1997 Miami Dolphins season

Last updated

1997 Miami Dolphins season
Owner Wayne Huizenga
General manager Eddie Jones
Head coach Jimmy Johnson
Home stadium Pro Player Stadium
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC East
PlayoffsLost Wild Card Playoffs
(at Patriots) 3–17
Pro Bowlers DT Tim Bowens
Miami Dolphins first wordmark from 1997. Miami Dolphins first 1997 wordmark.png
Miami Dolphins first wordmark from 1997.

The 1997 season was the Miami Dolphins' 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL), their 28th overall, their eighth under general manager Eddie Jones and their second under head coach Jimmy Johnson.

Contents

The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's output of 8–8, winning nine games. [1] Seven of the team's sixteen games were decided by a field goal or less. This was also the season where the Dolphins released a new logo and new uniforms with a darker aqua and dark navy drop shadow in numbers. The uniforms and logo lasted until the 2012 season. During Week 3, the Dolphins were defeated by the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers for the first time in franchise history. This could be argued as the most cursed of all Dolphins seasons because it offered a turnaround where the New England Patriots defeated the Dolphins 3 times in the 1997 season, sweeping them. This was the first of five consecutive playoff appearances for the Dolphins. This season saw the Patriots return three Marino interceptions for touchdowns in New England (two of them in the 2nd quarter of the week 13 matchup, and one in the Wild Card matchup where the Patriots defeated Miami 17–3). The Wild Card loss came less than a week after the Dolphins lost to the Patriots 14–12 on Monday Night Football in Miami for the AFC East division title. Until 2021, this was the last time the Dolphins swept the New York Jets in back-to-back seasons.

Offseason

NFL draft

1997 Miami Dolphins draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
115 Yatil Green   Wide receiver Miami
244 Sam Madison *  Cornerback Louisville
373 Jason Taylor *   Defensive end Akron
392 Derrick Rodgers   Linebacker Arizona State
393Ronnie Ward  Linebacker Kansas
396 Brent Smith   Tackle Mississippi State
      Made roster        Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

1997 Miami Dolphins staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – John Gamble
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Junior Wade

Roster

1997 Miami Dolphins roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 7 reserve, 5 practice squad

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1August 31 Indianapolis Colts W 16–101–0 Pro Player Stadium 70,813
2September 7 Tennessee Oilers W 16–13 (OT)2–0Pro Player Stadium64,439
3September 14at Green Bay Packers L 18–232–1 Lambeau Field 60,075
4September 21at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 21–312–2 Houlihan's Stadium 73,314
5 Bye
6October 5 Kansas City Chiefs W 17–143–2Pro Player Stadium71,794
7October 12at New York Jets W 31–204–2 Giants Stadium 75,601
8October 19at Baltimore Ravens W 24–135–2 Memorial Stadium 64,354
9October 27 Chicago Bears L 33–36 (OT)5–3Pro Player Stadium73,156
10November 2at Buffalo Bills L 6–95–4 Rich Stadium 78,011
11November 9 New York Jets W 24–176–4Pro Player Stadium73,809
12November 17 Buffalo Bills W 30–137–4Pro Player Stadium74,155
13November 23at New England Patriots L 24–277–5 Foxboro Stadium 59,002
14November 30at Oakland Raiders W 34–168–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,569
15December 7 Detroit Lions W 33–309–5Pro Player Stadium72,266
16December 14at Indianapolis Colts L 0–419–6 RCA Dome 61,282
17December 22 New England Patriots L 12–149–7Pro Player Stadium74,379

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueAttendance
Wild Card December 28at New England Patriots (3)L 3–170–1 Foxboro Stadium 60,041

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Indianapolis Colts

Week 1: Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Colts070310
Dolphins373316

at Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida

  • Date: August 31
  • Game time: 1:00pm EDT
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 81 °F (27 °C)
  • Game attendance: 70,813
  • TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Bob Trumpy
  • Recap

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(3) New England Patriots 1060.625369289W1
(6) Miami Dolphins 970.563339327L2
New York Jets 970.563348287L1
Buffalo Bills 6100.375255367L3
Indianapolis Colts 3130.188313401L1

References