The 1997 season was the Miami Dolphins' 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL), their 28th overall, their eighth under general manager Eddie Jones and their second under head coach Jimmy Johnson.
The Dolphins improved upon their previous season's output of 8–8, winning nine games.1997 Miami Dolphins Seven of the team's sixteen games were decided by a field goal or less. This was also the season where the Dolphins released a new logo and new uniforms with a darker aqua and dark navy drop shadow in numbers. The uniforms and logo lasted until the 2012 season. During Week 3, the Dolphins were defeated by the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers for the first time in franchise history. This could be argued as the most cursed of all Dolphins seasons because it offered a turnaround where the New England Patriots defeated the Dolphins 3 times in the 1997 season, sweeping them. This was the first of five consecutive playoff appearances for the Dolphins. This season saw the Patriots return three Marino interceptions for touchdowns in New England (two of them in the 2nd quarter of the week 13 matchup, and one in the Wild Card matchup where the Patriots defeated Miami 17–3). The Wild Card loss came less than a week after the Dolphins lost to the Patriots 14–12 on Monday Night Football in Miami for the AFC East division title. Until 2021, this was the last time the Dolphins swept the New York Jets in back-to-back seasons.
Offseason
NFL draft
Staff
Roster
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 31 Indianapolis Colts W 16–10 1–0 Pro Player Stadium 70,813 2 September 7 Tennessee Oilers W 16–13 2–0 Pro Player Stadium 64,439 3 September 14 at Green Bay Packers L 18–23 2–1 Lambeau Field 60,075 4 September 21 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 21–31 2–2 Houlihan's Stadium 73,314 5 Bye 6 October 5 Kansas City Chiefs W 17–14 3–2 Pro Player Stadium 71,794 7 October 12 at New York Jets W 31–20 4–2 Giants Stadium 75,601 8 October 19 at Baltimore Ravens W 24–13 5–2 Memorial Stadium 64,354 9 Chicago Bears L 33–36 5–3 Pro Player Stadium 73,156 10 November 2 at Buffalo Bills L 6–9 5–4 Rich Stadium 78,011 11 November 9 New York Jets W 24–17 6–4 Pro Player Stadium 73,809 12 Buffalo Bills W 30–13 7–4 Pro Player Stadium 74,155 13 November 23 at New England Patriots L 24–27 7–5 Foxboro Stadium 59,002 14 November 30 at Oakland Raiders W 34–16 8–5 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,569 15 December 7 Detroit Lions W 33–30 9–5 Pro Player Stadium 72,266 16 December 14 at Indianapolis Colts L 0–41 9–6 RCA Dome 61,282 17 New England Patriots L 12–14 9–7 Pro Player Stadium 74,379 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Playoffs Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Attendance Wild Card December 28 at New England Patriots (3) L 3–17 0–1 Foxboro Stadium 60,041
Game summaries Week 1: vs Indianapolis Colts
Standings
References