Suck For Luck

I knew it would happen (see previous post), I just didn't know exactly how. Who could? To find a way to lose a game that hadn't been done in 40 years takes something really special. For 55 minutes Tim Tebow literally could not hit the broad side of a barn and the Dolphins were doing a great job of bottling him up on the ground. But the game lasts 60 minutes and we've known for a long time this team is incapable of putting a complete 60-minute game together. Obviously Miami still would have won if they could just have recovered an onside kick, but an epic collapse takes a team effort and the special teams had to make its timely contribution to an epic loss.

Once the ball slipped through Marlon Moore's hands and into Denver's possession, there was no doubt in my mind Tebow would bring Denver back to tie the game. The outcome was all but scripted. Dolphin fans have seen this before, in 2004 and (especially 2007). Once things start to go wrong on every level, everything just gets worse. There's no turning it around. The season's lost. Only a complete overhaul, a fresh start, can cure the sickness. A new coach, a new quarterback, new talent, a new philosophy. Unfortunately, the current season has to play itself out. Ross could fire Sparano right now but what would be the point? Whoever takes his place is already part of the problem. Who on this coaching staff deserves the promotion to the head job? No outside superstar coach is coming here until the season's over. Back in 2004, Wannstedt resigned during the season, with the team at 1-8. Defensive coordianator Jim Bates took the reins and the team showed a little life, going 3-4 the rest of the way. But why would Miami fans want that to happen? Winning a few more games this year isn't making the future one bit brighter. I hate to say it but yeah, it's Suck for Luck time. We all need to admit it.

Watching Tebow work his magic, I felt no anger or frustration (unusually for me). Mainly, the whole thing struck me as funny. Absurd. Surreal. Outnumbered by a bunch of Tebow fans in a sports bar, I could feel something electric happening. And I went to UF. I'm a Gator, I love Tebow and I don't have it in my heart to root against him. Ever. I'm well aware of his deficiencies as a QB at this point in his career but the guy just knows how to make things happen on the field. There was exactly one player in Sun Life Stadium that everyone was interested in and he wasn't wearing aqua and orange. What Tebow did last Sunday was exactly why we love football so much. And I'm glad I got to see it. And it's alll too obvious Miami needs a quarterback everyone can get excited about in the same way.

If Miami loses them all they likely would have one next year.

I think this was the game that fundamentally changed things. This kind of devastating loss, after a whole series of painful losses, clarified just exactly where this team is for everybody. It's now 2007 all over again. This team is as bad as any team in the league and could well go winless. The verdict's now in on the Parcells regime: Epic Fail. Let's hope Ross makes better choices at season's end than his predecessor did in 2007.