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On The Road, Dolphins Look For More Success

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By SARAH LARIMER

The Associated Press

Published: December 26, 2008

DAVIE - As far as Dan Henning is concerned, there's no homefield advantage at the Meadowlands this time of year.

"Everybody better be wary," Miami's offensive coordinator said. "The wind is different. It could be very cold, it could be very windy, it could be weather, it could be anything."

Not that homefield advantage would matter much for this Dolphins team, which will face the New York Jets about 1,200 miles from Dolphin Stadium on Sunday needing a win to earn its first playoff berth since 2001.

"I don't think there's an edge," Henning said. "I'm positive that it's going to be a competitive game."

Miami (10-5) seems perfectly comfortable playing in front of unfriendly crowds in unfamiliar settings this year. The Dolphins are 5-2 on the road; only three teams in the league can beat that road record, which is the same as the Jets' home record.

"We just like going out there and just silencing the crowd," center Samson Satele said. "Playing away from home, everybody's got a little more fight in them."

So, Jets fans take note - the Dolphins would like those boos to keep coming.

"When you play on the road, for me, it's exciting," running back Ronnie Brown said. "You have the crowd, and you just kind of use that as motivation, as extra energy."

Even as temperatures have dipped around most of the nation (it was 42 degrees in East Rutherford, N.J., on Thursday), the warm-weather Dolphins have found ways to win away from South Florida. They will face the Jets coming off their coldest game of the year - Sunday's 38-31 win at Kansas City, where the temperature was 10 degrees, with a wind chill of minus-12.

The Dolphins and Jets already have a spirited rivalry, but this contest is being hyped as Miami's most important game in years. A Dolphins victory over New York would mean winning the AFC East and completing the team's drastic turnaround from last year's 1-15 season.

"Sometimes when you take your team away, there's actually fewer distractions then there are at home," Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "When you're out there on the road, it's just you and your team. And I like that. I think this team likes that."

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