NFL

Win streak leaves Miami optimistic

Ending coach Nick Saban's first season with six wins gives hope to ending a playoff drought.

DAVIE - When Marty Booker scored the Dolphins' final touchdown of the season, he and teammate Chris Chambers launched into a choreographed alley-oop play around the goalpost and drew a penalty.

Excessive celebration? Maybe, given Miami was on the verge of a meaningless victory and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Still, six consecutive wins, including 38-26 over New England on Sunday, to conclude coach Nick Saban's first season at 9-7 were cause for jubilation.

It's the league's longest current win streak and comes a season after going 4-12. It also is the second-best streak to end a season by a nonplayoff team, one fewer than the 1959 Bears.

"We're on the right track, heading in the right direction," defensive end Jason Taylor said. "Unfortunately, right now, we're out of track. We just have to wait now and tee it up next year."

Saban won't put too much stock in the streak. He knows a lot of work remains before Miami challenges New England for supremacy in the AFC East.

With the Patriots' postseason berth secure, they played mostly reserves. The Dolphins' other five wins came against nonplayoff teams. But Miami revived optimism for a franchise in the midst of its longest playoff drought since 1986-89.

"We made a lot of progress in competitive character, attitude, confidence and belief that winning was possible," Saban said Monday. "Those were the things that changed. Those are the things we want to build on in the future."

While Saban is confident he has created a foundation for success in 2006 and beyond, every position on the roster faces a possible shakeup during the offseason.

When asked about areas that need improvement, Saban mentioned quarterback first. Journeyman Gus Frerotte threw a career-high 18 touchdowns, but at 34, he's hardly a long-term solution. He might return as the caretaker starter for another season if Saban uses the first-round pick, No.16 overall, on a quarterback.

"It's a critical position in every organization," Saban said. "If we can improve that position, because of the nature of the position, we will certainly take steps to do it."

Saban also likely will revamp the offensive and defensive lines and secondary, and he will seek to add a receiver to complement Chambers, bound for his first Pro Bowl, and Booker.

Change is possible even at running back, where Ricky Williams and rookie Ronnie Brown combined for 1,650 yards. Brown showed he's capable of a heavier workload, and trading Williams would help Saban address other needs.

"I'm excited especially for the fact that we've grown a lot as an offense and in the last few weeks we have become a good offense," Brown said of a unit that averaged 26 points during the win streak. "To end on six straight wins feels real good. It's something to look forward to going into the offseason and give everybody some momentum to get ready for next year."

Mixed with the optimism is frustration that early-season stumbles kept the Dolphins out of the playoffs. They beat Denver and Carolina, who made the playoffs. But they lost to Atlanta, Buffalo, Cleveland and the Jets. Each finished with a worse record than Miami.

"You can always sit back and think about what could have been, what should have been," Taylor said. "But it doesn't do you any good.

"We made our bed. We've got to sleep in it. It's nobody's fault but our own."

[Last modified January 3, 2006, 02:01:28]