Missed You Dolphins…Where Have You Been? Welcome Back

I know, your pissed. You know your pissed. Everyone is. The Miami Dolphins let yet another game get away from them. Another important playoff implication game. Your stomach was in knotts, you awoke Monday morning seething thinking of all the other options that could have happened, and that’s if you could have fallen asleep the night before without re-imagining the outcome at least a thousand times and your probably sitting here right now stewing in the what “if’s” and “should-have-beens”.

Feels good doesn’t it?  The Miami Dolphins are back baby!

I don’t mind throwing salt on open wounds. What’s that old saying, if you can feel pain you know your still alive? The Dolphins are still alive for the playoffs. They need a wee bit of help and Philly and Pittsburgh are our best friends right now. Forget about the NY Jets. Unless we lose one of our last 2 games they can’t take a spot away from us.

The Miami Dolphins blew quite a few games this year so why your thinking of the what-if’s consider this as I move forward here. The Phins came within 1:30 seconds of beating the still undefeated Indy Colts. The Miami Dolphins opened the 2009 season against last years “Rookie of the Year” QB Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers (who will get some MVP nods), and while they lost all 3, they were in each of those games to the point that they could have won.

The Phins also lost to the New Orleans Saints, a team that up until last Saturday had no blemishes on their record. That game was more than winnable and in reality, the second half collapse by the Phins was as responsible as the poor officiating.

Consider that the Phins opened the season 0-3 and a week following their bye-week faced the Saints. In their first 8 games, they had lost close ones to the Saints, Colts, Chargers, and Patriots (all playoff teams), and a very healthy Atlanta team to open up the season. And yet, they still clawed their way back from that horrible 3 and 5 record.

You must remember that this team, these Miami Dolphins that started playing ball under Sparano, Ireland, and Parcells, are young, in the second season of a 75% roster turnover that has basically been re-built from the draft and 2nd and 3rd tier free agents. They have gotten younger almost everywhere on the team and started two rookie CB’s this season.
You must also remember that this team has been hit hard by injuries that they didn’t have happen last season. Ronnie Brown? Gone. Will Allen? Gone. Chad Pennington? Gone. And those are just the top 3 on IR, how many others have missed games and practices? Too many to count and yet this team has still found a way to win…and in their losses, compete.

Some of the games that Miami has played this year look on paper like blowouts. The first NE game finished 27 -17 but the game was a lot closer and Miami was in it for most of the game. Consider the Buffalo game. The Phins should easily have put them away early but let them hang around. Tennessee? They come back from a 24-6 deficit in the 4th quarter…amazing when you really think about it.

So the Dolphins are back. Why? Because you have that sick feeling in your stomach again. Because your losing sleep at night. Because your not talking to your spouse after losses again and your dog runs away when you start yelling at the TV again. How long has it been since that happened? Way back into the Dave Wannstedt years more than likely and most of your verbal follies were directed at the inept coach who didn’t have a clue.

These are not the Dave Wannstedt Dolphins. This is a team that on paper faced the toughest schedule. Colts, Patriots twice, Saints, Falcons, Carolina (who just beat the hell out of the Vikings), the Jets who have a top 5 NFL defense and they beat them twice. They lost to a Tennesse team they should have beat but have won 7 of 8 after starting 0-6.

Relevant.

Yes, that is what these Dolphins are once again. Relevant. Relevant to the AFC East chase, relevant to the AFC wild card chase, and in a couple more years this team will be relevant to the AFC championship game. They are getting better and they are doing it with a gunslinging QB who makes the mistakes that rookie QB’s make. Last year, Chad Henne took the Dolphins offense on one drive. One series. It ended in a TD against the Cardinals.

Dan Marino said this best about Chad Henne: “He takes chances and airs it out. Sometimes it doesn’t work but it’s the fact that he does that allowed the Dolphins to get back into the Tennessee game”.

He’s right. Imagine Chad Henne with a real threat at WR? A game plan that is both finesse running and power running and at the same time a Marino style aerial attack. That’s where this team is heading.

The future for this season is up in the air. But the future of the team looks to be very good. Your sick, your pissed, your mad, and your damn tired of the Phins not beating teams that they are supposed to. And yet, it’s because you feel that way that you finally realize that I am right. Because now you care. Now there is an expectation that involves this team winning instead of playing for the best draft pick slot. This team is playing with 2 weeks left in the season for the post-season. Again, they are relevant. The season didn’t end in week 8.

These Dolphins are not the Dolphins that we will see in two years. These are the Dolphins that are learning to play together, learning to play in the NFL, and learning what it takes to be winners, these are the Dolphins that are going bring into question the futures of guys like Will Allen and Chad Pennington. Because these Dolphins are learning to win games when no one else expects them to.

Except us of course…and them. And that is why they are back. Because it’s been a long time since we have thrown things at our TV’s…which by the way were picture tubes instead of HD. Yeah, it’s been that long….way too long. I hate it. I hate every single minute of the lost sleep and anxiety. Sure did miss it though!