1. 2000-This is the only team to win a playoff game in this decade. Very sad, I know. Also won division title at 11-5. Automatically the best. 2. 2008-They would probably lose to the 2001 team since they played a cupcake schedule, but they still won the division at 11-5 and gave us a memorable season to never forget. 3. 2001-Not too special, but they made the playoffs and got blown out by the Ravens at home, the same fashion as the '08 team, except the '08team scored 9 points instead of 3 points hooray. 4. 2002-Was tempted to put 2003 who won 10 games, but the 2002 team at one point had the best record in the NFL. Then Fiedler got hurt and every Dolphins fan saw that he really was the best qb we had. No doubt the Phins would have won the division if he stayed healthy, they only would have needed 1 win. [we all remember the 3-way 9-7 tie when the phins choked and lost the division on tiebreakers.] They collapsed and he was never the same even when he came back. 5. 2003-Missed the playoffs due to tiebreaker again. This was the 1st time the Phins choked against a bad Texans team losing by 1 point, and the Texans haunt us to this very day. At least they won their last 2 games in December. 6. 2005-They had a huge comeback in the end to win 6 in a row and finish 9-7 but it was a tough year to make the playoffs in the AFC. If only the '09 Phins finished that strong. 7. 2009-We know where they stand at this point. 7-9, or 8-8. They choked in 3 huge games that mattered, no better then the 02/03 teams. When you can't beat a 5-win Bills team after leading most of the game with a chance to take the division lead the week after[which they would have] you dont deserve to be any higher. And they had 2 more chances to redeem themselves, and they failed both times. They played some great games but they cant finish above .500 8. 2006-They were a trendy super bowl pick by some "experts" but ended up with a weak 6-10. Culpepper over Brees was the mistake of the decade and the Phins have paid for it ever since then. 9. 2004-No need to relive this disaster. 10. 2007-See above. Wow when you look back, you see how depressing this decade has been. Isn't it fitting that we end the decade in 2009 by completely choking at the end of the season against bad to middle-of-the-pack teams? If the Dolphins lose on Sunday, they'll have only 1 more win then the 2006 team did a year after Saban's impressive debut...a year after Sparano's impressive debut. Let's hope they finally turn a new page though beginning in 2010 and the rest of the next decade, because this whole decade has been all the same-somehow ending in disaster whether it's a playoff blowout[under both wanny and sparano] or late season choke job[under every coach now with the '09 team's collapse] or just a crappy year overall. It could have been worse though, just look at Buffalo's "lost decade." Haven't been to an AFC Championship game since Jan 1993, and the Super Bowl since Jan 1985-It is desperately time to do both. 2010 there will be no excuses, no fan should be satified just for making the playoffs. And if we miss them again, then it's time to worry. But I have faith we'll at least win a playoff game and hopefully make it to the afc championship. Would you move any up/down?
Enough is enough. This bull**** ends when the clock hits 2010. I remember each of those teams vividly. 2001 and 2008 had the fight. The best team you're right was the 2000 team. No team has been that great though. The best shot team was the 2002 team. They proved they could beat pretty much anyone. If they had made that trade for Trent Green, a Superbowl was in order.
I think that 2002 team was the best team of the decade. Those last two losses were killers @Minn and @NE: Gary Anderson hitting that 54 yard FG after not hitting anything over 45 in like 5 years. Then the coaching disaster in NE after being up by 11 with 4 minutes to go haunts me until now. Winning those 2 and we're in the playoffs, and we would've been a dangerous team in the playoffs that year.
If we did not lose Ronnie Brown this year, I would say the 2009 team was great and a legimate contender. Of course, that and $4 will buy you a cup of coffee, but what can you do?
Really? Was Ronnie playing defense? Was Ronnie able to stop the big pass plays given up by our secondary? How did we start the season with Ronnie? Oh yeah....0-3. To say things would have been different with Ronnie is a joke. Sure, we would have run the wildcat and gimmicks more. Maybe our running game would have been better than the past few weeks. However, Henne didn't play that bad and our OL is just brutal thanks to the injuries. Would Ronnie have helped the OL prevent injuries? Doubtful. Oh...how about all the dropped passes? Would Ronnie playing change that as well? No. Fact is...losing Ronnie didn't drop us down the ladder this year. It hurt, but there were so many other issues that didn't involve Ronnie or what Ronnie would have brought to the team by being out there.
The 2002 team definitely had the most potential. But, they dropped the ball and the coaching staff took the major blame on that one. Fiedler was doing well enough to help Ricky, but Huard sucked and they should have tried for Green or someone else. This $hit needs to end in 2010. It even dates back to the late 90s with all those embarrassing playoff losses in the second round. It's nice to make it to the playoffs but at least put up a fight when you get there, the Phins have been getting dumped out of the playoffs whether it's been in the 1st or 2nd round by getting completely dominated since 1997. 2010 is very important for the sanity of Dolphins fans haha.
I agree that the 2002 team was the best of the decade. We led the league in rushing and in sacks and we choked away two of the most depressing losses in recent memory. That New England game...............
Which was worse- The New England game or the Vikings game? The NE game is more memorable because they are a division rival and the Phins blew an 11 point lead with 4 mins to go, but they were the defending super bowl champs. The Vikings were a team that won 6 games[2 of them obviously against the Lions-the doormats of the NFC North this entire decade]. To lose to a bad team by a FG and in a dome with no elements to blame with a chance to clinch the division title is a worse choke job then the Patriot loss, even though that one sticks out more and was also in our hands.
The New England Game was the worst game EVER. That game almost got me to stop watching football. Edit: I am not joking. That was the first off season I didn't really care about the draft and took at least 3 weeks of watching football again to enjoy myself the next season. That loss hurt more than any losses ever.
Yup I understand why it would do that That Miami team was dangerous. As dangerous as any Miami Dolphins team since 1995. IMO, it's the best team we've had the past 16 years.
It was worse than that. Going into the Minnesota game...we had just beaten the raiders to get the #1 seed. The Mission was win both games and get Home Field Advantage throughout the playoffs. we went from the #1 seed to out of the playoffs in 2 weeks. THAT was the best team int he decade. #1 running team with a top 3 defense.
yea, that made it even more painful. That was such a good team. I believe that was the first time a team had the top rusher and the top sacker and missed the playoffs.
No doubt, Ronnie would have made us better had he not been injured. But better than what we see before us doesn't add up to good, much less great. We were exposed in several games this season as a team old at OLB, virtually talentless at ILB, lacking a reliable game-breaker at Receiver, devoid of talent, brains and guts at TE, and mistake-prone in the routine, let alone in the clutch. Not to say we're hopeless; we have a LOT of fine elements in place with which to go forward with hope and greater expectations. Just that a lot of us were kidding ourselves, thinking we were better than we were...or good enough to overcome the critical flaws in this team.
I'm almost regretting this thread. Thinking back to when we beat the eventual #1 seed Raiders then lost to the crappy Vikings and then the Pats when we would have locked up the division with 1 win and the #1 seed with 2. The nightmares are coming back! Two games/wins away from being the #1 seed in the playoffs to being eliminated in new england...remembering all this has ruined my week.
I feel better about this season. It is like losing your left foot after you lose your testicles. Yea, losing your left foot sucks, however remember how crappy it was when you lost your testicles?
the best is yet to come it will begin in 2010 this team will be a perennial contender don't see all this doom & gloom we will contend in 2010 think we've had a terrible decade, think about this the lions, tampa bay, redskins, cardinals, chargers, raiders, seahawks, jacksonville, falcons, chicago, all have had a very difficult road to walk @ one time or another. even the patriots, saints & colts had a rough patch or two. there exists today a tremendous parity in the game. @ no time in NFL history has there been as much competition, the avilable talent in every draft is outrageous & makes for excellent football. we have a blue print for success & are sticking to it. the MiamiDolphins are on the right track. we have nothing to complain about & much to be thankful for as Dolfans GoFish!
Yup, I remember that clearly. IMO, we were the best team in the AFC that year, but saying that in public will get me ridiculed, that's why I was hesitant to mention it.
We all hope you're right! As depressing as it is for Dolfans[though its much worse for plenty of other franchises] it's still fun to look back on the decade. You'll be seeing lots of it in the coming days and weeks - in sports, music, movies, politics, news, etc. We only had 3 losing seasons, possibly a 4th if they lose on sunday. Plenty of other franchises have had worse. But, the sad part is the team could have and should have been super bowl contenders in 2000, 2001, but mostly 2002 and 2003. When you've got nothing you have nothing to lose, but the Dolphins had a LOT of potential and it all went away with nothing but one playoff victory. We had an amazing defense and the best run game in 2002 and 2003. The coaching was not there, and we never had a QB. Now we have a QB, still have a very strong running game, maybe the best and definitely the deepest. If only we had that same defense, which is our biggest need in the offseason followed by the #1 WR.
No GM, Lousy drafts, lousy coaches and no one near a franchise QB. Can you possibly design a better iron clad plan for failure? Were lucky to exit the decade with a team that's got hope for future success. We've done that at this point so you really have to feel good about recovering from that absolute mess.
I disagree that we would have been the #1 seed in 2002. We would have lost one game to the NFC while Oakland and Tennessee would have lost two games. I think we would have been the third seed hosting the Browns. At least that's what I can see if there's no common games determiner. Tennessee's 11-5 throws it all off. I might be wrong though. At home, we could have handled the Steelers and once again we had a great shot at the Raiders. Against Tampa Bay, I think we could have succeeded. Sad to say but it was the year. Give that team a QB like Pennington even and they were definitely Super Bowl bound and probably the winners.
I still despise Wannstedt for not being able to get the team fired up to whip the Vikings' asses. Instead, he hangs up a lobster trap from the ceiling in the locker room. ****ing genious I tell you. Shoot me now.....I'm as depressed as Kurt Cobain now after thinking about it. Posted via Mobile Device
Whew. Did you say that all in 1 breath? This season is basically over. A new 1 is just on the horizon. Take a deep breath (in through the nose...out through the mouth) and try not to chew the poor guys head off.
They should have hung up the dreaded idiotic lobster trap this year to remind the team what happened to the Dolphins in 2002. Though seeing that would have given JT and Ricky some nightmares.
I disagree, since losing Ronnie Brown forced us to get away from relying on Henne to be a game manager and ask him to be a playmaker. In the 6 games Henne played in before the Tampa game he was only asked to throw the ball 158 times. In the 6 games after that number has gone up significantly, to 242 times. Consequently, Henne's turnovers have increased, with only 3 picks in his first 6 games and 9 picks in his last second. On average, Henne has gone from throwing an interception 1.9% of the time to 3.7% of the time. In other words, without Brown in the lineup he's twice as likely to throw an interception. This is likely due to the old adage that a "good run game is a young QB's best friend" Don't forget that we've seen both Ricky Williams and Pat White put the ball on the turf when asked to make plays ... something Brown rarely did. This too results in asking your young QB to press to make plays, leading us to where we are today. I agree with your assessments of our WRs and our Defense, but the loss of Brown has been incredibly huge for this team to overcome.
We beat Oakland though, so wouldn't we have had the tie breaker over them? Then that would make us at worst the #2 seed. And I just looked on profootballreference.com. Miami had 2 out of conference losses just as tennessee did. I'm not gonna go look at strength of schedule though or common games at this point. That was the year we were closest though. Even with Fiedler had we had 1 or 2 breaks go our way those last 2 weeks.................kill me now
it is what it is: out of all the women I've loved before the one I'm with ... I love the more GoFish! "never met a happy man that didn't think he was..." Spinoza
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=4782326 This is a [somewhat] good article for Dolphins fans to read. Especially the part titled "A disturbing history." Jets tears make everything better.
We started off this decade by losing to Jax by 55 points and then mistreating the best QB this team has ever or will ever see. We seem to be laying down going into a new decade against teams that we should have beaten with a HC that should have never let it happen. If we lose against the Steelers at home it will be VERY bad form going into a new decade! I expected way better from this team this year, not in wins and losses, but in how they played on the field. We lost alot of key people but what hurts is that it seems we also lost our heart.
