I do b/c I wacthed those teams play and I watched those D's always come up short. perfect example was our meeting on Dec. 13, 1998 at Miami. First place was on the line, your D was dominat all year at home. the only game you gave up more than 10 was against Indy and you were already up 27-0 on Indy so they were garbage time points. We score 14 in the first half to go into the LR w/ a 14-3 lead. your D was not a big time D.
You just helped me prove my point. Your only point of reference was the games that you saw. Mia vs Jets games are not a large enough sampling. Now mind you, we're not comparing that defense to the Steel Curtain, the 85 Bears or the Ravens circa 2000. We're only saying they were amongst the best for that 5 year stretch.
That was an example not my only point of reference. I'll give mopre examples:
'97: 9-5 heading into final 2 games. Lose 41-0 at 3-13 Indy, down 34-0 at the half. Miami was only -1 in TO ratio, lost 2 fumbles while Indy lost one. This game cost them a chance to play for the div ttile the following week.
'98: div rd at Den. Game is 21-3 at the half.
'99: start 8-2 then lose 5 of last 6 to end season.
div rd at Jax. Down 24-0 in 1st qtr.
'00 week 17 w/ div on line. D gives up 24 to 5-11 NE, O needs tos core 10 4th qtr pts to win game and Div.
'01: WC game, Bal shows them how it's done. W./ Bal's inept O struggling to score they keep them in the game and Bal scores 20 unanswered points to win 20-3.
'02: Need to win one of last 2 games to clinch division. First up they travel to Minnesota to take on the 4-10 Vikings. The Miami O battles back to tie the game w/ 6 mins to play. What does the great Miami D do? allows an almost 6 min drive and the GW FG leaving the Mia O w/ :17 secs left.
The following week up 11 w/ 4:59 to play the great Miami D allows just over a 2 min drive which results in a TD AND 2 pt conversion to pull NE w/in 3. NE gets the ball back and kicks the tying FG to send it to OT. NE gets the ball in OT and proceeds to march into FG range and win the game costing the Dolphins the Division.
2003: needing a win vs. philly at home the great D gives up 34 pts in a 34-27 loss. The scoring went like this;
7-0 philly
7-7
14-7 philly
14-14
21-14 philly
24-14 philly
24-17 philly
24-24
31-24 philly
34-24 philly
34-27 philly
Your O kept battling back but you D couldn't stop philly.
Are these examples good enough for you?