Schatz: 2015 Dolphins a 'Hot Sleeper Super Bowl Contender'
"And when you say Miami
You're talking Super Bowl!"
Every Miami Dolphins fan -- casual or diehard -- has heard that primitive, goofy fight song.
It's an outdated tune that hasn't held relevance since the 1984 season when second-year QB Dan Marino led the the franchise to a 14-2 record and a Super Bowl birth. Over 30 years later and the Dolphins are still wandering around like Moses in the Desert of Mediocrity.
2015 could be different. Because hope and the fact Aaron Schatz, an ESPN writer and Editor-in-Chief of Football Outsiders, projects Miami to win 11 games as a sleeper Super Bowl contender. Via ESPN:
Your hot sleeper Super Bowl contender for 2015 is the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots run away with the AFC East year after year, but our early projections suggest the defending champions will finally get some serious competition in their own division this year.
We're high on the 2015 Dolphins because the 2014 Dolphins were essentially a good team dragged down to 8-8 by dismal special teams (last in the Football Outsiders efficiency ratings) and a difficult schedule. However, special teams are less consistent from year to year than offense or defense, which means the Dolphins are likely to be a lot closer to average in that area in 2015. And like the rest of their division, the Dolphins also get an easier schedule this year, trading the NFC North and AFC West for the NFC East and AFC South.
Schatz also says he thinks the Dolphins would become the slight AFC-East favorites if Tom Brady were to receive a multiple-game suspension for Deflategate, which is becoming more expectation than speculation.
So when that stupid song gets belted out from the upgraded Sun Life Stadium speakers next season, will it finally hold some relevance?
For now, Vegas isn't buying -- Miami's Super Bowl odds are 40 to 1, according to Vegas Insider.
And neither is the writer of the above 11-win projection.
Note on my big Miami projection from ESPN Insider today: I have serious doubts about Joe Philbin matching it. But that's subjective.
— Aaron Schatz ???? (@FO_ASchatz) May 11, 2015
Oh well.
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