MIAMI (AP) -When Zach Thomas began his career with the Miami Dolphins a decade ago, Don Shula had just retired and Dan Marino was still a prolific passer.

Jason Taylor joined the roster a year later, marking the start of the Dolphins' transformation to a defense-oriented team. He and Thomas have started 124 games together, combining to make 2,274 tackles and earn 10 Pro Bowl berths playing on a defense that ranked in the NFL's top 10 seven years in a row.

They've also appeared in zero Super Bowls.

No active player has been with the Dolphins longer, and for Taylor and Thomas, the question is whether the team's revival under coach Nick Saban will finally take them to the NFL championship game.

``They're both great players,'' teammate Channing Crowder says. ``They've never won the big show and never been there, but hopefully we can do something for them.''

With a revolving door at quarterback and two coaching changes since 1999, Taylor and Thomas have become the faces of the franchise - and pictures of frustration. They endured perennial late-season collapses on underachieving teams, and then the plummet to a 4-12 record in 2004.

Now the Dolphins are on the rise again. Going into the season opener Thursday at Pittsburgh, some project Miami to reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 22 years.

Drawing on experience, Taylor and Thomas know it's best to ignore such hype.

``I've been through it before, where people thought we had a good chance to do a lot of things,'' Taylor says. ``For some reason or another, they didn't come to fruition.

``The people talking good about you - you'd better be careful and not believe everything they say. Just because they're talking good doesn't mean anything. Every year you see paper champions.''

Those touting the Dolphins as title contenders point to an improved offense led by new quarterback Daunte Culpepper and second-year running back Ronnie Brown. But the team's strength may be a deep, experienced defensive front seven anchored - as usual - by Taylor at end and Thomas at middle linebacker.

Miami matched a franchise record last season with 49 sacks, and the run defense was stout down the stretch as the Dolphins won their final six games under first-year coach Saban to finish 9-7.

Taylor (12 sacks) and Thomas (166 tackles) played well enough to again make the Pro Bowl, and both expect to benefit from a year of experience in Saban's scheme.

``I'm excited,'' Thomas says. ``The better you know a defense, the better you can be.''

``I'm able to anticipate what's coming instead of thinking so much,'' Taylor says. ``It's a lot more comfortable, a lot more fluid.''

Teammates since 1997, Thomas and Taylor are also brothers-in-law. Thomas' sister filed for divorce this year from Taylor but later dismissed the action, and both players say their relationship as teammates has been unaffected.

``It has never been a problem and never will be a problem between me and Jason,'' Thomas says. ``We're both professional. What's off the field is off the field.''

If chemistry's not an issue for the two aging veterans, durability may be. Both were born Sept. 1, with Taylor just turning 32 and Thomas turning 33.

Thomas sat out two games last year with ankle and shoulder injuries. Taylor was slowed by foot and shoulder problems and has been sidelined for part of the preseason with a bad back.

But Thomas has missed only 13 games in 10 seasons, and Taylor has made 98 consecutive starts since 1999, even though both are considered small for their positions.

``Some people just aren't made as tough as others,'' Taylor says. ``Either you have it or you don't. Some people are like Zach Thomas - they can run through a brick wall, get run over by a truck or whatever else and keep going. Some guys get a hangnail and have to miss two weeks. There are different dispositions.''

Saban, who inherited a team coming off the Dolphins' worst season since the 1960s, has since replaced 14 of the 22 starters. But he quickly determined that Taylor and Thomas were keepers.

``As a coach, it's really important to you that it gets done right,'' Saban says. ``But I can promise you that it's no more important to me that it gets done right than it is to them. Those are the kind of guys you want on your team. That's what you like to build around.''

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