Dolphins: Playing the numbers game as season awaits

By Joe Mayes  |   Wednesday, September 03, 2008  |  Comments( 3 )

Miami Dolphins
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With just hours remaining before the kickoff of the 2008 NFL season, Miami Dolphins fans are beginning their countdown to Sunday's opener. With the draft, training camp and final cuts in the past, the prospects for the future come down to the cold, hard numbers.

Perhaps the ugliest digit of all is one, which is the number of times Miami was victorious in 2007. But as the team prepares to face the AFC East rival New York Jets this weekend, there are other painful numbers from the past. For instance, the Jets have won 16 of the last 20 meetings between the two teams and seven of the past eight. Worse, Miami hasn't beaten New York since December of 2005.

But, as 18th-century English poet Alexander Pope reminds us, “hope springs eternal in the human breast.” If Pope lived in South Florida now, he likely would have added, “but nowhere as fervently as in the breast of a Dolphins fan.”

So, despite the ugly numbers of the past, Dolphin fans are looking for good numbers that portend a beautiful future for the gridiron warriors in aqua and orange.

Here, then, is the countdown of numbers likely to be significant to the team’s success as it prepares for the '08 campaign.

10: Rookie position players on the 53-man roster, nearly 20 percent of the total (the 11th rookie is kicker Dan Carpenter). More than half of the players on this year’s roster (26) were not on last season's 1-15 squad. When looking to reverse a team’s fortunes, that has to be a good sign.

9: Years new Dolphins skipper Tony Sparano has coached in the NFL. That’s the good news. The bad news is that none of them were as the head coach.

8: Years new Dolphin quarterback Chad Pennington spent with the Jets before being unceremoniously dumped when the team fell all over itself to bring in unretired Mississippi gunslinger Brett Favre earlier this summer. Don't discount the power of revenge in the opener.

Bonus - 7.5: Sacks Joey Porter averaged over eight seasons as a weakside outside linebacker with the Pittsburgh Steelers; he moved to the strong side in 2007, his first year with the Dolphins, and compiled 5.5 sacks. Porter is back on the weak side this year in coordinator Paul Pasqualoni's 3-4 scheme, so don't be surprised if his sack total increases.

7: The difference between the number of sacks the defense tallied (14) and the number the offense allowed (seven) during the preseason. Considering that the team surrendered 12 more sacks than it accumulated last year (42 given up, 30 gleaned), this points to an improved (albeit young) offensive line. As the group continues to gel as a unit, look for the pass protection to get even better as the season goes on.

Bonus - 6.5: Wins the team has averaged each season since it last made the NFL playoffs in 2001.

6: Seasons since the Dolphins made the playoffs.

5: Turnovers quarterback John Beck had in the last meeting between the Dolphins and the Jets, a 40-13 beating administered by the latter in Miami. Beck threw three interceptions and had two fumbles. Expect new starter Pennington to take much better care of the pigskin in the 2008 opener and beyond.

4: Running backs (Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, Patrick Cobbs and Jalen Paremele) on the roster of a team expected to be a rush-first offense. Coincidentally, Pennington will be the fourth quarterback the Dolphins have started in the past four games against the Jets; such inconsistency under center points to why running the ball will be key for Miami.

3: Consecutive games against the Jets in which Brown has gained 100 or more yards. The most recent instance came last Sept. 23, when Brown piled up 211 total yards (112 rushing, 99 receiving) and a pair of TDs. Additionally, three is the number of teams that had winning records last season on Miami's 2008 schedule.

Bonus - 2.3: Average years of experience for the six wide receivers (Ted Ginn Jr., Derek Hagan, Ernest Wilford, Greg Camarillo, Brandon London and Davone Bess) on the roster.

2: To be more precise, plus-2, which was the Dolphins' turnover ratio during this preseason. In the 2007 preseason, the team had a minus-2 ratio and during the regular season, it was minus-7. Taking care of the ball has been an oft-cited priority for the Dolphins since Bill Parcells took over as executive vice president of football operations last December. The fact that the Dolphins finished the preseason plus-2 with a quarterback who has been with them for just over a month bodes well as they head into the regular season.

1: In addition to the amount of wins the Dolphins had in 2007, one is also how many times cornerback André Goodman has had his thumb broken trying to intercept a Favre pass. If the Dolphins are going to win their opener against the Jets, the secondary will need to stay healthy and execute the team's new, less complex defensive scheme.

And finally …

0: Career wins for Sparano as a head coach, obviously. Dolphins fans are hoping that's changed by, say, 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.

If this past offseason is any indication, the 2008 regular season is going to be one heck of a ride for the Dolphins and their fans.

Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!</i>">Training Camp: An entirely new kind of fantasy game!
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About Joe Mayes

Joe Mayes is an award-winning writer with credits ranging from national sports columns to local newspapers and commercial and technical writing. Joe is the host of "The Morning Wrap," a morning drive-time sports talk radio show on WTKE-FM in Northwest ...
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