by
Chris Shashaty, Phins.com Columnist
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I’m not much into
predicting records. As the great Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope once wrote,
‘There are a thousand ways to be wrong but only one way to be right’.
These days, the Miami
Dolphins seem to be doing more things right than wrong. That’s a testament to
the solid leadership and football savvy that Nick Saban has brought to the
team.
Without a doubt,
these Dolphins are on the rise.
But they are not a
championship caliber team, at least not yet. As meaningless as preseason games
are, they have confirmed as much in terms of team strengths and weaknesses.
While we won’t be
able to judge the real improvement of this team until the end of the season, it
now seems reasonable to conclude that the Dolphins have enough talent to make
the playoffs.
Do they have enough
to pass the New England Patriots as major-domo of the division? It’s possible,
but somewhat of a long shot given the relative state of affairs.
So what must the Dolphins
do to fulfill their potential?
Here are my six keys
to success for 2006:
1) Starters Must Avoid the Injury Bug
Overall, the Dolphins
are not a deep team. About the worst thing that could happen is for injuries to
limit or lay up key starters at some pretty thin positions (e.g. cornerback,
running back, or wide receiver). Saban and GM Randy Mueller have made
significant progress to remediate this inherited problem, especially at
quarterback. Nevertheless, the general falloff from the starters to the
back-ups is still too dramatic.
2) Improve Scoring Output by 20%
Last year the
Dolphins scored 19.9 points per game. Only two 2005 playoffs teams, both in the
weaker NFC, scored fewer points than the Dolphins did and made the playoffs (
3) Confuse the Coverages
It is crystal clear
that the Dolphins are not overly talented in the secondary. Furthermore, injuries
(especially to Travis Daniels and Will Poole) and a damaging holdout (Jason
Allen) have put the Dolphins in a difficult early position. It is a good thing
that Saban and new ex officio d-coordinator Dom Capers are two of the most
brilliant defensive minds in the business; it will take all their cunning,
trickery, and sleight of hand to get by. And while Daniels should get
healthier, Allen’s holdout and flip-flop between safety and cornerback have
doomed him to near irrelevance for most, if not all, of 2006.
4) Beat NE Once and Win Most of the Divisional Games
The NFL playoff
system is predicated on dominance within a given division. In the last five
years, only six teams made the playoffs while winning just half their
divisional games (2001:
5) Reduce the Number of Penalties by 25%
Perhaps the most
disappointing and shocking aspect of Year One of the Nick Saban Era was that his
team was the most penalized in Dolphin history and one of the most penalized,
both in number (7th most) and yards (8th most), in the
NFL. In this regard, Saban has much to do if he is to be truly compared to Don
Shula. Shula believed that good teams simply do not beat themselves and, as
such, had no appetite for the mental mistakes that primarily cause penalties. This
tenet still holds true today (see Steelers,
6) Convert 40+% of Third Down Situations
The Dolphins had a big time of possession problem last year (3rd worst in the league at 27:25), caused primarily by their poor third down conversion rate (35.1%, 8th worst in the NFL). This resulted in the Dolphins having the 4th highest number of punts (92), thus placing an incredible amount of pressure on their defense to win. The offense must hold on to the ball longer if the Dolphins are to become a legitimate playoff team. QB Daunte Culpepper should be a huge enabler in making the necessary plays on third and fourth down, both with his arm and impressive running ability.