Miami Dolphins: Message Sent, Players Quit on Tony Sparano

The Miami Dolphins lost to the New England Patriots, 38-7, on Sunday. The Dolphins were out-gained two-to-one in easily the worst performance of the Dolphins' miserable 7-9 season.

It was a meaningless game for both sides, so who really cares, right?

Wrong.

Statistics aside, the effort the Miami Dolphins put forth on both sides of the ball sent a message to owner Stephen Ross: "We have had enough of Tony Sparano."

The Patriots did not even suit up some of their best players, and the Dolphins still could not even make it a game.

The defense made lazy efforts at tackling and it looked like the secondary was running in slow motion trying to cover the New England wide receivers and tight ends.

The offense could not block anyone, Chad Henne and Tyler Thigpen made horrible throws and the receivers had drops and even had footballs bouncing off their heads.

The Dolphins' effort looked like something off of a blooper reel, but what better way to send a clear message?

Coach Sparano was doing his usual jumping and clapping on the sidelines, but it was no use.

Now, is it wrong to "mail-in" a game when you are paid to play all 16 games? Of course, but with rumors swirling that Coach Sparano may be back next season, the players seemed to want to make sure that Sparano will not return next year.

I have watched the Miami Dolphins for a long time now, and I have never seen such a lackluster effort.

Look at teams like the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, who have been out of the playoffs for a while, but still gave great efforts every week no matter who they played.

NFL Sundays are what these players live for. So for the Miami Dolphins' players (including ones like Ronnie Brown, who looked disinterested despite a chance to gain a $100,000 incentive bonus if he gained 30 yards on Sunday) to go out and give that kind of effort against a Patriots team, which probably gave a half-effort themselves, really sends a clear message.

How can Dolphins owner Stephen Ross possibly keep Sparano now?