DKphin
Club Member
Read more:http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...hins-0930-20130929,0,4732215.column?track=rssNEW ORLEANS – It doesn't mean watch out, Denver, if the Dolphins win Monday to start 4-0 for the first time since 1995. It doesn't mean they're a mortal lock to host a playoff game or you move them into the Super Bowl discussion.
But understand this: The last time the Dolphins played on a September stage like this, with regular-season stakes like this, they had a Hall of Famer at quarterback, another at coach and nights like this were an every-week event.
These are the real stakes of the Dolphins playing New Orleans on Monday Night. This game won't say where the Dolphins season ends. But it will tell if they're ready to be part of the national conversation again after so many years out of it.
"A big game," said Joe Philbin, whose vocabulary hasn't stretched to that idea in his previous 19 games as Dolphins coach.