Playoffs are an answer away for Dolphins

Playoffs are an answer away for Dolphins
December 23
Palm Beach Post columnist Greg Stoda
"The Big Game - capitalizations are appropriate - is almost here, and the Miami Dolphins are beside themselves with stoicism.

And maybe that's a good idea.

Because it certainly fits the group dynamic.

The Dolphins have gone from 1-15 patsies a season ago to 10-5 surprises this one, and have been unflappable in the accomplishment.

The mood has worked as a defense mechanism the past four weeks during which everybody connected with Dolphins Inc. suggested that games against St. Louis, Buffalo, San Francisco and Kansas City were, for all practical purposes, playoff football.

They weren't, of course, because there existed a margin for error depending on what happened elsewhere.

Now, though, comes an all-or-nothing Sunday assignment against the New York Jets. A victory would give Miami the AFC East title and home field for a first-round playoff game; a loss would leave the Dolphins absent from post-season competition for a seventh consecutive year.

"Nothing is owed to you in this league," rookie coach Tony Sparano said he has told his team over and over and over again this season.

The Dolphins, who act as though they'd follow Sparano through the gates of hell (the gates of Giants Stadium will have to do), have heeded his word.

"Everything we've gotten - whatever that is - has been because ... this team of no stars goes at it in workmanlike fashion," Sparano said Monday.

The Dolphins aren't, for most pertinent example, the glittery Dallas Cowboys, who come dressed with actual stars on their helmets, not to mention with folks such as Tony Romo and Terrell Owens in uniform. That's worth noting, because Dolphins czar Bill Parcells and Sparano and General Manager Jeff Ireland all landed in Miami upon leaving Dallas and brought a bunch of players with them.

Anthony Fasano, for one.

He's the tight end who made a wonderful reach-back catch Sunday and turned it into a game-winning touchdown against the Chiefs in frigid Kansas City.

That the Dolphins are about to play The Big Game with a load of guys who don't have much (if any) experience in such a situation bothers Fasano not at all.

"It might actually be better for us," said Fasano, who figures many of his new teammates don't/can't understand the kind of pressure they'll face against the Jets.

That's an ignorance-is-bliss spin, obviously. But it might also be a legitimate adoption of an if-the-shoe-fits-wear-it philosophy.

Never have these Dolphins pretended to be something they're not. They make few mistakes (see: Chad Pennington). They have used a catchy formation - The Wildcat, which ought to be called The Brownie Mix in honor of primary operator Ronnie Brown - to good effect. And they have been mostly stingy in giving up points.

There are, however, warning signs. The Dolphins are 8-1 since a 2-4 start, but the only loss during the hot stretch was to a team (New England) far and away the best of the nine
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