The Biggest NFL Rivalry You Aren't Keeping Up With: Patriots-Dolphins

More often than not, for a rivalry to capture the hearts and interests of those who don’t “have a dog in the hunt”, there should be a contrast in styles between the opposing teams.

This isn’t to say that a rivalry has to fit this template; it just means that it can make it more interesting if it does.

Trust me, there is no love lost between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears despite both consisting of similar fan bases, styles of football, and weather elements.

But everyone likes contrast in competition. We want to see the battle of the sexes, notching men against women. We crave good versus evil. Fans revel in the matches between a crafty veteran and a feisty rookie.

Few rivalries more clearly defined our love of contrasting competition than the Boston Celtics—Los Angeles Lakers rivalry of the mid 80s. From one side of the country to the other, the blue collar Celtics and the glitzy Lakers pitted a half court offense of aging warriors versus the young legs of a fast breaking style tempo.

Everyone had a side when these two played. No one rode the fence.

In the NFL, you will find that even the names of the mascots in the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys fit into the template of the contrasting competitors. However, with all due respect to our friends from the NFC East, it’s divisional counterparts from the AFC that have something brewing.

Snowstorms and Sunburns

Located over 1200 miles apart from each other, the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots are football’s version of the Odd Couple. From the crystal blue waters of South Beach to the ruby red and brilliant orange leaves of a New England fall, these cities are as different in style as the team they support.

This is a showdown where home field advantage truly plays a role. Both teams have a rabid fan base and both teams' fans travel well. But for the home team there is certainly a difference in conditions.

On a September afternoon in Miami, you can easily find the Patriots sucking wind in the fourth quarter. Their jerseys soaked through and through from the humidity, most players will find the nearest “cool zone” or water-spraying fan to camp next to.

The Patriots' legs as weak as jello, the Dolphins thrive during the last ten minutes of the game.  After all, they are the team that has practiced for months in the sauna-like conditions often running two-a-day practices in the sweltering heat.

Fast forward to a December night in Foxboro and you will find the Dolphin players feverishly blowing into their hands trying to keep their fingers from falling off. The cold, so apparent on television, takes its toll as the game wears into the night. The temperature continues to fall, and so much attention is paid to keeping warm that mental mistakes start to pile up for the fair weather Fins.  

Miami was dominant the first decade of the rivalry, reaching three Super Bowls in the 70s and winning two of them.

New England has been the dominant one in the last decade of the same rivalry, reaching four Super Bowls and winning three.

It seems that even when one enjoys success, the other team was there like the little brother who conveniently tells mom exactly how the vase was broken. In fact, the last time Tom Brady lost a regular season game, was at the hands of the Dolphins.

Super Showdown

In the 1985 season in which the 17-1 Chicago Bears took on the AFC representative, the Patriots traveled to Miami to take on the Dolphins for the AFC crown in a game the Dolphins were heavily favored to win.

However, the Patriots forced Dan Marino and the Dolphins into six turnovers, causing the upset and securing their first-ever appearance in a Super Bowl. The 46-10 loss to Mike Ditka’s Bears though concreted critics arguments that a better game would have been given to the Bears by the Dolphins, the only team the Bears lost to during the regular season.

September Shootout

Bill Parcells may be the man in Miami now, but 15 years ago he was the man in New England. We all know what he does in his second season with a team; he takes them to the playoffs. During his second season with the Patriots, he took his team, and a young Drew Bledsoe, to Miami to open the 1994 season.

Marino was playing his first game since he ruptured his Achilles’ tendon, and the field, which contained the Florida Marlins infield along the 35 yard line, was muddied by torrential downpours from previous days.

Despite the conditions, Bledsoe and Marino put on a clinic; the two quarterbacks combining for 894 yards through the air. The lead changed several times in the last minutes before Miami secured the win on a Ben Coates fumble.

Oh Snow You Didn’t !

From mud to snow, conditions directly played a hand in Foxboro on a game played in December, 1982. In a heavy snowstorm where neither team could so much as to keep their footing, several field goals had been attempted to no avail.

With the game still scoreless deep into the fourth quarter, a convicted felon on work release with access to a snow plow, made his way onto the filed and cleared a path for New England place kicker John Smith to kick the winning field goal, giving New England a 3-0 win.

Needless to say, Miami Dolphins’ coach Don Shula’s protests went unheard.

To this day, these two teams are still the little kids you have to separate in the department store to keep them from fighting.

Miami always boasted that they were the only team to go 17-0 until New England went 18-0 before ultimately losing in the Super Bowl to the N.Y. Giants.

That snickering you hear is from the Dolphins that still can brag about being the only undefeated team ever.

Cat Fight

Ironically the same year, that New England made their run to perfection, Miami was making a run at a less dubious form of perfection. The Dolphins were fighting to keep from going winless and managed to do so by winning in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens. It didn’t save them however from a couple of meetings behind the woodshed with the Patriots.

Those beatings were likely the source of revenge the following year when the Patriots played host to a team that had lost 17 out of its last 18 games.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, Miami brought a “cat” to a dogfight.

The Dolphins unveiled their Wildcat package to the tune of a 38-13 drubbing of the Pats, running Ronnie Brown for four touchdowns against a defense that looked outcoached for once.

Recently the Patriots hold the advantage over the Dolphins, but the Dolphins own the all-time record 49-37.

It’s Tom Brady’s world now where it once was Dan Marino’s.

Regardless of what part of the country you live in, if these two teams are playing, you are almost forced to pick a side. Isn’t that what makes a rivalry so interesting?