The Sports Guru

Projected Record

11-5, 2nd Place AFC East

Projected Schedule W/L

@Pittsburgh (L)
Buffalo (W)
Tennessee (W)
@Houston (W)
@New England (L)
@NY Jets (W)
Green Bay (W)
@Chicago (L)
Kansas City (W)
Minnesota (W)
@Detroit (W)
Jacksonville (W)
New England(W)
@Buffalo (L)
NY Jets (W)
@Indianapolis (L)

Sometimes all a team needs is a change in leadership to kick-start their success. A change in direction, someone to drop the hammer, to accept nothing less than the best from everyone in the organization. The Dolphins went after that change last off-season, bringing Nick Saban out of the college ranks to clean up the mess left by Dave Wannstedt. Saban brought a new attitude to the Dolphins. A change in culture. There would be no excuses. No excuses for losing. No excuses for playing poorly, no excuses for being late to a meeting. Saban was creating a winning attitude. The Dolphins were not going to think they could win, they were going to believe they could win. With a new attitude success came quickly, as the Dolphons won their last 6 games to finish at 9-7, narrowly missing the playoffs. Expectations run high in Miami, and the re-building continues with the arrival of Quarterback Daunte Culpepper. The Dolphins will look to him to provide the leadership to get them to the next step. Will success come equally as swift for the Dolphins?

Team Strengths – The Dolphins have spent the better part of a decade relying on it’s defense and under Saban little is going to change. This unit has started to grow a little long in the tooth, but Saban has done a good job through the draft and free agency to inject some young talent. MLB Zach Thomas is still the emotional leader of the team, along with DE Jason Taylor. Both are in double-digits as far as service time, Thomas in his 11th year, Taylor his 10th, and both have started to show signs of wear and tear. Both will have to play at a high level for Miami to be successful. There is talented youth, however, in LB Channing Crowder and 1st Round Pick CB Jason Allen. Both will be looked upon to play major roles in the defense this season. On offense, Mami’s biggest acquisitions came at quarterback. Daunte Culpeper was brought in to take over and should immediately improve the passing game. If he falters, the Dolphins acquired Joey Harrington to be his backup. Both are upgrades to what the Dolphins had last season. Ronnie Brown showed flashes of greatness and will be looked upon to carry the load for the running game. Chris Chambers is one of the most underrated receivers in the game and should be that much better with Culpepper at QB. Leadership from the top is a strong suit of the Dolphins and Saban is one of the nest young coaches in football at any level.

Team Weaknesses - Some of the Dolphins strengths could be considered weaknesses depending on how you look at it. Ronnie Brown has never had to carry the load before, in college or the pros, but will have to with the suspension to Ricky Williams. Culpepper is trying to rebound from a serious kne injury, but was having a terrible season before the injury and will have to get back to the way he played in 2004. Like many teams the O-line is thin and will need to play over their heads a bit to keep Culpepper upright. If Culpepper can regain his mobility he should be able to hide some of the deficiencies. On defense, the front seven will need to pressure opposing quarterbacks because the DB’s are young and raw. Jason Allen will start as a rookie, former Giant Will Allen will man the other side. Allen has a lot of talent but was too aggressive at times, making him suseptible to the pump fake and long ball. Both Safety positions are still up for grabs and whomever starts will be raw at best.

Best Case Scenario – The Dolphins will need Culpepper to play at a high level right from the start to make up for the youth on defense. The schedule should allow Miami to get off to a good start. After a tough game in Pittsburgh to open the season the Fish should be able to win 5 or 6 of their next 7 games. They also get to go to New England while the weather is still favorable. If Miami can start the season the way they ended 2005 they could roll all the way to a first round bye. The DB’s are young, but if they can gel early they should be a formidable unit.


Worst Case Scenario - Even before the injury Culpepper was playing the worst football of his career. He fumbles way too much and at times can make poor decisions with where he throws the ball. This leads to a lot of interceptions. He will have to avoid the big mistake. If Culpepper has a physical setback Miami will be forced to turn to Joey Harrington. He has a ton of experience but his time in Detroit has crushed his confidence. Saban is spending the pre-season building Harrington back up but the hope is that they won’t have to go to him this season. When Ronnie Brown was at Auburn he split time with Cadillac Williams, and last year with Ricky Williams in Miami. This season Brown will be relied upon to be the man. If he beaks down the Dolphins really don’t have anyone behind him. On dynamic to watch will be the relationship between Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor, with Taylor in the middle of divorcing Thomas’ sister Katina. Both have said all the right things so far, but we’ll see how it goes as the process continues. If the young DB’s falter the Dolphins will have a tough time against the pass.

My Opinion - Miami took a big step forward last season, as Saban was able to change the culture of losing that had taken over the franchise. Can the Dolphins take another large step and become Super Bowl Contenders? There are too many questions out ther e for me to believe that. I still see the AFC East as the Patriots divsion to lose, but the Dolphins have made up ground and Saban has his team nipping at the heals of his former boss’ team. Winning has it’s own learning curve and the Dolphins will take the next logical step and get into the playoffs. How far they go will depend on how well Daunte Culpepper and Ronnie Brown play, but with questions hovering over both of them I think playoff success could be a bit much to ask for. The Dolphins will be the 5th seed before losing to the Steelers on Wild Card Weekend. Another successful step or Saban and company in their quest to lead the Dolphins back to greatness.

Technorati Tags: miami dolphins, jason taylor, dolphins, NFL, football, NFL 2006 Season Preview, Dolphins 2006 Preview, Nick Saban, Daunte Culpepper, Ronnie Brown, Zach Thomas

Ok, I admit it. After watching the Indians fall behind the hapless Royals 10-1 I turned off the TV. I found something better to do, like play with the Baby Gurette’s Barbie Dolls. Something, anything had to be better than watching the Indians lose AGAIN to the worst team in baseball. Baseball is very cyclical in nature. The Indians threw 11 on the board in a game at Jacobs Field last weekend against the Royals, so turn-about is fair play. The Royls throw 10 up against the Indians.

Here is how the inning went:

Single
Wild Pitch
Error
Single
3-Run Home Run
Single
Strike Out
Fly Out
Single
Triple
Single
2-Run Home Run
New Pitcher
Single
Single
Double
Line-Out

The Result - 10 Runs, 11 Hits, 1 Error

Was I wrong to think it was over? It was 10-1! TEN TO ONE!!! It should have been over, but in this season where everything IS NOT what it seems for the Tribe the young kids mounted a comeback. 2 in the 3rd, 3 in the 4th, 1 in the 5th, 2 in the 6th and it is all of a sudden 10-9. Could it be?? DOH! ‘Gas Can’ Carmona and the Indians surrender 3 back to the Royals in the bottom of the 6th, 13-9. Nice try, but thanks for coming and drive safely. Right?

The Tribe wasn’t done yet. After striking out Jason Michaels to start the top of the 9th, the most dangerous hitter in baseball, Travis Hafner worked a walk. That walk was the key to the inning. Back to back doubles for Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko made the score 13-11. Could this actually be happening? DOH! Jhonny Peralta strikes out, now 1 on and two outs. Up comes the venerable Hector Luna. And let me tell ya, you can’t stop Hector Luna, you can only hope to contain him. With Shin-Soo Choo on deck the Indians have the deadliest combo in baseball. You can have Ortiz and Ramirez or Jeter and A-Rod. I’ll take Luna and Choo. Back to the action. Luna doubles to right scoring another run, 13-12. The Indians have come too far to falter now. ‘Big League’ Choo steps in and BAM, a single to center, the game is tied!!!

You could see the stunned look on the faces of the Royals. Utter disbelief. Needless to say the Tribe went on to score 2 in the 10th, winning 15-13. That’s what I love about baseball. Two teams that are totally out of it, putting everything they got into a meaningless game. Teams aren’t supposed to score 10 runs in an inning, and teams aren’t supposed to come back from 10-1 deficits. That’s the glory of the game, as long as there is an out to be made, there’s a chance to be had. Last night, the Indians seized the moment.

Technorati Tags: Indians, MLB, Major League Baseball, Cleveland Indians, comback, rally, baseball, Kansas City Royals