(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Over the next few weeks, I will preview each NFL division from an Over/Under season win total perspective. All totals and odds to win division courtesy of Bowmans.com as current as the date the article is published.
For additional division previews please find links at the bottom of this article for previews of the NFC North, NFC South, NFC West, NFC East, AFC South and AFC North divisions.
Miami Dolphins: 7
An extensive over hall to both the roster and coaching staffs after a 1-15 season in 2007 was supposed to lay the ground work for improvements in 2008 and beyond.
A quick 0-2 start to the 2008 season, and a 2-4 record by the end of Week Seven, had doubled the previous year’s win total already, yet none the less was hardly an inspiring start.
The Dolphins had found something though in Week Three, when they unveiled the “Wildcat” on the Patriots in a 38-13 thumping of New England.
Miami would go on to win nine of their remaining 10 games, including a five-game winning streak to end the season, and stun NFL pundits everywhere by claiming supremacy in the AFC East.
For as impressive as Miami was with such a quick turnaround from a one-win season a year earlier, a closer look may prove that the Dolphins took advantage of a rather soft schedule.
Miami’s ’08 opponents only combined for 118 wins, coming in as the sixth fewest in the league. Of the Dolphins' 11 wins last year, only two came against teams with an above-.500 record.
One came in Week Three when they shocked the Pats with the “Wildcat” and the other in Week 17 vs. a burnt-out Brett Favre and the Jets.
When they made it into the Wildcard round of the playoffs, they turned the ball over five times, en route to a 27-9 thrashing by another 11-5 team, the Ravens.
Success is success though, and Miami got a full-team effort all around last year. Quite possibly their best statistic was their league-leading plus-17 turnover differential, which helped put them in a position to win many games.
They were strong overall offensively and solid vs. the run, but will need to improve upon their 25th ranking against the pass.
The team hopes re-acquiring Jason Taylor will provide depth on the d-line, that CFL star Cameron Wake can make a name for himself in the NFL, that Joey Porter continues to be a disruptive force and that free agent FS Gibril Wilson will help solidify the secondary.
On offense, C Jake Grove should be an upgrade over Samson Satele, but if Ted Ginn Jr. continues not to live up to expectations and Greg Camarillo isn’t fully recovered from knee surgery, the Dolphins already thin WR corps could really pose a problem.
The majority of the offense would look to have to come from Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, to a lesser extent Patrick Cobbs, and the steadying presence that is Chad Pennington once again.
This could be an extremely tough task with opponents having a full year to dissect the “Wildcat” and also with the fact that Miami will face the league’s toughest schedule in 2009.
Their opponents will come in boasting a shade below a .600 winning percentage from a year ago, meaning Miami has taken a big step up in class from the competition they faced in 2008.
Whereas in 2008 they caught many struggling teams or teams on a downswing, they’ll only see three teams (Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville
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