1998 Miami Dolphins season

1998 Miami Dolphins season
Head coach	Jimmy Johnson
Home field	Pro Player Stadium
Results
Record	10–6
Division place	2nd AFC East
Playoff finish	Won Wild Card Playoffs (Bills) 24–17 Lost Divisional Playoffs (Broncos) 38–3

The 1998 Miami Dolphins season was the team's 33rd as a member of the National Football League. The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's output of 9–7, winning ten games.^[1] The team qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year.

The 2012 Football Outsiders Almanac states that the 1998 Dolphins had the single biggest defensive improvement (from the previous season) from 1991 to 2011.^[2]

As with the 1985 Bears, the Dolphins defeated a team (the Broncos) widely tipped a few weeks earlier to beat their unbeaten 1972 season,^[3][4] although this time the Dolphins were not defending their status as the only unbeaten team since the Giants had already beaten the Broncos. Because, before the admission of the Texans in 2002, scheduling for NFL games outside a team’s division was subject to much greater influence from table position during the previous season,^[5] that game was the first time the Dolphins had opposed the Broncos since that same 1985 season.^[6]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
1	September 6, 1998	at Indianapolis Colts	W 24–15	CBS 1:00pm	60,587
2	September 13, 1998	Buffalo Bills	W 13–7	CBS 1:00pm	73,097
3	September 20, 1998	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–0	CBS 1:00pm	73,948
4	Bye
5	October 4, 1998	at New York Jets	L 9–20	CBS 1:00pm	75,257
6	October 12, 1998	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 21–28	ABC 9:00pm	74,051
7	October 18, 1998	St. Louis Rams	W 14–0	FOX 4:15pm	65,418
8	October 25, 1998	New England Patriots	W 12–9	CBS 1:00pm	73,973
9	November 1, 1998	at Buffalo Bills	L 24–30	CBS 1:00pm	79,011
10	November 8, 1998	Indianapolis Colts	W 27–14	CBS 1:00pm	73,400
11	November 15, 1998	at Carolina Panthers	W 13–9	CBS 1:00pm	67,887
12	November 23, 1998	at New England Patriots	L 23–26	ABC 9:00pm	58,729
13	November 29, 1998	New Orleans Saints	W 30–10	FOX 4:15pm	73,216
14	December 6, 1998	at Oakland Raiders	W 27–17	CBS 4:15pm	61,254
15	December 13, 1998	New York Jets	L 16–21	ESPN 8:15pm	74,369
16	December 21, 1998	Denver Broncos	W 31–21	ABC 9:00pm	74,363
17	December 27, 1998	at Atlanta Falcons	L 16–38	CBS 1:00pm	69,754

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	TV Time	Attendance
Wild Card	January 2, 1999	Buffalo Bills	W 24–17	ABC 12:30pm	72,698
Division	January 9, 1999	at Denver Broncos	L 38–3	CBS 4:00pm	75,729

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(2) New York Jets	12	4	0	.750	416	266	W6
^(4) Miami Dolphins	10	6	0	.625	321	265	L1
^(5) Buffalo Bills	10	6	0	.625	400	333	W1
^(6) New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	337	329	L1
Indianapolis Colts	3	13	0	.188	310	444	L2

References

1. 1998 Miami Dolphins
2. Football Outsiders Almanac 2012 (ISBN 1478201525), p. 102
3. “Denver eyes 19–0, but there’s no rush” in Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 16, 1998
4. Freeman, Mike; “Chasing Perfection and Taking Questions; Voluble Broncos Are 13–0 and Ready to Talk” in New York Times, December 9, 1998
5. History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats
6. Denver Broncos v Miami Dolphins