Debunking some Dolphins myths after their Week 6 debacle

By Hugo Guzman  |   Tuesday, October 14, 2008  |  Comments( 4 )

Miami Dolphins
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There’s nothing like a last-second loss to bring all of the fan-turned-lunatics out of the woodwork and, sadly, few NFL franchises have more of those types lingering around than the Miami Dolphins. After the team's demoralizing 29-28 loss to the Houston Texans last Sunday, the South Florida faithful have let loose with a barrage of assertions and conclusions that range from inflammatory to patently inane.

Some of the most popular themes making the rounds are as follows:

Myth: “Ronnie Brown should have mimicked Brian Westbrook and downed the football at the 1-yard line instead of scoring the go-ahead touchdown.”

Debunked: No running back in the modern era has ever purposely downed the ball on the opposing 1 with his team trailing. Westbrook did it on a sure touchdown run in Dallas last year, but that was executed when the Eagles were already leading, with very little time on the game clock and against an opponent that could not prevent the clock from ticking down to zero. All the Eagles had to do was kneel in order to close out the game. Miami was in a completely different scenario; therefore, Brown would never be expected to down the football.

Myth: “Bill Parcells and company are ruining the franchise by not going after more big-name guys like Roy Williams via trade.”

Debunked: Quick, name the last team that won the Super Bowl after loading up on expensive soon-to-be free agents -- via trades, no less? Exactly. Solid teams are built through price-conscious free-agent moves and solid drafting. It would have been unbelievably boneheaded to give away the farm for an above-average wide receiver who has never scored more than eight touchdowns in a season.

Myth: “So they can throw deep more often, maybe the Dolphins should bench Chad Pennington in favor of Chad Henne.”

Debunked: If someone told you that a franchise benched the sixth-rated quarterback in the league – a guy who's completing 68.6 percent of his passes and is sporting a lofty 98.8 passer rating – in favor of an untested rookie, you would probably laugh out loud and dismiss it as either a purposeful decision to tank the season or just another “shrewd” move by Al Davis. Somehow, though, certain Dolphins fans are asking for just that.

Myth: “The Dolphins are terrible and won’t come close to competing until 2010 or beyond.”

Debunked: This is the NFL. All 32 teams are capable of winning on any given Sunday. So, just as fans should not overreact to big victories like the ones Miami mustered against the Patriots and Chargers, they should not get overly disheartened by a tough loss to a winless team that was playing much better than its record indicated. More importantly, one of the basic tenets of pro football is that injuries, acquisitions and the innately dynamic nature of the league mean one should never try to predict what will happen two weeks from now -- much less a year or two down the road.

It’s this one-week-at-a-time ethic, which all coaches and players adhere to, that serves to automatically debunk this silly little myth. It’s also the reason that RealFootball365.com doesn’t engage in those ridiculous week-by-week win/loss predictions that virtually every other football publication publishes in the preseason.

My colleagues and I are not in the business of ignoring the fundamental lessons that have been taught since the dawn of professional football. Neither should you.
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About Hugo Guzman

Co-founder of RealFootball365.com. Born in Argentina, of Dominican descent, living in Hoboken, but from Miami through and ...
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