2003. The last time the Miami Dolphins found themselves sitting at 8-4 through 12 games in an NFL season was 17 years ago back in 2003. Those were a very different group of Miami Dolphins, headlined by several defensive stars like Zach Thomas, Junior Seau, Jayson Taylor, Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain, Brock Marion, Adewale Ogunleye and more. That Dolphins defense was dominant — allowing just 16.3 points per game (3rd best in the NFL) and churning out 36 turnovers created along the way.
But yet that Dolphins team wasn’t so different from the current version of the team either. The strengths lied on defense and Miami’s 2003 offense, headlined by RB Ricky Williams, QB Jay Fiedler and WR Chris Chambers, was just a middle of the road team in points scored but in the bottom third of the league in many critical offensive favors.
And if you thought Ryan Fitzpatrick’s turnover issues were bad? The 2003 Dolphins turned the ball over 34 times!
But yet they, as the 2020 Dolphins are positioned to do with a victory over the Bengals this Sunday, sat at 8-4 with four games remaining on the season. The 2003 Dolphins would go 2-2 over their final four games and miss the playoffs due to tiebreakers with the 10-6 Denver Broncos that season; a fate that threatens these modern Dolphins as well given the crowded AFC Conference landscape as the NFL nears the culmination of an improbable, odd season in 2020.
If that is the ultimate fate of the 2020 Miami Dolphins, it would serve as an anti-climatic finish to an exciting season all around — but should offer Miami plenty of hope for the future to do what the 2003 Miami Dolphins never did: make the next leap as a team and become a legitimate playoff contender. The Dolphins would not make the postseason again until Tony Sparano’s group went from worst to first in 2008; if the 2020 Dolphins have a five-year wait to make the postseason, something with their rebuild has gone horribly wrong.
But as head coach Brian Flores always preaches, this process is one day and one week at a time. So while Dolphins fans can rightfully relish the chance for their best 12-game start since 2003, the future is now. And it starts with a home clash with the Bengals on Sunday.