Road-Loving Dolphins Make NFL History In Odd Way
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — Miami's early schedule, particularly the road games, looked a bit daunting when the season began.
Now the Dolphins are probably thrilled to be playing at Baltimore on Sunday.
Miami is only the fifth team in NFL history to go 4-0 on the road and 0-3 at home in the first seven games of the season, according to STATS, LLC. Only the 1972 Kansas City Chiefs, 1989 Seattle Seahawks, the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 strike season and 2007 Carolina Panthers matched the feat.
"Yeah, it's a hard way to do it, but we're doing it — and coming into these environments," said Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano after Sunday's 22-14 win at Cincinnati. "This team really does a good job. They're a resilient bunch of guys. And give them a lot of credit. It could've been easy this week to sit around and hang our heads for a couple of days (after a tough one-point loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers), but they did not do that."
Following road victories at Buffalo (15-10) and Minnesota (14-10) to open the season, the Dolphins' expectations changed and they saw an opportunity to take control of the AFC East with back-to-back home games against the New York Jets and New England Patriots.
That was not to be the case.
The Jets came away with a 31-23 victory, and then the following Monday night New England turned a 7-6 halftime deficit into a 41-14 rout, with 21 points directly attributed to special teams breakdowns. Miami went into the bye dazed and confused, only to come back with another impressive road win at Green Bay, 23-20. Add in Sunday's win at Cincinnati and you have a few different theories floating around.
"In other cities there's no reason to look up in the stands. In Miami our eyes start to wonder," said inside linebacker Channing Crowder, referring to the celebrities and other attractive fans who show up to Sun Life Stadium for home games.
Sparano has hinted in the past about how different the routine is on the road compared to at home because the players' attention is more focused on the team plane and at the team hotel. There's a set schedule of meetings the night before and a regimen that is followed as soon as the players check into their rooms.
At home, the team does stay in a hotel the night before the game, but with those first two home games being at night there was more time to deal with family issues and other distractions that do not take place on the road.
"Anytime you can win, especially on the road in this league, it speaks volumes," Dolphins wide receiver Davone Bess said. "We've just got to build off of this one and stop this back-and-forth mess and really go get it."
Defensive end Kendall Langford has refocused his goal as the team hits the midway point of the season.
"We've got to go home and get a 'W' now," he said.
Three of Miami's next four games after the Ravens game this week are at home, with the Tennessee Titans coming to Sun Life Stadium on Nov. 14, the Chicago Bears four days later for a Thursday night game and the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 5. A cross-country trip to face the Oakland Raiders on Nov. 28 is in between those home tilts.
And with the New York Jets, Titans and Steelers all losing this past Sunday, the Dolphins are just a game back of each of them in the AFC playoff race.
With a road warrior mentality on their side.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
