the blog:
Still basking in the afterglow
Rich Libero's observations -- 12/10/05
Haven't written since Sunday night and that's because I really didn't have much to say about after what happened last Sunday.
Here's the thing about a game like the one we saw -- and I personally witnessed -- last week: It leaves you content. From a fans' perspective, that's so cool. You spend the entire week just thinking about what transpired before your eyes and you don't want to ruin that by focusing on the next game.
But that's where players and coaches must live in a different world. The Dolphins -- all NFL teams actually -- have to find a way to put an emotional victory behind them, but not behind them. Sound confusing? It's not really.
First, it's great the team won, but when you crystallize the reasons why they won, it boils down to the simple fact that they never quit. They must take that lesson, place it in the back of their minds -- along with the positive feeling that the thought conjures -- and go back to work with a focus on the Chargers.
Second, this team is beginning to buy what Nick Saban is selling; and that's a one play-at-at-time approach. If you play as hard as you can on each play and execute, you'll find that you have fewer worries. When a team gets to this point, they show up at the stadium every Sunday with a business-like, machine-like attitude. And they play the game in a clinical, professional manner. That's what those 1972-73 Dolphins were like -- no-nonsense, confident, effective.
Third, should the team automatically assume that this road game in San Diego is a loss? Did we assume that being down 21-0 just 3:53 into the game against Buffalo was sure-fired loss? Many of us did. I did. The only thing that kept me in that stadium was the fact that I traveled down from New York, so it made no sense to leave and because, I just love this team so much, to see them down there on the field before me, in living 3-D, was enough to make me happy -- even if their play didn't. I thought about it during the game: Here I was in Miami for the fourth time in my life, sitting among fellow Dolfans, watching my favorite team. This was something I never dreamed would happen as a kid and I feel blessed to have the resources to be able to that now.
The Buffalo game could be viewed as a microcosm of the season. You could compare the Dolphins' 5-7 record to being down 23-10. The Dolphins were showing signs of life, but it still seemed like a long shot. The Chargers, on the other hand, must be careful to not look beyond the Dolphins and ahead to the Colts.
Plenty of lessons can be gleaned from the afterglow of the big Buffalo win and even if the Dolphins lose on San Diego on Sunday, I think I'll still be walking on Cloud 9 because positive things are happening.
