A Shame in Miami

By Zack Cimini

For an organization that has had winning ways since the 70?s, it is disgusting to see what is going on in Miami. The downfalls and declines of a franchise are inevitable, but they aren?t supposed to come in full swing like the case has in Miami. It just goes to show there is no such thing as a franchise player in sports. You just can?t put your faith and trust into one player nor an organization. It doesn?t matter how much talent an individual has, because once you?re on the field it is a team game. If you don?t have the right nucleus of players, you?re going to collapse. That?s one of the main reasons New England has been a successful team.

Wannstedt?s step down on Tuesday ended another phase in Miami history. People tend to forget that Wannstedt came in right after the Jimmy Johnson and Dan Marino fall in 2000. It was right after Miami?s last horrible spotlight when they were blown out in the second round against Jacksonville. Jimmy Johnson then decided to retire, and Wannstedt made it well known that he wanted to go in another direction at quarterback. He made the decision even before Dan Marino was ready to retire, and Marino as a result came close to becoming a Viking. Marino did retire though, and the downfall that was expected to happen in Miami didn?t happen right away.

Jay Fiedler came in and took the reigns without a problem, and who can forget the year Lamar Smith had? When Miami ran wild on the Colts in the first round and Lamar Smith broke a single game playoff record, it looked like Miami would build on that success. But one thing that never changed in Miami, was their late season collapses. One year they were 9-5, and just had to win one game to get in the playoffs and lost their final two. Last year they finished 10-6 but still didn?t make the playoffs because of a couple of bad losses. So the lone playoff victory Wannstedt had will be his last in Miami.

It?s amazing the ups and downs a coach goes through, but this time around it is impossible to place the blame all on the coach. Sure Miami could easily still be a .500 team if they would have handled a few games better this year. But when you have too many what if scenario?s something is wrong.

Wannstedt?s was more than likely fed up with this year, and will have early offers from other teams as the season winds down. It?s a career move that was smart on his part, because being a coach in Miami will become the oh no as a coach now. The tag that use to go to the Arizona Cardinals, Bengals, etc. will finally be a Dolphin as sad as that is. There really is know upside in Miami for awhile. The defensive player?s aren?t going to want to rebuild. Especially player?s like Jason Taylor, Sam Madison, and Zach Thomas who have been with Miami since the Marino years. They are going to want to move on and have a chance to win somewhere else. Offensively, there isn?t an area that they don?t need to work on. You can?t have an offense without an offensive line, so that should be there first focus. Jay Fiedler has been banged up all year long, and the running game has been pathetic. So they need a running back, quarterback, and an offensive line. Whew, the sun and hopes in Miami have finally been dissected and squashed to a yearly trip with a top draft selection.

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