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Shula in Conference Championship Games

we did make the playoffs that year. It was 1995. shula last season. 18 first rounders. It was rididcious . We signed a bunch of guys that were over the hill or never lived up to draft status. We still started off 4-0. blew huge lead to colts. Marino got hurt. We backed into playoffs at 9-7. got crushed by bills in playoffs round one. Shula retired and JJ came in. We signed Eric green, gary clark, steve enteman, trace armstrong, etc. Only trace armstrong was any good. It was terrible.
thanks for reminding me......you just did a god job of making me depress
 
PSS - totally agree w paragraph 2 here.
Good point. I think Marino was so used to taking the game into his hands, playing the superman role so to speak, that he knew he had to take chances to win.

Not excusing the gunslinger mentality, but I bet that was different when Miami had the lead, especially a big lead. Miami was constantly matching teams point for point, or playing from behind during much of Marino's career.

Could Marino had led a more conservative offense with a top 10 defense? I always thought so.
 
Giving some respect to one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. Shula was 6-2 in conference championship games, including his time in Baltimore.

Here's the list....

1968 34-0 Baltimore over Cleveland
1972 21-0 Miami over Baltimore
1973 21-17 Miami over Pittsburgh
1974 27-10 Miami over Oakland
1983 14-0 Miami over NY Jets
1985 45-28 Miami over Pittsburgh
1986 31-14 New England over Miami
1993 29-10 Buffalo over Miami

Shula's teams outscored their opponents 186-115 in those eight games, including three shutouts. In his first six conference championships, Shula's teams outscored their opponents 162-55.
Hmmm looks like more wins than SB appearances that you receive if you win a conference championship.
 
Hmmm looks like more wins than SB appearances that you receive if you win a conference championship.
Don't forget, it's counting his time with Baltimore. Six conference titles, six total super bowl appearances for Shula.
 
Good point. I think Marino was so used to taking the game into his hands, playing the superman role so to speak, that he knew he had to take chances to win.

Not excusing the gunslinger mentality, but I bet that was different when Miami had the lead, especially a big lead. Miami was constantly matching teams point for point, or playing from behind during much of Marino's career.

Could Marino had led a more conservative offense with a top 10 defense? I always thought so.
Look no further than the ‘84 season. We had most games in hand in the 4th and we ran it a lot. Believe it or not we rushed for just over 1600 yards that year or 100 per game. In those wins we played the clock and Dan had no trouble handing it off. He wanted to win more than anything. I don’t think he cared about stats - he never seemed to really give a crap when he broke a record. He just wanted to win a SB.
 
we did make the playoffs that year. It was 1995. shula last season. 18 first rounders. It was rididcious . We signed a bunch of guys that were over the hill or never lived up to draft status. We still started off 4-0. blew huge lead to colts. Marino got hurt. We backed into playoffs at 9-7. got crushed by bills in playoffs round one. Shula retired and JJ came in. We signed Eric green, gary clark, steve enteman, trace armstrong, etc. Only trace armstrong was any good. It was terrible.
Losing to the Colts in Miami that year was the season, and it stripped away all of the illusion of greatness. Week 1 we looked like world beaters. 4-0 and then the Colts exposed us. 2-6 in the next 8. That team finished third in the division and barely made the playoffs.

And while I don't agree that the entirety of Shula's career is overrated, the last ten years certainly are. Excuses aplenty. The ironic thing is that Shula himself would certainly have taken more of the blame for that era than his fans on here would ever allow. I believe he covered it when he said, "the superior man blames himself; the inferior man blames others."
 
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Overrated? Coach in any sport for 33 years and suffer only 2 losing seasons. Winningest coach of all time. How can you be overrated? If anyone was overrated if was Lombardi who only coached 10 years...
I guess since 1984 was my first season of being a fan I didn’t witness Shula in his prime. But after we lost the afc champ game in Miami to pats. We missed playoffs next 4 years. Then from 90-95 I felt like all those teams were similar. 90 playoffs 92 playoffs. 94 playoffs 1995 playoffs. I just didn’t see them being coached up or down. They were just carried by Marino. 1993 actually Shula was doing great I thought but injuries killed that team after the Dallas game.

actually all the Dolphins playoff teams in the 90s seemed similar. And there was a lot of Dolphins playoff teams in the 90s.
7 out of 10 years. We just seemed like the same team each year under Shula. Then the same team under jimmy.
 
I loved watching Shula's teams after halftime, almost always came out better than the first half. He was a great coach.

Unfortunately as great as he was as a coach, he suffered from the great coach drafting issue, namely unless they have a good GM, they hamstring themselves with more bad picks than good picks.
 
I guess since 1984 was my first season of being a fan I didn’t witness Shula in his prime. But after we lost the afc champ game in Miami to pats. We missed playoffs next 4 years. Then from 90-95 I felt like all those teams were similar. 90 playoffs 92 playoffs. 94 playoffs 1995 playoffs. I just didn’t see them being coached up or down. They were just carried by Marino. 1993 actually Shula was doing great I thought but injuries killed that team after the Dallas game.

actually all the Dolphins playoff teams in the 90s seemed similar. And there was a lot of Dolphins playoff teams in the 90s.
7 out of 10 years. We just seemed like the same team each year under Shula. Then the same team under jimmy.
The 90s teams were at least competitive. In 1990, they were either the second or third best team in the conference. In 1992, they were likewise a legitimate SB contender. 1994 as well. Almost certainly those teams lose in the SB, but the late 80s teams couldn't even make the playoffs. The JJ teams were barely playoff teams. And they were at no point legitimate contenders. They were badly, badly exposed in the second round. The 90s Shula teams didn't go down without a fight in the first two rounds (except that 1995 team that got blown off the ball in Buffalo). The 1992 AFC championship was mighty disappointing though.

That said, I nominate 1991 as one of the worst seasons under Shula. That was a team poised to make a move after 1990 and they go a pathetic 8-8 and let the lowly Jets beat them at home to take the final playoff spot.
 
Right. Listed NE and Buffalo first. Wish we would have won those, though!!!
So maybe I'm confused. Why are we having a thread that discusses Shula's victories in championship games when some of the victories cited are games we actually lost?
 
Don Shula deserved more Super Bowl wins as a Head Coach.

Was such a great coach but fate, players, coordinators, better teams always denied him.

His integrity of the game will never be matched.
Don't forget the World Football League...they took a lot of our core players or we would have several more superbowls.
 
So maybe I'm confused. Why are we having a thread that discusses Shula's victories in championship games when some of the victories cited are games we actually lost?
I probably could have listed it a little differently to be more clear on wins and losses. But 6-2 is very impressive so that's really what I wanted to highlight.

In addition three shutouts against teams playing for the super bowl also says a lot.
 
The 90s teams were at least competitive. In 1990, they were either the second or third best team in the conference. In 1992, they were likewise a legitimate SB contender. 1994 as well. Almost certainly those teams lose in the SB, but the late 80s teams couldn't even make the playoffs. The JJ teams were barely playoff teams. And they were at no point legitimate contenders. They were badly, badly exposed in the second round. The 90s Shula teams didn't go down without a fight in the first two rounds (except that 1995 team that got blown off the ball in Buffalo). The 1992 AFC championship was mighty disappointing though.

That said, I nominate 1991 as one of the worst seasons under Shula. That was a team poised to make a move after 1990 and they go a pathetic 8-8 and let the lowly Jets beat them at home to take the final playoff spot.
That 1991 season we gave away so many games. The sammie smith fumble game at goaline to win it
the lions games we were on 5 yard line after a pick from our d tackle Shawn Lee. We couldn't get it in the endzone and Lee got tackled on play and was out for the year. The jets game taking the lead with under a min to go. ugh
 
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