ckparrothead
Premium Member
I have a reason for bringing this up.
We're 5-1 right now, our starting quarterback is injured. Assuming we win against the Bills and the Packers win against the Redskins (both feats equally probable) then both the Dolphins and the Packers head into a Week 8 matchup coming off a bye week at 6-1.
Sound familiar? Let me take you back to 1999. It was Week 8 in the NFL. Dan Marino received an injury in Week 6 action against the New England Patriots. Damon Huard came in as the backup quarterback and led us to victory over the Eagles in his first start of the season, Week 7. We now faced an opponent that was a Super Bowl contender, just like the Dolphins. They were 6-1, we were 6-1...ready for a showdown in Miami.
We would go on to win that game, after Sam Madison performs a hat trick on QB Steve McNair by intercepting him three times. We shut out the 6-1 Titans to win the game 17-0 and go on to an astounding 7-1 record for the first half of the season. Then the wheels started falling off. We got destroyed and our offense exposed by the Buffalo Bills in Week 9 action, as Damon Huard's inexperience and lack of talent became obscenely obvious.
"Hurry back Dan Marino! Hurry back! We need you!" we all shouted. Our super bowl bid seemed to hinge on how fast Dan could get back after that loss. Luckily for us, Damon Huard had one left in him as he took us to victory over the New England Patriots 27-17. The defense on that day intercepted Drew Bledsoe an astounding 5 times. Huard was efficient. Gadsden spectacular, and JJ Johnson recorded his very first 100 yard day. But, Damon Huard suffered a broken nose in the victory and was now questionable for next week's game on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys.
But to our surprise and delight, Dan was healthy again! Or so it seemed. Jimmy Johnson rushed Dan back from rehab because Damon now had a broken nose and we were faced with the very real possibility of Scott Zolak starting. But then came the Cowboys game on Turkey Day. Dan Marino, who obviously was not completely healthy, still rather inexcusably threw 5 interceptions in a horribly horrendous debacle...guiding us to a 20-0 loss against the Cowboys. "Thats ok," we thought. "Danny just wasn't quite ready to come back yet, it was obvious" Jimmy Johnson wanted nothing more at that point than to bench Dan Marino in favor of the 5-1 Damon Huard (including his bailout of Danny in a week 6 win over the Pats 31-30). But he was handcuffed. Danny's injury wasn't all THAT bad anymore, and he was the Dolphans' man. Besides, they now went up against a Colts team that Danny had a great amount of success against passing the ball. But this time the defense fell apart, allowing the Colts to crack us open for 37 points in what would become a 34-37 loss in Miami...a loss that Dan Marino would later account was one of the most painful of his career.
Jimmy Johnson still was itching to bench Dan but this loss surely was not Dan's fault. He put up 34 points. The defense got victimized by Edgerrin, Peyton, and Marvin. So we trudged on. Went up to NY where the newly resurgent Jets under the fiery gun of phenom Ray Lucas out-dueled us 28-20. We were swooning. Our defense was falling apart in the redzone and couldn't handle the costly turnovers that were being created by Danny boy's weakened gun. Now was our chance to get back on track against the lowly Chargers. But Dan faltered again, and we barely scraped out a 12-9 in on Olindo Mare's foot. We now faced the Jets again and an opportunity for revenge...an opportunity to right our season at home in Miami and get ourselves back on track for the playoffs. The fiery Ray Lucas came into our house on a day when Danny boy led us to 31 points of offense...and still we were outgunned by Lucas 38-31 largely because of three very costly interceptions, one returned 100 yards for a touchdown. The Dolphins, downtrodden and depressed now faced a meaningless game in Washington, where Norv Turner's offense was making waves as one of the most dangerous in the NFL. The outcome mattered very little. Dan saved most of his juice for the playoffs which were already sealed. We finished 9-7.
We're 5-1 right now, our starting quarterback is injured. Assuming we win against the Bills and the Packers win against the Redskins (both feats equally probable) then both the Dolphins and the Packers head into a Week 8 matchup coming off a bye week at 6-1.
Sound familiar? Let me take you back to 1999. It was Week 8 in the NFL. Dan Marino received an injury in Week 6 action against the New England Patriots. Damon Huard came in as the backup quarterback and led us to victory over the Eagles in his first start of the season, Week 7. We now faced an opponent that was a Super Bowl contender, just like the Dolphins. They were 6-1, we were 6-1...ready for a showdown in Miami.
We would go on to win that game, after Sam Madison performs a hat trick on QB Steve McNair by intercepting him three times. We shut out the 6-1 Titans to win the game 17-0 and go on to an astounding 7-1 record for the first half of the season. Then the wheels started falling off. We got destroyed and our offense exposed by the Buffalo Bills in Week 9 action, as Damon Huard's inexperience and lack of talent became obscenely obvious.
"Hurry back Dan Marino! Hurry back! We need you!" we all shouted. Our super bowl bid seemed to hinge on how fast Dan could get back after that loss. Luckily for us, Damon Huard had one left in him as he took us to victory over the New England Patriots 27-17. The defense on that day intercepted Drew Bledsoe an astounding 5 times. Huard was efficient. Gadsden spectacular, and JJ Johnson recorded his very first 100 yard day. But, Damon Huard suffered a broken nose in the victory and was now questionable for next week's game on Thanksgiving Day against the Cowboys.
But to our surprise and delight, Dan was healthy again! Or so it seemed. Jimmy Johnson rushed Dan back from rehab because Damon now had a broken nose and we were faced with the very real possibility of Scott Zolak starting. But then came the Cowboys game on Turkey Day. Dan Marino, who obviously was not completely healthy, still rather inexcusably threw 5 interceptions in a horribly horrendous debacle...guiding us to a 20-0 loss against the Cowboys. "Thats ok," we thought. "Danny just wasn't quite ready to come back yet, it was obvious" Jimmy Johnson wanted nothing more at that point than to bench Dan Marino in favor of the 5-1 Damon Huard (including his bailout of Danny in a week 6 win over the Pats 31-30). But he was handcuffed. Danny's injury wasn't all THAT bad anymore, and he was the Dolphans' man. Besides, they now went up against a Colts team that Danny had a great amount of success against passing the ball. But this time the defense fell apart, allowing the Colts to crack us open for 37 points in what would become a 34-37 loss in Miami...a loss that Dan Marino would later account was one of the most painful of his career.
Jimmy Johnson still was itching to bench Dan but this loss surely was not Dan's fault. He put up 34 points. The defense got victimized by Edgerrin, Peyton, and Marvin. So we trudged on. Went up to NY where the newly resurgent Jets under the fiery gun of phenom Ray Lucas out-dueled us 28-20. We were swooning. Our defense was falling apart in the redzone and couldn't handle the costly turnovers that were being created by Danny boy's weakened gun. Now was our chance to get back on track against the lowly Chargers. But Dan faltered again, and we barely scraped out a 12-9 in on Olindo Mare's foot. We now faced the Jets again and an opportunity for revenge...an opportunity to right our season at home in Miami and get ourselves back on track for the playoffs. The fiery Ray Lucas came into our house on a day when Danny boy led us to 31 points of offense...and still we were outgunned by Lucas 38-31 largely because of three very costly interceptions, one returned 100 yards for a touchdown. The Dolphins, downtrodden and depressed now faced a meaningless game in Washington, where Norv Turner's offense was making waves as one of the most dangerous in the NFL. The outcome mattered very little. Dan saved most of his juice for the playoffs which were already sealed. We finished 9-7.