REFLECTION OF AN 11-5 SEASON

There are two distinct moments as a Dolphins fan I look back upon with a great deal of fondest and happiest. The first was during the 1993 season when the Dolphins shutout the Chargers 31-0 at home to clinch a spot in the AFC Championship game. The second was on Dec. 28, 2008 when Andre Goodman intercepted Brett Favre with the Jets driving for the tying score late in the fourth quarter to all but clinch the game and the division title for Miami. (Side note – I love watching the reply of Jet’s head coach Eric Mangini saying about the Favre throw, “What were you thinking”)

Whether it is 10 days or 10 years from today, I will look very fondly upon the 2008 Dolphins season. A level of pride has been restored to the franchise.

On Oct. 5 the Dolphins just completed back-to-back wins over the Patriots and Chargers to even their overall record at 2-2. As the final seconds ticked away in that win over the Chargers, for the first time in a long while I sensed the Dolphins were headed some where positive. I never thought that it would wind up with a division championship and hosting a first-round playoff game.

To watch them win close games week-after-week just reiterated the fact that Miami is by no means the most talented team in the league. However, they may have been the most relentless. They did all the small things right. They a) committed very few turnovers b) played solid defense, c) played as a team and d) they out worked their your opponents as just a few of things that the Dolphins did every game to produce their 10 game turn around. It was so fun to watch every week.

The key now is sustain what this team has started. Watching Chad Pennington throw four INT’s on Sunday was gut wrenching to say the least but not as gut wrenching as watching them stumble to a 1-15 season in 2007. Certainly it would have been nice to see the Dolphins advance to the Divisional Round but Sunday’s game showed was that this team has a lot of room to grow.

Make no mistake, the Dolphins are growing. It feels good to be a Dolphins fan again. Maybe, just maybe, my hope that Miami will make the Super Bowl before I die might still happen.