Football

Miami Dolphins Over Hyped

Author: Jason A. Martin Word Count: 558

This entire NFL offseason we have been hearing media outlet after media outlet tout the Miami Dolphins. Yes, the Dolphins are this season's bandwagon team. Countless NFL analysts are quick to jump on and shout, "Look Ma No Hands!" I am not one of them. Yes, the AFC East is not that strong, but I just am not buying that the Miami Dolphins are that great. They finished 9-7 last season thanks to a six game win streak to close out the year. I will present three ironclad points that prove the Miami Dolphins are not the best thing since sliced bread.



Point One: Who did they beat?



Yes, the Miami Dolphins closed out the 2005 campaign by rattling off six wins. However, let's get a grip here and put those wins in perspective. They beat the terrible Raiders, hapless Bills, struggling Charges, clueless Jets, terrificless Tennessee (yes, I know that's not a word), and the not-playing-for-anything Patriots. Who did they beat? You don't see top teams there except the Patriots, and they didn't need to play. For them, it was a practice game.



Point Two: 2006 Schedule



Welcome back to reality. This year's schedule is not full of a string of daisies. The Miami Dolphins open up the season at Pittsburgh. In week 5, they play at New England. In week 9, they play at Chicago. They follow that up by playing Kansas City and Minnesota. In week's 13 and 14 they play Jacksonville and the Patriots again. They closeout the season at Indianapolis and unless the Colts are resting for the playoffs that will be a tough game.Mixed in that schedule are questionable games against the Packers, Lions, Bills, Jets, Texans and Titans. Looking at last season, this Dolphins team could easily end up at 6-10.



Point Three: Daunte Culpepper



I must apologize. Apparently, as an NFL analyst, I am supposed to forget about Culpepper's injury problems and poor performance in Minnesota once Randy Moss less. It must be nice to have selective memory. If Culpepper goes down again, Cleo Lemon can always play. Getting hurt was the best thing Culpepper could have done to help his Vikings team. He played in 7 games and threw 12 INTs to just 6 TDs. His entire career has been littered with interceptions. Sorry Dolphin fans, but Culpepper is just average at best.



The Closer



Until proven; otherwise, the Dolphins are just a run of the mill NFL club. If Gus Frerotte is no good then neither is Culpepper. The only difference between the two is Culpepper has a much greater shot at going down to injury now. Getting back to 9-7 this season will be a task. Hey, they could do it, but they will most likely fail. Still, it's probably going to take 10 wins to get into the playoffs on the AFC side of the ball. That would leave them a game out again. Even if they do slip into the playoffs, they are not an AFC playoff caliber team.



They over-performed last season and thanks to a weak end of the year schedule they closed strong. So, go ahead and jump on their bandwagon if you want. I'll wait for the next bus.

Jason A. Martin is a journalist and copywriter for various websites. You can view more of his articles by visiting his Sports Journalist website at SportsJournalist.org.

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