The miraculous turnaround the Miami Dolphins made this season won’t soon be forgotten. It is hard to see that now through the angst of a tough loss today to the Baltimore Ravens, but with time fans will look back and remember fondly the Miami Dolphins’ 2008 season. True, we all would have preferred to see the Dolphins advance beyond the Wild Card round but it just didn’t turn out that way.

The Miami Dolphins looked more like the team of 2007 today as they fell 27-9 to the Baltimore Ravens. The Dolphins’ problems were almost too many to list, but we’ll try and hit them all. Chad Pennington, usually so careful with the football, threw 4 interceptions, the defense put almost NO pressure on Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco, and the offense just couldn’t breakdown the Raven defense.

In the 1st half it appeared the game would be a defensive stalemate throughout. The teams traded FGs in the 1st quarter, and no TDs were scored until Ravens’ safety Ed Reed picked off Pennington and returned it 57 yds for a TD. A Baltimore FG with 16 seconds left would send Baltimore into halftime with a 13-3 lead.

In the 2nd half Miami’s turnover problems would get worse, and so would the score. Baltimore would get a TD in the 3rd quarter to stretch their lead to 20-3, and after Miami got back to 20-9 on a Pennington TD pass (Carpenter would miss the PAT), Flacco scrambled into the endzone with 3:53 to play giving Baltimore the 27-9 victory.

The biggest problem for the Dolphins was their uncharacteristic amount of turnovers. After turning the ball over only 13 times this season, tied with the New York Giants for the lowest in the NFL, the Dolphins turned the ball over 5 times today. Chad Pennington, who threw only 7 INTs all season, threw 4 today. Another major problem for the Dolphins was the defensive line. Ravens’ QB Joe Flacco had all day in the pocket to make decisions as the Dline was getting NO pressure. Despite that, Flacco was unable however to really burn the Dolphins on a consistent basis.

In the end, the Dolphins inability on offense cost them today against a superior Ravens’ defense. The Dolphins struggled to move the ball, almost completely lacking a run game, and turned the ball over too much to survive their encounter with the Ravens.

The Dolphins are now left to ponder a season that was, look back on the good and bad, and try to build off of their successes in the 2009 season. Make no mistake, the Dolphins meager effort today doesn’t take away from their amazing season. Tony Sparano, Bill Parcells, and the Dolphins’ players were able to prove their detractors wrong and win the AFC East when no one gave them a chance. Next season, it will be time to build off their successes this year and see if they can return to the playoffs and get a better result.