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For Dolphins, A Turnaround Like No Other
The Dolphins' Chad Pennington completed a team-record 67.4 percent of his passes this season.
(By Bill Kostroun -- Associated Press)
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Said running back Patrick Cobbs, "He's been that piece that fills in every void for us."
Other pieces fell into place. Running backs Ricky Williams and Brown, both injured for most of last season, gave opponents fits in the Wildcat and rushed for a combined 1,575 yards. Porter collected 17 1/2 sacks. Ted Ginn, the 2007 first-round draft pick who had an average rookie season, became a big-play threat and caught 56 passes. Matt Roth thrived at his new position, outside linebacker; newcomers Ferguson and Phillip Merling made major contributions on the defensive line and tight ends Fasano and David Martin worked well as a one-two punch, catching a combined 65 passes.
"Early in the season," Brown said, "I think the question was: Who's going to replace guys like Zach and J.T.? My thing was, you can't replace those guys. It's got to be a team effort, and everybody bought into that."
Miami's 0-2 start seemed to jeopardize the progress made through the summer, but when Sparano, offensive coordinator Dan Henning and quarterbacks coach David Lee decided to bring out the Wildcat package -- which puts Pennington in a wide-out slot, sends shotgun snaps to Brown and features an unbalanced line -- Miami upset the New England Patriots with a blitz of big plays in Game 3. It was then, players say, that they realized the change in prospects.
"That was the turning point," Satele said. "That's why we're here now."
Miami spent the next 13 games finding its identity and sharpening its newly discovered weapons. The Dolphins won seven games by seven points or less, suggesting the team was more opportunistic than dominant, but Miami's players view those down-to-the-wire victories as a positive: They have, they say, fine-tuned the art of winning in the clutch.
"We play so hard and have been in so many tough games we don't know when we are supposed to be scared," Porter said. "That's a huge plus right now, to be going to the playoffs and knowing that you have a young team that has ice in its veins . . .
"We want to . . . cause a ruckus. We love playing football right now and we don't want it to stop."
