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Behind Enemy Lines: Talking Wild Card With Dolphins and Ravens Bloggers

Posted: Jan 1st 2009 1:45PM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Ravens, AFC East, AFC North, NFL Playoffs

10 COMMENTS

As we get ready for the Wild Card Weekend matchup of the Dolphins and Ravens, Brian Miller from PhinPhanatic and Tony Lombardi from ProFootball24x7 were nice enough to offer some insights on their teams for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Sportz Assassin: How do both of you feel about how your teams are playing heading into the playoffs?

Brian Miller (PhinPhanatic): I like the fact that no one is giving us any real credit for getting there. Jim Mora says on air that the best AFC East team is New England and there has been little "props" for winning the division as most of the kudos surrounds simply the turnaround. The Ravens are three-point favorites in this game and the Phins are getting tired of feeling second rate.

Tony Lombardi (ProFootball24x7): The Ravens are really beginning to gel in Cam Cameron's offense and now they are getting contributions from Mark Clayton and Willis McGahee. Joe Flacco has come on strong since the last meeting with the Dolphins and has the third highest road QB rating among NFL quarterbacks. And of course the team's defense is always dependable. The Ravens could be a dangerous post season participant.

Continue Reading Behind Enemy Lines: Talking Wild Card With Dolphins and Ravens Bloggers

'72 Dolphins, Desperately Trying to Remain Relevant, Are Not Impressed With '08 Titans

Posted: Oct 29th 2008 2:10PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Titans, NFL Fans

10 COMMENTS

For the four people who are even aware of the 1972 Dolphins, here's the latest from the last team to go undefeated for an entire season: the only remaining unbeaten team in 2008, the Tennessee Titans = YAWN.

I think it's fair to say that nobody figures the Titans to be 18-0 in three month's time, but they're still a very good football team, arguably the best in the NFL. Well, the '72 Dolphins are not impressed. Not even a little bit:

"I don't think they're that good," former Dolphins running back Jim Kiick said after watching the Titans-Colts game. "In all honesty, I'm not really concerned. They're seven games in and have a long way to go. I can't knock them because they have won every game, but I can't imagine them doing it. They're no Patriots."

And then there's this, from former Dolphins defensive end Manny Fernandez: "There's no need to pay attention ... I can't even tell you what the name of their quarterback is." Great point, Manny ... wait, who are you again?

Perhaps most surprising is that Mercury Morris, one of the 2007 Patriots' biggest critics, not only has nice things to say about the Titans, he's actually pulling for them.

Continue Reading '72 Dolphins, Desperately Trying to Remain Relevant, Are Not Impressed With '08 Titans

42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII: #20 - Super Bowl Ring Stories

Posted: Jan 28th 2008 12:00AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: NFL Media Watch, Super Bowl, ESPN

2 COMMENTS

The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII.

ESPN.com is doing a neat story about Super Bowl rings. They go through all of the previous 41 Super Bowls and tell a story about a championship ring from each of those games.

They cover everything from the Packers Jerry Kramer losing his Super Bowl I ring and his quest to get it back to the Colts' Adam Vinatieri receiving his fourth ring last year.

There is the story of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who wears all his Super Bowl rings ... at the same time ... whenever he's due to collect a new one. So, if the Patriots win Super Bowl XLII, he will show up with his three Super Bowl rins with the Patriots and two with the New York Giants.

There is the Dolphins' Mercury Morris losing his Super Bowl VII ring ... then losing his replacement. There is Don Shula's Super Bowl VIII ring making a cameo in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. There is the Raiders' Skip Thomas who pawned his Super Bowl XI ring to try to pay for his house (it didn't get enough). The Steelers' Rocky Bleier who leased his rings out to keep them from his divorce settlement ... then had them stolen from him from a dressing room.

Continue Reading 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII: #20 - Super Bowl Ring Stories

Shula Regrets Ever Commenting on Spygate

Posted: Jan 26th 2008 12:02PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, Patriots, NFL Fans

1 COMMENT

Remember back in November, when former Dolphins head coach and Hall of Famer Don Shula said this:

The Spygate thing has diminished what they've accomplished. You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They've got it ... Belichick was fined $500,000, the team was fined $250,00 and they lost a first-round draft choice. That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found.

Shula later backed off those remarks, and now he's sorry he ever opened his mouth.

"I'm probably not the guy that should have said it ... I think a lot of people, when I said it, perceived it as helping yourself," Shula said. ...

"Somebody else probably should have done it instead of me, because people thought it was self-serving when I did it."

Yeah, somebody like, say, Mercury Morris. He seems impartial. I mean, when he's not making hard-to-follow points about the greatness of the '72 Dolphins, he's actually got some nice things to say about the '07 Patriots:

"It was one game. It happened. I don't think their season should be defined out of that mishap," Morris said. "They soon realized they're so good, they didn't have to have that small advantage they tried to get. In hindsight, I'm sure they wish they hadn't done that."

Of course, none of this matters if the Giants win the Super Bowl; everything can return to normal and a team full of old timers can get down to the business of chugging champagne.

42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII: #40 - Belichick Could Join Chuck Noll

Posted: Jan 23rd 2008 12:00AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Patriots, Steelers, NFL Coaching, Super Bowl

3 COMMENTS

The 42 Stops to Super Bowl XLII is a series that will feature stories, stats and interesting trivia that you can use to act smart as you prepare for Super Bowl XLII.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has already won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX. A win in this year's Super Bowl will tie him with the Pittsburgh Steelers' Chuck Noll for most Super Bowls won by a head coach.

As of now, Belichick is tied with Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh with three Super Bowl wins. Combined, those four coaches are 13-1 in Super Bowl games.

Belichick is the eighth coach to lead his team into four Super Bowls. He joins Don Shula (six), Tom Landry (five), Noll, Gibbs, Bud Grant, Marv Levy and Dan Reeves (all four) on that list.

On the other side, Tom Coughlin is trying to become the 25th different head coach to win a Super Bowl.

35 Years Since Dolphins Wrapped up NFL's Only Perfect Season

Posted: Jan 14th 2008 11:52AM by Sportz Assassin (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East, NFL Video, Super Bowl, Miami

0 COMMENTS

Just two days after the New England Patriots matched the 17-0 mark, today is the 35th anniversary of the 1972 Miami Dolphins victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII to become the first NFL team to end the entire season and postseason with an unblemished record.

Mock them if you may about their pettiness in the years since this magical season and the fact that they didn't have the toughest of schedules that year (they were underdogs to the Redskins in the Super Bowl), but this wasn't a fluke team. Remember that the Dolphins went to Super Bowl VI and lost to the Dallas Cowboys ... albeit badly. They also set, at the time, the single season team rushing record and watched Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris become the first pair of teammates to top 1,000 yards together in a single season.

According to legend, as Don Shula was carried off the field after the game ... some kid ripped off his watch and Shula chased him down and retrived it. Also according to legend, after Garo Yepremian's botched field goal that ended with a Redskin TD with just over two minutes left, Phins defensive lineman told Garo "we lose this game, I'm gonna kill you!" and Nick Buoniconti said that he would "hang you up by one of your ties" if they lost.

Jason Taylor Guaranteed Don Shula a Win

Posted: Dec 17th 2007 12:40PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East, NFL Fans

1 COMMENT

So that was the problem: the Dolphins had the wrong guy making guarantees. Back in Week 3, linebacker Joey Porter promised a victory against the Raiders. Yeah, that didn't work out so well. Daunte Culpepper came to Miami and pretended it was 2004.

Before yesterday's Ravens game, Jason Taylor made a similar promise, but instead of announcing it to the media, he told just one person:

Taylor promised legendary coach Don Shula that Sunday would be the game the Dolphins avoided a different kind of milestone than the one the undefeated 1972 Dolphins celebrated at halftime. "Thank God I didn't make myself a liar," Taylor said after the Dolphins' 22-16 overtime win over the Ravens.

Zach Thomas, who's on the shelf for the rest of the season because of injury, said the best part of the victory -- other than actually winning a game -- was having all the living members of the '72 team on hand to witness it. The Ravens, I'm guessing, were as embarrassed as they've ever been for similar reasons.

"Winning solves a lot of problems" is clichéd, for sure, but look no further than the post-game celebration for proof that clichés are clichés for a reason. Taylor and head coach Cam Cameron were hugging like long lost relatives reunited on an episode of "Maury Povich." See, there's no friction between veteran player and first-year coach when you win. Good times.

Some Members of the '72 Dolphins Don't Care About '07 Team

Posted: Dec 9th 2007 9:20AM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East, NFL Fans

0 COMMENTS

At this point, I think the second-most played story of the 2007 season is the '72 Dolphins and their quest to remain the only unbeaten team in NFL history. We all know how the old-timers celebrate their record each year -- popping cheap champagne, chugging steaks at Don Shula's before heading to the nearest strip club*.

But here's an interesting hypothetical posed by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Harvey Fialkov: Would the '72 Dolphins sacrifice their exclusive place in history to prevent the 2007 Dolphins from going down as the worst team in NFL history, surpassing the 0-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1976?

"It's much more likely the Dolphins will not win then the Patriots won't lose," said former guard Bob Kuechenberg. "My heart is with the '72 Dolphins. It's not even close. Why would there be indecision on my part rooting for our immortal record to stay unique versus the Dolphins going 0-16 instead of 1-15?"

Okay, so maybe it's not such an interesting hypothetical. Less selfish '72er, running back Jim Kiick, admits that he'd like to see the Dolphins win for guys like Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas, which prompted Kuechenberg to punch Kiick in the face after hearing this*.

Sure, a group of crotchety guys in their sixties holding on to a 35-year-old record can be a bit much at times, but as Matt Ufford pointed out in this week's Prelude, what would you rather see: "The '72 Dolphins using the Patriots' season to promote their own legacy, or the prospect of the '07 Pats being even more annoying in thirty years?"

Put me down for the former, please.

* Not true

Cam Cameron Doesn't Know Who's Calling the Plays in Miami

Posted: Dec 7th 2007 6:58PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, NFC East, NFL Rumors, NFL Coaching

4 COMMENTS

The past few days, FanHouse noted that Dolphins' tight end coach Mike Mularkey had assumed the play-calling duties during the Jets game. Since Miami is winless this season, you know how that experiment went, but here's the thing: first-year head coach Cam Cameron had been calling the plays the previous 11 weeks.

And now, after conflicting reports, Cameron's not willing to concede that he granted Mularkey the job.

''It's a collective effort,'' Cameron said when initially asked about Mularkey's new responsibilities. ``I can't, at any time in my coaching career, remember where I called every play.''

But three minutes later, during another response on the topic, Cameron said, ``There is not a magic play-caller here other than me. I'm the guy that calls the plays and is accountable to the plays that are called.''

Weird. According to the Miami Herald's Jeff Darlington, multiple sources reiterated yesterday that Mularkey did call the plays against the Jets.

At 0-12, this seems like an odd battle to fight. Sure, Cameron's background is as an offensive coordinator, and to acknowledge that he can't even do that would be tantamount to admitting failure, perhaps. But as Don Shula pointed out, the head coach has a lot more to do than just game plan, and adding that responsibility to the job description usually ends badly.

To Cameron's credit, the offense has outperformed the defense this season, despite losing Ronnie Brown and recycling through three quarterbacks. It's not much, but what do you want, the Dolphins haven't won a game since 2006.

Don Shula Offers Dolphins Coach Cam Cameron Some Free Advice

Posted: Dec 5th 2007 11:11PM by Ryan Wilson (author feed)
Filed under: Dolphins, AFC East, NFL Fans

3 COMMENTS

One thing former Dolphins head coach Don Shula isn't offering current Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron is a vote of confidence. But luckily, the Hall of Famer is willing to dispense some free advice on how Cameron can turn things around in Miami: let somebody else call the offensive plays.

Cameron came to Miami after successfully serving at the Chargers offensive coordinator, and he retains that job with the Dolphins. Apparently, tight ends coach Mike Mularkey took over the chore during last Sunday's loss to the Jets, so that either means that a) Shula's advice is worthless, or b) Mularkey's play-calling is.

Shula has a couple of Super Bowl rings, and Mularkey bombed as the Bills' head coach a few seasons ago. I'll go with the latter.

Despite Marty Schottenheimer calling Cameron a "great offensive coach and great play-caller," Shula makes a good point about why it's smart to delegate that job to somebody else on the coaching staff (not named Mularkey):

"In your preparation, if you're a play-caller, you have to be thinking all offense to get ready for what's going to happen. If you're the head coach, you have to be the head coach of the entire team -- not just head coach of the offense. I hope he goes in that direction to entrust some of the play-calling to whoever he believes it should be.''

Somebody should show these comments to Brian Billick.