If the Miami Dolphins keep losing, perhaps they'll finally take a quarterback in the first round of the draft next year.
Not even the dysfunctional Dolphins would pass up a chance at Andrew Luck, would they?
Despite having a bye this week, winless Miami suffered another loss when quarterback Chad Henne was ruled out for the season because of a shoulder injury.
No wonder the team's shrinking fan base is already looking ahead to 2012, savoring the prospect of a shot at Luck and sending #suckforLuck hashtags across the Twitter landscape.
First there's the minor detail of playing 12 more games and trying to get into the win column — or not. At 0-4 the Dolphins are tied with three other teams in the race to the bottom for a chance to draft Luck, the Stanford quarterback touted as a can't-miss prospect.
"Nobody wants to go into a bye week 0-4," running back Reggie Bush said. "You never envision that. But that's where we are right now."
Miami's seven-game losing streak is the NFL's longest, leaving coach Tony Sparano's job in jeopardy. The dreaded vote of confidence this week from owner Stephen Ross ensured Sparano will be around for at least one more game — at the New York Jets on Monday night, Oct. 17.
"It just takes a win to get yourself going," Sparano said. "Right now that's all we're worried about."
A dramatic turnaround seems improbable, however, and fans have begun to embrace the slogan "Suck for Luck." If that's the goal, the rest of 2011 offers promise.
It was just four years ago that the Dolphins lost their first 13 games, and a similar streak is possible, although they'll likely be favored for the first time this season Oct. 23 at home against Denver. The league's other three winless teams aren't on the Dolphins' schedule, but their game Nov. 6 at Kansas City shapes up as a potential Luck Bowl.
The Dolphins haven't taken a quarterback in the first round since drafting Dan Marino in 1983, which helps explain why they've started 15 QBs since he retired.
No. 16 will get his chance against the Jets. Backup Matt Moore was pressed into action when Henne went to the sideline with a separated left shoulder in last Sunday's loss at San Diego.
The much-maligned Henne ranked 24th in the league in passing efficiency and 28th in completion percentage, but he hasn't had much help. Bush, acquired in July to spark the offense, has rushed for 7 more yards than Henne. In 12 games over the past two seasons, Bush has two touchdowns.
Brandon Marshall was acquired a year ago to spark the offense. Since the start of 2010 he leads the NFL with 15 dropped passes while scoring four times.
Miami has one touchdown in each of the past three games — not enough given the woes on defense. The Dolphins rank third-worst in yards allowed.
With the ineptitude a team effort, disparities in key categories are among the league's largest. The Dolphins have six sacks while giving up 14. They have two takeaways and seven turnovers. They have converted 27 percent of their third-down situations while opponents are at 43 percent.
"You can't point to one thing, because it's a lot of things," Bush said. "On offense we're not executing, we're not protecting the quarterback, we're identifying some of the pressure blitzes wrong, we're not scoring touchdowns, we're not making plays when we get the opportunity. On the defensive side of the ball we're letting balls get over our head and we're not able to come up with third-down stops. On special teams we're getting penalties, and in the return game we're not getting the yardage we need."
Safety Yeremiah Bell was more succinct.
"We're doing some stupid things," he said.
And so the decline continues under the regime created by Bill Parcells. In Sparano's first year as an NFL head coach, he led the Dolphins to an 11-6 record and their only playoff berth since 2001. But Miami's 14-22 over the past three years, including 16 losses in the past 23 games.
Parcells may have seen what was coming — he departed before last season. Another organizational shake-up now seems inevitable.
In January, Ross courted Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, who instead joined the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh's again the toast of the Bay Area with his team off to a surprising 3-1 start, while Sparano's status becomes shakier with each defeat.
As for Ross? While he couldn't bring Stanford's coach to Miami, maybe he'll have better luck with Stanford's quarterback.
