Are you old enough to remember the film the above song lyrics came from? It’s “Wildcats” — a 1986 movie about a ragtag team of football underachievers who get a new coach, add a little bit of trickery and hard work to their repertoire, and suddenly find themselves at the top of the heap. If that doesn’t describe the 2008 Miami Dolphins, I don’t know what does.

Coming off a 1-15 fiasco in 2007, the team fired Cam Cameron and brought in unproven Tony Sparano. After an 0-2 start, it looked like the team was headed for another disastrous season, but then inspiration struck. Sparano instituted a new offensive formation with no quarterback. With running back Ronnie Brown taking direct snaps from the center, the team surprised the New England Patriots 38-13, with Brown running for four touchdowns. So effective was this new wrinkle that several teams around the league quickly incorporated their own versions into their offensive schemes. The name of the formation? The Wildcat, of course. Miami ended up winning nine of its last 10 games and won the AFC East with an 11-5 record. Goldie Hawn would have been proud.

Of course, that’s the glossy, romanticized view of this team. The fact is, the Dolphins were not nearly as bad as their 1-15 record in 2007 would have you believe, and they weren’t nearly as good as their 11-5 record last season. Quarterback Chad Pennington came over from the Jets to manage the offense, and he did it better than anyone could have imagined, throwing only seven interceptions all season, helping to propel Miami to a turnover differential of plus-17, tops in the NFL. That’s why we think this team is due for a setback in 2009. There’s very little chance that this team will hold on to the ball as well as it did last season.

If you saw the playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, in which Pennington threw four picks and the Dolphins were soundly thrashed 27-9, you saw a sneak preview of what this season holds for the Dolphins on a much more regular basis. The receiving corps on this team is very average, and with so many Wildcat imitators around the league, the one weapon that made the team unique last season won’t be so unfamiliar to opposing defenses. That’s not to say this team can’t contend for a playoff spot, but with Tom Brady back in New England and Terrell Owens now with the Buffalo Bills, and with two rookie defensive backs joining a unit that finished 25th in the league against the pass, we’ll be surprised if the Dolphins do any better than 9-7.

Article via ESPN, written by A.J. Mass – http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k9dolphinscamppreview

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