Originally posted by Jimmy James
This great Defense that Jay has also gets steamrolled on occasion. In fact, that tends to happen often toward the end of the season according to most of what I recall reading. I admit I haven't done the research myself -- I'd actually be interested to know if that is indeed true.
Anyway, what we have to compare are statistics. In 1990, Miami's defense was 4th in points against and 8th in yardage. Jay has had a defense ranked:
2000 - 3rd and 6th
2001 - 11th and 5th
2002 - 4th and 3rd
I really don't mean to knock Dan, but if it really were as simple as good D + good QB = championship, 1990 was Miami's. The reality of the NFL, particularly in this day and age, is far more difficult to boil down to a formula.
In 1990 we had a decent team, but against the NFL's elite - Buffalo, NY Giants, Washington - we would lose. It was one of our better teams in recent history (maybe the 1994 team was better). But when it counted, we lost at Buffalo in the championship game 44-34. You can definitely blame the defense for that loss, not Marino.
I really think we would have won the Super Bowl in 2000 if we got past the Raiders in Oakland. That INT that Jay threw killed the game and ended our season. If we win that game, we'd beat Baltimore and eventually the Giants.