Counting the many reasons that make Miami’s win extra sweet

By Hugo Guzman  |   Sunday, December 28, 2008  |  Comments( 7 )

Miami Dolphins
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Dec. 28, 2008, will go down in the annuls of Miami Dolphins lore for a variety of reasons. Please join yours truly in listing them all out in glorious detail.

-Sunday’s 24-17 win over the New York Jets ensures the Miami Dolphins will return the playoffs for the first time since 2001. It also gives the franchise its first division title since 2000.

-As division winners and owners of the AFC's No. 3 seed, the Dolphins will host at least one playoff game.

-In Week 17, not only did the Dolphins knock off a bitter rival – the hated Jets – but they also ensured that the New England Patriots (another despised foe) would be watching the postseason from home despite an 11-5 record.

-The victory helps cement Bill Parcells' legacy as one of the greatest football minds in history and probably the best at rebuilding franchises the game has ever known.

-To steal a line from the Grateful Dead, what a long, strange trip it’s been for Ricky Williams. Once the savior of the franchise, and then suddenly the ultimate goat, Williams will finally get a chance to play postseason football, further completing the unlikely circle of redemption as a member of the Dolphins.

-Ronnie Brown continues contributing in a variety of ways, proving that his ACL injury from last year is little more than a distant memory and that his No. 2 overall selection in 2005 was warranted.

-Various career Dolphins (Yeremiah Bell, Vernon Carey, Channing Crowder and Patrick Cobbs, just to name a few) who have battled through adversity for years will now have a opportunity to usher this team into what looks to be a new era of winning football.

-A crop of impressive rookies like Devon Bess and Phillip Merling are getting their careers off to a winning start.

-Various youngsters, some drafted by the Dolphins and some secured via free agency, are getting a chance to prove that they are legitimate NFL contributors. Leading this group is second-year wideout Ted Ginn Jr., whose clutch performance on Sunday should help to silence the few lingering naysayers that continue to insist that he is a bust.

-Aging veterans like Jason Ferguson, Vonnie Holliday, Will Allen and Joey Porter are proving that they still have plenty of big-play ability in the tank, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth of the teams that let them go.

-Miami’s much-maligned secondary came up huge Sunday, keeping Brett Favre in check for most of the afternoon. Andre Goodman – whom some fans wanted cut after Week 2 – came up with two crucial interceptions.

-Last but not least, there’s Chad Pennington. Despite a somewhat shaky start, Pennington was the MVP of the game, completing 22 of 30 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Oh, and it should be mentioned that Pennington did this against the team kicked him to the curb in favor of an aging legend (who put up a complete stinker on Sunday, no less). It should also be mentioned that Pennington was able to do this on the road in fairly unfriendly playing conditions.

After years of being one the ultimate Dolphin killers as a member of the Jets, Pennington has turned the tables for both franchises, killing the Jets while simultaneously breathing life into a formerly sputtering Miami franchise.

Few could have imagined that a guy who was known as “noodle arm” and was benched in favor of rookie Chad Henne in Week 2 would lead this team to an 11-3 record down the stretch. Fortunately for the South Florida faithful, he did just that, making this final Sunday of 2008 one of the most memorable in Dolphins history.
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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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