Is .500 Good Enough For The Miami Dolphins? With Poll
By Brian Miller
National media members are not loving the Miami Dolphins these days. This morning on the radio show Mike & Mike in the morning on ESPN radio, both predicted dismal seasons for the south Florida football team. Mike Greenberg, a know Jets fan predicted three wins while his partner predicted a four win season. Over the weekend, an NFL Network analyst predicted six wins, the highest prediction nationally so far.
Outside of the national front stage media types, the average finishing spot for the Dolphins seems to be around the .500 mark. Is that good enough for this team? Is it good enough to save the jobs of Tony Sparano and/or Jeff Ireland?
Dolphins fans don’t want to hear the gloom and doom from naysayers. They want to believe that this team has the defense to carry them into a competitive advantage for the division or a wild card spot. Optimistic despite the tough schedule the Phins will face.
There is a lot of talk on the street about the future of Tony Sparnao and I really don’t want to speculate as to whether his job is safe or not. The reality is that only Stephen Ross will make that decision and despite the declaration earlier this off-season that Sparano must win now, Ross will evaluate the situation throughout the season and at it’s conclusion. So maybe .500 keeps Sparano employed, maybe it doesn’t.
The reality is that fans want to win and the long tradition of winning has now been replaced with years of losing and no playoffs. Fans are fed up as well as they should be. The truth is that a lot of questions ride on the season ahead and the future of the coaches, general manager, and the QB could be decided with this seasons outcome.
Despite the doom and gloom of the media, the reality is this team is actually not as bad as they would have you believe. Potentially, the defense could be a top five under Mike Nolan. The Dolphins have the deepest front seven in the NFL. In fact, the Dolphins back-ups could be solid starters for a handful of other NFL teams. The secondary is young but the corners are solid.
Offensively, the line is a bigger question than Chad Henne although Henne is close behind. The real question is the game plan of new OC Brian Daboll. It is safe to say that the offense will be a lot less predictable than last season. Maybe the Dolphins do finish .500, maybe they finish better, maybe worse. However the season plays out, fans want the team to be competitive instead of a doormat.
Last Friday’s game showed promise in all areas of the team but pre-season is a far cry from the regular season. Over and over again, year after year the predictions roll out and the Dolphins tend to be on the sub .500 list. And it means absolutely nothing until the season ends and the Dolphins have their record logged into history.
What is your prediction for the Dolphins season?