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Miami Dolphins

Dave Wannstedt, formerly of the Chicago Bears, became the new coach; and Jay Fiedler became the new quarterback for the 2000 season. Despite the obviously lowered expectations, the defense broke through with Jason Taylor and Trace Armstrong both getting 10 sacks, and four players (Sam Madison, Brian Walker, Brock Marion and Patrick Surtain) getting at least five interceptions. In addition, Lamar Smith rushed for over 1000 yards and Miami finished atop the AFC East with an 11-5 record. Miami won a tough overtime game over the Indianapolis Colts on a Lamar Smith touchdown in the wild card round, but were shut out by the Oakland Raiders in the divisional playoff.

The 2000 season notwithstanding, late-season collapses have been the norm in Miami since the late 1990s. In the 2001 season the Dolphins lost two games to the Carolina Panthers, which cost them the division title. That honor went to Super Bowl champion New England. Miami had to settle for a wild card, and lost 20-3 to the Baltimore Ravens in the first round.

Miami revitalized its running game in time for the 2002 season by signing running back Ricky Williams from the New Orleans Saints. The Dolphins started the season 5-1 before Fiedler got injured and was replaced by Ray Lucas, who lost three straight. Because the competition in the division was so close, the Dolphins still had a chance to win the division in the final week against the Patriots, but blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime. Due to a tiebreaker, both the Dolphins and Patriots lost out on the playoffs as the Panthers took the AFC East title. Fans wanted Wannstedt's firing, but he was kept on for the 2003 season.

In 2003 the Dolphins again started strong (4-1) but finished weak, with devastating mid-season losses to the Patriots, Colts and Titans submarining them. Miami finished 10-6, but it was still short of a playoff spot. At the end of the season it was announced that Dan Marino would return to the team as its president, but quit after a month.

The 2004 offseason was terrible for the Dolphins. Tight end Randy McMichael was arrested for domestic violence and wide receiver David Boston (signed from San Diego) suffered an injury in training camp and missed the entire season (Boston also failed a drug test for steroids later in the season). But the biggest shock came when Ricky Williams retired under mysterious circumstances, probably related to drug use. Many experts predicted a disastrous season for the Dolphins. These predictions proved right; the Dolphins dropped their first six games of the 2004 year, marking the worst start in franchise history. This led to them being dead-last in the NFL as well as the subject to nicknames like "Stinky Fish" and, to fans, "We Stink". After a 1-8 start, Wannstedt resigned on November 9, 2004. He was replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Jim Bates. Under Bates, the Dolphins fared much better, winning three of their final seven games, including a 29-28 upset victory over the defending champion Patriots on December 20 in a nationally televised Monday Night Football contest. Despite this, the Dolphins decided not to hire Bates for the permanent coaching position. Instead, they hired Louisiana State University coach Nick Saban.

Carolina Panthers

The experts all picked the Panthers to repeat their 2003 season success in 2004. Having selected cornerback Chris Gamble and wide receiver Keary Colbert with their top two picks in the 2004 draft, and not having lost any core players from their Super Bowl run, the team looked ready for the season. In addition, Mark Fields, who had missed the previous season with Hodgkin's disease, returned and was ready to go. But the team suffered major injuries early on, as Steve Smith broke his leg in the season opener against Green Bay, Stephen Davis suffered a knee injury before the second game of the season, and Kris Jenkins had shoulder problems that benched him for the season, the Panthers had problems early on. In fact, the Panthers had 14 players on injured reserve, including their top four running backs, more than any other team. This led to a 1-7 start, and people began wondering if they would repeat the 1-15 season of 2001. However, backup fullback Nick Goings stepped up to the challenge with five 100-yd rushing games, Keary Colbert played better than most rookies thrown into the #2 receiver spot, and the defense held together despite the injuries to help the team win 6 of their last 8 games, and the Panthers barely missed the playoffs after losing a close game to New Orleans in the season finale.

2005 Panther season
Before theseason even began, the Panthers were once again plagued with off-field troubles. First, in March, punter Todd Sauerbrun, center Jeff Mitchell, and former offensive tackle Todd Steussie were linked to using steroids on a 60 Minutes report. Then in April, linebacker coach Sam Mills succumbed to his battle with Hodgkin's disease. And it was revealed that Mark Fields, who also has Hodgkin's, would miss theseason as he did the 2003 season while he goes for treatment. Fields was awarded the ESPN "Best Comeback Athlete" award at the JulyESPY awards. Panther fans look forward to repeating their Super Bowl run with a team added to by Thomas Davis and Eric Shelton.

Miami Dolphins Links

The Draft	NFL.com - ESPN - PFW - Insiders - Draftbook - Blitz - FB Future
NFL Pages	NFL.COM - ESPN - SportsLine - CNNSI - USA Today Sporting News - Pro Football Weekly - Football.com
Video Audio Images	NFL.com - NFL Films
More Great Dolphins Sites	MiamiDolphins.com - The Official Dolphins Team Web Site NFL.COM: Miami Dolphins The Dolphin Digest On-Line The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel Dolphins Web Page Palm Beach Post's Dolphins Page Pro Sports Daily Miami Dolphins ESPN's Dolphins Clubhouse Pro Football Weekly Dolphins Page The Sports Network's Dolphins Page USA Today's Dolphin Notes CBS Sportsline's Miami Dolphins Page Fanstop.com's Dolphins Page   Broadcast.com's Listing of Football Related Broadcasts NFL Broadcast Page Miami Dolphins Usenet Newsgroup NFL Football Newsgroup
See Also:	Miami Heat Tickets

 

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