Dolphins.com:This Week's Game

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This Week's Game

For this Sunday night’s game against the Washington Redskins at Pro Player Stadium, the Miami Dolphins will wear orange jerseys, marking the first time in the Dolphins’ 38-year history that the team will wear an orange jersey. Since their inception in 1966, the Dolphins have worn only white or aqua uniforms.

As part of the festivities, this Sunday has been proclaimed “Orange Sunday”, and all Dol-fans who attend the Redskins game are urged to wear orange.

“I am extremely pleased with the look of our new orange jersey,” said Dolphins President Eddie Jones. “Our players love it and I believe our fans will as well. We enjoyed a very positive response to our logo modification in 1997 and, while the jersey will only be worn during one game this season, I expect this new look to be well-received by Dol-Fans as well. There will be a great deal of excitement at the stadium when we take the field against the Redskins in our orange jerseys.”

The decision to create the orange jersey comes in conjunction with the National Football League’s new policy allowing teams to wear a third uniform during the season. The Dolphins worked with NFL Properties on the jersey’s design.

“We considered several options, but orange was the unanimous choice,” said Jones. “Along with white and aqua, orange is one of our primary colors and it represents this team and South Florida very well. We will continue to maintain our very identifiable white and aqua uniforms that have helped establish the Dolphins strong tradition and will be able to offer our fans an additional way to celebrate their team spirit.”

The Dolphins will play the third of their four prime time games of 2003 this Sunday night when they host the Washington Redskins. Game time from Pro Player Stadium is set for 8:30 p.m. This will mark the Dolphins’ final home contest before embarking on a two-game road swing, including a Thanksgiving Day game, which will take place less than 92 hours after they kick off Sunday night’s contest.

ESPN will televise the game to a national audience. The game is sold out and will be televised in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area on both ESPN and WBFS-TV (UPN 33). The contest will air on the Dolphins flagship, WQAM Radio (560 AM), and a network of affiliates throughout Florida. It will be simulcast on KISS Country (WKIS, 99.9 FM). The contest also will be carried in Spanish on Radio Unica (WNMA, 1210 AM). Westwood One Radio will air the game nationally.

Exuding confidence after managing to eke by with a 9-6 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins will look to secure their second home win as many tries this Sunday night. For a team that was coming off both two straight home defeats and two losses in a row, overall, the Dolphins’ win was the ideal remedy for a team that now will be faced with the task of playing two games within a five-day span.

Against the Ravens, the Dolphins’ defense rose to the occasion as it has numerous times throughout the course of 2003. For the tenth time in as many outings, they did not allow a back to reach the 100-yard rushing plateau, as they continue to be the only NFL team not to have permitted a 100-yard rusher this season. The unit came up with three turnovers, including two interceptions and a critical fumble recovery in overtime that led to the game-winning field goal. They also pressured Ravens quarterback Anthony Wright for much of the afternoon and recorded three sacks. Ricky Williams carried the ball ten more times against the Ravens than he had in the previous two weeks combined, and that translated into his third 100-yard rushing game of the season, and his first since week three. The offense committed just one turnover while the offensive line did not yield a sack after giving up nine the previous two weeks. Kicker Olindo Mare came forth with his most clutch performance of the year as he connected on three field goals, including one from 52 yards and his 42-yard game-winner in overtime. Not to be outdone on special teams, punter Matt Turk also had his best outing of 2003 as he precisely placed five of his seven punts inside the 20-yard line, without allowing one Ravens punt return.

Albeit only one win, the Dolphins will carry the momentum that they mustered last week into their matchup Sunday against Washington.

Once again, there will be little margin for error for the Dolphins this week as they head into the final six games of the 2003 season. The win over Baltimore kept the Dolphins two games back of the division-leading Patriots, with time dwindling to make up ground, although the two teams will face one another in three weeks. That leaves the AFC’s two Wild Card spots as viable options, one of which, though, is currently held by a team with an 8-2 record.

The Redskins are 4-6 following a 20-17 loss at Carolina last Sunday. Washington’s offense is in the hands of second-year signal caller Patrick Ramsey, whose main target is wide receiver Laveranues Coles, who is quite familiar with the Dolphins after spending each of the previous four seasons with the Jets. Defensively, they are led by a group of youngsters, which include cornerback Champ Bailey and linebacker LaVar Arrington, who are in their fourth and fifth NFL seasons, respectively. They are paired with defensive end Bruce Smith, who now in his 19th NFL season and 40 years of age, has defied the hands of time.

Miami leads the regular season series, by a 5-3 margin. The teams have split two postseason meetings, both in Super Bowls. The Dolphins are 3-0 against Washington in games staged in Miami, including a 2-0 mark at Pro Player Stadium.