# 1997 Miami Dolphins season

The 1997 season was the Miami Dolphins' 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL), their 28th overall, their eighth under general manager Eddie Jones and their second under head coach Jimmy Johnson.
The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's output of 8–8, winning nine games. Seven of the team's sixteen games were decided by a field goal or less. This was also the season where the Dolphins released a new logo and new uniforms with a darker aqua and dark navy drop shadow in numbers. The uniforms and logo lasted until the 2012 season. During Week 3, the Dolphins were defeated by the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers for the first time in franchise history. This could be argued as the most cursed of all Dolphins seasons because it offered a turnaround where the New England Patriots defeated the Dolphins 3 times in the 1997 season, sweeping them. This was the first of five consecutive playoff appearances for the Dolphins. This season saw the Patriots return three Marino interceptions for touchdowns in New England (two of them in the 2nd quarter of the week 13 matchup, and one in the Wild Card matchup where the Patriots defeated Miami 17–3). The Wild Card loss came less than a week after the Dolphins lost to the Patriots 14–12 on Monday Night Football in Miami for the AFC East division title. Until 2021, this was the last time the Dolphins swept the New York Jets in back-to-back seasons.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1997 Miami Dolphins draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 15 | Yatil Green | Wide receiver | Miami |
| 2 | 44 | Sam Madison * | Cornerback | Louisville |
| 3 | 73 | Jason Taylor * $^†$ | Defensive end | Akron |
| 3 | 92 | Derrick Rodgers | Linebacker | Arizona State |
| 3 | 93 | Ronnie Ward | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 3 | 96 | Brent Smith | Tackle | Mississippi State |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 31 | Indianapolis Colts | W 16–10 | 1–0 | Pro Player Stadium | 70,813 |
| 2 | September 7 | Tennessee Oilers | W 16–13 (OT) | 2–0 | Pro Player Stadium | 64,439 |
| 3 | September 14 | at Green Bay Packers | L 18–23 | 2–1 | Lambeau Field | 60,075 |
| 4 | September 21 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 21–31 | 2–2 | Houlihan's Stadium | 73,314 |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | October 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 17–14 | 3–2 | Pro Player Stadium | 71,794 |
| 7 | October 12 | at New York Jets | W 31–20 | 4–2 | Giants Stadium | 75,601 |
| 8 | October 19 | at Baltimore Ravens | W 24–13 | 5–2 | Memorial Stadium | 64,354 |
| 9 | October 27 | Chicago Bears | L 33–36 (OT) | 5–3 | Pro Player Stadium | 73,156 |
| 10 | November 2 | at Buffalo Bills | L 6–9 | 5–4 | Rich Stadium | 78,011 |
| 11 | November 9 | New York Jets | W 24–17 | 6–4 | Pro Player Stadium | 73,809 |
| 12 | November 17 | Buffalo Bills | W 30–13 | 7–4 | Pro Player Stadium | 74,155 |
| 13 | November 23 | at New England Patriots | L 24–27 | 7–5 | Foxboro Stadium | 59,002 |
| 14 | November 30 | at Oakland Raiders | W 34–16 | 8–5 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 50,569 |
| 15 | December 7 | Detroit Lions | W 33–30 | 9–5 | Pro Player Stadium | 72,266 |
| 16 | December 14 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 0–41 | 9–6 | RCA Dome | 61,282 |
| 17 | December 22 | New England Patriots | L 12–14 | 9–7 | Pro Player Stadium | 74,379 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

## Playoffs

| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| Wild Card | December 28 | at New England Patriots (3) | L 3–17 | 0–1 | Foxboro Stadium | 60,041 |

## Game summaries
### Week 1: vs Indianapolis Colts

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colts | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Dolphins | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
at Pro Player Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
* Date: August 31
* Game time: 1:00pm EDT
* Game weather: Partly cloudy, 81 °F (27 °C)
* Game attendance: 70,813
* TV announcers (NBC): Charlie Jones and Bob Trumpy
* Recap

## Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ New England Patriots | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 369 | 289 | W1 |
| $^{(6)}$ Miami Dolphins | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 339 | 327 | L2 |
| New York Jets | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 348 | 287 | L1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 255 | 367 | L3 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 313 | 401 | L1 |