Dolphins limp towards imperfect record

Nov 26, 2007 By Rob Gerein

Thirty-five years after they became the only unbeaten Super Bowl champions in NFL history, the Miami Dolphins are inching closer to another record. This record, however, is not for perfection, but imperfection.

The winless Dolphins (0-10 SU, 2-6-2 ATS) head into the Monday Night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS) in danger of eclipsing the dubious achievement of the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0-14 and are the only team to have gone winless through an NFL season of 14 games or more.

Bet the Dolphins-Steelers game at Sportsbook, which has the Steelers as 16-point favorites and the over/under at 38½.

Miami's start is the worst since the 2001 Detroit Lions went 0-12 out of the gate. Besides the ’76 Bucs, the  expansion 1960 Dallas Cowboys (0-11-1) are the only other winless team of modern vintage.

But don’t expect the Steelers to take the Dolphins lightly, as last week they lost 19-16 to the New York Jets, who entered the game 1-8 SU. The Steelers had been a 9½-point favorite.

Against New York, Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 15-of-25 passes for 195 yards with a touchdown and an interception and RB Willie Parker rushed for 52 yards on 21 carries.

The Dolphins lost 17-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles as a 9½-point underdog last week. John Beck completed 9-of-22 passes for 109 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions for Miami, while Jesse Chatman rushed for 72 yards on 22 carries.

Miami is 2-4 SU in its past six games on the road against Pittsburgh, and 2-5 ATS in its past seven against Pittsburgh. The Steelers are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in their past five home games.

The “under” has been prevalent in recent Dolphins-Steelers matchups: the total has gone under in five of Miami's past six games against Pittsburgh, and under in four of Miami's past six overall.

The Monday Night game could see Dolphins’ running back Ricky Williams' first NFL game action since 2005. Williams played in the Canadian Football League last season following his fourth violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

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