2009 Miami Dolphins season The 2009 Miami Dolphins season was the organization ' s 40th season in the National Football League and 44th overall . The Dolphins entered the 2009 season as the reigning AFC East champions after posting an 11 – 5 record in 2008 . Dropping four more games in 2009 , they failed to make the playoffs , marking the 25th consecutive year that the region hosting the Super Bowl would not see its host team play in it ( not counting , of course , the years where Super Bowls have been played on neutral sites ) . Offseason personnel moves . Coaching staff . The Dolphins fired offensive line coach Mike Maser on January 14 , 2009 , just one year after he was hired to head coach Tony Sparano ' s staff . During Maser ' s lone season with the Dolphins , the team had the 12th - best offensive in the league with 345 . 6 yards per game . A day after firing Maser , the team hired Dave DeGuglielmo , who had been the assistant offensive line coach for the New York Giants , as their new offensive line coach . After kicking coach Steve Hoffman left the team to join the Kansas City Chiefs , the Dolphins hired University of Rhode Island head coach Darren Rizzi as the assistant special teams coach on February 21 . Players . Free agents . " UFA " : Unrestricted free agent , " RFA " : Restricted free agent , " ERFA " : Exclusive - rights free agent 2009 NFL Draft . Originally slated to have the 26th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft , the Dolphins ' pick moved up one spot to 25th after the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles made it to the . Both the Cardinals ( 9 – 7 ) and Eagles ( 9 – 6 – 1 ) were projected to pick before the Dolphins ( 11 – 5 ) , but with one guaranteed to make the Super Bowl ( and thus pick 31st or 32nd depending on the outcome ) the Dolphins moved up one position in the draft . Notes Undrafted free agents . Following the 2009 NFL Draft , the Dolphins signed the following nine undrafted free agent s on April 30 : The team later signed guard J . D . Quinn ( Montana ) on May 11 . Two of the undrafted rookies would end up leaving the team shortly after signing , with Bronson failing to report to training camp on August 2 and Rogers opting for retirement on August 6 . Regular season . Game results . Week 1 : at Atlanta Falcons . After a great season for the Miami Dolphins in 2008 , the Dolphins went to the Georgia Dome to take on 2008 playoff contenders , the Atlanta Falcons . After a scoreless first quarter , the Falcons got on the board with a 1 - yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to fullback Ovie Mughelli in the second quarter . They also got a 36 - yard field goal by kicker Jason Elam to make the score 10 – 0 at halftime . In the third quarter , Mike Peterson intercepted a Chad Pennington pass , which set up a 20 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez and a 50 - yard field goal by Jason Elam to make the score 19 – 0 . Chad Pennington then hit a 9 - yard touchdown pass to Ricky Williams . The Falcons won the game 19 – 7 . In 2008 , no other team turned the ball over less than the Dolphins with only 13 turnovers , but in Week 1 Miami ' s offense had 4 turnovers , without having a single turnover on defense . Week 2 : vs . Indianapolis Colts . After a miserable loss to the Atlanta Falcons , the Dolphins host their home opener to the Indianapolis Colts . On the first play from scrimmage , Peyton Manning threw an 80 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Clark . The Dolphins answered with a 14 - yard touchdown run by Ronnie Brown out of the Wildcat Offense . The Dolphins and Colts kept going back and forth at each other with two field goals by Dan Carpenter and Adam Vinatieri to make the score 13 – 13 at halftime . After a scoreless third quarter , Ronnie Brown ran 2 - yards for a touchdown to put Miami up 20 – 13 . The Colts answered back with a 15 - yard touchdown run by rookie running back Donald Brown . Miami than hit a 45 - yard field goal by Dan Carpenter . But the Colts took the lead thanks to a 48 - yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon . The Dolphins tried to rally at the end of the game but Chad Pennington was intercepted by Antoine Bethea to sucure the Colts victory . The Colts won the game 27 – 23 . The Dolphins dominated the game in the time of possession battle , but lost the game with almost 50 minutes of offensive possession . Week 3 : at San Diego Chargers . Looking for their first win of the season , the Dolphins traveled to Qualcomm Stadium to take on the San Diego Chargers . After a scoreless first quarter , Nate Kaeding hit a 25 - yard field goal to score the first points of the game . Miami would answer with a 24 - yard field goal to tie the game at halftime 3 – 3 . Miami would then take the lead after a 23 - yard field goal by Dan Carpenter . But the Chargers would retake the lead with a 5 - yard touchdoun run by Philip Rivers . The Chargers would pull away in the fourth quarter with two Nate Kaeding field goals and a 31 - yard interception return by safety Eric Weddle . The Dolphins would get a 14 - yard touchdown run by Ricky Williams , but couldn ' t make a comeback . The Chargers won the game 23 – 13 Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington left the game with a shoulder injury after being hit by linebacker Kevin Burnett and was out for the season . The Dolphins chose Chad Henne to lead the Dolphins for the rest of the season . Week 4 : vs . Buffalo Bills . The Miami Dolphins came off of a 0 – 3 start and tried to rebound against the Buffalo Bills . After a scoreless first quarter the Dolphins rallied quick with a 23 - yard interception return for a touchdown by rookie Vontae Davis and a 1 - yard touchdown run by Ronnie Brown along with a 33 - yard field goal by Dan Carpenter making the halftime score 17 – 3 . Miami would continue with a Chad Henne touchdown pass to Brian Hartline and a 1 - yard touchdown run by Ricky Williams . Trent Edwards would hit Josh Reed for a 3 - yard touchdown but Miami ended the game with a 1 - yard touchdown run by Ronnie Brown . The Dolphins won the game 38 – 10 . Chad Henne made his first NFL start and threw for 115 yards and a touchdown . Week 17 : vs . Pittsburgh Steelers . The final outcome of this game had somewhat of a domino effect . It resulted in the Dolphins ' elimination from the post - season ( including Super Bowl XLIV , which they hosted February 8 , 2010 ) , and also , by virtue of the final standings ' tiebreaker ( as the result of the Baltimore Ravens defeating the Oakland Raiders ) , the Steelers themselves being dethroned of their world title defense .