the much-maligned Fiedler. However, Lucas was abysmal in his first two games and merely average in his third, and the team dropped three straight. Miami rebounded with wins over Baltimore and an impressive thumping of San Diego, but lost to Buffalo. Still, Miami pulled off an impressive win over the Oakland Raiders and sat at 9–5 with two weeks left in the season, in prime position to steal the AFC East. However, in Week 17, despite dominating the New England Patriots for most of the game, the Dolphins blew an 11-point 4th-quarter lead and eventually lost in overtime. Due to a tiebreaker, both the Dolphins and Patriots lost out on the playoffs as the Jets took the AFC East title. Fans wanted Wannstedt's firing, but he was kept on for the 2003 season. Despite it all, the team believed it had plenty to look forward to, as Williams broke Dolphins records with 1,853 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground. The real culprit of Miami's demise was its poor play on the road, in which the team finished 2–6 and the defense surrendered over 8 yards a game. 2003 The 2003 Miami Dolphins featured a stout defense that was adept at creating turnovers and stopping the run. However, poor offensive line play (despite most of the starters returning) gave little room for Ricky Williams to run, and the offense was stagnant. The Dolphins began with a repeat of 2002's season end, with a complete meltdown against the Houston Texans, but they rebounded to win four straight games. During a crushing overtime loss at the hands of the Patriots, Jay Fiedler was injured, forcing newly acquired backup Brian Griese to lead the Dolphins to victory the next week over San Diego. That, however, was Griese's high point, and after a good showing against Indianapolis in a losing effort, he was lousy against the Tennessee Titans and highly ineffective against the Ravens. When Griese had the Dolphins losing to the mediocre Washington Redskins, Fiedler came off the bench and saved their season, leading them to a comeback victory, 24–23. Miami looked like it might rebound, with a victory that same week over the Dallas Cowboys to take them to 8–4, but two key losses to the Patriots and the Eagles ended Miami's chances at the playoffs, despite a 10–6 record. 2004 The 2004 offseason was disastrous for the Dolphins. Tight end