Are the 49ers and the Dolphins Destined to Meet in the Super Bowl Once Again?
I believe the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins will make it to the Super Bowl if not this year then in the next two. This will be your Super Bowl match-up. Just watch.
Let's jump in our 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (Back To The Future reference for the young ones), and travel to 1984 when arguably the best two coaches in the league history faced off -- Bill Walsh and Don Shula -- plus what most football savants would consider the two greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game in Joe Montana and Dan Marino, and they were going head to head for the Lombardi Trophy.
Up until that point, the Dolphins were undefeated against the 49ers in regular season matchups winning 4 straight games from 1973 to 1983. But the 49ers, despite losing for a decade to this team, got them when it counted. The Dolphins sought to build on a spectacular 1983 season when they went 12–4 with rookie quarterback Dan Marino. In Year 2, Marino's passing ability became the focal point of Miami's offense and in 1984 he exploded to set league records with 5,084 passing yards and 48 touchdown passes.
But that season, he also would lose in the Super Bowl to the San Francisco 49ers, 38–16. To date, this is the last season the Dolphins appeared in the Super Bowl. If my premise is correct, I expect them to renew their Championship Rivalry if not this year then by 2024. These two teams will be in Super Bowl LVIII (which sort of looks like LIV -- if you are from Miami, you get it) in Las Vegas, marking 40 years since the last time these two storied franchises met in the big game and ending the 40 year curse of the Dolphins Superbowl drought.
Now that we've traveled back to 2023, these two teams met up on Dec. 4, 2022, in the first meaningful game for both squads. Since Tua Tagovailoa's return from the unfortunate head injury against the Bengals, the Dolphins were caliente, ripping off five straight victories. Tua was undefeated in games that he had started and finished up until that point. Mike McDaniel continued to pillage and plunder the 49ers roster, adding beloved 49ers running back Jeff (Jeffe) Wilson Jr. to his backfield which also has former 49ers back Raheem Molstert. From my vantage point, McDaniel has turned the Dolphins into 49ers South with all the players and coaches he brought with him.
Since the days of Dan Marino and Joe Montana, these franchises have been looking for that guy, and to this day they're still searching. Granted, the 49ers have had success along the way, but the last franchise QB they had was Steve Young if we're being brutally honest. Maybe the Dolphins hit pay dirt with Tua, but some like myself still have doubts. With the addition of Jalen Ramsey, the Dolphins and 49ers are in definite win-now mode, and I expect to see them in the Super Bowl sooner rather than later.
