Miami Dolphins: This Ain’t Football

Well Miami Dolphins fans, we knew it would be bad but not this bad. It’s been since the days of Mark Brunell with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1999 since the Miami Dolphins saw a beat down this bad. It was a heartbreaking loss because not only is it the last season the Dolphins had hope, but it was the last game legendary QB Dan Marino played, and legendary coach Jimmy Johnson lead a team.

Just as heartbreaking was this season’s opener. The last shred of dignity this once league leading franchise in win percentage had. That’s right, for you young guys the Miami Dolphins once lead the NFL in the highest win percentage in the history of the NFL. Look how the mighty have fallen.

The 59-10 was the worst regular season game in terms of points allowed. The 625 total yards was the most allowed by the defense in franchise history. It has to deflate the sails of fans who were still optimistic that the team would put something resembling a winner on the field. After all, Brian Flores was the guy who held the high powered Rams offense to just three points in the Super Bowl.

But that was then, with a lot more talent, and a lot more motivation. This year’s Dolphins team doesn’t have the same experience, doesn’t have the same talent, and doesn’t have the drive.

“It’s only week 1, relax” is what a die-hard fan will say, but even true football fans know this isn’t going to be a good football team in this NFL. This wouldn’t even be a good football team in today’s college landscape.

Ryan Fitzpatrick completed less than 50% of his passes. The Dolphins ran just 12 run plays. There wasn’t a receiver who caught more than 3 passes. The lone bright spot was Devante Parker making some headway with 75 yards receiving.

So what about that defense? there was 1 pass defended and 1 sack that was shared. 23/29 passes were completed. The run defense allowed 265 rushing yards and 379 through the air.

Well there’s always next year, right? Don’t be too optimistic. Despite the 10+ picks the team has next year and despite the 100+mill reported in cap space, neither side of the football looked like it had something resembling a starter on any of the other 31 teams.

Yes, its easy to jump on a young team that faced a divisional winner from last year but the Miami Dolphins looked like an expansion team. Maybe the fire sale to start the season wasn’t the brightest idea. Now they’ll go into next season trying to accomplish the rebuild they were supposed to start this season.

1999 marks the last time the team lost but a larger margin, it also might have been the last time the team resembled a playoff team. One thing’s for sure, don’t expect it to happen any time soon.