The Miami Dolphins were supposed to make the leap this season, from 7-9 to at least 9 or 10 wins. Chad Henne was entering his 3^rd year as a pro and his first full year as a starter, after looking promising down the stretch in 2009. They added Brandon Marshall to give Henne someone to throw to. One problem, turns out Henne sucks.

Chad Henne completed 61% of his passes for an average of 6.7, but threw 19 picks to 15 touchdowns. He threw a pick in 12 of his 15 starts and had 3 starts where he threw 3 or more picks. In a 13-10 week 13 loss to the Browns, he out Delhommed Jake Delhomme, throwing 3 picks, including one to set up the winning field goal for Cleveland in an ugly game all around. The next week he somehow beat the Jets despite completing only 5 passes, one of which was a touchdown when the Jets only had 9 men on the field.

The Dolphins finished the season on a 3 game losing streak and dropping 4 of 5, losing to Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo. Not exactly Super Bowl caliber teams. Henne only completed 6 passes in their week 17 38-7 loss to the Patriots (who weren’t even really trying with home field locked up, resting Brady midway through the 3^rd). They averaged 17.1 points per game, 3^rd worst in the league behind Cleveland and Carolina.

The defensive side of the ball was a little brighter. In terms of yards, they had the 6^th best defense, and in terms of points they ranked 14^th, a number that could be a bit skewed by how often Henne gave the opposing offense the ball back in good position. Cameron Wake had 14 sacks, 12 stuffs, 3 forced fumbles, and 4 pass deflections, making him my defensive player of the year pick. Vontae Davis took the next step to becoming an elite corner in only his 2^nd year. And their run defense ranked 4^th in the league.

The offense is clearly the bigger issue. They couldn’t throw or run the ball. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown used to be a dynamic duo, but this year they averaged 3.7 yards per carry. Both are free agents so they might not be back. In order to fix their offense, they tried to add Jim Harbaugh to coach. Unfortunately, they came up short; even worse, they didn’t fire their previous coach before pursuing a new one. In an awkward situation, Tony Sparano sat for at least 24 hours while his team tried to woo Harbaugh. After that didn’t work out, the Dolphins reluctantly gave Sparano an extension.