Miami Dolphins: No more broken hearts for Fins faithful

Growing up as a fan of all the local sports teams in Miami, one of the most memorable moments I have is watching Dan Marino retire when I was nine years old. I didn’t realize at the time what was happening since I was so new to football and new to the Miami Dolphins. I remember a desolate man having this to say in front of local and national media.

"I am going to miss it. I am going to miss the relationships with the players. I am going to miss the fans. I am going to miss the great friends that I have made over this time. I am going to miss all the good times that we have had together. But most of all, I am going to miss Sunday afternoons."

Since his retirement I have watched the Dolphins religiously, and have suffered with them for the last 15 years. Every year though, I find myself saying “It’ll be different from last year.” This year, I have enough confidence to say it and mean it. The Miami Dolphins will not break my heart this year, “we’re going to shake something up.”

That’s my quarterback.

I cannot talk about our current starting quarterback until you feel my pain.

Jay Fielder, Damon Huard, Ray Lucas, AJ Feeley, Sage Rosenfels, Gus Frerotte, Joey Harrington, Daunte Culpepper, Cleo Lemon, Chad Pennington, Tyler Thigpen, Chad Henne and Matt Moore. I don’t even wan’t to talk about Pat White.

Besides White, all of these quarterbacks at one point or another have started a game for the Dolphins in the last fifteen years.

Thanks to Fielder and Pennington, since 1999 we have made the playoffs three times. At this point I don’t even know if I should feel gratitude or embarrassment.  

With that being said, I have seen at least thirteen different quarterbacks take snaps for our team and it is extremely difficult to say that I’m excited about Ryan Tannehill this year. After watching so many different quarterbacks play terribly, I am afraid to put my faith in his abilities.

However, Tannehill continues to earn our trust because he has steadily progressed every year in the NFL. Some of the stats that have improved for Tannehill from his rookie year to his second year are wins, completion percentage, yards, touchdowns, yards per game and even his game winning drives have tripled.

He is maturing and next season the trend should continue. We even saw how well he played against the Patriots in the season opener. 18-for-32 for 178 yards and two touchdowns, a 79.9 QBR.

Often he hit open receivers, evaded defenders, and converted on third downs. Tannehill also was in sync with Mike Wallace and found him many times to set up red zone opportunities, including a touchdown catch. This duo has grown together.

One of the reasons I do believe that the Dolphins will have an even better year this season is because they finally have a rebuilt offensive line. One of the reasons why Tannehill’s interceptions increased last season is because he was throwing under duress. Last year he was the most sacked quarterback in the NFL.

The Dolphins addressed that issue and brought in Pro Bowl left tackle Brandon Albert. In addition, they drafted Ju’Wuan James to play the right tackle spot.

The Patriots only had one sack on Tannehill in the game, and they were sending pressure a lot. Also, the offensive line gave their running backs open running lanes to run behind. Against the Patriots, Knowshon Moreno had 24 carries for 134 yards rushing with one touchdown. Lamar Miller added 11 carries for 59 yards.

With a decent offensive line, a receiving core that is the best in the AFC East and a steady rushing attack, the Dolphins are steadily on their way to claiming the AFC East division title.

There is plenty of room for optimism, but lets address the defense.

Bend but don’t break defense

The Dolphins defense has always been built around the “bend but don’t break” philosophy.

Last year teams only scored around 21 points last year against the Dolphins. This number was the eight best in the NFL.

They often allowed their opponents to have long drives but only leave with three points. That style of play kept them competitive and will continue to do that this year.

Just ask Patriots quarterback Tom Brady how he felt, when he only could manage to throw one touchdown against the Dolphins defense. One of the reasons why he wasn’t looking like his usual self is because of the studs the Dolphins have on their defensive line.

One of the most underrated defense ends in the NFL is Cameron Wake. In his career, Wake made the All-Pro team twice (2010, 2012) and is a three-time Pro Bowler (2010, 2012, 2013).

Against the Patriots, Wake was a one man wrecking crew, with two sacks and two forced fumbles.

If they can maintain their defense the whole season, it wont be a stretch to say that they should win the AFC East.

Stronger Together

This is the mantra that the Dolphins are using this year, because our community is stronger together. I remember a time being educated by a bunch of people who are a bit older than myself. We were watching the Dolphins play years ago at a local bar, and seeing how good Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor were together.

These fans (40 and older) were talking about the glory days of the Dolphins and how they used to have so many good players like Mercury Morris, Larry Csonka and Nat Moore. I would just nod my head, listen and learn.

I was so used to mediocrity I had no clue who these legends were.

I mean seriously, I come from the Jay Fielder era.

I bet not a lot of Dolphins fans my age and younger even realize that our franchise has won two Super Bowls. Nevertheless, all of us Dolphins fans, past and present, are coming together for our annual tradition this year to watch our fins because we are stronger together .

Maybe soon enough, our greatest achievement of the last fifteen years will be greater than watching Dan Marino put on that gold jacket and get enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Or maybe I am just dreaming?