MIAMI — Dolphins coach Tony Sparano’s job is safe for the time being, despite the team dropping to 0-6 with an 18-15 overtime loss to the Broncos on Sunday, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported, citing a source.
The source said Sparano was “unlikely” to be fired in the short-term but could not guarantee he would last the season. The Dolphins play the Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
The pressure has been mounting on Sparano, with the Dolphins riding a league-worst nine-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Following Sunday’s loss, Dolphins owner Steve Ross was seen on the sideline engaged in an animated conversation with former Florida coach Urban Meyer, sparking speculation he could be a part of the team’s future plans.
The Sun Sentinel reported, however, Meyer was attending the game as part of a Florida reunion of the 2007 championship team.
Sparano knows his job is in jeopardy, based on remarks he made to referees Sunday. After calling a timeout, he implored two officials to review a touchdown just scored by the Broncos.
“If I don’t call a timeout, I’m (sunk) and now I’m getting fired, OK?!” he screamed while pointing toward the team owner’s skybox.
The desperation in Sparano’s demeanor was understandable, but his plea for sympathy, captured by a CBS Miami camera, went unheeded. The touchdown was upheld on review, accelerating the Broncos’ astounding comeback from 15-0 down with 2:44 to go.
It was the first time since at least 1983 that a team had blown a lead of more than 14 points with three minutes to go, according to STATS LLC.
Thirty minutes after Denver’s Matt Prater kicked the winning field goal, Ross was airborne in his private jet and bound for business in Seattle, leaving behind a season in tatters and a coach trying to hang on.
“Coach is a great guy,” defensive end Jared Odrick said Monday. “I love him, and the rest of this team does. His will to win is as strong as anybody I’ve ever met, and it’s hard on everybody when you don’t win games you should.”
The Dolphins had hoped to challenge for a postseason berth, but instead they lead the race for next year’s No. 1 draft pick and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. If the season ended today, the Dolphins would receive the first choice, beating out the winless Rams and Colts based on a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker.
There are a lot of games still to be lost. But while the Dolphins bristle at the suggestion they should stop trying to win, the competition for Luck might make them play worse.
“All that ‘Suck for Luck’ chatter can’t be good for morale,” former Dolphins running back Ricky Williams tweeted.
Given the Dolphins’ dismal direction, a serious run at 0-16 seems possible. The only team left on the schedule with a losing record is Philadelphia (2-4), one of the preseason favorites for the Super Bowl.
Home-field advantage may not help, because the Dolphins have lost 12 of their past 13 games in Miami. They lost 12 home games during the entire decade of the 1970s, playoffs included.
The 2012 Dolphins were favored for the first time against Denver, and might not be again. They opened as 10-point underdogs for Sunday’s road game against the Giants.
“You keep swinging. You can’t give up,” linebacker Kevin Burnett said. “This is not a give-up league.”
The Dolphins have scored seven touchdowns in six games. No player has more than one TD this year.
The season has become a flurry of negative numbers. So how does Sparano stay upbeat?
“I talk to myself a lot,” he said. “I figure if nobody usually answers back, that’s a good thing. If somebody starts answering back, that’s a bad thing.”
With AP; NewsCore