MIAMI, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- The upcoming NFL playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins features two teams not expected to have enjoyed success, experts said.
Few NFL experts predicted at the start of the 2008 season that either football franchise would enjoy a positive year as the Dolphins were coming off a disastrous 1-15 2007 season and the Ravens had endured a 5-11 year.
Yet despite a 2-4 start to this season, the Dolphins turned their season around and finished with an 11-5 record. The turnaround, which resulted in Miami hosting Baltimore Sunday in the first round of the playoffs, came despite a new coaching staff, new front office personnel and several new starters.
Baltimore's final 11-5 record is equally impressive as the team has found renewed life under former third-string quarterback Joe Flacco and new head coach, John Harbaugh.
If the Ravens are able to take Sunday's game versus the Dolphins, it would mark the team's first post-season win since it defeated Miami in a 2001 Wild Card match-up.
