page_title: History of the Miami Dolphins
section_title: 2000
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Miami Dolphins / 2000-2011: the Post-Marino Era / 2000-2004: Dave Wannstedt's tenure as coach / 2000
caption_attribution_description: English: If used somewhere other than Wikipedia, please attribute to the author, Chris J. Nelson, by name. Miami Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas at a preseason game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Aug. 8, 2003.
context_page_description: The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football franchise based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League as a member club of the league's American Football Conference East division. The Dolphins team was founded by attorney-politician Joe Robbie and actor-comedian Danny Thomas. They began play in the AFL in 1966. The region had not had a professional football team since the days of the Miami Seahawks, who played in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 before becoming the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts.
context_section_description: Before the 2000 season, Dave Wannstedt, formerly of the Chicago Bears, became the new head coach, and ex-Jacksonville Jaguars backup Jay Fiedler became the new starting quarterback, even though Damon Huard had been considered the favorite. Despite lowered expectations, the defense broke through with Jason Taylor and Trace Armstrong each getting 10 sacks, and four players (Sam Madison, Brian Walker, Brock Marion, and Patrick Surtain) tallying at least five interceptions. In addition, Lamar Smith rushed for 1,139 yards, and Miami finished atop the AFC East with an 11–5 record. In the first round of the playoffs, Miami took the Indianapolis Colts to overtime and won 23–17 on a Lamar Smith touchdown run, in their last playoff win as of the 2018 season. Smith finished with an NFL postseason record 40 carries for 209 yards.  However, in the divisional playoffs, the Dolphins were shut out by the Oakland Raiders 27–0, and Smith was barely able to run.
caption: Zach Thomas contributed heavily to the Dolphins' 2000 and 2001 playoff runs.
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