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Dolphins no longer rank as NFL whipping boys
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-29 09:34 MIAMI: The laughing stock of the NFL last season, when they managed just a solitary win, the Miami Dolphins are suddenly being taken seriously again.
Three victories so far, two against strong divisional rivals including Sunday's opponents the Buffalo Bills, do not make them play-off material just yet, but they certainly indicate that the changes made during the close-season are starting to pay off. After that 1-15 campaign, head coach Cam Cameron was fired and two-time Superbowl winning coach Bill Parcells was appointed head of football operations and promptly brought in several former staffers from his old club the Dallas Cowboys, including Tony Sparano as head coach. With 30 new faces in their opening day roster, Sparano had the tough task of gelling them with the wounded remains of Cameron's demoralised team and creating something that could at least be competitive. After wins over the New England Patriots, the San Diego Chargers and early season pacesetters Buffalo, Sparano said on Monday he finally felt the process was coming together. "What stands out to me the most (about the Bills win) is the way our players competed, and I do mean that," he said. "I'm really proud of the way they competed out there, and that's something we've been talking about from the first day we got here." Sparano, with more than 20 years coaching experience in college and the NFL, said he felt after practice last Wednesday his team had finally understood what was required of them. "I think they're starting to get it. I really do. And I told them after Wednesday's practice. "I went in there on Thursday and I said to the team, 'I think,' and we don't throw this term around easily, 'You get it. You get it.' I told them that. "It has been coming. We've been getting better and better and better out there, but they got it." At 3-4, it is clear that what is missing is consistency but as one local reporter noted on Monday, after a year of being consistently bad most Dolphins fans will settle for the current rollercoaster form. Helping Miami's mini-revival have been the displays from quarterback Chad Pennington, running-backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams and linebacker Joey Porter but on Sunday, it was the much-maligned wide-receiver Ted Ginn Jr who took the plaudits. Ginn, drafted ninth overall in the 2007 draft, produced a career-high with seven catches and 175 yards against the Bills and he said there is a new mood among the players. "It is a big difference as far as the locker room, as far as the players on the team, as far as the coaches. "Just getting up every day (last season) was hard. Now, you're getting up and you know that you've got a chance. "With this coaching staff and with the people that they brought into this building, it just gave us a lift where now we see that we can compete with anybody and play with anybody. "The only thing we've got to do is have belief and that's all we got and we just try to go out every day and keep getting better and better." Agencies |
