SB Nation - Charlie Anderson

Dolphins vs Bills: Three Key Matchups

Matty I — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:15:08 -0000

More photos » by Lynne Sladky - AP

Good coverage. Good throw. Good dropped pass by Terrell Owens back in week four.

It's been days now since the Dolphins knocked off the Panthers to get back to .500 but it feels like it's been much longer. But on Sunday, the Dolphins will finally get back on the field and head up to Buffalo to take on the division rival Bills. With the holiday approaching on Thursday, now is probably a good time to start looking ahead to Sunday's game.

So let's focus on three of the most important matchups:

Terrell Owens/Lee Evans vs Sean Smith/Vontae Davis
Sure, the Bills have obvious quarterback problems. But no matter who is under center, receivers like Terrell Owens and Lee Evans are always dangerous. Last week against Jacksonville, in fact, Owens had his best game as a member of the Bills - catching 9 balls for 197 yards and a touchdown. That 197 yard receiving performance was actually the second highest total for Owens since 2000. So don't sleep on him.

Back in week four, the Dolphins did a solid job on Owens and Evans - holding each to just 60 yards receiving. Of course, at that time, the Dolphins did still have Will Allen. And Allen was thrown at three times while covering either Evans or Owens, intercepting two of those passes with the third falling incomplete.

But Vontae Davis and Sean Smith didn't play badly themselves. Smith was thrown at 6 times while covering either Evans or Owens and he allowed 2 receptions for 39 yards. Davis wasn't as effective, allowing 2 completions to Evans for 60 yards on just two targets.

On Sunday, both of the rookies have got to play well and limit the number of big plays either of those two receivers - Buffalo's two biggest play-makers - make during the game.

Miami's interior offensive line/Lousaka Polite vs Paul Posluszny
While Buffalo's rush defense is pretty bad - 31st in the NFL allowing 165 yards per game on the ground - the Bills did manage to limit Maurice Jones-Drew last week to just 66 yards and just 2.6 yards per carry. How did they pull that off? From what I saw of the game, middle linebacker Paul Posluszny was just all over the place making plays - finishing the day with 11 solo tackles (his highest total of the season). And he now looks like he's back in game shape after missing about a month earlier this season due to injury (including the first meeting between these two teams).

Posluszny - when he's healthy - is a beast in the middle of Buffalo's defense. He does a great job recognizing plays and getting to the football. He isn't the fastest or the biggest guy around, but he has a nose for the football (a la Zach Thomas). And since returning from injury, Posluszny has looked like the budding star he is.

The Dolphins will obviously look to pound the rock against this bad rush defense. But to be effective, the Dolphins interior linemen - whether it's Jake Grove or Joe Berger at center - have got to do a better job than the Jaguars did last week at getting Posluszny blocked off. He does only measure in at 238 pounds. And we know that Miami's offensive line is big and nasty. They have to make sure they get through Buffalo's defensive line and get to the second level.

Of course, it's not only the linemen's jobs to do this. Fullback Lousaka Polite - a budding star at the fullback position, if you ask me - also will be asked at times to find #51 and get a hat on him. We've all seen just how tremendous of a run blocker Polite has become and he's coming off what was probably his best game as a Dolphin last week in Carolina. Hopefully we see the "Lousaka Monster" knock a few heads on Sunday - preferably Paul Posluszny. He's a difference maker in Buffalo's defense when he's on the field.

Miami's pass rush vs Buffalo's offensive line
Describing Buffalo's offensive line as bad would be an understatement. They have struggled all season long - including back in week 4 against the Dolphins when Miami sacked Trent Edwards six times. If you remember - and I'm sure you do - that game was Cameron Wake's coming out party, picking up 2.5 sacks. Jason Taylor also had 2.5 sacks. The Dolphins also pressured Edwards on at least 6 or 7 more drop backs.

We've also seen the Dolphins' pass rush really step up the past two games - tallying four sacks in each of their last two. It'll be interesting to see how the snaps get divided between all of Miami's pass-rushing outside linebackers (Joey Porter, Jason Taylor, Cameron Wake, Charlie Anderson). Whoever is out there, though, I anticipate the Dolphins putting consistent pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick all game long.

Six questions to ponder with six games left

Matty I — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:46:41 -0000

More photos » by Rick Havner - AP

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Don't look now, naysayers. After a rough 0-3 start, the Dolphins are not only back at .500 for the first time in 2009, but are also within just one game of the AFC wildcard leaders. Even better news for Dolphin fans? Miami still has to play three of the teams who are ahead of them in the wildcard race - as well as one remaining shot at the division leading Patriots.

It's still going to be a tough climb, however. There are some big challenges that lay ahead for these Dolphins. So to prepare for these six games, let's highlight six critical questions that the Dolphins face.

Can Ricky handle the increased workload over the next month and a half?
After the terrible news last week about Ronnie Brown's injury, many of us were wondering if Ricky Williams would be able to step into the lead role in Miami's backfield and be as effective as he's been the past two seasons as the number two guy. On Thursday, Ricky answered that question by showing proving that he's still as capable a starter as he's ever been, rushing for 119 yards and scoring three touchdowns. But can he sustain this kind of production?

Against the Panthers, Williams received 22 carries. And that came on the heels of a 20 carry performance just 4 days earlier against the Buccaneers. That is a lot of carries for a 32 year old back. No - he's not your typical 32 year old running back and doesn't have the mileage that most 32 year olds have on them. But keep in mind that Ricky's season high in carries last season was only 16 (back in week three against New England). And if you want to know when the last time Ricky had at least 20 carries prior to the game against Tampa Bay? You'd have to go all the way back to New Year's Day on 2006, when he closed out the '05 regular season with a 28 carry, 108 yard performance in New England.

It's a lot to ask Williams to carry the rock 20-25 times per game over these remaining six games. At the same time, the Dolphins don't really have much of a choice.

How much will the Dolphins miss Ferg?
While nothing has been confirmed, it's expected that nose tackle Jason Ferguson will miss the remainder of the season with an injured right knee he sustained against the Panthers last week. Needless to say, this is a huge loss (no pun intended). A 3-4 defense is only as good as it's nose tackle performs. And Ferguson leaves a large void for Miami to fill (again, no pun intended).

This season, Ferguson has only missed one game. That day in New England, the Patriots averaged 4.5 yards per carry on the ground against a defensive line anchored by Paul Soliai in the middle. Soliai, meanwhile, has missed the last two weeks with his own injury issues. Outside of those two, the Dolphins don't have a real nose tackle to step in. Tony Sparano said that he would expect to play Tony McDaniel (6'7, 305) and Randy Starks (6'3, 305) at the nose if needed. Last year against the Ravens in the regular season, Starks did have to man the nose tackle position once Ferguson left the game with an injury (Soliai was suspended by the team for the game). While he wasn't terrible, the Ravens did run for 139 yards.

It will be interesting to see how this coaching staff attempts to make up for the rumored loss of Ferguson as we head down the home stretch.

Can the Dolphins beat a team that's better than they are?
Don't get all angry with me here. But you might need to take off those aqua colored glasses for a moment here. The way I see the season playing out, it will take at least 10 wins in the AFC to make the playoffs. For the Dolphins to get to that mark, they'll obviously have to win five of their remaining six. That means beating either the Patriots or Steelers - two teams who are ("homer-ism" aside) better than the Dolphins are.

The good news here is that both of these games are at home in Miami. The Dolphins have also played the Patriots tough once already this year. But let's be real for a moment - the Dolphins have not beaten a single team in 2009 that is better than they are. They've come close - tough losses at home to both of the undefeated teams (Colts and Saints). But a loss is still a loss. You can even make the case that Miami didn't beat a more talented team in 2008, either, despite winning 11 games. After all, they lost to the Ravens twice and to the eventual NFC Champion Cardinals. They did split with the Patriots, though.

To make the playoffs, the Dolphins will have to not just play these more talented teams tough - they will have to win at least one of those games.

Will the rookie wall be a problem?
Some people think that the idea of the "rookie wall" is nothing more than a term created by the media. But if you NFL head coaches about it, I'd bet most would say that the wall is real - and it can be problematic.

The Dolphins rely on two rookies to start at cornerback - which is always risky. Making things worse is that the Dolphins face three of the top five passing offenses over their remaining five games. Yup - just in time for that "rookie wall" to rear its ugly head. In college, these kids will only play about 12 games in a season - maybe 13. And in the month of December, these kids will play - at most - two games. They'll have a lot of rest in between games in December, as well. In the NFL, there is no rest in December. That's the time to put up or shut up as teams make their playoff pushes.

For the Dolphins, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith cannot afford to go through any kind of rookie wall. Hopefully their offseason training has prepared them well to close out a season strong.

Can we see more Wake?
Ever since the John Beck debacle, I try my best not to "anoint" a player too early in their careers. But like Cameron Wake rushing off the edge, I'm coming around quickly. After picking up three more quarterback hurries on just 10 snaps against the Panthers, Wake leads the Dolphins in hurries with 15 - on just 100 total defensive snaps.

Now I know we can't just steal Joey Porter's reps after his outstanding game against Carolina last week. But maybe we should cut into Charlie Anderson's 20 to 25 snaps per game to give Wake some more opportunities. He always seems to be causing havoc on the field when he's out there. So why not unleash him a little bit more and see what happens?

Can Henne win a game on his own?
It's not secret that the Dolphins want to run the football. So teams will continue to stack the box against Miami's offense and force the young Chad Henne to beat them through the air with an average (at best) receiving group. That means there's likely going to come a point in time this season in which Henne will be asked to win the game himself through the air.

Some might argue that he did just that back in his second career start against the Jets. Sure, he was a critical part of that big Monday night win - throwing for 240 yards and two touchdowns. But let's not forget that Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams also combined for 142 yards on the ground, Ronnie threw for 21 more, and on that final game-winning drive, Henne only completed 3 passes (though two of those were on 3rd down).

Now I'm not saying Henne can't win a game on his own at this stage of his development. But he hasn't had to yet. It's likely, though, that some point during these final six games, he will indeed be asked to do so.

The Joey Porter saga continues in Miami, but is he even needed?

Matty I — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:15:08 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

The bench. Perhaps Joey Porter should get used to it.

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In case you haven't heard, Chris Mortensen reported during Monday Night Countdown that Dolphins LB Joey Porter is not expected to play on Thursday night when his team travels up to Carolina to take on the Panthers. In fact, Mortensen added that Porter might not be playing again "anytime soon." And all this comes after Porter was deactivated for this past week's game against Tampa Bay - described by the Dolphins as a "coach's decision."

There have also been multiple reports that the original reason for Porter's deactivation against the Buccaneers was related to Joey, who was nursing an injury and not feeling well, being allowed to leave the facility early to go home. However, Joey allegedly didn't go home - he went "elsewhere." The team learned of this and made the decision to sit him against the Bucs.

But you have to wonder if Mortensen's report on Monday night is actually accurate. Joey spoke to the media earlier on Monday and did said, among other things, "It was coach's decision. There's nothing else to talk about. It's already behind me."

Head coach Tony Sparano made it seem like this whole situation was behind him as well. In fact, he actually defended Porter's lack of production this season when asked about it by the media:

"I see different things that Joey does, different things that Joey has gotten better at, things that you guys won't see unless you watch the film with us. That is a credit to Joey. When you can teach an old dog a new trick — that is a positive."

This is why I'm having a hard time believing Mortensen's report that Porter won't play on Thursday night. Maybe he won't start - and maybe he doesn't even deserve to (we'll get into that in a minute). But you can't sit here and tell me that Joey Porter isn't as good as a guy like Quentin Moses - who would be the player who would get Porter's spot on the 45-player gameday roster if Joey is indeed deactivated again.

I also find it hard to believe that Tony Sparano would tell the media one thing - and defend Joey to the reporters - while bashing him behind closed doors. I just don't see Sparano as that kind of coach - one who would be that disingenuous.

With that said, Sparano did make it clear to the media that he plans to use a rotation among all of his outside linebackers from here on out:

"I will be honest with you and I might have mentioned this after the game, but our plan going in was to have a rotation and we will continue to have a rotation and get as many of these guys in the game that we can get into the game. I think Cameron and Charlie were both productive yesterday so there is no reason for them not to get into the game and play."

This means that, with or without Porter, the Dolphins will continue to rotate in all of their top outside linebackers - Jason Taylor, Charlie Anderson, Cameron Wake, and Matt Roth. But wouldn't the Dolphins benefit from including Porter in this rotation?

You would think so. But it's important to also keep in mind that we don't really know what has been going on behind closed doors. Perhaps Joey was told by Sparano that he would be rotating the outside linebackers in and out of the game more often moving forward and Joey - being the competitor he is - was not happy. Again, that's just speculation - but it would make sense.

Regardless of the reason, however, would the Dolphins really miss Joey Porter on the field if he is indeed deactivated again? The statistics lead you to believe they would not.

On the season, Joey Porter has played 378 defensive snaps. Of those, Porter has 2.5 sacks and 8 quarterback pressures. Meanwhile, everybody's favorite CFL transplant - Cameron Wake - has taken just 90 snaps. In those 90 snaps, Wake has 4.5 sacks and 12 quarterback pressures (which are the most pressures of any Dolphin, one more than Jason Taylor). It's also worth pointing out that Charlie Anderson has taken 92 snaps on defense and has one sack and two quarterback pressures.

If you wanted to average these figures out, Wake is getting a sack or pressuring the quarterback on one out of every six snaps and Anderson one out of every 31 snaps. Porter, meanwhile, is averaging just one sack or pressure out of every 36 snaps.

Of course, Wake is rushing the passer on pretty much every snap he sees. That's what he does. Anderson and Porter are asked to do more - like drop into coverage. You also need to adjust those numbers for opponent's play selection. And if we did that, odds are that Wake sees a much greater ratio of passing plays to running plays than either of the other two.

But still, these stats aren't really telling us something that we haven't seen with our own eyes when watching these games. And the fact has been that, for most of the season, Joey Porter has not been effective at getting to the quarterback. And when you are the weakside outside linebacker in a 3-4, that is your primary job.

If I was Joey, I'd be on my very best behavior - because I think we might be getting to the point where these Miami Dolphins no longer need Joey. Or perhaps Joey has already realized this, possibly resulting in the spat between Porter and the team behind closed doors.

Chris Mortensen reports Joey Porter won't play on Thursday

Matty I — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:55:27 -0000

This is a bit surprising, but it comes from ESPN's Chris Mortensen - who has a great reputation and has a pipeline to the Dolphins through his relationship with Bill Parcells. Mortensen reported on Monday Night Countdown that Dolphins LB Joey Porter will not play on Thursday against the Panthers. Mort added that Porter might not play "anytime soon."

If this is indeed the case, you have to wonder what exactly is going on - or what occurred - between Porter and the coaching staff. Yes, Charlie Anderson and Cameron Wake played very well on Sunday against the Buccaneers when replacing Porter. But shouldn't Joey at least be part of the rotation?

Or perhaps the Dolphins approached Joey and told him he would be part of a rotation and Porter refused to accept that role. At this point, it's anyone's guess.

But what I do know is that I'm beginning to think that benching Porter isn't necessarily a downgrade in terms of production. Then again, it was just one game against the Bucs. After all, maybe Joey also would have had a good game if he had played.

It should be interesting to see how this unfolds between now and Thursday.

Henne makes big mistake followed by big plays to help Dolphins pull out ugly win

Matty I — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:36:42 -0000

More photos » by Hans Deryk - AP

Miami Dolphins' Joey Haynos (81) and Dan Carpenter (5) celebrate after Carpenter kicked the go-ahead field goal with 10 seconds left in the fourth quarter in Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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For some reason, things just can't be easy for the 2009 Miami Dolphins. In a game against the one-win Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Dolphins blew a 13 point halftime lead and needed late heroics to just eek out a 25-23 win on Sunday.

Before we discuss the game, though, here's what we know about the injury sustained by Ronnie Brown. He left in the third quarter with an injured right ankle. He had x-rays taken after the game and, according to Armando Salguero, Ronnie told him the x-rays were negative - meaning nothing is broken. But he was on crutches. Ronnie will undergo an MRI on Monday. However, I'm really not expecting to hear that Brown will be available for Thursday's game in Carolina against the Panthers.

Now let's talk more about the game.

Henne's big mistake, and even bigger response
With just 1:52 seconds to go, the Dolphins faced a 3rd down and needed to pick up seven yards to convert and to essentially seal the game. Instead, Chad Henne made a huge rookie mistake - rolling out right and trying to force a throw into traffic. Tampa Bay intercepted the pass and then scored the go-ahead touchdown just four plays later with only 1:15 to go.

The young quarterback could easily have just lost confidence and folded under pressure. Instead, he responded in a big, big way. Following a return gaffe by Ted Ginn, the Dolphins started the final drive of the game at their own 16 yard line with just 1:10 left and one timeout remaining, needing a field goal to win. And all Chad Henne did was make two outstanding throws to Davone Bess for gains of 25 yards and 16 yards. Coupled with a 9 yard pass interference call, the Dolphins were suddenly down at Tampa's 34 yard line with 23 seconds to go. A Ricky Williams 27 yard run on the ensuing play set up the Dolphins to kick the game-winning field goal.

To me, of all the things we saw on Sunday - both good and bad - it was Henne's mental toughness and unwavering confidence that was the biggest story. His physical talent, of course, was just as impressive - making some very nice throws. His two passes to Ted Ginn - which were both incomplete - and his two late-game bullets to Davone Bess were among his best throws of the game. But it was his ability to overcome his own costly mistake - a mistake that almost cost his team the game - that has made me inch ever so closer to thinking Henne very well could be the "franchise quarterback" this team has needed for so very long.

After the game, Henne himself was the first to admit he made a huge mistake, saying:

"In that situation I had a running lane where I could have just slid and we could have gotten the punt off and lived another day."

"I will learn from that definitely."

Henne made the kind of mistake that all young quarterbacks make at least once. But it's rare that he gets to redeem himself in that very same game by then leading his team on the game-winning scoring drive.

Jason Taylor was also impressed:

"I told him after the game, 'You grew up today.'"

"It's a maturation process. He's going to make mistakes. We all make mistakes. I still do after 13 years. The key is to bounce back when you do, and that's what he did today."

The critics will question a number of decisions
Whether it's clock management or play calling, there are bound to be a number of fans who will question Tony Sparano and his coaching staff for a number of decisions they made during Sunday's game. I wanted to quickly address a few.

The first questionable decision was the decision to kick the field goal with 10 seconds left in the first half rather than take a shot into the end zone from Tampa Bay's 12 yard line. But I agree with Tony's decision here. I think you take the guaranteed points in that situation to give yourself a 13 point lead against a team that has only scored 6 points in the first half and is led by a rookie quarterback. Too many things could go wrong if you decide to go for the end zone. There could be a turnover. There could be a sack, which would end the half since Miami had no timeouts left. Or Henne could make the mistake of passing it to a player who isn't in the end zone and that player gets stopped short of the goal line. So I don't see this as a bad decision by the Dolphins.

Sparano did obviously make a clock management mistake when he called a timeout following Ricky's big run with 14 seconds left in the game instead of letting the clock run down, preventing Tampa from ever getting their hands on the ball again. Luckily, this didn't prove to be costly.

Play calling was again an issue. On Miami's first possession of the second half, the Dolphins ran an end-around on a 3rd & 4 with Ted Ginn that resulted in no gain. Bad call. Then later on in the fourth quarter with 6:49 to go and a three point lead, the Dolphins decided to get conservative on a 3rd & 4 and run the ball with Williams - gaining just a yard and settling for a field goal. Again, bad call.

One play call I have no problem with is the play that resulted on Chad Henne's big mistake. The Dolphins were looking at a 3rd & 7 and knew that a first down seals the game. So why not trust your quarterback and go for the win right there on that play? Would I have called a different play? Maybe. But I love the idea of putting the ball in the air. And I guarantee that if the Dolphins had run the football on that play and failed to get the first down, many fans would be crying about how Dan Henning's play calling is too conservative and would kill Sparano for playing "not to lose" instead of playing to win.

My major gripe, though, is that if the coaching staff trusts Chad Henne enough to put the ball in the air in that situation, deep in their own territory, then why not trust him enough to put the ball in the air on a 3rd down earlier in the quarter rather than running it and settling for the field goal? At least be consistent - that's all.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
This one was difficult. If Tampa never makes the comeback, then I think Jason Taylor's interception is the turning point. But Tampa did come back. So I think this week's turning point was Chad Henne's first down strike to Davone Bess over the middle with 1:10 left in the game. The Dolphins were backed up to their own 16 to start the drive but instantly, after one play, were up at the 41 yard line and snapping the next play with about 50 seconds left. It was a huge throw and catch and if Bess doesn't make that grab, I don't know if we're sitting here right now with a 4-5 team.

QUICK HITS
Here are some more quick thoughts on Sunday's game:

Luck was finally on the Dolphins' side on Sunday. Jason Taylor's interception was a "lucky break" for the Dolphins. The refs tried to explain the reasoning behind the call (explained here) but I still don't get it because the receiver possessed the ball, went to the ground, and was touched down. I understand the rule about having to possess the ball as you hit the ground. But it seemed like the ball came out a second or so after the receiver had hit the ground and been touched down. Either way, I'll take it. The Dolphins also benefited from a fumbled snap from center that Miami recovered and a drive-stalling dropped shotgun snap by Josh Freeman. So let's be fair - lady luck was, for once, pulling for the Dolphins.
Dan Carpenter is officially "DC$" and anyone who disagrees is banished from this community! Well - fine - maybe that's overreacting. But what more can this second year kicker do? Carpenter connected on four field goals - including one from 49 and one from 45. And then he connected on the chip shot game-winner.
I don't want to hear about Ted Ginn's dropped pass on the Dolphins' first play from scrimmage. I'm serious. I'm not surprised he dropped it, to be frank, so I don't even think it's worth talking about. What is worth talking about is how Chad Henne was dead-on accurate on that throw. That's a great sign.
Who needs Joey Porter? The Dolphins sacked Josh Freeman three times, just missed about three or four additional sacks thanks to Freeman's size, strength, and athleticism, and probably got more consistent pressure today than they have all season - with the exception of the game against New Orleans. Charlie Anderson played very well. Cameron Wake picked up a sack and was around Freeman on a number of more plays. In all honesty, you have to wonder if Porter even deserves to start from this point on.
Jason Taylor is still the man. No sacks for JT - but he had a tackle for a loss, two pass deflections, and an interception.
Ricky Williams looked good - and will likely be asked to see even more carries on Thursday. I hope he's up for the increase in his workload.
I've talked a lot about Henne - but I'm going to take a little more about him. Is it me or does it seem like Henne has a knack for converting on 3rd downs? Just on their first possession of the game, Henne connected with Greg Camarillo twice to convert two 3rd downs. Henne also fired in a strike to Brian Hartline on a 3rd & 15 to convert again.
Off topic - anyone see Mark Sanchez go into the post-game press conference with a prepared speech? What a joke! I'm so glad he's on the Jets - he's ready to crash and burn.
Sean Smith got beat for a touchdown - and yet I'm still not worried at all about our two rookie corners. I'm either an overly confident idiot or I see a lot to look forward to from both of those kids.
Please - let's wait a bit before we holler for Kory Sperry to be Miami's starting tight end. Why are we so quick to anoint players? Relax. It was one game and he had just three catches. Who is to say Anthony Fasano doesn't make those exact same catches? Or Joey Haynos?
I've gone on too long already. Here's the bottom line - the Dolphins are in second place in the AFC East - just 2 games out of first place - and will have a chance to get back to .500 in just four days!

Joey Porter benched for Sunday's game vs Bucs

Matty I — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:03:10 -0000

No - you didn't read that headline wrong. It was announced today by the team that Dolphins OLB Joey Porter will not play in tomorrow's game against Tampa Bay. Porter was officially downgraded to "out" on Saturday - but not because of an injury. Officially, his downgrade is being listed as a "coach's decision" - which is distinctly different than being downgraded due to injury.

So what gives? The Miami Herald speculates that something happened between Porter and the team since Friday's practice, when Porter participated and was listed as "probable" on the injury report:

Something clearly happened between Friday afternoon when Porter left the practice facility and this afternoon to cause Sparano to bench the weakside outside linebacker. Sparano, it should be noted, seemed quite pleased with Porter during his Friday press conference.

Could Porter's benching be because of poor performance? I doubt it. Even if the team was unhappy with Porter's play on the field, you'd have to imagine he'd at least be active on Sunday - even if he doesn't start. But for Porter to be inactive? Something had to have gone down.

Whatever it is, though, I don't expect us to hear the truth from Porter. After last week's game against New England, Porter high tailed it out of there before the media could get to him. I expect more of the same from Porter this week.

There are a few possibilities as to how the Dolphins will shuffle the starting lineup without Porter. We could see Jason Taylor move to the weak side and Matt Roth start in JT's spot on the strong side. Or we could see Taylor remain on the strong side and either Charlie Anderson or Cameron Wake start on the weak side. Wake will obviously be the popular pick to see start by the fans - but I don't think it's likely because he's still not a complete outside linebacker and would be a liability in coverage and/or run defense.

Regardless of who starts, though, we should definitely see more snaps out of Wake tomorrow - which is a good thing.

Hat tip to Rzayo24

Bills at Dolphins: Five Questions with The Phinsider

Brian Galliford — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:45:09 -0000

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This week is one of my favorite weeks - not just because the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins are big divisional rivals, but because we get to interact with folks from The Phinsider. There are some nice little blog rivalries here at SB Nation, and Buffalo Rumblings versus The Phinsider is at or near the top of the list. Some of the best discussions I've held as a blogger have come while talking to Dolphins fans over at Matty I's excellent blog.

Speaking of Matty I, he's here! And y'all know why - to talk about the upcoming game. Without further ado, here's Matty's latest breakdown of the Dolphins - and if you're looking for the reciprocating interview, be sure to visit The Phinsider today.

You haven't seen much of Chad Henne, professional quarterback, but I assure you we've seen less. What do the Bills need to be wary of with Henne as it relates to his skill set, and how can they attack him?

Matty I: Random fact of the week - Dan Marino, like Chad Henne, also received his first career start at home against the Bills. Coincidence? Well... yeah, of course. But I'm just sayin'...

As far as Henne's skill set, the most obvious thing Buffalo's defense has to be wary of is his arm strength. The Bills can essentially throw out the film of Chad Pennington running Miami's offense - because it's probably going to look a little different on Sunday. Look for more deep outs and go routes.

The best way to attack him is obvious - blitz the crap out of him and use many different kinds of coverages in the secondary. Antonio Cromartie said last week after the game that the Chargers were throwing a ton of new looks and blitzes at Henne once he came in to replace Pennington. And that's definitely the route Buffalo should take on Sunday.

CBS' Pete Prisco had the following to say about Miami's Wildcat formation following the loss to Indy on MNF (via Twitter): "The Dolphins would have run the ball -- Wildcat or not. That thing takes them out of a possible groove." How much validity do you find in that statement?

Matty I: Well I think I need to preface this with the fact that Pete Prisco has long been a "Wildcat hater." It seems like the man goes out of his way to criticize the formation whenever he can.

With that said, there might be some validity to the idea that it could cause the offense to get out of rhythm, particularly with the quarterback coming off the field in some variations of the formation. But that's just the price you pay and I think the negative effect of the formation is outweighed by the positive.

As far as the idea that the Dolphins would have been able to run the ball regardless - that's just a ridiculous statement to make, in my opinion. That's like saying the Dolphins didn't need to go to the "Power I" formation to run the ball effectively. The bottom line here is that the 'Wildcat' is simply a power running formation and is no different, in my eyes or in the eyes of the Dolphins themselves, from any other formation they run. They might run 6 plays in a game out of the "Split Backs" formation, 6 more plays out of the "Singleback Aces" formation, and 6 more out of the "Wildcat." It's just another formation to the Dolphins at this point - nothing more nothing less.

But please keep in mind that the 'Wildcat' is different than the spread option offense the Dolphins have been working on with Pat White taking the snaps. That formation is an entirely different animal.

The Dolphins had some question marks in the middle of the O-Line this past off-season. The running game has been great for you guys, obviously, but the sack rate is up a bit as well, though also not detrimental (surrendering 7 through 3 games). What's your take on how some of the new guys are gelling with the likes of Jake Long and Vernon Carey?

Matty I: As far as the line's run blocking is concerned, like you said, it's coming together nicely for the Dolphins. Jake Grove has seemingly been an upgrade over Samson Satele and a healthy Donald Thomas is a huge upgrade over the right guards the Dolphins were trotting out there last year after Thomas went down in week one.

As far as their pass protection goes, things are slowly coming together. Four of those seven sacks allowed came back in week one. Since then, there has been noticeable improvement. Ironically enough, Jake Long and Vernon Carey have been the biggest culprits of allowing sacks. Each of them allowed two sacks in week one. Since then, though, Long has looked much better. I think it was just a technique issue he had against the speedy John Abraham. He bounced back well the following week against Dwight Freeney. Carey has gotten beat a little too often for my liking this year. But he's a proven commodity and he'll get his act together.

All told, the interior offensive line has been pretty solid in pass protection for the most part - and they should only get better as they get more work together.

Joey Porter's status was in question heading into the San Diego game, where he re-aggravated his hamstring injury. We've seen how effective Miami's pass rush is with Porter. How has it looked when he's been on the sideline? What are his chances of playing Sunday?

Matty I: Well Miami's pass rush isn't nearly as effective when Joey Porter is on the sidelines. Last week when Porter was forced out of the game with his hamstring injury, the Dolphins didn't get nearly enough pressure on Phillip Rivers as we all would have liked. But truth be told, even with Porter they weren't getting as much pressure as they needed to.

With that said, I think the Dolphins have the personnel to survive without Joey Porter on the field. Jason Taylor would still be out there and, while he isn't the JT of old, he still knows how to get to the quarterback and can still give offenses trouble. Charlie Anderson is probably the primary backup of Porter's and he's a guy with a lot of experience and who made some big plays late in the year last year. And we can't forget about former CFL star Cameron Wake - who, if nothing else, knows how to get pressure on an opposing quarterback. But he's still inexperienced at this level and doesn't have the technique to be more than just a situational pass rusher.

As far as Porter's chances of playing, I'd say they're 50/50 right now. I will never question Joey's fire to go out there and play. Even if it's as a situational player, if he feels like he can go, he'll go on Sunday.

Miami's 0-3 start has been pretty surprising given their AFC East division championship last season. You wrote about missed opportunities after the Chargers loss; aside from that, what has been the biggest issue, or cluster of issues, in Miami's slow start?

Matty I: Aside from all of their costly mistakes - i.e. fumbles in the redzone (and at the one inch line) and penalties - there are probably two main issues that have contributed most to Miami's ugly start. And both have to do with the passing game.

The first has been the Dolphins tendency to give up the big play in the passing game. Tony Gonzalez killed the Dolphins in week one by making big play after big play. In week two, the entire country got to see the Dolphins surrender huge play after huge play to Peyton Manning and company. And then last week, Phillip Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd for numerous big plays as well. As great as the Dolphins have been defending the run, they have been equally as bad defending the pass.

Issue number two is the exact opposite of the first issue - the Dolphins inability to make a big play in the passing game. Three games into the season and the Dolphins have just one play that has gone for over 25 yards. And that play was a pass to Ronnie Brown. No receiver has a reception for longer than 21 yards on the year. And the Dolphins rank dead last in the NFL in yards after catch, with just 126 total yards after catch - good for an average of 2.06 yards after catch.

It's hard to win football games in this league when you surrender big plays in the passing game to opponents and then can't create any big plays of your own at all.

Dolphins vs Colts: Three Key Matchups

Matty I — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 04:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

The Dolphins must find a way to prevent Dwight Freeney (93) from doing to Chad Pennington what he's doing here to David Garrard.

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It's time now to put last week's debacle in Atlanta behind us and move forward by turning our attention to Monday night's home opener against the Indianapolis Colts. This will be the first meeting between the Dolphins and Colts since New Year's Eve 2006, won by the Colts in Indianapolis. The Colts have won the last two meetings between these two teams. But the Dolphins have won the last four meeting prior, dating back to that classic playoff game in 2000.

We'll kick off our coverage of Monday night's game by talking about three critical matchups. Just how critical? The Dolphins lost two of the three I listed last week - and we saw how that game turned out.

Jake Long/Vernon Carey vs Dwight Freeney/Robert Mathis
This is a big one, isn'it it? Last week we saw Jake Long look very bad against one of the best pass-rushers in the league. Things don't get any easier in week two. He'll likely be up against Dwight Freeney all game long. While Freeney may be under-sized, he's not any smaller than John Abraham. And we saw just what Abraham did to Jake last week.

For all the criticism that's been thrown Jake's way after last week's game, people seem to be forgetting Vernon Carey also surrendered two sacks on the Falcons. Both Jake and Vernon didn't look like themselves last week and the Colts have some tape to review now that exploit these tackles' weaknesses.

Freeney, historically, has been a thorn in Miami's side. In three career games against the Dolphins, Freeney has three sacks and many, many more hurries. Robert Mathis, though, has never gotten a sack of a Dolphins' quarterback in two career games against Miami.

Over the past four years, Freeney and Mathis have quietly become one of the best pass-rushing duos in the league. Over that span, they have combined for an average of 17.5 sacks per season between the two of them.

This will be no easy task for Miami's two bookends who must protect Chad Pennington far better than they did last week. Expect to see some help in the form of chip blocks from Miami's backs to give Pennington enough time to survey the field. With that said, though, Long and Carey will still be asked to block these two pass-rushers one-on-one at times. And they simply cannot allow themselves to get beat as often as they did last week. If they do, it could be a long day.

Dallas Clark vs Yeremiah Bell/Gibril Wilson
The problem that the Dolphins had covering opposing tight ends in the preseason carried over to the regular season last week when Tony Gonzalez made big play after big play en route to a 5-73-1 performance on Sunday. And even when one of Miami's safeties had good coverage on the big tight end, Gonzalez found a way to make the grab on perfectly thrown passes from Matt Ryan.

Things don't get any easier on Monday night for Yeremiah Bell and Gibril Wilson. These two players will be asked to defend Colts tight end Dallas Clark for most of the game. Clark, though, presents a different challenge than Gonzalez did. Clark is shorter and faster than Gonzalez. And with starting receiver Anthony Gonzalez on the shelf for Indy, there's a good chance Clark will be used even more split out wide as a slot receiver. This poses an entirely different issue for the Dolphins. Clark is too big and strong to matchup a cornerback with him. But he's too quick for safeties. So whoever gets the job of covering Clark play in and play out will have their hands full.

With Anthony Gonzalez out and Marvin Harrison gone, Peyton Manning will rely on Clark and WR Reggie Wayne more now than ever. If the Dolphins can find a way to neutralize Clark, this dynamic Indy offense suddenly doesn't look as terrifying as it has in years past.

Dolphins pass rush vs Colts offensive line
The best way to attempt to contain Peyton Manning is to not let him physically throw the ball. Of course, that's impossible. But the next best thing is consistent pressure in Manning's face. Last week, Manning was sacked just once by the Jaguars and was hit just two additional times. That's three times Manning got knocked around on 30 drop backs. You let that happen, and Manning will do just what he did to the Jaguars - complete 74% of his passes for over 300 yards.

This Indianapolis offensive line is far from a rock solid unit. There's no reason the Dolphins shouldn't be able to get pressure on Manning on a consistent basis. Joey Porter and Jason Taylor both should receive ample opportunities going against Indy's far from spectacular tackles. Last week, Taylor did pick up his first sack of 2009 - but was relatively quiet for most of the afternoon. Porter was just as quiet for the entire game - rarely even getting close to Matt Ryan. Both of these guys must step up on Monday night.

But it goes beyond just Porter and Taylor. Phillip Merling had an outstanding game last week and will look to build on that with another on Monday. He got pressure on Matt Ryan three or four times. From what I can tell, Merling is a "gamer" and I do expect another solid performance.

But what about everybody else? Channing Crowder blitzed a couple of times with no success last week. Charlie Anderson needs to get in on the act. Kendall Langford was invisible in week one from his defensive end spot - which was a disappointment for all of us after hearing such great things all offseason and camp long about how he has improved. And what about Cameron Wake? Will he be active on Monday night?

Somehow, some way, the Dolphins must get to Peyton Manning early and often. If he's comfortable in the pocket right from the start, it could be a long night for this defense.

Dolphins vs Falcons: Miami's Keys to Victory

Matty I — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:15:14 -0000

More photos » by Lynne Sladky - AP

Matt Ryan - beware. Peezy is coming for you - and he's bringing his friends!

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We're now just two days away from kickoff and excitement is building. This week has gone by terribly slow, but it's now Friday and we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Does that light come with a nice shiny "W"? It's anyone's guess.

There are a number of ways the Dolphins can win this game on Sunday. But below I just wanted to talk about my top three keys to victory.

Pressure, Pressure, Pressure
Despite all of Matt Ryan's success last year, it's important to remember that he is still a very young quarterback. And like any young quarterback, consistent pressure will rattle "Matty Ice." Last season, the Falcons surrendered just 17 sacks all season - the fifth lowest total in the NFL. And when you get that kind of protection, it's easy for any QB to find the open receiver and deliver an accurate pass. Interesting stat to consider: When Matt Ryan was sacked at least twice, the Falcons were 2-3 last year; when he wasn't sacked at all, the Falcons were 5-2.

I believe that the Dolphins can easily have one of the top 5 front seven's in all of the NFL in 2009. I think that they have a number of guys now who can get to the quarterback - highlighted, of course, by Joey Porter and Jason Taylor. But Cameron Wake and Charlie Anderson are edge rushers who will likely get some snaps every game. And Channing Crowder was much more active blitzing the QB in the preseason than we've seen in recent years.

I think the Dolphins will unveil some new "exotic bliz packages" against Atlanta - especially directed towards the left side of Atlanta's line. LT Sam Baker is only entering his 2nd season and LG Justin Blalock is only entering his 3rd. These young linemen can get confused if Paul Pasqualoni unleashes some different looks from Miami's front seven.

Get off the field
Tony Sparano has made it clear that one of the things he wants to do every game is run more plays than the opposition. To do that, Miami's defense must get off the field on third down.

Last year, the Dolphins held opponents to a 38% third down conversion rate. But that was against weaker offenses than they face this year. The Falcons, for example, were the 6th best team at converting on 3rd down in 2008 - picking up 43% of their 3rd downs. In the preseason, the Dolphins have gotten off the field 29% of the time on 3rd downs. But there were a number of long 3rd down conversions that the first-team defense surrendered. The game against Tampa Bay comes to mind right away. Those are the mistakes that this defense cannot make in this game.

Attack early and often
While I want the Dolphins to establish the run in every game - especially in games against top offenses - I think this is an ideal game to make a statement early by attacking Atlanta's defense. I know that being more on the conservative side was a major reason the Dolphins had the success they did in 2008. But the Falcons' secondary is very weak and will surrender chunks of yards at a time. So why not go right after them and make them nervous?

You do that early on and it will force the Falcons to respect the pass and limit the number of players they can put in the box to defend the run - at which time you begin pounding them with Ronnie Brown and company. I'm confident that the offensive line will give Chad Pennington enough time to throw - especially if John Abraham can't play or is hindered at all by his injury. To me, this presents the perfect opportunity to make a statement right out of the gate to all of their opponents this season.

Dolphins knock off Saints to complete unbeaten preseason

Matty I — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:55:06 -0000

More photos » by Bill Feig - AP

Dolphins cornerback Sean Smith, left, makes a one-handed interception in front of Saints wide receiver Courtney Roby (15) in the first half of Thursday night's game.

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We all know that it's only the preseason. And we saw the Saints decide to sit most of their starters for Thursday night's game. But Tony Sparano believes in winning every game that you play. With the Dolphins 10-7 win over the Saints in New Orleans on Thursday night, his team accomplished that very feat - finishing the 2009 preseason with a 4-0 record.

As always, though, there were good things and not so good things to take out of this game. Below I will touch on some of these things. Be sure to give us your thoughts as well.

SEAN SMITH IS A MONSTER
He may only be a rookie and will surely have his "rookie moments" at times this season when he makes a mistake leading to a big play for the opposition. But we saw just how special Sean Smith can be in this league tonight when he made that truly remarkable one-handed interception in the endzone - his second interception in three games. What I saw on this one play - which you can see right here - was a rookie in perfect position to make a play and a cornerback who clearly has spent time playing receiver. As you all know, Smith actually began his college career at Utah as a receiver. Yeah - it showed tonight.

But just because he's a rookie - and 2nd round pick, in fact - doesn't mean that we should not have high expectations for Smith in his first year. He's possesses a rare combination of size, speed, and hands that makes him this secondary's biggest playmaker already. Like I said, he has two interceptions in just three games this preseason - and both came on throws into the endzone. The Dolphins haven't had a playmaker like this in the secondary in a long time - and he's only going to get better as he gets more experience. Yes - permission to get overly excited about how very good Smith might become has officially been granted to all of us.

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE HAS UPS AND DOWNS
Miami's starting defense played together for just about a quarter and a half tonight. And while they didn't surrender any points to a mixture of Saints' backups, they weren't great, either. I was satisfied with their performance against the run. The starters held New Orleans running backs to just 19 yards rushing on 7 carries. And five of their seven carries went for two yards or less.

But the secondary still has to tighten up. No team's reserves should put up 89 yards passing against a first-team defense in a little over a quarter. Of course, 43 of those 89 yards came on a well-timed screen pass that was called against a blitz from the Dolphins. But even still, Mark Brunell and Joey Harrington have no right combining to go 5/8 passing for 89 yards against Miami's starting defense.

With that said, however, you do need to look at just who was making those receptions. Here's a key stat for you. The starting defense, when playing as a whole, did not allow a completion to a wide receiver. Of the five passes completed against them, three were to New Orleans' tight ends and two were to Lynell Hamilton - the team's running back. So don't go blaming the corners. It's the safeties and linebackers who will have the finger pointed at them. You can't let backup tight ends like Billy Miller and Buck Ortega catch 3 passes for 33 yards against your starters. That's not acceptable.

But I'll chalk this up to either the safeties, Yeremiah Bell and Gibril Wilson, still getting comfortable with each other or the coaching staff not wanting to show too much in terms of defensive schemes because these two teams meet in the regular season. At least, that's what I'm hoping.

HENNE LOOKS MUCH BETTER
After a very poor outing last week, many eyes were on Chad Henne's performance tonight. How would the young quarterback bounce back? Clearly, he has both a lot of confidence in himself and a short memory because he had a solid night on Thursday.

His final line of 11/16 for 89 yards isn't overly impressive. But in the first half, getting to play with many of the starters, Henne connected on 8 of 10 for 68 yards and led a touchdown drive. More importantly, he looked more decisive with the football, more confident in his reads, and more accurate with his throws. No, it wasn't against New Orleans' starters. But that doesn't diminish the fact that he just looked more comfortable and was on the money with his throws. Oh, and I love how Henne chewed out Brandon London after London failed to make the proper read on a quick throw from Henne. He saw the blitz and, clearly, London was the "hot" receiver. But Brandon didn't make the necessary adjustments and the quick pass fell incomplete. As they walked to the sidelines, you saw Henne act like the leader a QB should be by letting Brandon know what he did wrong.

A solid bounce-back effort for the young gun.

HARTLINE NO LOCK ANYMORE TO START
This time last week, many fans were ready to lock in rookie Brian Hartline as the opening day starting receiver opposite of Ted Ginn. But Greg Camarillo and Davone Bess stated their cases on Thursday night. Camarillo made a brilliant catch on a perfect pass from Chad Pennington early in this game that went for 17 yards along the right sideline. Not to be out-done, Bess made a beautiful diving grab along the left sideline on a 3rd and 4 play that went for seven yards and a 1st down. Again, a perfect pass from Pennington. For Bess, though, that was one of 5 catches on the night - as he showcased just what the term "QB friendly" means. He doesn't go deep, but he finds openings, runs good routes, and makes plays when he's asked to. Ideally, though, I will continue to believe that Bess is an ideal slot receiver more so than an "X" or "Z" receiver.

Hartline, on the other hand, was shut out on the night. He only saw one pass thrown his way and he dropped it. Did he also "drop" his shot at starting in Atlanta next Sunday? It's just a guess, but I'd say he certainly did.

QUICK HITS
Here are many of my "quick" thoughts on tonight's game:

Charlie Anderson locked up his roster spot tonight. Entering the night, I wouldn't have been shocked to see Charlie given a pink slip this weekend. But he was flying off the edge all night, picking up two sacks. Now if he can just refrain from holding on returns.
The Dolphins did a great job all night of getting pressure on the Saints, resulting in eight sacks for Miami. Tony McDaniel showed off his pass-rushing skills from the defensive end spot, picking up two on the night. William Kershaw continued to quietly have a solid preseason, sacking the QB once and pressuring him at least one other time. I just don't know if there is room for four inside linebackers. And the other three - Channing Crowder, Akin Ayodele, and Reggie Torbor - are all locks. Tough decision to be made here.
Glad to see Rod Wright pick up a sack. That'll be his parting gift - as he's likely on his way out come Saturday when the cuts are announced.
Erik Walden looked good, too - both in the base defense and on special teams. But can the Dolphins keep Cameron Wake, Quentin Moses, Charlie Anderson, and Erik Walden? Maybe - but that's a lot of outside linebackers.
I hate artificial turf. I don't care if it's astroturf or "field turf." Vontae Davis is lucky to escape with what is likely a minor injury. He downplayed the injury after the game - which is good news. But damn, let's just find a way to get natural grass on every field. Sound good?
Paul Soliai looks like a different player out there. He seems much quicker and more agile but is still getting a good push up the middle despite dropping weight. That's a good sign.
My boy, John Nalbone, dropped a pass he should have hauled in. But Joey Haynos didn't do anything to separate himself. So I'm remaining squarely on the "John Nalbone bandwagon" - straight from West Long Branch, NJ all the way to South Florida, baby!
Punt coverage remains a big problem. The Dolphins were doing a decent job for most of the game. But it only takes one big play to change the outcome of a game. I'm sick and tired of seeing poor coverage on kicks and punts.
I'm glad the preseason is over and the Dolphins avoided any serious injuries. Now let's get to some REAL football!!!!