venue.
You need more than talent to win, obviously, but Miami players have been maintaining all year that this team is uniquely bonded. Newcomers Larry Chester and Ricky Williams say they've never played on a team with players this close. Ray Lucas, who was with the Patriots for a Super Bowl, says these Dolphins are united in a way that team never was.
Ask Jason Taylor who is the team's MVP, and he says, ''Ricky.'' Ask Ricky Williams, and he says, ''Jason.'' There is a general absence of ego in the locker room, Chris Chambers and James McKnight quietly deferring to the running game by doing things like blocking downfield even as their opportunities disappear.
Jimmy Johnson used to say it is easier in today's NFL to make the jump from bad to good than it is to make it from good to great. Miami is the only team in football to make the playoffs each of the last five years and the only team to exit those playoffs by a score of 62-7, but all of the pieces are poised now to take that last, large step.
Norv Turner became available at a time when a newly-motivated workhorse running back suddenly was, too. Taylor and Patrick Surtain, game-changers, lifted their games to superstar levels. Randy McMichael blossomed into yet another offensive weapon, and Cris Carter and Jay Fielder regained their health at a pivotal time.
Under Fiedler, this offense has never been slowed down the way it has been in those 27-0 and 20-3 playoff ousters of the last two years, not once this year.
Everything is aligned now for Miami.
Minnesota must be pushed out of the way.
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This Minnesota game on yet another short week.
What if Randy Moss decides this is one of those days he's going to care?
What if the Dolphins linebackers get stuck in the open-field asphalt with a quarterback who implausibly outweighs each of them by at least 20 pounds?
What if nothing-to-lose Minnesota coach Mike Tice goes for two at the end, like he did to short-circuit New Orleans last week?
What if the Dolphins defense again decides to cough up 38 points on the road?
This feels a little too much like the Dolphins' late-season visits to other domes, doesn't it? Remember that 41-0 loss to a bad Indianapolis team in 1997? And the 38-16 debacle against Atlanta the following year?
Miami's players say this year is different, but they've betrayed South Florida's trust plenty over the years, inflating it only to puncture it, and now Jamie Nails is suddenly out and this is a trap game sandwiched between two tougher ones and . . .
No.
Stop it.
You don't worry against a 4-10 team.
Not if you are the championship contender the Dolphins aspire to be.
Miami is better than Minnesota, period, and not by a little bit, either.
Minnesota is terrible. The standings do not lie about this. Minnesota's recent success does not change this. There are exceptionally few NFL teams as bad as Minnesota. Only 1-13 Cincinnati and 3-11 Detroit are worse. The expansion Texans have the same record as these Vikings.
So what if Minnesota has beaten Green Bay and lost to Atlanta in overtime in its last two home games?
Champions do not lose games like today's.
Not when one team is playing for everything, for a cushy path to the Super Bowl, and the other was long ago relegated to road kill along that path.
Let's not complicate this with talk of tiebreakers and parity and the quicksand quagmire that is the AFC.
The formula for the Dolphins is very simple now.
Win the next two games, and Miami is likely going to the Super Bowl.
Beat Minnesota and New England on the road, and Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas and Tim Bowens will likely get the chance they've been chasing unsuccessfully in all these years of being very good but never good enough.
Nobody is beating Miami in Miami. Not Oakland. Not Tennessee. Not anybody. If the path to the Super Bowl goes through South Florida, the Dolphins will probably be playing for the championship for the first time since 1984.
Here are the scores of Miami's home victories this year: 49-21, 30-3, 26-13, 26-7, 30-3, 27-9, 23-17. Aside from the last Oakland game, which Miami led 17-3 at one point, none of those games was even close. The only loss, 23-10 to Buffalo, came because of six turnovers under the shaky hand of a Ray Lucas who hadn't played in three years, and Miami was still in that game in the fourth quarter.
''Let's win on the road now,'' linebacker Zach Thomas says, ``so we don't have to play on the road later.''
Never mind this idea that Miami can lose against Minnesota and still win the division next week at New England. Miami is thinking bigger than winning the division. Miami wants to win the conference. The playoffs start today. The Dolphins need that home-field advantage and first-round bye. And you don't get that by losing today to a team as bad as Minnesota. You don't deserve it if you do.
This week, Miami's peers spoke, confirming what the Dolphins themselves have maintained all season even though the scoreboard hasn't always concurred:
The Dolphins have more talent than anybody in their conference.
The Dolphins should go to the Super Bowl.
That's what the Pro Bowl voting shouted. Yes, the Pro Bowl can be a popularity contest, but Miami had five defensive players voted starters on defense. That's more than Tampa Bay, more than Philadelphia. That good a defense has to be able to crush a 4-10 team no matter the venue.
You need more than talent to win, obviously, but Miami players have been maintaining all year that this team is uniquely bonded. Newcomers Larry Chester and Ricky Williams say they've never played on a team with players this close. Ray Lucas, who was with the Patriots for a Super Bowl, says these Dolphins are united in a way that team never was.
Ask Jason Taylor who is the team's MVP, and he says, ''Ricky.'' Ask Ricky Williams, and he says, ''Jason.'' There is a general absence of ego in the locker room, Chris Chambers and James McKnight quietly deferring to the running game by doing things like blocking downfield even as their opportunities disappear.
Jimmy Johnson used to say it is easier in today's NFL to make the jump from bad to good than it is to make it from good to great. Miami is the only team in football to make the playoffs each of the last five years and the only team to exit those playoffs by a score of 62-7, but all of the pieces are poised now to take that last, large step.
Norv Turner became available at a time when a newly-motivated workhorse running back suddenly was, too. Taylor and Patrick Surtain, game-changers, lifted their games to superstar levels. Randy McMichael blossomed into yet another offensive weapon, and Cris Carter and Jay Fielder regained their health at a pivotal time.
Under Fiedler, this offense has never been slowed down the way it has been in those 27-0 and 20-3 playoff ousters of the last two years, not once this year.
Everything is aligned now for Miami.
Minnesota must be pushed out of the way.
email this | print this
Shopping & Services
Find a Job
Find a Car
Find a Home
Find an Apartment
Classifieds Ads
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Help | Contact Us | Site Index | Archives | Place an Ad | Newspaper Subscriptions | News by Email
About Herald.com | About Realcities Network | Terms of Use | Press Center | Copyright