Dolphins Out Of Play Off Contention - Again
MIAMI (CBS4) - The Miami Dolphins find themselves in some awfully familiar territory.
For the eighth time in nine years, Miami has fallen short of the playoffs, although this season it was more like a headfirst flop, and the primary culprit is easy to identify.
The Dolphins (7-7) are last in the AFC in scoring, and their productivity is getting worse. They've scored 34 points in past three games, and 24 in the past three home games.
This year, Miami is 1-6 at home and 6-1 on the road, and no team has ever had such a disparity, according to STATS LLC.
On Sunday a 17-14 loss to last-place Buffalo eliminated them from the playoff race.
Fans began booing in the second quarter, and the last jeers came after a final, comically futile play.
"They've been booing the last couple of weeks, so I guess we're used to it," said Dolphins' quarterback Chad Henne said. "It's a sick feeling for us not to have home-field advantage."
Miami tried to rally in the fourth. Henne completed passes on seven consecutive plays to spark a 77-yard drive that ended with his 8-yard scoring pass to Marshall.
After the game, Brandon Marshall fingered the offense as the season's scapegoat.
On Monday coach Tony Sparano said the Dolphins' disappointing year was a collective failure that also involved the defense and special teams.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)