History question: Don Shula-Dan Marino | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

History question: Don Shula-Dan Marino

dolfaneric12

dolfaneric12

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As a younger Dolphins fan, this is something I've been wondering throughout the years: How did Shula not win a Super Bowl with Dan Marino?

I didn't start getting into football until 2002 when Ricky Williams joined the team so I don't know much about 80's and 90's Dolphins. I'm just amazed how Miami had the winningest coach and most prolific quarterback, yet only appeared in one Super Bowl together. Comparing other quarterback in the 1983 draft, John Elway appeared in 5 Super Bowl's and Jim Kelly appear in 4. We saw Tom Brady and Bill Belichick appear in them constantly and always made me wonder why Shula and Marino weren't able to make multiple appearances.

I know there are older fans on here and was just curious about your viewpoint on this. Appreciate everyone!
 
dolfaneric12 said:
As a younger Dolphins fan, this is something I've been wondering throughout the years: How did Shula not win a Super Bowl with Dan Marino?

I didn't start getting into football until 2002 when Ricky Williams joined the team so I don't know much about 80's and 90's Dolphins. I'm just amazed how Miami had the winningest coach and most prolific quarterback, yet only appeared in one Super Bowl together. Comparing other quarterback in the 1983 draft, John Elway appeared in 5 Super Bowl's and Jim Kelly appear in 4. We saw Tom Brady and Bill Belichick appear in them constantly and always made me wonder why Shula and Marino weren't able to make multiple appearances.

I know there are older fans on here and was just curious about your viewpoint on this. Appreciate everyone!
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Short on time. But this old clip hits a few of the nails on the head

 
dolfaneric12 said:
As a younger Dolphins fan, this is something I've been wondering throughout the years: How did Shula not win a Super Bowl with Dan Marino?

I didn't start getting into football until 2002 when Ricky Williams joined the team so I don't know much about 80's and 90's Dolphins. I'm just amazed how Miami had the winningest coach and most prolific quarterback, yet only appeared in one Super Bowl together. Comparing other quarterback in the 1983 draft, John Elway appeared in 5 Super Bowl's and Jim Kelly appear in 4. We saw Tom Brady and Bill Belichick appear in them constantly and always made me wonder why Shula and Marino weren't able to make multiple appearances.

I know there are older fans on here and was just curious about your viewpoint on this. Appreciate everyone!
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Simply.

No good running game and poor defense. Shula overlooked both I believe because of what he thought Marino could do and his loyalty to coaches. Especially Olivadotti.

The one Super Bowl Marino was in the 49'ers were up and coming and our defense got exposed despite Bill Arnsparger's genius.
 
andyahs said:
Simply.

No good running game and poor defense. Shula overlooked both I believe because of what he thought Marino could do and his loyalty to coaches. Especially Olivadotti.

The one Super Bowl Marino was in the 49'ers were up and coming and our defense got exposed despite Bill Arnsparger's genius.
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Well, to be fair, Bill Walsh's WCO was just coming into its own and taking most defenses in the league by storm.

The failure to build a defense for Dan had nothing to do with Arnsparger. He left after the 83 season.
 
Mach2 said:
Well, to be fair, Bill Walsh's WCO was just coming into its own and taking most defenses in the league by storm.

The failure to build a defense for Dan had nothing to do with Arnsparger. He left after the 83 season.
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Yes that's why I said up and coming for the 49'ers and why I only associated Arnsparger with the SB.
 
andyahs said:
Yes that's why I said up and coming for the 49'ers and why I only associated Arnsparger with the SB.
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I get it, but by that time they were a year removed from BA and Studley had installed his own scheme. He was instrumental in the acquisition of many of the players, though.

Don't even get me started on Olividotti....
 
First and foremost Bill Arnsparger leaving after Marino’s rookie season.

Additionally, Shula did not draft well. I recall an interview he said they drafted defensive players who weighed less under the belief heavier players would wear down in the heat playing in Miami and would perform better in the second half when games are won or lost. He acknowledged the lighter players were the ones who wore down taking on the much larger OL.

Also, when it comes to the draft, Miami was never bad enough to stock up on blue chip players. Miami had 3 top 10 picks during the Marino years. In 1989, they took Sammie Smith with #9 pick, 1990 took Richmond Webb with #9 pick, and in 1992 took Troy Vincent with #7 pick.

Marino certainly deserves some responsibility as he did not support the idea of running the ball and called audibles out of it. He also could have helped himself by putting more effort into selling play action.

The Super Bowl Miami lost against the 49ers following the 84 season was going up against one of the best teams in history and Walsh out-coached Shula employing 7 DBs. Shula didn’t have an answer for that and even though the 49ers were rushing 4, they were still getting to Marino. The defense was equally getting whipped. They were just better in all phases of the game that day.

Lastly, the Bills were pretty damn good during much of Marino’s career and had the better overall team.
 
Bills were just the better overall team. Buffalo had a very good qb, but also had a great rb, some very good wrs and a a defense with two elite Hall of Fame talents in Bruce Smith and Derrick Thomas.

Dolphins were good during that time frame, just not good enough.
 
Victims of their own success. They were one of the best franchises in the league when Marino fell to them. That rarely ever happens with franchise QB’s. They usually go to a moribund team that needs way more help than just a QB, at least in the 80’s and 90’s this was true. There was never a bottoming out period before or after Marino that they could have used to prop up the rest of the roster through a series of high draft picks. And their 80’s drafts with the limited resources they had were forgettable.
 
gregorygrant83 said:
Bills were just the better overall team. Buffalo had a very good qb, but also had a great rb, some very good wrs and a a defense with two elite Hall of Fame talents in Bruce Smith and Derrick Thomas.

Dolphins were good during that time frame, just not good enough.
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I don't recall Derrick Thomas being a Bills player, Thurman Thomas yes, but Derrick no. He was with the Chiefs.
 
gregorygrant83 said:
Bills were just the better overall team. Buffalo had a very good qb, but also had a great rb, some very good wrs and a a defense with two elite Hall of Fame talents in Bruce Smith and Derrick Thomas.

Dolphins were good during that time frame, just not good enough.
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Derrick Thomas?

The guy that was killed in a car accident?

He played for KC. Was there another HOF Derrick Thomas?
 
Most of Marino's teams were bad. You needed a running game and defense to win a championship and we had neither. Take Marino off of those teams and most of them don't even make the playoffs
 
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