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Winless Dolphins visit Eagles

Nov 18, 2007 - 11:26 AM Miami (0-9) at Philadelphia (4-5) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The 1972 Miami Dolphins have the distinction of being the only NFL team to finish a season unbeaten. The 2007 Dolphins are trying to avoid making some dubious history.

Seeking their first win of the season, the Dolphins visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

It has been a disastrous first season for new coach Cam Cameron, who still has yet to break into the win column. Miami has lost 12 straight games, dating to last season.

The last team to start 0-10 was the 2001 Detroit Lions, who dropped their first 12 games en route to a 2-14 campaign.

No team in NFL history has finished winless in a 16-game season, although the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers did complete the 1976 campaign at 0-14.

Dolphins cornerback Will Allen knows the importance of winning at least once.

"I think the difference is everything," Allen said. "Just having that one win, you get a chance to stop hearing that stuff about going 0-16 and all that junk. I'm tired of hearing about it, but we're not doing anything about it."

Last Sunday, the Dolphins came close to winning their first game before squandering a fourth-quarter lead in a 13-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

If the Dolphins are to break into the win column they will have to do it with second-round pick John Beck making his first career start at quarterback.

Beck, who has yet to take a snap this season, was tabbed the new starter over Cleo Lemon. In four starts, Lemon has three touchdowns and three interceptions.

While the Dolphins already are looking toward next season, the Eagles may have temporarily saved their campaign last Sunday by rallying for a 33-25 victory over the Washington Redskins.

But the Eagles still reside in last place in the NFC East. They are two games behind the New York Giants (6-3) and Detroit Lions (6-3) in the wild card race.

This contest appears to be one of the easiest left on the schedule for the Eagles, who visit the unbeaten New England Patriots next week. They also have games remaining against the Giants, Dallas Cowboys (8-1) and Seattle Seahawks (5-4).

Against the Redskins, much-maligned quarterback Donovan McNabb threw two of his four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. The final one - a 57-yard screen pass to speedy running back Brian Westbrook - gave the Eagles a 26-25 lead with 3:16 remaining.

Westbrook continued his huge season by accounting for three touchdowns against the Redskins. He is second in the NFL with 1,219 yards from scrimmage (701 rushing, 518 receiving), along with nine touchdowns.