DAVIE—

The Miami Dolphins have spent most of this season trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

Or better yet, two cornerbacks more suited to play press coverage into a scheme that leans heavily on zone coverage.

Vontae Davis’ strength and physicality is off the charts for his position. Coincidentally, those attributes, which help cornerbacks re-route receivers, were what motivated the Dolphins to make this former Illinois standout a first-round pick in 2009.

Sean Smith, a second-round pick in ’09, has a unique blend of size (6 feet 4, 215 pounds) and speed (he runs a legit 4.4 40-time), which in previous seasons has allowed him to shade one side of the field, making the receivers he covered difficult targets for quarterbacks.

Both cornerbacks admit they’d prefer to work on the line, getting physical with opposing receivers like they did in last week’s 20-19 loss to the Cowboys, a game where Davis and Smith each pulled down an interception. However, the Dolphins have spent a good portion of this season having the cornerbacks drop back into a zone.

“I’d definitely prefer to man my guy, and I guarantee he’d rarely catch the ball,” said Smith, who has allowed five touchdowns this season, which matches the total of scores he gave up in ’09 and ’10. “The thing about zone is you need help from everyone else. It takes everyone else to do their job for it to lead to a successful play.

“Sometimes we’ll be in cover three. I’ll have deep thirds, we’ll have someone in the flat and a hook curl drops in front of me. If one of those linebackers doesn’t do their job and a [receiver] catches it, it looks like it’s on me.”

Zone, a scheme predicated on area and not man assignments, was used plenty last year. But it’s been leaned on heavily this season, according to numerous players. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan admits he’s relied on “off-coverage” more because of injuries, which forced inexperienced players on the field, and the team’s issues at safety.

With Davis fully recovered from the hamstring injury that sidelined him four weeks, coach Tony Sparano hopes to see continued growth.

Since Smith and Davis have been paired together, the cumulative quarterback rating for Miami’s opponents has dropped from 103.1 to 87.6, and they hope to keep taking steps forward.

“I think they’re playing with obviously a lot more confidence. Starting to understand what we’re asking them to do a little bit more each time,” Sparano said. “These guys are still young players. Even though they’ve got a lot of games under their belt, they’re young players.”

Sparano acknowledged that Smith performed better against the Cowboys, pulling down the second interception of his career because “he went after the ball. He went and made a play.

“I call it pulled the trigger,” Sparano continued. “I’d like to see him continue to do that. He’s getting better with it.”

Smith hopes to be put in position to do so.

Before the season, Davis proclaimed the Dolphins’ duo was one of the best in the NFL. Despite their struggles, he’s confident they’ll bound back.

“At cornerback you have to have short-term memory, confidence,” said Davis, who has 28 tackles and two interceptions. “If you lose your confidence at cornerback, you’ll be eaten alive. I’m always going to be positive and have confidence in myself.”

okelly@tribune.com. Follow him at twitter.com/omarkelly.

DAVIE—

In a one-point loss there are plenty of areas that could have swung the tide to victory.

None are more glaring from the Dolphins’ 20-19 Thanksgiving defeat than the reappearance of their old nemesis, the red-zone bugaboo.

Four times they ventured inside the Dallas 20 and had to settle for field goals. Their only touchdown came on a 35-yard circus-catch by Brandon Marshall. The Cowboys converted 2 of 4 red-zone chances into touchdowns.

“That was probably one of the most dissapointing things in the game,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said in his day-after assessment. “Had we been able to finish one or two of those and turn them into points it would have been a completely different type of game.”

The red-zone failures were particularly confounding after the progress made in that area lately. The previous three games the Dolphins scored seven touchdowns in 10 red-zone opportunities. That was a big improvement on their first 24 trips to the red zone this season, which yielded 10 touchdowns.

The quality of the opposition may factor in to recent results. The Cowboys’ 10-ranked defense is the best the Dolphins have faced in the past month. Two of their previous three opponents rank in the bottom third of NFL defenses. The Dolphins turned all four red-zone chances into touchdowns against Buffalo, which is 26th.

“We’ve been doing a good job for the last three weeks or so. We had some really good opportuniites down there, really good looks at it. Didn’t finish, just didn’t execute,” Sparano said.

Quarterback Matt Moore has played a key role in the offense doing a better job of finishing drives with touchdowns. That was not the case Thursday in an otherwise solid performance.

Moore threw for 288 yards, had four completions of 34 yards or longer and an overall quarterback rating of 99.5 . But in the red zone he was 1 of 6 for 13 yards. He threw behind Brian Hartline on third-and-goal in the fourth quarter, and just before the half overthrew Reggie Bush on a short toss over the middle in the end zone.

“We would have loved to have turned those drives into six, but we had confidence in our defense. If we could’ve just put points on the board, we’d be OK,” Marshall said.

Garner may replace Carey

Sparano expressed confidence in Nate Garner, who finished the game at right guard after Vernon Carey left in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a serious injury to his left ankle. He was on crutches after the game.

“Nate is a jack-of-all-trades. He did a nice job filling in there when Vernon went out, and I thought did some good things,”Sparano said.

If Carey is out for an extended period, Garner is the logical replacement. Garner started eight games in 2009 and one at right guard earlier this season.

Flags rare for Long

Left tackle Jake Long had a tough assignment in contending with NFL sacks-leader DeMarcus Ware, which may have contributed to the All-Pro committing three false starts and a holding penalty. Sparano shrugged off the uncharacteristic penalty binge.

“The guy he was playing against had one tackle,” Sparano pointed out, and added about Long. “He’s a tremendous football player. He’s been playing really well. He had a couple penalties. He’ll be hard on himself for that, but he made a couple of really big plays [Thursday] too.”

Culver hit draws fine

Safety Tyrone Culver was fined $20,000 for unnecessary roughness in the Bills win last Sunday on a pass play where he struck a defenseless player in the head and neck area.

DAVIE –—

Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano has often used the term “now” to describe how the team has approached the past few games.

It’s his way of saying the Dolphins only want to focus on the present instead of the future or past. So there’s no point in asking him about next season’s plans for quarterback Matt Moore.

They are content with his current play and would prefer not to discuss if they feel Moore is a “franchise” quarterback.

“Right now, I’m worried about one thing, this game Thursday,” Sparano said of the Thanksgiving Day game against the Dallas Cowboys. “You guys can figure that out somewhere else down the road.”

Moore has put up solid numbers while leading the Dolphins to three straight victories. He is 3-3 as a starter since replacing the injured Chad Henne, but Moore has completed 51 of 72 passes for 613 yards with six touchdowns and one interception during the win streak. Still, as the case much of the season, fans and media have focused on the long term.

Is Moore talented enough to be the quarterback of the future, or does that search begin with next year’s NFL Draft? It’s a question Sparano will deal with when the time comes. Until then, the Dolphins will revel in the success of Moore.

“Matt’s done a tremendous job right now, and it’s all about what you do with your opportunities in our league,” Sparano said. “As of right now, he is doing a nice job with his opportunities. Matt will be the first to tell you that we need to continue to get better.”

XXX

Sparano listed third-down play as one of the main reasons for the improvement on defense. Last week Buffalo was 0 for 12 on third downs, and failed on both fourth-down attempts. Washington the previous week converted just 5 of 14 third downs.

“Well, we’re getting people off the field right now on third down at a much higher rate,” Sparano said.

Sparano also singled out more touchdowns in red-zone situations and the offense’s improved numbers on third downs.

“I think on offense we’re scoring touchdowns,” Sparano said. “We’re not getting field goals. I think we’re converting more third downs on offense and we’re making better plays.”

XXX

Sparano said he is still fond of the Cowboys staff that remains from when he was an assistant there from 2003-07.

This will mark the first time he’s returned to face his former team during a regular season game since he was hired by the Dolphins in 2008. Miami played Dallas at Sun Life Stadium in the preseason.

Cowboys assistants Wade Williams, Skip Peete, John Garrett and Hudson Houck and coach Jason Garrett were all on the Dallas staff with Sparano.

“Those people were really good to me,” Sparano said. “I mean, the (Dallas owner Jerry) Jones family and the fans there were really good to me so we spent a lot of time there obviously. And obviously I know a lot of players there too still that’s it. It’s a business trip. If I want a vacation in Dallas I can do that some other time.”

srichardson@tribune.com

Are the Dolphins a bad team just catching a lucky tailwind?

Or are they a good team finally headed in the direction they deserve after a lot of lousy breaks?

And will it all blow up in their faces in Dallas in four days?

Those are the questions that still burn after Sunday’s 35-8 lacing of the Buffalo Bills.

No answers are handy. But at least it’s a bright and cheerful Monday after three consecutive victories deliriously hoist the Dolphins out of their 0-7 rut.

Like the little girl in the childhood poem, when the Dolphins are bad they are simply horrid.

But, ah, when they are good, like now, they are surely spiffy — especially the defense that hasn’t given up a touchdown in 12 straight quarters.

Yep, the same defense that held the Bills 0 for 12 on third-down conversions.

Grade the Dolphins a C overall, anyway, which isn’t bad considering they went F for their first seven games.

Finally getting healthy, they outscored two of their past three opponents by 65-11.

Of course you’re right — that won’t lay up a nickel in Big D. But Sunday at Sun Life, at least, the Dolphins made a pretty good team look pretty bad.

“We’re playing better,” tight end Anthony Fasano put it after catching the first of Matt Moore’s three touchdown passes. “The defense put us in some good spots. I wouldn’t want to be in an offense playing them.”

That defense is the one element most responsible for reversing the sentiment about coach Tony Sparano.

Three games ago Sparano was a cinch fire. Today, he’s a candidate for Comeback Coach of the Year — with the codicil that that could go up in smoke in Dallas, or any time thereafter. The likeliest way to look at Sparano’s position is that he’s in much better shape than he was, but still living dangerously.

You may not want to credit Sparano. However, if you’re going to blame him for the losses you have to give him a hand for the victories.

Meanwhile, I wouldn’t presume to try to read owner Stephen Ross’ mind as to what he has in mind for Sparano. There’s room for latitude about Sparano’s performance — both ways, up and down. Besides, coaches usually get too much of both credit and blame.

Whatever, Sparano’s Dolphins were better than 0-7 when they were 0-7. But they might not be quite as good as their 3-0 since then.

Again, we’ll find out a lot more in Dallas. Out there, more picks by Nolan Carroll and Yeremiah Bell, Sunday’s interceptors, would be huge.

The Dolphins need to keep retaliating the way they brought TDs after Bills field goals. Moore has to keep cranking after his latest three TD chunks. “Nothing really fazes Matt,” Sparano said.

Over on the losers’ side, Chan Gailey said something meant to be about the Bills but really was more about the Dolphins.

Someone asked Gailey if the Bills’ three consecutive losses and four defeats in their past five games feel like “a runaway train.”

And Gailey replied, “A runaway train is 0-8 — that’s a runaway train.”

Hey, the Dolphins came close to getting hit by that train before they got on the right track, which is where they are right now, which they’ll ride into Dallas.

Not to make light of what the Dolphins did to the Bills or pump up a 6-4 Dallas record, but the Boys will be a bigger test than Sunday was.

Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post

Miami’s Anthony Fasano (80) makes a one-handed catch over Washington inside linebacker London Fletcher (59) for a first down in the fourth quarter of the Dolphins’ 20-9 win Sunday.

A sweet little scene played out on the Dolphins sideline late in Sunday’s game at Kansas City. You didn’t see it on TV and it was just a moment, but it told you a little about the toll of a season full of losing and of no lead feeling safe.

The scoreboard said Miami led 31-3, but Tony Sparano was still coaching like he didn’t believe it, headset on, game face on, hunched, pacing, grimacing. All at once he looks up and sees veteran Jason Taylor, helmet off, staring at him and grinning.

“There’s about 3½ minutes left, and I’m still grinding and grinding and J.T.’s over there laughing at me,” Sparano retold it Monday. “He was like, ‘Coach, it’s OK. We’re all right. …’ ”

Not even we can blow this one, is what Taylor meant. Sparano allowed himself to smile back, a mental exhale well earned and a long time coming.

A 1-7 record never felt so good, except, of course, to curmudgeonly Suck For Luckers loath to give up that ghost.

Lighten up

The thing is, the balance of Miami’s NFL season presents an unspoken danger and risk as the franchise moves forward – and one having nothing to do with likely losing out on the No. 1 draft pick and prized Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.

It has to do with winning, not losing. It has to do with how even a little success can replace bold thinking with caution. Make the status quo a little more palatable. Maybe make a club owner believe that success is close enough at hand that major changes aren’t necessary, after all.

A little success allows you to kid yourself, in other words.

A little more success from here will only make that easier.

This is the trap owner Stephen Ross must take care to avoid.

It already is tempting to rationalize that three blown-lead-losses/should-a-been-wins mean Miami “should” be 4-4 right now. In every game but one, the Dolphins have been competitive deep into the second half. Now Miami is favored this coming Sunday at home against . Washington, with an upcoming schedule suggesting the Dolphins reasonably could win three of their next four games.

All of this means it could get easier and easier to start thinking this team is close enough to the right track to get there with tinkering rather than upheaval.

It isn’t.

Keep sight of that, Mr. Ross.

Eleven consecutive seasons since the most recent playoff victory broadcast fundamental flaws demanding systemic change.

I have been asked a dozen times since Sunday, “Where has this team been all season!?” The question presupposes the real Dolphins stood up Sunday, when the rout of the Chiefs might have been as close to a wild aberration as a declaration of arrival.

Your record is what it is, always, and I give Sparano credit for not trying to sugarcoat it when I asked him Monday if the fact his team “could” be 4-4 right now was closer to a source of encouragement or of frustration.

He paused a beat.

“It’s a little bit of frustration,” he admitted. “We could be — shoulda, woulda, coulda — but we’re not.”

This maiden win and any that follow verify what I wrote a week ago. That “Suck For Luck” won’t happen because Miami isn’t nearly as bad as still-winless Indianapolis. I wrote that the Dolphins are competitively bad, respectably bad if there is such a thing.

Dolphins CB Vontae Davis will play if healthy on Sunday, Tony Sparano says.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis wasn’t in Kansas City for his team’s 31-3 victory against the Chiefs. The Dolphins left Davis in South Florida, and did so for what they described as a non-injury-related situation.

Later, reports circulated that Davis had been left home after he was involved earlier in the week in an altercation with Brandon Marshall, who addressed those reports here. Regardless of what happened between Davis and Marshall, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano made one thing clear on Monday.

Davis will play on Sunday against the Redskins if he’s healthy enough to play.

Said Sparano when asked if that’d be the case: “Yeah.”

Short and sweet.

The very next question Sparano received focused on Davis, too. And, specifically, on the NFL.com report that called into question Davis’ professionalism. According to that report, Davis in the days before the Chiefs game had showed up to a practice both late and hungover.

Asked about that report, Sparano said:

“Fellas, honestly, it’s going to stay within us. If it’s going to get to you people, it’s going to get to you people not through me, OK. So that’s just the way I am, it’s the way I prefer it. So that’s the way it’s going to be.

“It’s something that I needed to do here and that’s what I chose to do. And it’s over and we’re getting ready to play the Redskins and I have every intention of Vontae being ready to go on Wednesday.”

Davis sat out his fourth game of the season against the Chiefs. He has been battling a hamstring injury for most of the season.

KANSAS CITY—

You can toss out those brown paper bags. The Dolphins are winless no more.

Sunday’s 31-3 victory over the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium was as impressive as it was unexpected, ending the NFL’s longest active losing streak at 10 games and leaving the Colts as the league’s only remaining contender to go 0-16.

The Chiefs, who came in riding a four-game winning streak, were no match for a Dolphins team determined to “start fast and finish strong,” per the directive of embattled coach Tony Sparano.

“That was our mission,” Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall said, “and we completed it.”

Having blown three fourth-quarter leads during an 0-7 start, including the past two weeks, the Dolphins put this one out of reach early in the second half.

Matt Moore’s third touchdown pass of the afternoon, a 14-yard strike to Marshall in the corner of the end zone, made it 21-3 midway through the third quarter.

Less than two minutes later, Reggie Bush added a 28-yard touchdown run, and the Dolphins were on their way to a rare laugher.

“Instead of kind of hanging around and waiting for those guys to screw it up on the other side, for a change our team just put it in their own hands,” Sparano said. “That’s what I’ve been waiting to see. That’s the daring part of them.”

Sparano mentioned that word — daring — several times after the game.

With nothing to lose, the players answered his challenge with a strong performance across the board.

What did “daring” mean in the context of this game?

“Just win at all costs,” Bush said after a 92-yard rushing day. “Let it fly. You step on the football field for 60 minutes, you put your heart and soul into each and every play. I think that’s what guys did.”

The margin of victory matched the largest for the Dolphins in Sparano’s four seasons. The Dolphins crushed the Bills 38-10 after an 0-3 start in 2009.

The Dolphins nearly doubled their scoring average and posted their highest point total since a 33-17 win at Oakland last November.

It was their first four-touchdown game since Game 6 of 2009, a 46-34 home loss to the Saints.

Most importantly, it was the Dolphins’ first regular-season win since last Dec. 12 at the Jets.

Facing a Chiefs defense that ranked among the NFL leaders in takeaways, the Dolphins didn’t commit a turnover and kept Moore from being sacked.

Moore, hit just twice all day, went 17 for 23 passing for 244 yards and posted the highest quarterback rating (147.5) of the Sparano era.

Moore hit tight end Anthony Fasano for a pair of first-half touchdowns, including a 35-yarder on a well-designed throwback. Moore has thrown four TD passes in five games since replacing the injured Chad Henne, three of them to Fasano.

Winning an NFL start for the first time in more than a calendar year (Oct. 24, 2010), Moore credited offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for a daring game plan.

“He had a great mentality: Attack, attack, attack, ” Moore said. “That’s kind of him, regardless of the situation. He’s just that kind of guy. Guys feed off that, too. They understand what he’s thinking and where he’s going to go.”

After Sunday’s breakthrough, the Dolphins headed home to prepare for Washington and a chance at their first back-to-back wins since opening last season 2-0.

mberardino@tribune.com

Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post

Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito (68), wide receiver Brandon Marshall (19) and tackle Marc Colombo (71) celebrate after Anthony Fasano caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter of the Dolphins’ 31-3 win over the Chiefs.

Even the failed Dave Wannstedt regime had a much better record against winners than Tony Sparano

Thanks to a Joe Pisarcik-esque botched snap and a gift win against the Chargers on Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs enter this week’s home game against the Miami Dolphins with a winning record (4-3).

This, of, course, is more bad news for the Dolphins.

Maybe even worse than you might think.

Last Sunday’s 20-17 loss at the New York Giants dropped the Dolphins to 7-23 (.233) under Tony Sparano against teams with winning records.

This year’s 0-5 figure is based on the opponents’ current records, not on their record at the time they played the Dolphins. This number is fluid because we’ll recalculate it at season’s end, but the overall trend is definitely troubling.

The 2010 Dolphins went 2-6 against teams that finished the year with winning records. Their lone wins came on the road against Green Bay and a freshly concussed Aaron Rodgers  (23-20 in overtime) and the Jets in the Sal Alosi Game (10-6).

That December win at the Jets, as you well know, is the Dolphins’ last regular-season win of any kind. That’s how you build an NFL-worst losing streak of 10 games.

 In 2009, the Dolphins went 3-7 against teams that finished the year as winners. Two of those wins came narrowly against the Jets. Plus there was the 22-21 win over the Patriots at home.

So in the past 2 1/2 seasons, the Dolphins’ only five wins against winning teams have come by a combined 17 points.

How about 2008? Surely Sparano’s 11-win miracle playoff team must have held its own against winning teams?

Nope. Sorry.

Even with Chad Pennington going the distance at quarterback, Sparano’s first Dolphins team went only 2-5 against winning clubs, including the playoff loss to the Ravens. The wins came by 25 points at New England in the famed Wildcat Rollout game and by a touchdown at the Jets in the division-clinching game to end the regular season.

So it’s 7-18 (.280) the past three full seasons, and this year’s schedule still features six more games against teams with current winning records (including the Bills twice). At least one of those will be the season finale against the Jets, who account for four of Sparano’s seven wins against plus-.500 competition.

Take out the Jets, and Sparano’s Dolphins are 3-20 (.130) against all other NFL winners.  

Even two of the three remaining games against current losers — at Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day, home against the Eagles and Redskins — could easily wind up counting as opportunities against winning clubs for the season.

OK, you say, so winning teams are hard to beat. So what?

Well, I have some more troubling data for you.

And it involves (wait for it) Dave Wannstedt.

Before dropping 10 of his final 12 games against teams that finished as winners, Wannstedt more than held his own with the Dolphins.

His first Dolphins team went 5-6 against winners (including the playoffs) in 2000. That was followed by a 3-6 mark (again including the playoffs) and a 5-3 mark in 2002, which somehow was not a playoff year.

So that puts Wanny at 13-15 (.464) against winning clubs over his first three years. Years that included the last back-to-back playoff trips in franchise history.

Even with the ugly downturn that led to his midseason resignation in 2004, Wannstedt — now coaching linebackers for the surprising Bills — finished his Dolphins tenure 15-25 (.375) against teams that finished the year as winners.

What does it all mean? Well, this much seems pretty clear: The Dolphins have a LONG way to go before they can even think about playing with the big boys on a consistent basis.

And the failed Wannstedt era? In hindsight, that doesn’t seem all that bad anymore, does it?

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and CEO Mike Dee on Friday strongly denied an NFL Network report that Ross has reached out to Bill Cowher’s agent about Cowher becoming the team’s coach.

The Dolphins are expected to have interest in Cowher but will not contact him or any other candidate until the job is open. Barring a miraculous turnaround, coach Tony Sparano is expected to be dismissed by early January, if not sooner.

“I have not reached out to [Cowher] in any way and will not so long as Tony is the coach,” Ross told The Miami Herald. “I will not reach out to anyone so long as Tony is the coach. And I hope Tony wins and stays the coach.”

Ross wants to conduct a potential coaching search the right way after being criticized in January for meeting with then-Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh even though he already had Sparano as coach.

According to an associate, Cowher will not talk to any team that has a coach in place.

Dee said “we remain fully supportive and committed to Tony. We have no intention to talk to anyone formally or informally” as long as Sparano is the team’s coach.

– BARRY JACKSON and ARMANDO SALGUERO

NEW YORK (CBSMiami.com) – The winless Miami Dolphins head to New York Sunday trying to end their season-long losing streak against Eli Manning and the New York Giants.

Head coach Tony Sparano, whose job is seemingly in question after each loss, is not worried about whether the player’s are losing their confidence or their swagger.

“Obviously at times, I don’t care whether you’re 6-0 or whether you’re 0-6, you get bumps along the way,” Sparano said. “I can read too and I read a lot of that stuff out there with some pretty good teams. You get a few bumps, but when you have a locker room like we have in there and leaders like we have, these guys are pretty upbeat and excited for another opportunity.”

But, Sparano’s words may ring hollow on some of the players. Running back Reggie Bush, whose Dolphins tenure has been a huge bust, said this week that the Dolphins “stink.” After Yeremiah Bell and the Dolphins’ p.r. team got hold of Bush, he pulled back to a degree.

Bush’s honest assessment of the team is one that fans can certainly agree with. The fan misery with each loss continues to add fuel to the fire of the “Suck for Luck” sweepstakes that is alienating the players from the fans.

But most of the players agree that things are going very poorly and things have to change.

“I mean, at the end of the day, we’re disappointed,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. “I think the fans are disappointed. We put a lot of work into what we’re doing. And things to turn out like this. Even though our situation maybe a little nasty, we’re still blessed to have an opportunity to do what we do.”

Marshall also took it a step further when he said that when the Dolphins win on Sunday, there will be no excuses for the Giants.

The Dolphins’ biggest problem coming into Sunday will be trying to keep quarterback Matt Moore on his feet. The Fins have given up 11 sacks in the last three games and are now set to take on the Giants defense that is tied for the league lead in sacks.

The Giants have posted three or more sacks in four of their six games and at least one in every game except the last game against the Bills. Miami, well, the Fins have given up four or more sacks in four of seven games.

One way to slow down the pass rush will be for the Dolphins to get Reggie Bush involved in multiple screens. If the Fins can keep Moore upright, and the receivers don’t play hot potato with the football, the offense has a chance to succeed.

But, given the Dolphins’ problems, and the fact that New York is a superior team, a win may not be in the cards for the Fins this Sunday.

Sunday’s game can be seen on CBS4 at 1:00 p.m.