Why didn’t the Miami Dolphins win more with Dan Marino?

The Miami Dolphins greatest player is Dan Marino but they have only one Super Bowl appearance to show for his tenure with the team.

Throughout Miami Dolphins history, very few players carry the stigma of Dan Marino. The teams of the ’70s brought Miami three consecutive Super Bowls and two Lombardi Trophies. Just before Marino arrived the Dolphins made it to the big game with David Woodley at the helm. But why did Marino only make it to the game one time?

That is a question that many have tried to answer over the years. In reality, he should have had a run similar to the Buffalo Bills who lost four Super Bowls. Marino had the talent on offense but there were missing pieces that simply couldn’t be found.

Defense

For the better part of the Dan Marino years, the Dolphins defense was not very good. In his 17 seasons, Marino’s supporting defense ranked lower than 20 in total yards eight times. They also ranked lower than 20 in points allowed five times and the lower teens five times.

Then Dolphins head coach Don Shula tried to fix the defense but with drafts that included Eric Kumerow, John Bosa, and Andrew Gardner turned out to be wasted draft picks. Add to that a very bad defensive coordinator, Tom Olivadotti, and the Dolphins simply couldn’t provide him with a unit that could keep teams out of the endzone. Leaving Marino to fight in games that were far too often, shootouts.

Running back

Another failure for Don Shula who had the vision to put Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Mercury Morris in the backfield, running back was a big issue for the Dolphins during they heyday of Marino’s playing years.

The top running backs during his time were not consistent. Lorenzo Hampton, Andre Franklin, Bernie Parmalee. While the players themselves were not horrible, they were no home run hitters that could take over a game or supplement the Dolphins aerial attack. This created a problem with clock management and opposing defenses were able to attack the Dolphins passing game forcing them to win with the run. This is a point that is interesting because as much as they tried to take Marino and the passing game away, Marino still moved the ball at will.

Jim Kelly and the Bills

While Dan Marino was brilliant, the Bills offense was well-rounded and balanced with a stifling defense that created all kinds of problems for the Dolphins on both sides of the ball. Miami struggled offensively but they were utterly defenseless against the Bills rushing game.

Kelly and the Bills kept Marino from advancing in the post-season. Of the seven post-season games that Marino played in under Don Shula, the Dolphins lost three playoff games to the Bills. The Dolphins did not have an answer. In 1991 they lost 44-34 in the divisional round, in 1993 they lost 29-10 in the AFC Championship, and in 1995 they lost 37-22 in the Wild Card round.

The Division

During all of Marino’s playing years, the AFC East was comprised of not four but five teams. While that is not a huge deal, Miami played in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL and some will say that those years the AFC East was the dominant division in the league. In the AFC, there really was none better than the East.

Miami was actually supposed to move from the East to the South when the league split the divisions but a push from ownership kept the team in the East to preserve the rivalries they had. The Colts ended up moving out. That, however, came after Marino left.

Dan Marino

Yes, Dan Marino can also be blamed for this. Marino often pushed for more passing plays and didn’t want to rely on a rushing attack. For as good as he was, Marino simply wanted the game at all times on his shoulders. That was the gunslinger competitor in the HOF quarterback.

Marino remains the best QB that the Dolphins ever had but a lot remained stacked against him through his time and while not one specific reason exists to why he didn’t return to the biggest game in the NFL, all of them combined together worked against him.