The Phinsider: Ricky Shows That He's Still Got It, Even At Age 32

At 32 years old, the typical NFL running back is either out of the league, looking for work, or third on the depth chart. But not Ricky Williams, who — thanks to circumstances which we’re all familiar with — doesn’t have the same mileage on his legs as other backs his age. On Thursday night, he showed that he still has plenty left and might just be capable of carrying the rushing attack with Ronnie Brown out for the season.

From SB Nation’s Dolphins blog, Phinsider:

That’s when we all began to wonder whether Ricky Williams could step into the role of workhorse and lead this offense. We all learned on Thursday night that – at least for now – Ricky’s still got it.

In an outstanding performance, Williams carried the ball 22 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns – adding a receiving touchdown as well. This, by the way, was Ricky’s third career three touchdown game and the first time in his career that he scored a touchdown both running and receiving. Not bad for a 32 year old back.

Don’t let the numbers fool you, though. It was an up and down game for Williams. Nine of Ricky’s 22 carries went for two yards or less – including four runs for negative yardage. Of course, it’s not all Ricky’s fault – sometimes he just got no blocking help from his line. But what impressed me most was how explosive Ricky was on some of those other carries. He looked very spry on that 3rd & 1 toss left to get down to the one yard line on Miami’s second touchdown drive. And then, of course, there’s the 46 yard scamper by Ricky in which he showed good burst and long speed on his way to the endzone – on carry number 22 on the night, by the way.

We said this week that without Ronnie and on a short week with little preparation time, the Dolphins would get back to the basics and play “conventional” football. They did just that – and it worked thanks to Ricky Williams. Now can Ricky keep it up for the rest of the season?

We should really find out what Ricky’s made of when the Dolphins face their next big test in two weeks at home against the Pats.

Meanwhile, over at SB Nation’s Cat Scratch Reader (see what they did there?), they’re licking their wounds (see what I did there?) after being shredded by Williams. Embracing the realization that you aren’t going to make the playoffs is always a difficult time.