Rags-to-riches for Dolphins, Falcons

By BARRY WILNER

From the ugliness of 1-15 to the beauty of an AFC East title. That’s the Miami Dolphins’ story this season.

The tale was nearly as good for the Atlanta Falcons, who went from 4-12 to an NFC wild-card berth. And for the NFC South-winning Carolina Panthers, who surged from 7-9 to 12-4.

Minnesota improved by two games to 10-6 and that was good enough for the NFC North crown.

While Miami, Carolina and Minnesota were clinching divisions Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles were joining the Falcons as wild cards. Already in were the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals in the NFC, the Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts in the AFC.

Late Sunday night, Denver played at San Diego to decide the AFC West and conclude the schedule.

Next weekend, Atlanta is at Arizona at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Philadelphia is at Minnesota at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday in the NFC. Indianapolis visits the Denver-San Diego winner Saturday night and Baltimore is at Miami in the 1 p.m. game Sunday in the AFC.

The Giants, Panthers, Titans and Steelers have byes.

Tennessee will host the first game of the divisional round on Jan. 10 at 4:30 p.m. . The night game that Saturday will be at Carolina.

On Sunday, Jan. 11, the Giants will be the host for the 1 p.m. game, followed by a 4:45 p.m. kickoff in Pittsburgh.

The NFC title game will be a 3 p.m. kickoff, followed by the AFC championship game at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 18.

The Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., is scheduled for Feb. 1.

A year after winning once, the Dolphins’ remarkable resurgence under first-year coach Tony Sparano got them 11 victories, including a 24-17 win over the New York Jets that secured the division. Miami joins the 1999 Indianapolis Colts as the only teams to make 10-game improvements.

“We’re going to savor this now, at least on the flight home. We’ll start planning for the playoffs tomorrow,” Sparano said.

Atlanta has gone from the incarceration of its franchise quarterback, Michael Vick, and the resignation of its coach, Bobby Petrino, after 13 games last year to a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.

“We came a long way,” said Jerious Norwood, who ran for two touchdowns in the 31-27 win over St. Louis. “Whoever would have thought we’d be in the playoffs?”