Well I hope everyone had a great holiday and are ready for the New Year. I know I am, especially the 4th, when my Miami Dolphins will play in the first round of the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens.
That's right folks, the Dolphins are playoff bound after finishing the regular season 11-5. One season after n abysmal 1-15 record, first year coach Tony Sparano came in with new quarterback Chad Pennington and Bill Parcells as VP of operations to tie the greatest turnaround in NFL history. Even though Pennington should probably be named team MVP, this team centered around very stingy defense led by Joey Porter, whom finished second on the league in sacks (17.5). I hardly noticed Jason Taylor was no longer on the team since DE/OLB Matt Roth filled the void very well. Channing Crowder will soon make people not miss Zach Thomas. He's stronger, faster, and has many years left playing in the middle. The one glaring weakness of the defense was the secondary. The only consistent player was Yeremiah Bell, but I anticipate the Fins to look secondary in the first two rounds of the draft.
We were also introduced to the wildcat formation this season. Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams did a wonderful job running the rock this season, and I am very confident with keeping that as the backfield next season. Pennington should have some MVP considerations, but due to his lack of TD passes he'll get the shaft. That's fine though, I prefer to have the starting QB that threw the least amount of intereceptions than Tony Romo who can't hold the ball for shit, or lead his team to the playoffs with players like Terrell Owens and Marion Barber on his team. Ted Ginn Jr. finally started to show his talent this season, and did very well as taking over as the #1 wideout after Greg Camarillo went down with a season ending injury. I hope they look for a deep threat receiver during the offseason since most of what we have are small, fast, possession guys. The offensive line improved dramatically. Amazing what can happen when you take a gu like Jake Long and just let him play his game. This allowed right tackle Vernon Carey to move back to his natural position. The best thing about the line is that they are VERY young and will only get BETTER. The tight ends certainly surprised as they accounted for 10 of the 18 receiving touchdowns.
This week will certainly be a tough game against the Ravens (a rematch at that). They match up very well against us and I am not the most confident, but winning the AFC East is practically winning a Super Bowl given this season's expectations.
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