Surprising Dolphins still have much to discover

Surprising Dolphins still have much to discover
December 23
Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote
" We think we know a lot about these Dolphins by now.

We know the reason for the season starts with Bill Parcells, the vice president in charge of this-can't-be-happening. They could remake The Miracle Worker starring Tuna and we would have no quibble with the casting.

We know no team in the NFL's 89 years, until now, ever has won 10 games the season after winning only one.

We know that Tony Sparano, the coach, and Chad Pennington, the quarterback, have meshed to lead the creation of something close to stupefying.

We know that this bunch of guys who have restored faith and refilled pride in a legion of Dolfans is one victory away, this coming Sunday, from ending a franchise-worst six-season playoff drought.

All that, we know.

And yet there still is something pretty fundamental we don't know about these Dolphins, even after 15 games:

How good are they?

The answer isn't found in the 10-5 record. Cannot be mined from the four-game winning streak. Was not detectable Sunday in that frozen triumph in Kansas City.

Are the Dolphins merely a pretty decent team fat and happy on a soft schedule?

Or are they a dangerous force -- easier to overlook than to beat -- that might not only get to but win in the playoffs?

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We aren't sure, and the unknown ratchets this whole thing up now.

Linebacker Joey Porter talked after Sunday's game about how the culture had changed and said, ``You can't look at us like the 1-15 Dolphins anymore.''

That much is indisputable.

He added, ``We can play with the best.''

That much remains in doubt.

That much we begin to know in five days in the Meadowlands against the hated J-E-T-S! And, perhaps, thereafter, should an NFL postseason include Miami for the first time since 2001.

The Dolphins have not gained respect commensurate with their monumental improvement. You see it in too little national media attention. Sparano admits he has felt it. Players have, too.

''I think there have been points as we've gone on here,'' Sparano said Monday, ``where maybe there was some of that where people still look at you as a 1-15 team.''

Said cornerback Andre' Goodman: ``There was no point in the season where any [opponent] took us seriously. They thought it was a fluke because we were winning close games. They look at our schedule.''

Now we begin to learn if this team has a higher gear, and can find that clutch. Now we find out if there is greatness this team is capable of -- greatness yet unseen.

The Dolphins will be lumped with the likes of the Broncos and the Cardinals if they make the playoffs as early-round fodder, lightweight pretenders unexpected to challenge for anything. The onus is on them to prove that wrong. They can take all the umbrage they want and play the no-respect card, but they will earn it -- or not -- in the next week. Or two or three."
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