Dave Wannstedt should save Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga the trouble and quit. Immediately.
After Sunday's 21-20 loss to the Houston Texans, the Dolphins' season is over. Done. Finished.
And so is Wannstedt.
Yes, it was only one game. But this was a home game in September. The Dolphins had won 11 consecutive opening games and 17 in a row at home in September.
Yes, the past two Super Bowl champions lost their opening game. But this was the Texans. No team that has ever lost to the Texans has gone on to win the Super Bowl.
"It was very difficult, not because of the team we were playing, but because we had not been making mistakes, and you could see the progress," Wannstedt said Monday. "The preseason was setting up just the way you would want it to. Then, to go out there and not execute like we should have, that's what was disappointing.
The Dolphins looked more like the second-year expansion team than the Texans, who won only four games last season, including their season opener against the Cowboys. Miami committed three turnovers, had 11 penalties for 87 yards and had no sacks of David Carr, who was sacked an NFL-record 76 times a year ago.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran a poll asking who or what was most to blame for the Dolphins' loss, and Wannstedt was the overwhelming loser. It is the coach's responsibility to get his team ready to play, and Miami, a 14-point favorite, clearly wasn't.
"I know the expectations and everything that's being talked about and written about, but nothing has changed in my mind one bit from how I feel about this football team," Wannstedt said.
"It's a battle, and we're going in a battle, and I like the guys we're going into a battle with."
But what of the coach?
The Dolphins are a team built to win the Super Bowl.
During the off-season, the Dolphins traded for Chargers linebacker Junior Seau and signed Broncos quarterback Brian Griese and Saints safety Sammy Knight in free agency. Seau, Griese and Knight joined a team returning six defensive Pro Bowlers and NFL-rushing leader Ricky Williams, whom Miami traded for before last season.
Miami, which lost its final two games of 2002 and missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record, opened the season as 5-to-1 favorites -- along with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia -- to win Super Bowl XXXVIII.
But the Dolphins have one problem ... and his name is not Jay Fiedler.
Wannstedt, Jimmy Johnson's hand-picked successor, is now 71-74 as a head coach. He is a proven defensive coordinator, one of the best, but he is neither charismatic enough nor tough enough to be a head coach.
Players feed off Steve Mariucci's enthusiasm. They respect and fear Bill Parcells. They are motivated by Jon Gruden.
Wannstedt does nothing for them.
He couldn't even get the Dolphins to the playoffs last season when their defense ranked third and their running game second. In its final two games, Miami lost, by field goals, to non-playoff teams Minnesota and New England.
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