Putting Stats Aside, Are the Phins Really being Outplayed, Yet Finding Ways to Win?

[ATL_PHIN_FAN]

You said many intelligent things.

We are not used to a winner.

Shula did what Philbin is doing now - every year!

We would be predicted to be an average or worse team and Shula would get unexpected players to rise up and he would get expected players to outperform those expectations.

Philbin is emulating Shula's focus on no penalties and high discipline.

Philbin has a rat free locker room.

This team will continue to improve.

We won 3 games because we were disciplined, believed in ourselves, were better prepared and took advantage of the opportunities that we created.

So many of us are used to the BRICKHEADS like Wannstadt who tried to use a power running game to win football in an era when more and more the game was oriented towards passing.

These brickheads set us all back. But those of near grandpas (40 + years of age) remember Shula did what Philbin is doing now year in and year out. And believe the idiots in the media did the same thing to us - it just took days for newspapers to come out for them to say their idiotic comments.

You made a great write-up - and those Dolphin fans on this site downing you for it need to be a bit more respectful - they do not need to agree just be respectful - just saying!

Your points about Philbin simply doing what Shula did for years are well taken. Some on this board, through no fault of their own, in that they simply did not witness it, believe that the early Fins dominated their opponents. Well, they did, but only in certain ways and not in a traditional sense. They dominated in the areas you mentioned and more, but many of those areas don't show up in stats. This is why they have such a hard time being viewed as a real dynasty by the national media. The media of today doesn't really know how they achieved what they did. Many of them view it as a fluke because the stats don't bear it out as compared to other dynasties of the NFL, or that the rest of the NFL was weak at the time (and that is far from the truth, IMO).

If you want insight as to what really happened during the '72 season, read Undefeated: Inside the 1972 Miami Dolphins' Perfect Season by Mike Freeman.

I was but 10 to 12 years old when I watched the early Dolphins play. I admit that I didn't understand much of the WHY for their consistent victories over many good teams. Mike Freeman's book gave me a much better understanding of how Shula was able to consistently get winning football out of his team during those dynasty years. It wasn't because they had better players or a wicked playbook compared to other teams, though they certainly had their share of that. It was for a lot of reasons that have to do with discipline, focus and will to be the best. Mostly, football was treated as a business for professionals in constant pursuit of mastering their trade and not some rah-rah collegiate outing week in and week out.

Like you, I believe this is the kind of team Philbin wants to build in order to present a perennial winner to this league from Miami. To be honest, I am amazed to find that there is a coach left who understands football in this way, whom has also reached a position of overall leadership in his organization. My hope, is that his leadership will give us the edge we need as a team from here on out and for many years to come.