Seems Like Forever
By Brian Miller
At the beginning of each season all teams are ranked from top to bottom based on their alphabetical rank. In the AFC East, the top spot begins each season with the Buffalo Bills. As this season progressed, the Bills lock on the AFC East began in week 3 when the Miami Dolphins beat the New England Patriots. I mention this for one reason and one reason only…it seems like forever since the Dolphins, when not ranked at the start of the season by “alpha” have been anywhere but at the bottom.
Not so anymore. The Dolphins led by Tony Sparano are no longer the 1-15 laughing stock of the AFC East. At 5-2 the team remains 1 game out of first place and 1/2 game out of last. The Dolphins, thanks to a win vs. the Bills 3 weekends ago, the Dolphins are no longer sitting at the bottom. Now they have to hold it and work their way up the ladder.
In what has to be one of the greatest turn arounds in NFL history…thus far…the Dolphins are not only playing meaningful games in the month of November….but are you ready for this….they control their own destiny even 1 game back. The Dolphins still have all 3 division opponents left on their schedule and wins against Buffalo and New England give Miami the sweep of those series while a season ending win against the New York Jets would slide them into a tie for first…should that even happen. Then you can break out the tie breaker scenarios.
While playoffs and division wins are A LONG WAY OFF and the Dolphins showed this past Sunday that they have a lot more work to do just to prepare to play each game, the Phins are playing good football. They face the Oakland Raiders this weekend in a rematch of sorts to last years poor outing. A win keeps the Phins paced in the AFC. A loss and they could find themselves two games back of New England whom they face the following the weekend.
This season is far from over and the Dolphins fans are a far cry from where they were last season. The stadium was loud…so loud in fact that by the 4th quarter my head was pounding so badly that my ears are still ringing almost two days later. That is what winning has done. The Dolphins faithful have found something to cheer about, and they are cheering. Each series on their feet, each series banging chairs and walls. Home field advantage returned to Dolphins Stadium on Sunday.
A win against Oakland this week, and I can assure you that come New England a week later…you would think Dan Marino had returned to the field.
Now is the time to take it all in…now is the time to “Believe”. It seems like forever since we could…at Dolphins Stadium? The fans are starting to and they are not sitting down anymore.