2016 is not going to go down as many people’s favorite. Horrific tragedies and countless celebrity deaths will plague the year in the history books. A bright spot to 2016, however, has been what we’ve seen from the sports world. The Cleveland Cavaliers ended Ohio’s professional sports championship drought when they won the NBA Finals. A few months later, the Chicago Cubs ended the longest drought in history, and most notable curse in sports since the Boston Red Sox ended theirs in 2004.
There were a lot of sports stories that touched us this year, but for me personally, none were more thrilling than to see the Miami Dolphins clinch a playoff berth. A lot of fans, particularly those of more superior franchises like the New England Patriots or Pittsburgh Steelers, may take the playoffs for granted and think of them as simply stepping stones for their Super Bowl runs. As a lifelong Dolphins, however, I feel the need to take in the moment.
I have been a Dolphins fan since 1992, which is the same year I began watching football. That year, the Dolphins made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. I remember feeling sadness over their home loss to the Buffalo Bills that day. By the end of the season, I was hooked to the game of football and felt confident in Miami’s ability to get back to the big game. My grandmother, who in addition to being a die-hard Dolphins fan, was also a loyal Cubs fan. She would always tell me the Cubs motto, “Wait till next year.” That motto was instilled in me. However, 24 years later, and the Dolphins haven’t been back to the AFC Championship Game to compete for the Super Bowl.
Even though Miami didn’t make it back to the Conference Final, the Dolphins remained competitive throughout the ’90s. The Dolphins reaching the playoffs was practically a given, similar to how the Patriots do in the modern era today. However, unlike the Pats, Miami would typically not perform well enough to secure a first-round bye. They would either get knocked out immediately in the Wild Card, or get annihilated in the divisional round the following week. There’s a 62-7 painful loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that still hinders in my mind as a nightmare. To make matters worse, it would be Dan Marino‘s final game for Miami.
Back then, simply reaching the playoffs was not good enough because it was to be expected. Overcoming that hump, and making it back to the Super Bowl is what was on the minds of Dolphins fans. That never came to fruition, however, and the turn of the century has seen the Dolphins franchise take a nosedive since their Marino days.
While Miami did find some early success with Jay Fiedler after Marino’s retirement, the Dolphins never could find a suitable franchise QB to replace the Hall-of-Famer. The Dolphins postseason appearances quickly became a thing of the past. Over the years, Miami teams would become predictable and spin in a world of mediocrity or worse. Since 2001, the Dolphins have clinched a playoff spot just once. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.
Needless to say, Dolphins fans are gracious to see their team still playing this January. Especially when you consider how the season started for Miami. Miami started off the season 1-and-4 and looked quite possibly like the worst team in the league. After five games, however, head coach Adam Gase made some personnel changes that we typically don’t see in the middle of the season. The team responded to their coach by winning their next six, and 9 of 10 to clinch their first playoff berth since 2008.
No one is expecting the Dolphins to make a Super Bowl run this year, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make some noise in the playoffs either. They are one of the hottest teams in football and are good enough to upset some of the other division winners. Even if Miami fails to record their first playoff win in 16 years, this season’s success has given Miami fans hope for the future. Despite all of the injuries Miami has endured this season, they’ve found ways to win games. Quite pleasant considering in the past that they’ve found ways to lose games. I’m excited to see how Miami does this postseason and the rest of 2017!
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