|
Dolphins PFL Season XVI Championship Run
Let me start off by saying thank you
to all of the great PFL coaches who are not only stiff
competition but as classy a group as you will find. I
normally don’t write articles due to time constraints
with work and the fact that I am not into self-promotion
but I felt that I owed this to everyone in the PFL.
My story begins back in 2002 when I
first began playing Madden 2K2 with a childhood friend
of mine whom many of you know as “Gelvez”. We had just
moved to Miami from New York and were living together as
roommates and decided it would be fun to have our own
offline franchise. As you can imagine after five seasons
and many tweaks, we realized that the computer was no
longer a challenge and that we needed human competition.
I began my research, and low and behold I found my very
first online Madden Coaches League and it was the
Paydirt Football League.
Gelvez and I joined, and we
immediately fell in love with the league. I remember
saying way back then that I wanted to some day be on the
wall of champions in such a great league. Well one thing
led to another and I played online Madden for about two
years winning two Superbowls in two leagues that have
long since come and gone. I remember that a fellow named
“Shiftee” ran one of the leagues that I won the Super
bowl in. I actually played my Dolphins against his
Eagles to win. In that league I first met the likes of
long time coaches like “Frob” and somewhere along the
line “Sir Willie” as well. I had so much fun back then,
but as madden versions came out and I changed jobs I got
away from Madden for several years. I made a brief
comeback sometime in 2006 but that didn’t last long and
I once again gave up playing Madden.
Finally sometime at the end of 2007
when people were about to move onto 2K8 I decided to
make a comeback and vowed I would stick with Madden this
time through thick and thin, partly because I had made
so many great friendships. I actually have had visits
from at least three owners that I met through online
play here in Miami. Of course when I got back involved I
was shocked to see that the PFL was still around after
so many years and by a stroke of luck I was able to grab
the Dolphins whom I had never had before in the PFL.
Well rather than bore you with any more history if you
are not sleeping already I will move onto a re cap of my
most exciting and first championship year from my
perspective.
After playing two seasons in the PFL
and having a lot of success and making the playoffs
twice, I realized that I would always be remembered as a
good coach who won a lot of games but not a great coach
unless I won a championship. It all started where a good
story should start, at the beginning, with week 1 of
that faithful season. In Week 1, I played the prior
season’s reigning Super bowl Champion, New England
Patriots. You can imagine I was thinking to myself that
I wanted to get into a groove before facing the toughest
team in the league, but instead I was thrown into the
fire. In the prior season, besides winning the Superbowl,
the Patriots had also won the AFC East Division title,
swept me in our divisional games and then beaten me a
third time in the playoffs. Well, season XVI would start
off a little different for these Dolphins. Yes, we won a
close and hard fought battle week 1 defeating the
Patriots in an upset win, by a score of 17-16. It seemed
like we were off to an impressive start.
Then came week 2 and we played the
Cleveland Browns who we had not faced since season XV in
which the Dolphins routed the Browns 54-0. That was my
biggest margin of victory since I had joined the league.
There were also rumors flying on the PFL radio show that
“Buck” had not done enough in the offseason to improve
his team, and it was believed that the Browns were on
the decline. Well, turns out the Dolphins got a wake up
call as we were beaten 17-6 by those same Cleveland
Browns. The Dolphins then had a bye week to lick our
wounds and figure out if this was our season or not.
Since taking over the Dolphins in the
PFL in season XIV, I had a different Quarterback in each
of my first 3 seasons. Trent Green retired after season
XIV leaving Byron Leftwich as the incumbent starter in
season XV. I felt that Leftwich was doing a decent job,
but soon realized that he might not be capable of
bringing a championship to Miami. As luck would have it,
a coach named “Lightfoot” took over as the new head
coach of the PFL Kansas City Chiefs. Upon taking over
the team, coach “Lightfoot” was unhappy with the teams
recently acquired first round draft pick, rookie QB
Matthew Stafford. Well, I was familiar with Stafford
because while the Chiefs were ownerless, I handled their
draft and actually chose Stafford for them with their
first round pick. Being that I thought he had great
potential I approached the Chiefs with a trade offer.
The Miami Dolphins 1st round draft pick the following
year and starting QB Bryan Leftwich for QB Matthew
Stafford and the Kansas City Chiefs 2nd round pick. That
my friend’s, was the defining moment in PFL Miami
Dolphins history.
The moment that rookie quarterback
took the field in Miami we knew great things would come.
Despite rough beginnings, he brought a swagger into the
Dolphins locker room which would not soon be forgotten.
The Dolphins made one other key move that season, a
trade with the Cincinnati Bengals who were looking for a
stout defensive tackle but had a stockpile of good
defensive backs. We acquired CB Jonathan Joseph, who had
already quietly amassed four interceptions for the
Bengals and was having a standout year. In return, we
sent the Bengals a young stud defensive tackle we had
drafted a season earlier. That trade not only made sense
for the Dolphins, but CB Joseph went on to collect five
more interceptions that season, tying for the league
lead. He was also selected to the pro bowl at the
conclusion of the year. Now with those final two pieces
of the puzzle added, the Dolphins appeared to have the
potential to get deeper into the playoffs, and who
knows, even make a Superbowl run.
The next challenge came in week 6,
when the Dolphins faced the Buffalo Bills who were
turning things around under coach “Bill Walsh Jr”. Walsh
was looking to make a name for himself and wanted to
prove to the league that the Bills were on the rise.
Coach Walsh proved his point by leading his Bills to a
victory over the Dolphins 31-14, bringing the Dolphins
back to reality. The Dolphins were now 3-2 and knew that
to challenge for the division we would have to start
winning more games. The next game, week 7 was against
veteran coach “Sir Willie” and his Colts. Willie had a
long standing reputation as a great coach and one who
won wherever he went. The Dolphins knew that we needed
to beat a top caliber team like the Colts to prove that
we could get far in the playoffs. Another thing looming
over our heads, making this a must win game was the fact
that we would have to face the Bills, who we had just
lost to, again the following week. The thought of a
three game losing streak was unacceptable if we wanted
to compete for a title this season. The Dolphins went on
to win that game versus the Colts 27-24 and felt the
confidence coming back. The next match up was week 8 in
a re match with the Bills.
The game was much closer this time,
but the Bills were able to out coach the Dolphins again,
and escape with a 1 point victory 35-34. The Dolphins
were now 4-3 and had been swept by the Bills making it a
huge uphill battle to win the division. The next week
the Dolphins defeated the Carolina Panthers to go 5-3
and get back on track. Week 10 was the first time the
Dolphins would face Coach Mellon who was the new coach
of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers had just
appeared in back to back Superbowls under coach
“Lightfoot” before he left for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Dolphins played a tough game against the Buccaneers
but lost in overtime 27-24. Not only had the Dolphins
fallen to 6-4, but we began to experience huge special
teams problems as our rookie placekicker Jason Reda
began missing fied goals left and right. In the pre
season he had gone 8 for 8 winning the starting kicking
job from veteran Jay Feely. We began asking ourselves if
anything else could go wrong. Just as things were at
their worst, I recall listening to the PFL radio show
that week. As the commentators talked about potential
playoff teams in the PFL, the Miami Dolphins were never
even mentioned. It seemed with the rise of the Bills and
the resurgence of the Patriots, the pundits believed,
and rightfully so, that the Dolphins might not compete
for the division title much less a playoff berth.
The following three weeks, the
Dolphins went on a three game win streak to bring us to
9-4 and back into contention for the division. Then came
the biggest challenge of the season so far. We were
slated to face the #1 ranked Houston Texans, who were
the PFL radio commentator’s favorite to win the
Superbowl. The Texans were coached by Kyle Croft,
another long time winning coach in the PFL. That contest
proved to be a tooth and nail battle. With the Dolphins
down 12-10 in the last seconds of the game, we got a
huge break when a pass interference penalty put us into
field goal range allowing us to kick the game winning
field goal. The contest ended 13-12, and the Dolphins
savored the victory. At that point in the season, going
10-4 and beating the #1 ranked team, we felt that the
league might take notice. Meanwhile, “Bill Walsh Jr” was
already under the impression that he and his Bills had
already clinched the division. The PFL radio show was
now taking notice of the Dolphins, but its toughest
critic, “Lightfoot” was certain the Patriots turnaround
was in full swing and that they would sneak up and win
the division. Well as fate would have it, the Dolphins
would win their next game, bringing our record to 11-4
on the season. Now, we were faced with a re match
against the defending Superbowl Champs in week #16. No
game could have had more tension than this one.
The Dolphins would now have an
opportunity to win the division, eliminate the Patriots
from making the playoffs and sweep the Patriots for the
first time since I had taken over the Dolphins. The
Dolphins came to play and were able to come away with a
38-30 victory over the Champs in a game that started out
with the Patriots attempting to punch the Fins in the
mouth by going for a two point conversion on their very
first touchdown of the game. Needless to say, the
Dolphins denied that two point conversion and were
placed on high alert. The Dolphins, after falling behind
9-0 early in the game, began a comeback, forging ahead
35-23, and that lead would never be relinquished the
rest of the game. The Dolphins then went on to win their
last game of the season finishing with a mark of 12-4,
winning the AFC East division, and were the #3 seed in
the AFC going into the playoffs.
As the playoffs approached, the
Dolphins were fortunate enough to have faced all three
of the AFC teams that they would face in the playoffs
during the regular season. That familiarity would help
us prepare for each match up. The first game up was the
Bills. Now remember, the Dolphins had been swept by the
Bills during the regular season. This may have helped
the Dolphins in that the Bills would be overconfident,
at least that is what we had hoped. The Dolphins
prepared for the Bills knowing that we did not want a
repeat of last year when we lost to the same team twice
in the regular season and then again in the playoffs.
History once again proved to shine on the Dolphins as we
were able to defeat the Bills 24-17 in the Wild Card
Round and avoid a three game sweep. The following week
things would not get any easier. We were once again
tasked with facing the #1 ranked Houston Texans, who we
had been very fortunate to beat in week 14 by a score of
13-12. This time the Dolphins would be much better
prepared. The game started off as a defensive battle
with the Dolphins up 7-3 at the half. The second half
was a different story however as the Dolphins offense
caught on fire, while the Dolphins defense continued its
success from the first half. The Dolphins went on to
defeat the Texans 31-3 and felt pretty good, until they
saw who their next opponent was.
The Conference Championship featured
the Dolphins against “Buck” and his Browns. Not only had
we lost to the Browns in week 2 by a score of 16-7, but
the Browns defense absolutely manhandled the Dolphins
offense that week. There was however, one distinct
difference this time around. The Dolphins had acquired
rookie QB Matthew Stafford after playing our week 2
match up against the Browns. Stafford had been looking
good for the last 8 weeks or so, and had the Dolphins
playing with our heads high. As the Dolphins and Browns
clashed, the Dolphins jumped out to a 14-0 half time
lead and even “Buck” commented at the half that he was
surprised and impressed by our first half dominance. The
Dolphins knew however not to be overconfident against a
great coach like Buck, so we remained humble. After the
half we increased our lead to 21-0. The Browns however,
weren’t done and marched back to within 21-14.
Fortunately for the Dolphins that’s as close as they
would get and we held on to win 21-14.
Holy Cow!!! The Dolphins were in the
big game for the first time since coach Hatzis took
over, two seasons earlier. Now we would have to face
another great coach in the Superbowl. “Harlem”, who most
PFL radio show commentators had picked right from the
start of the season as the favorite to represent the NFC
in the Superbowl would be my opponent. The Dolphins who
had been underdogs to make the Superbowl all season, had
shocked the critics. Now we had to face the biggest
challenge of all if we really wanted to prove ourselves.
After all, who remembers a struggle to be the Champion
if you fall one game short? This story never would have
been written, and history never would have been made,
had the Dolphins not won the coveted PFL Lombardi
Trophy. Finally, this story comes to a close, with
Dolphins versus the Giants in a Superbowl for the ages.
Coach “Harlem” came into that game well prepared, but so
did we. The game started out as a huge defensive battle.
With the score 3-3, and to my dismay, Dolphins Kicker
Reda missed an early Field Goal which would have put the
Dolphins up 6-3. In the biggest game of my PFL career,
at that moment I knew, this game could not come down to
a game winning field goal. Reda had just been too
inconsistent all year and had already missed his first
field goal in the Superbowl early in the contest. To my
delight my friends, that would not become a factor in
this game. Matthew Stafford, Ronnie Brown and the
Dolphins defense each began to play like this was the
game of their lives. Stafford soon hit a streaking Greg
Jennings on an 82 yard bomb for a Touchdown as the half
began to dwindle down. That put the Dolphins up 10-3, as
the scoring then started to open up. Immediately
thereafter the Dolphins and Giants exchanged touchdowns.
The teams would go into the half with the Dolphins
leading 20-10. As the teams came out for the second
half, we felt the Giants would begin to rely on the deep
ball. Even with that in mind, somehow Giants TE Jeremy
Shockey was able to get behind our defense for a long
touchdown to start the third quarter, and just like that
the Giants were only down by a score of 20-17.
We felt at this point that our
offense was rolling and we needed to continue to control
the ball and put points on the board, even if they were
field goals, to keep the pressure on the Giants. That
strategy worked as the Dolphins continued to pound the
rock and eventually pulled ahead by 19 points causing
the Giants to basically abandon the run, and go on an
all out aerial assault. Fortunately for me, the Dolphins
defense was more than ready for the challenge and only
allowed one more touchdown the rest of the game. The
Giants tried for a two point conversion attempt, but
were denied, keeping the Dolphins up by 13. The Dolphins
were able to score another touchdown and went ahead by
20. The game would eventually end with a final of,
Dolphins 43 and the Giants 23. Coach “Harlem” coached a
great game that day, and was a tough opponent.
In closing, I faced four incredible
coaches en route to winning my first coveted PFL
Lombardi trophy. Each and every one of those coaches,
were not only great competitors but class acts as well.
I want to say thank you to each of them for making me a
better coach. The radio show and its hosts, “Mark,
Lightfoot, Jerry & Mellon” were great all year long and
were a big part of my inspiration. When they talked
about me on the show and began rooting for me as the
underdog in the post season, I began to feel like the
PFL son who didn’t want to disappoint his father.
I have finally won the Superbowl in
the first madden league that I have ever known. I have
made it to the top of the mountain and I have done it in
front of the people I respect and admire the most in the
madden community. Thank you to the PFL, all of its great
coaches, and of course to Lenny who started it all!!!
|
