The 777: New Year Play-off Edition

by Corroncho on Jan 1, 2009 6:39 AM EST

7 NFL Power Rankings: Jan 01

‘Why not us?’ You got to love the way Tony Sporano delivers killer pre-post game locker room speeches. bang this to check him out.

I loved my birthday in Phinsiderland on game day, and yes Husker you were right, the best present of all and one to remember: Mission 4W - D-O-N-E-

Choice comments:

‘best this season in fewest penalties, dropped passes and turnovers’

Lots of nice stats out there for us, some are headliners others are under the radar. But we get it done. Tony’s eye for all the right details and ability to motivate players to do it, soft words, his boot up their ass or a finger pointed to the door. Whatever. It gets done.

‘Back to the pumkin patch’

The much quoted ‘Cinderella’ reference is all out there. Really, enough all ready. We are in this for real. They see us as a nice little side-show before the real contenders get it on. Ok, under the radar…that’s nice.

‘the Dolphins hadn't defeated a team with a winning record since pulling an upset at Denver’

Again, they really don’t expect anything of us. Fine, we are just ‘lucky’ aint we. Makes me think of the Lee Trevino quote. The more I practice…

	ESPN	Fox	CBS	SN	USA T	SI	CHFF	Aver.
*Ps 1*	31			31	31	32	32	*31.4*
*Ps 2*	30			30	31	26	30	*29.4*
1	28		31	26	28	22	31	*27.7*
2	30		32	29	30	28	26	*29.5*
3	25		25	24	25	22	26	*24.5*
4	26		25	24	23	21	19	23
5	23		21	21	22	14	22	*20.5*
6	24		23	22	25	23	22	*23.2*
7	26		27	25	25	23	22	*24.7*
8	24		23	22	25	20	20	*22.3*
9	17	18	20	18	16	18	18	*17.9*
10	15	16	18	15	16	17	15	16
11	12	15	11	16	17	12	14	*13.6*
12	14	14	15	18	15	16	15	*15.3*
*Dec 4*	16	15	15	14	17	13	17	*15.3*
*Dec 11*	12	13	18	13	14	13	16	*14.1*
*Dec 18*	11	16	12	12	14	13	13	13
*Dec 25*	9	11	8	10	10	9	9	*9.4*
*Jan 01*	8	11	8	8	7	10	8	*8.6*

And here is what they are saying ‘bout the Phinz

ESPN	The Dolphins pulled off an unprecedented turnaround by beating the Jets to clinch the AFC East title.
Fox	They are a mystery to fantasy geeks and stat hounds. But in terms of football, the Dolphins are legit because they force other teams to beat them, instead of giving anything away. Miami ranks among the best this season in fewest penalties, dropped passes and turnovers.
CBS	Tony Sparano worked miracles with this team. From 1-15 to division winner is simply amazing. Chad Pennington really made the difference.
Yahoo-SN	Only the Colts and Chargers go into the AFC playoffs with more momentum. They've already been a great Cinderella story, and with motivated, emotional leaders and trusted Parcellian lieutenants such as coach Tony Sparano and quarterback Chad Pennington, they can beat anybody, any which way. The problem is, the matchup against Baltimore might be too big of an early hurdle.
USA Today	Back to the pumkin patch for this years Cinderella story?
SI	Nobody's really mentioning this, but the only other time an NFL team improved by 10 games from one season to the next, those 13-3 Colts of 1999 lost their playoff opener at home to a lower seeded team (Tennessee). That doesn't necessarily mean Miami can't keep the magic alive into the postseason, but the level of competition just increased dramatically for the Cinderella story of this year's playoffs. Before beating the Jets last week, the Dolphins hadn't defeated a team with a winning record since pulling an upset at Denver in Week 9. And that was 4-3 Denver, mind you.
CHFF	Last week: Needing a win to clinch the AFC East, the Dolphins took what Brett Favre gave them, beating the Jets, 24-17, to tie the best single-season turnaround in league history. Cold, Hard Football Facts: In his triumphant return to the Meadowlands, Chad Pennington didn’t throw an interception for the 10th time this season, completing 22 of 30 passes for 200 yards and two TDs. Next Game: vs. Baltimore on Sunday (AFC Wild Card Playoffs). Miami committed just 13 turnovers on the season, setting a new NFL record (along with this year’s Giants), while the Ravens registered a league-high 34 takeaways