ShareThisGive them credit.
The NFL handed Bill Parcells a welcome-to-Miami gift -- one of the softest schedules in league history -- and his Dolphins have made the most of it.
They've played hard.
They've played smart.
They've played better than anyone had a right to expect, given all that went wrong last season, when the Dolphins were a football embarrassment with a 1-15 record and, it seemed, no hope of winning any time soon.
And they've done so by playing exactly the way you expect a Parcells-built team to play.
So here they are.
Out of nowhere.
In the playoff chase.
With three weeks remaining in what has been a surprising season in South Florida, the Dolphins have played their way to an 8-5 record -- they were 0-13 at this point a year ago -- winning six of their past seven games en route to a three-way tie atop the AFC East.
If that's not amazing enough, consider this: They control their own destiny. If the Dolphins win out, they'll win the division and go to the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Get that? The Dolphins can actually win the AFC East and go to the playoffs.
All they need to do is win their final three games. Win at home Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. Then win at Kansas City. Then go to New York and beat the rival Jets.
It could happen.
The 49ers must travel across three time zones for an early kickoff in Miami. The Chiefs are terrible. And the Jets are doing what the Jets usually do -- win just enough to give their fans hope, then lose when it matters most.
Besides, the Dolphins are good enough to win all three.
That doesn't mean they're good. Or that they're one of the AFC's top-tier teams. Or that they'll do some damage in the playoffs, if they get there.
It means, simply, that they're good enough to win those games, just as they've been good enough to take advantage of a ridiculously easy schedule and some fortuitous timing.
True, the parity-driven NFL always rewards bad teams with soft schedules. And the Dolphins were the league's worst in 2007. They deserved a break.
Rarely, though, has any team been given such a cushy ride.
Of the Dolphins' eight victories, only two -- Sept. 21 at New England and Nov. 2 at Denver -- have come against teams with winning records. Their other six wins came against teams that are a combined 24-54: San Diego (5-8), Seattle (2-11), Oakland (3-10), St. Louis (2-11) and Buffalo (6-7) twice.
And they've still got San Francisco (5-8) and Kansas City (2-11) coming up before their Dec. 28 finale at the Jets (8-5).
Also, three of their victories came in 1 p.m. (Eastern) home games against jet-lagged also-rans from the West Coast -- they beat San Diego, Seattle and Oakland by a total of 11 points -- with a chance to add San Francisco to the list Sunday.
Then there was last week's game against Buffalo: The Dolphins won ugly but comfortably, playing indoors in Toronto rather than outdoors in minus-1 degree weather on the wintry shores of Lake Erie.
Finally, the Dolphins won twice when they caught opponents at just the right time. They beat New England in Week 3, after Tom Brady was injured and before his backup, Matt Cassel, mastered the Patriots' offense. And they upset Denver during a midseason stretch when the Broncos' defense couldn't stop anyone.
But, hey, they won.
Parcells' Dolphins have won more games than anybody thought they could, enough to go from the bottom of the NFL to the top of the AFC East.
Give them credit for that.
(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@Scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)
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