|
|
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Miami Dolphins and the New York Jets expected so much more from this season.
The Dolphins envisioned returning to the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years. The Jets hoped for a third consecutive postseason berth.
It didn't happen for either
of them.
Now the AFC East rivals find themselves playing a somewhat meaningless game
Sunday, one that could be the last for Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt.
``That's how it goes every season for some teams,'' Jets safety Sam Garnes said. ``Sometimes it ends up like this, not the way you want it to.''
At least the Jets (6-9) have an excuse. Quarterback Chad Pennington missed six games after breaking his left wrist in the preseason, and the team couldn't overcome an 0-4 start.
Since Pennington's return, the Jets are 4-5 with four losses by seven points or fewer.
``When you lose those types of football games, you're never as bad as your record would indicate,'' Jets coach Herman Edwards said. ``But you've got to make the plays to win those games. We haven't done that, and that's why we're in the situation that we're in at this point.''
The Dolphins (9-6), meanwhile, have no single reason for missing the playoffs for a second consecutive season. It was offensive ineptitude one week, defensive letdowns another. Even special teams played a part when Olindo Mare missed two field goals in an overtime loss to New England in October.
Miami was eliminated from the playoffs last week when Denver beat Indianapolis. It marked the first time since 1989 the Dolphins missed the postseason in consecutive seasons.
It could cost Wannstedt his job.
Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga said Friday he already decided whether Wannstedt will remain Miami's coach, but he would announce his choice Monday or Tuesday.
Wannstedt has tried to keep the focus on the field, downplaying speculation, deflecting questions about his future and altering the team's goals again.
Before the season, the goals were winning the AFC East, earning a first-round bye and getting home-field advantage in the playoffs.
When those were gone, the goal simply became getting back to the postseason.
With that no longer a possibility, Wannstedt now has turned to winning 10 games and sweeping the Jets -- not quite the ambition of getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985.
``Certainly we hoped this game would mean a lot more than it's going to, but it's still going to be a football game,'' Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler said. ``Both teams aren't just going to lie down and let the season end just like that. We are both trying to win this game.''
With a victory against the Jets, the Dolphins would become the first team since the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers in 1991 to win 10 games and not make the playoffs.
``There's enough to play for this week,'' Wannstedt said. ``We're trying to finish this thing out on a winning note. It's the Jets, a division game. What more do you have to say? It wouldn't make any difference if it's the first game of the season or the last game of the season. This is a big rivalry for us and we have a lot of guys with a lot of pride that would like to finish the season strong.''
After getting fired in Chicago following a second straight 4-12 season in 1998, Wannstedt joined the Dolphins as an assistant head coach under longtime friend Jimmy Johnson.
Wannstedt took over the team when Johnson abruptly retired after the 1999 season, but the Dolphins have regressed every season under him. They won the AFC East in 2000, finished second in 2001 and were eliminated from the postseason in the final week in 2002 at New England. Now they are out with one week to play.
And even though Wannstedt is 40-23 with Miami, winning a meaningless game against the Jets and finishing 10-6 might not be enough to keep his job.
``Dave finds himself in a situation that I don't think he should be in,'' defensive end Jason Taylor said. ``I don't think it should happen. I don't think it's fair. But it's not my deal, either.
``We're not at the point
where we're going to say, 'We're going to win one for the Gipper.' This game
isn't for Dave. This game is for everything we still want to do. There are still
goals out there. We can get to 10 wins and sweep the Jets. Dave's situation
will go along right with it.''