Where does Sparano Rank in the list of Miami Dolphins HCs?

[Spider-Dan]

As for the Dolphins being on a bus to the Super Bowl in the Jay Fielder year -- not so fast -- we don't exactly have a reputation for finishing the season strong.  How many good starts did we have, only to crap it up in December?  The Dolphins have a history of getting figured out late in the year.

At the end of the day, following Lucas' 2-4 reign, Miami finished in a tie for first place at 9-7 and missed out on the playoffs because of tiebreakers.  Had Miami been able to go 4-2 instead of 2-4, they would have had a first-round bye and potentially homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

[Dave Gray]

I don't doubt that they probably would've made the playoffs.  I just don't have a lot of faith in the Dolphins playing well in the playoffs, especially when they back in.  The playoffs are a different animal.  But whatever, we didn't even make it there, so...

[Spider-Dan]

I guess if you consider clinching homefield in week 15 "backing in," that's fine.

My point is that the Lucas-free 2002 Dolphins were significantly better than any Miami team any non-Shula coach has fielded, and a large part of that was due to Wannstedt's decision to pull the trigger on the Ricky trade.