SB Nation - Greg Camarillo

Defense leads the way as Dolphins defeat Jaguars

Matty I — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:40:15 -0000

Miami's defense did an excellent job of containing MJD.

This is the time of the year where you take wins any way you can get them. While it wasn't pretty at all and sure was stressful at times, the Dolphins went up to Jacksonville and knocked off a Jaguars team that had just one home loss all season heading into Sunday, improving to 6-0 in December under head coach Tony Sparano.

In doing so, the Dolphins did what they were looking to do - make next week's game in Tennessee against the Titans yet another important must-win game as they look to work their way into the playoffs. As for the playoff picture itself, there's some info about that below. But enjoy the fact that as Dolphin fans, we have yet another meaningful December football game to look forward to. After starting 0-3, that's all us fans can ask for.

Just keep winning. Pretty or ugly. Big win or nail-biter. Doesn't matter to me. Just keep winning.

It's all about the defense
Earlier this week, we talked about how important it would be to contain Maurice Jones-Drew. He's the most explosive player on that Jacksonville offense and the Dolphins were struggling against the run over the past few weeks. Heading into the game, the Dolphins were allowing an average of 127 rushing yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry over their last five. But on Sunday, we saw this Miami defense make a stand. Actually, we saw them make multiple stands, holding Jones-Drew to just 59 yards rushing (3.3 ypc) in the process.

Perhaps the most impressive stat on Sunday, though, was how the Dolphins held the Jaguars to just 4/17 on third or fourth down. That's ridiculous, really. And it's just proof of how dominant this defense was and of why this game really shouldn't have been as close as it was.

Quite frankly, we saw this Dolphin defense dominate on Sunday. It's that simple. The Jaguars had just 217 yards of offense. Of that total, 63 yards came on one play. On that play, Sean Smith did a poor job of biting on the double move. But it's important to note that Gibril Wilson was really the guy who blew the coverage. He was supposed to have inside contain in that bracket coverage. But he also "took the cheese" of the Torry Holt double move, allowing Holt to make the big play. Of course, the defense rebounded by holding Jacksonville to a field goal on that drive.

The Jags gained 68 yards on that drive. They also gained 62 yards on their third possession of the game - which ended on a MJD touchdown run. But on Jacksonville's 10 other possessions, the Jaguars gained just 87 yards of offense and averaged just 2.4 yards per play. Those 10 possessions include the Jaguars going "3 and out" on 6 of their first 8 possessions. That, my friends, is domination.

The defense also put together their second consecutive scoreless fourth quarter. In doing so, the Dolphins limited Jacksonville's offense to just 57 yards of offense on four fourth quarter possessions. That's how you win football games even when your offense sputters in the second half. Kudos to every single player on that defense (except for maybe Gibril Wilson) for an outstanding performance.

The "Henne to Camarillo" connection
All season long, I've been waiting (and hoping) to see the Greg Camarillo we saw last season before he went down with his knee injury. On Sunday, I saw that Camarillo. It was a terrific sight to see.

Camarillo picked on this Jaguar secondary all game long, catching all seven passes that were thrown his way for 110 yards. This was Camarillo's best game since the game against Denver last season. And now after just catching three passes from week 10 against Tampa through week 12's loss to Buffalo, it seems as though Chad Henne is finally getting more comfortable with Camarillo - who has 11 catches for 171 yards over his last two.

Speaking of Henne, he's progressing pretty nicely, huh? No Dolphins quarterback has ever completed more consecutive passes in a game than Henne did on Sunday when he connected on 17 straight pass attempts - tying a team record set by Chad Pennington last season. But CP did it over the span of two games. And five of those 17 completions went to none other than the aforementioned Camarillo.

Yes, I know Henne also threw what could have been a costly fourth quarter interception. But again - I'm not too worried about it. I've seen enough from Henne to know that he'll learn from that mistake and he'll get better. The kid's gotten better every week. His accuracy is getting more consistent as the weeks go by. He looks more and more in command of this offense every time he steps on the field. And really, that interception was just a poor read - something he'll fix when he sees the film. But all in all, I continue to be impressed week in and week out with Henne - who is now 7-3 as a starting quarterback.

AFC Playoff Picture
For the Dolphins, it's pretty simple. First of all, they have to win their last three games. If they slip up, then it'll be very hard to squeak into the playoffs.

But the Dolphins can't get into the playoffs by just winning their last three. They need some help. In a nut shell, the Dolphins need either a Patriots loss OR a Ravens loss. If the Dolphins win out and NE was to lose once, the Fins would be division champs. If the Dolphins win out AND the Pats win out, then the Dolphins would need the Ravens to lose one game. If that was to happen, the Dolphins make it in as a wildcard.

So that's the situation. Three Dolphins wins AND either a Patriots loss OR a Ravens loss and the Fins are in the post-season.

QUICK HITS
More random quick thoughts on Sunday's win:

Interesting stat courtesy of Ethan Skolnick. The Dolphins faced 15 offensive 3rd downs. But their average distance "to go" on 3rd down was just 4.4 yards. And on 10 of those 3rd downs, the Dolphins needed just 3 yards or less. That's how you keep the chains moving. You put yourself in manageable 3rd downs by gaining positive yardage on first and second downs.
Ricky Williams went over 100 yards rushing for the fourth time in five games. But that doesn't overshadow his three fumbles. Luckily only one resulted in a turnover. But that one turnover cost the Dolphins at least a field goal attempt. This is nothing new with Ricky, though. Williams has fumbled 45 times on 2,422 career touches - or one fumble every 53.8 touches.
Speaking of mistakes, this game should not have been this close. But the Dolphins left so many points on the field. I think back to the terrible play call to hand the ball to Davone Bess on an end-around on first down from Jacksonville's 33 yard line. Terrible call there when Chad Henne was slicing up that Jaguar secondary and Bess isn't the guy who can turn the corner. Bess ends up fumbling and that stalls a drive that could have resulted in at least three points. On their next possession, a sack and a missed 38 yard field goal from Dan Carpenter (it was bound to happen eventually) squandered away another potential scoring drive. And then Ricky's fumble inside Jacksonville's 30 squandered another scoring opportunity. And that's why the Dolphins can out gain a team by 137 yards and win by just four.
Randy Starks is having just one hell of a season. On Sunday, Starks continued his Pro-Bowl caliber season by making a number of key plays - non bigger than his tackle for a loss on David Garrard on 4th down with under 90 seconds to play. It wasn't a sack (technically) because it was a called QB draw. Regardless, Starks just shoved his blocker back and gave Garrard nowhere to run. He's the defensive MVP of this team right now. Who would have thought back in camp that we'd be saying that?
Cameron Wake has got to play more. All he does is get to the quarterback. And now he has a bullrush to go along with his speed rush. For the second consecutive week, Wake made the game-clinching play - this time sacking Garrard on the game's final play. It's getting to the point where he needs as many snaps as possible on gameday. It's that simple.
Vontae Davis played very well today - after sitting out the opening drive, that is. It was called a "coach's decision" to start Jason Allen over Davis. But Davis was back out there following Jacksonville's first "3 and out" of the game. Vontae said after the game, "It was just one series. I'm not in the doghouse. It's all part of learning." Most likely, Vontae was late for something and this was his punishment. No big deal. What was a big deal was Vontae's play - doing an excellent job all game on Mike Sims-Walker, though Sims-Walker was slowed with a calf injury. Still, Vontae has the skills and swagger to be an elite corner eventually.
I've come to realize that Yeremiah Bell is every bit as good as he was last season. He could be a very, very good strong safety if only he had a capable free safety playing next to him. Gibril Wilson is obviously not that. Bell just seems to make big pass deflections in big spots and remains stout against the run.
Great job by the offensive line on Sunday. They protected Henne well all game long and gave Ricky room to run. Lousaka Polite was also excellent once again. He converted on 3rd and fourth downs when asked and continued his excellent lead blocking.

Tuesday Thoughts: Talking receivers & more

Matty I — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:25:30 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

D-Bess celebrating his touchdown on Sunday.

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When I sat down to write this, I couldn't pinpoint one single topic I wanted to highlight today. So I figured - what the hell - let's make this post a little bit of everything.

Quick thoughts on the receivers
For the first time this year, the Dolphins won a game through the air. Miami's receivers did come up very big on Sunday. And it made me realize - this receiving corps needs a legitimate number one receiver.

Huh?

Let me explain.

Did anyone notice how most of Chad Henne's completions on Sunday came on slants, drags, curls, and comebacks? Part of the reason for that is because the Dolphins - outside of Ted Ginn, who we know isn't the most reliable receiver - don't have any receiver who can get behind the defense. Translation? They're slow. Well, maybe that was harsh. But they're certainly not fast.

With that said, though, just imagine how good this group could become if the Dolphins had that true number one receiver. Just think about how effective Brian Hartline and Greg Camarillo would be with a real threat playing on the other side of them. Or how good Davone Bess would be working the slot week in and week out like Wes Welker does thanks, in large part, to having a teammate like Randy Moss. That one singular addition of a real number one receiver would instantly change this receiving corps from an "average to below average" group to a "good to great" group.

Speaking of Bess, though, let's spend a moment on him. Just how good has Davone been since being an undrafted free agent last year out of Hawaii? Well - he's been really, really good. Some like to call D-Bess a "poor man's Wes Welker." But through their first two seasons, Bess has actually been better than Welker. And let's be honest - if Bess, right now in just year two of his career, was swapped out with Welker and played in that offense with those teammates, he'd be every bit as productive as Welker, if not better.

In his first two seasons, Welker caught 96 balls for 1,121 yards and a touchdown. Bess, meanwhile, has 113 catches for 1,102 yards and two touchdowns. In fact, Bess has a chance to catch Irving Fryar for most receptions in their first two seasons as a Dolphin. Fryar caught 137 passes in his first two seasons in Miami. Second on that list, meanwhile, is Mark Duper - but with an asterisk. His first season was technically 1982. But Duper was only active for two games that year and never even touched the ball. In '83 and '84, Duper caught 122 passes. Bess is only 24 receptions short of Fryar's mark and just nine from Duper's mark.

You'll have a hard time finding any receiver in the NFL who is more efficient than Bess, too. In fact, only six wide receivers in the AFC have a higher catch percentage than Bess. And one of them is a teammate of his. Below is how the Dolphins receivers have done catching the football:

Player	Rec.	Tgts.	Catch %
Greg Camarillo	32	45	71.1%
Davone Bess	59	84	70.2%
Brian Hartline	21	37	56.8%
Ted Ginn	27	61	44.3%

A little '08 draft talk
Watching Joe Flacco make mistake after mistake on on Monday night, I got to thinking about the top quarterbacks in the 2008 draft class. The Dolphins were heavily criticized by some (Mel Kiper and Mike Mayock come to mind first) for passing on Matt Ryan and drafting Jake Long/Chad Henne instead. But now that Henne has nine career starts under his belt, let's compare the numbers of those three quarterbacks (Henne, Ryan, Flacco) through their first nine starts. And yes - some will say it isn't a fair comparison because Henne had a year to sit and learn. My rebuttle is simple. Ryan and Flacco had better supporting casts around them - especially Ryan in Atlanta.

Let's go to the numbers:

Player	Comp/Att	Comp %	Yds	YPA	YPC	TD	Int	W-L
Chad Henne	163/282	57.8%	1,755	6.2	10.8	9	7	6-3
Matt Ryan	149/250	59.6%	1,909	7.6	12.8	10	6	6-3
Joe Flacco	151/243	62.1%	1,649	6.8	10.9	7	7	6-3

You cna make whatever judgments you want from those numbers above. But here's what I know. At this point, there's no reason to think that Henne won't be as good, if not better, than either of the other two quarterbacks. And when you couple the selection of Henne with the selection of a franchise left tackle like Long, I think it's fair to say that these "draft experts" should prepare to dine on some crow in the not-to-distant future.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - to this day, I still draft Jake Long over Matt Ryan. Chad Henne is just an excellent little bonus.

AFC Playoff Picture
I'm not a fan of projecting too far into the future in terms of playoff positioning. But this does deserve a quick examination.

Here are the facts. The Dolphins are currently in 8th in the AFC, only one game behind the final wildcard spot that is currently held by the Jaguars - coincidentally, the Dolphins' next opponent. In fact, Miami's final four opponents are all against teams in the AFC playoff race.

So what happens if the Dolphins win their remaining four games and get to 10-6? Well that would mean that the Jaguars, Ravens, and Jets would all have at least six losses to go along with Miami. Thanks to Miami's two game sweep of the Jets, New York is a non-factor if the Dolphins win out. So that would bring us to the Dolphins, Ravens, and Jaguars.

The first tie-breaker for three teams and one wildcard spot is if any of the teams have defeated both of the other teams. In this scenario, no team would have accomplished this. The next tie-breaker is conference record. In this scenario, with the Dolphins and Ravens winning out and the Jags winning all but their game this week against the Dolphins, Jacksonville would only have three conference losses while both Miami and Baltimore would have four - giving that final wildcard spot to the Jaguars.

But the Jaguars still face the Colts at home and the Patriots in New England. So I don't think it's likely we see the Jaguars end the season with only three conference losses. And if they were to lose to New England or Indy, then that would give the Jags seven losses - eliminating them from this particular discussion in which we are examining what would happen should the Ravens and Dolphins win their remaining games.

So that would leave the Ravens and Dolphins. The next tie-breaker after conference record would be each team's record in common games. In this scenario, with the Dolphins and Ravens winning their remaining games, the Ravens would be 3-2 in games against common opponents (which are SD, NE, Ind, Pit) while the Dolphins would be just 2-3. Hence - the Ravens would get that final wildcard spot.

What's this all mean? It means that the Dolphins do not control their own destiny. But it also means that they have got to take care of their own business if they even want to worry about these playoff scenarios. And that continues this week in Jacksonville.

Henne leads comeback as Dolphins defeat Patriots to remain in playoff hunt

Matty I — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:02:35 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne walks off the field after the Dolphins defeated the New England Patriots 22-21 on Sunday. And notice - the robot still refuses to show any emotion. Is he a machine?

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Just a little over fifteen minutes into Sunday's game and it seemed as though the Dolphins' slim playoff chances were fading away right before all of our eyes. But then something happened. On the brink of disaster, the Dolphins - led by their passing attack of all things - finally fired back, showing the kind of intensity that this team lacked last week in Buffalo. By halftime, it was just a four point game. The second half then saw the Dolphins go toe to toe with a perennial championship contender as the team rallied back from an 11 point third quarter deficit to knock off the Patriots in thrilling fashion - thrusting themselves right into the thick of things in the AFC playoff picture.

Henne has career day
Sure - it isn't saying much that a second year quarterback with just nine career starts had his best day as an NFL starter. After all - it has only been nine starts. So how's this for a better statement? Chad Henne has his first career-defining game in the NFL. I think that explains it better. After all, it's not every day that a quarterback goes punch for punch with Tom Brady in a quarterback duel - and actually wins. And it's even more rare that the quarterback out-gunning Brady is in his first year as a starter.

Coming into the game, I wrote that I really wanted to see the Dolphins attack New England's secondary. But I really didn't expect Tony Sparano and Dan Henning go with that kind of aggressive, attacking game plan on offense. So I was absolutely thrilled to see the Dolphins come out firing on Sunday. This was the first time that the coaching staff really took the training wheels off of Henne and he didn't disappoint.

Were there times when he made mistakes or missed on throws? Of course. That interception was both a bad decision and poorly placed throw. His accuracy is still inconsistent at times - which you can say about most rookie quarterbacks. That inaccuracy almost cost the Dolphins - when Henne missed an open Lousaka Polite on a 3rd & 6 play with 2:15 left. Henne explained after the game that Polite was the "hot" receiver. With the blitz coming, he anticipated Polite running to the flat. But Polite cut it up field - as he had open field in front of him. That explains why Henne double-clutched before throwing that pass over Polite's head.

With that said, it's no secret that Henne still has to work on avoiding tipped balls at the line of scrimmage and improving on those passes that require some "touch."

But still, Henne made up for these mistakes and missed opportunities, showing the kind of mental toughness a quarterback in this league needs. On the very next play - on a 4th & 6 with the season basically on the line - Henne rolled right and fired a bullet to Greg Camarillo for the first down, getting his team into field goal range. After the game, Tony Sparano praised Henne for his ability to overcome these kinds of things:

"He's a pretty resilient guy. He missed a couple of throws there. But Chad just keeps battling. He made some big throws, and the one to Camarillo down there at the end, that's a heck of a throw.''

A "heck of a throw" indeed.

All told, Henne threw for 335 yards while the running game ran for less than 100 - accomplishing one of the things I've been waiting to see from the young quarterback. He was finally asked to win a game with his arm from start to finish. He passed this test with flying colors, leading his third career fourth quarter comeback in just nine career starts.

After his busy day full of 52 pass attempts - the most pass attempts by a Dolphins' quarterback in a win since 1990 - Henne was asked how his arm felt. You got to love his response:

"If you want to, we can throw all day. I love it. Put it in my hands. Put the pressure situations upon me. I really thrive on that."

Defense steps up in fourth quarter
The day got off to a rough start for the Dolphins - allowing a 58 yard touchdown pass a little over three minutes into the game. On that play, we saw terrible coverage by rookie Vontae Davis and poor deep help from Gibril Wilson.

Then less than three minutes into the second half, on the Pats' first play of the half, we saw more ugly defense as fellow rookie corner Sean Smith had outstanding coverage on Sam Aiken but still couldn't even break up the pass along the right sideline. The 6'2 receiver made the catch over the 6'3 1/2" corner and then sprinted down the sideline - as Gibril Wilson basically stood and watched at mid field - for just his second career touchdown. I'm confident that Smith breaks up that pass 99 times out of 100. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, this was that one.

At 21-10 just minutes into the second half, it was beginning to look like more of the same from this defense in the second half. And the fourth quarter - also known as the quarter in which this defense likes to collapse - was still 12 minutes away.

However, rather than fold like a cheap suit, this defense stepped up. Coming into the game, the Dolphins were allowing 118.4 yards per game and 40.7 yards per drive in the fourth quarter alone. On Sunday, of the 448 yards of offense that the Patriots gained on Sunday, only 60 of them came in the fourth quarter (15 yards per drive).

It all started with NE's first possession of the final quarter. The Pats only needed four plays to get inside Miami's 5 yard line. But then Tom Brady made a terrible decision and a poor throw - allowing Vontae Davis to redeem himself for his bad play on NE's first drive by having perfect coverage on Randy Moss and making the key interception. In my opinion, this play was the turning point of the game.

As far as New England's fourth quarter offense goes, that one drive was about it. The Dolphins forced two consecutive "three and outs" on their next two possessions. And those "three and outs" were huge - getting the ball back to the offense as the Dolphins trailed by two points.

Following the Dan Carpenter field goal, the Pats had one more shot. But again, the defense made a stand. Following an 11 yard completion and an incompletion, Cameron Wake used a quick first step to get around Nick Kaczur and get Brady in his arms. Brady then threw up an ill-advised desperation pass hoping to at least stop the clock. But Channing Crowder (of all people) was "Johnny on the spot" - making the interception on a pass thrown right to his gut. Hell of a time for Channing's first career interception - who then showed excellent football intelligence by going to the ground rather than trying to return the interception.

Some will tell you that the Dolphins caught some lucky breaks. That's true. One of them was a huge break - as Sain Aiken had gotten by Sean Smith by about five yards but was overthrown down the left sideline on what would have been a touchdown to put the Pats ahead by nine points. Yes - the Dolphins caught a break there. But we've seen a ton of breaks go against the Dolphins this year. For once, they caught one of their own. It's about time.

Great job by the defense in the fourth quarter. The unit still isn't where it needs to be. But that late game performance is definitely something to build on.

QUICK HITS
More quick hit thoughts on Sunday's game. Let's start with the positives and end with some "not so positives":

Final thought for right now about Henne. He just seems to have that "it" factor that no Dolphin quarterback has had since you know who. That's what is most exciting about him, in my opinion. He has "it."
Bill Belichick will be questioned again for going for it on a fourth down. This time it was inside the 10 yard line late in the second half. Three points there would have been huge for the Patriots. But Belichick went for it on 4th & 1 and Paul Soliai, Joey Porter, and others came up huge in stopping Sammy Morris. The Dolphins would then march down the field and get a FG of their own - resulting in what was essentially a critical six point swing.
Dan Carpenter is money. There's nothing more to say. Is his leg the strongest? No. But a reliable kicker from inside 50 is even more important than a big leg. And DC$ is just that - reliable. Think Tony Sparano trusts Carpenter? On 3rd & 5 from the 23, the Dolphins ran the ball and gained nothing before DC$ drilled home the 41 yard FG to put the Dolphins ahead. If he has any doubts, the Fins pass the football there. That says a lot about the second year kicker.
The Dolphins may not have any number one receivers. But they have a plethora of reliable number two receivers. Davone Bess is essentially a poor man's Wes Welker, making clutch catch after clutch catch. Brian Hartline is on his way towards becoming a very good complimentary receiver. Greg Camarillo - or "Old Reliable" - always tends to make a clutch catch. None were bigger than his 4th & 6 completion along the right sideline to keep that game-winning drive alive. And even Ted Ginn got in on the act - making two critical receptions. His first catch was on that final drive of the first half, converting a 3rd & 2 into a 19 yard gain along the left sideline. His other reception was a 15 yard gain on a 3rd & 10 in the 4th quarter. At least that's progress, folks.
Anthony Fasano has looked like the TE we knew and loved last season. He has back to back 5 reception, 65+ yard performances.
The offensive line was excellent in pass protection. For the most part, Henne had all the time he needed in the pocket.
Ricky Williams. There - I just wanted to get his name involved here. He had a "workman-like" 75 yards, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. When that's a "ho-hum" kind of game, you know you have a good back.
Want more reasons to like Hartline? The kid has become a special teams monster. You can't help but appreciate tough kids like that.
While I'm not saying Yeremiah Bell has been very good this year, Gibril Wilson has, by far, been the worst safety. He just can't cut it as a free safety. A true coverage free safety would make this defense instantly better.
Not enough pressure at all on Tom Brady. Can I see more Cameron Wake, please?
Better play-calling out of Dan Henning today. But one major gripe still remains: ENOUGH WITH PAT WHITE! Listen - I'm not a "Pat White hater." I actually wanted the Dolphins to draft him. But I just don't think he's ready...yet. Now he's just an instant drive killer. So let's give it a rest.
I really didn't like the decision to go for two with three minutes left in the third quarter. It's too early to start chasing points at that point. If the Patriots score a touchdown on their first possession of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins would have been down by two scores instead of just one. Luckily, though, this decision didn't come back to bite the Dolphins on the ass.

FINAL THOUGHT
What more can you ask for? The Dolphins are 6-6, one game out of the playoffs, and have a meaningful month of football ahead. And for us fans, we not only have meaningful December football to look forward to - we also get to enjoy the maturation process of a young quarterback week in and week out.

Enjoy the ride, everyone. And for those of you who were crying about how the season was over after last week's ugly loss in Buffalo - welcome back aboard the bandwagon.

Dolphins vs Patriots: Keys to Victory

Matty I — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:15:08 -0000

More photos » by David Duprey - AP

I say - what the hell - let him air it out and see what happens.

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On Sunday, the Dolphins will look to do what only one team has been able to do since Bill Belichick took over as Patriots head coach - beat the Pats and send them to their second consecutive loss. That's right - since Belichick took over, the Patriots are 24-1 when they are coming off of a loss. Just this year, the Pats are 3-0 following a loss and have outscored their opponents by an average of 30 points. That number is skewed, of course, thanks to their 59-0 drubbing of the Titans. But still, their closest game this year following a loss was against the Falcons in which the Pats won by 16 points.

So no - this is obviously no easy task that the Dolphins face on Sunday and logic tells you that the Dolphins don't have too much of a chance. Luckily, games aren't won on paper - they are won on the field. And below you will find what I consider to be the three keys to a Dolphins victory.

Attack New England's secondary
No - the Dolphins aren't exactly loaded with talent at the receiver position. But at this point, what do we have to lose?

On Monday night, we saw the Saints regularly spread out New England's defense and just pick on their corners all game long. The biggest culprit was Jonathan Wilhite, who gave up completion after completion in that game. In fact, one of the biggest contributors to Pats Pulpit came onto this site and wrote of the Patriot secondary, "Brees picked it apart Monday night, throwing at CB Jonathan Wilhite like he wasn’t even there. In fact, it would have been better if he wasn’t because at least then there would have been an excuse."

Now we all know that these Dolphin receivers aren't even close in terms of talent to what New Orleans can throw at you. But what the hell? Let's go for it.

The last time these teams met, Chad Henne did throw for 220 yards. Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo each had good days. And Brian Hartline has continued to improve each week. In that game, the Dolphins did a good job of picking on New England's weaker corners. They threw at rookie Darius Butler 10 times, completing 7 passes for 76 yards against him. They threw at Shawn Springs four times, completing all four passes for 46 yards. Leigh Bodden was the guy who was most effective, allowing only three completions and just 4.1 yards per attempt in his direction. Bodden was especially good against Bess, allowing just one completion in five attempts to Davone.

Wilhite, meanwhile, didn't see too much of the field in large part because the Dolphins didn't use too many three or four receiver sets. I really hope to see - dare I say - more four receiver sets on Sunday. Spread out that defense, keep Ricky Williams in the backfield, and have Ted Ginn split out wide just running fly patterns all game in hopes of occupying one of the safeties.

What's the worst that could happen?

Mix up the defense
One of the things the Saints did so well against the Patriots was to mix up the defense and keep the Patriots on their toes. Following the loss, when asked about how the Saints were able to contain Randy Moss so well, Bill Belichick responded, "They did what they do. They played zone. They double-covered. They played man. They rushed. They did what they do and they did it pretty well."

There's something to be said about how important it is to not do the same thing over and over again. And we saw back in week nine that man coverage with minimal safety help is not the route to go against this Patriot offense. So I really hope that this isn't the plan of attack that Paul Pasqualoni dials up again.

What should the Dolphins do defensively? I'm no defensive coordinator so I won't try to talk like one. But I know for a fact that this defense has become too predictable. Countless times this year, the Dolphins have used the same boring blitz packages and same coverages in the secondary. Their blitzes have become predictable and their coverages have become tired and old.

I know that Sean Smith and Vontae Davis are only rookies, but would it kill them to play a little zone? Probably not. Sure - zone is harder to learn. But it would keep a veteran like Tom Brad on his toes.

Right now, I can sit at home and read the Dolphins' secondary before the snap just as well as a quarterback can. That, my friends, is a big problem. We've seen all of the good quarterbacks that Miami has faced just eat up this defense with simple pre-snap adjustments. Peyton Manning has done it. Tom Brady has done it. Drew Brees has done it. And now even Ryan Fitzpatrick has done it. Enough is enough. Be different. Take some chances. Grow a set.

Show a little emotion
Sometimes I can't help but wonder about this team and these players. Why was it on Sunday that Tony Sparano was showing more emotion on the sideline than his players were on the field? Did anybody else notice that?

I know - they were just the Bills. But I can't imagine that this coaching staff didn't drill it into their players' heads that any loss - even one to the Bills - would severely cripple their playoff chances. And yet, in a game the Dolphins had to have, these players on the field just looked uninspired for pretty much all of the second half.

Well I'll tell you what. If I don't see much more emotion and fire on Sunday in a game at home against the Patriots, we'll all have to start questioning the heart of this team - and of their supposed leaders.

Dolphins vs Patriots: Three Key Matchups

Matty I — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

Miami Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis makes an interception behind New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss during their week nine game in Foxborough.

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Last week's loss in Buffalo still stings - I know. But nothing helps heal wounds like a win the following week. With the Patriots coming to town on Sunday, a win would be even more enjoyable. But it obviously won't be easy. The Patriots rarely ever lose two games in a row and they are going to be angry following their blow out loss to the Saints on national television a couple of nights ago.

But still - we need to keep the faith. With that said, here are three of the most critical matchups for Sunday's game:

Randy Moss/Wes Welker vs Vontae Davis/Sean Smith
It seems like we mention our two rookie corners every single week in this post. But that's because Vontae Davis and Sean Smith have had to go up against some of the NFL's best receivers this season. I'm sure it's been a terrific learning experience for these two kids. But on Sunday, these two need to apply some of the lessons they've learned this year and do their best to contain one of the league's best receiving duo.

Wes Welker and Randy Moss are at the top of all of the key statistical categories. Welker is first in receptions (85) while Moss is sixth (66). Moss, meanwhile, is first in receiving yards (992) while Welker is fifth (886). And the duo has combined to score 12 touchdowns this season. But they can be contained. Look no further than just two nights ago when the Saints held the two to a combined 9 receptions for 99 yards and no touchdowns. And that's with using a rookie corner and two veterans who were both just signed within the last two weeks. How did they do it? The Saints used an excellent mixture of coverages - man and zone - to keep the Patriots guessing. That's probably the game plan the Dolphins should use on Sunday.

What they shouldn't do is try the same game plan that they used back in week nine when these two teams met in New England. The Dolphins used a similar game plan to what the Giants used in the Super Bowl two years ago - trying to apply a lot of pressure while having the corners in man coverage. That didn't work. Davis was thrown at nine times while covering Moss or Welker, allowing six completions for 125 yards and a touchdown. He did have an outstanding interception early in the game, though. Smith, meanwhile, was thrown at three times while defending either of the two dynamic receivers, surrendering 2 completions for 23 yards.

These two young corners need to put together good performances for a full 60 minutes if the Dolphins want to steal this game and get back to .500.

Dan Koppen vs Paul Soliai
Back in week nine, the Dolphins were without starting nose tackle Jason Ferguson. Well it showed. The Patriots ran for 109 yards and averaged 4.5 yards per carry - which is not good considering the Pats are averaging under 4 yards per carry against the rest of the NFL. That day up in Foxborough, Paul Soliai played 29 snaps at either defensive tackle (when the Dolphins were using four down linemen) or nose tackle as he attempted to replace Ferguson. Quite frankly, he was owned.

Patriots center Dan Koppen really dominated Soliai for much of the game. Koppen weights under 300 pounds but was still able to manhandle the 340+ pound Soliai for much of the game. Sure, Soliai admitted that he probably shouldn't have played once he injured his ankle in that game because it was bothering him. But even before he hurt himself, Koppen was blowing Soliai off the ball - not even needing a double team on the much bigger nose tackle.

Last week against Buffalo, Soliai continued his struggles as Bills running back Fred Jackson ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries. On Sunday, Soliai has got to play better and help make the Pats one-dimensional on offense.

Dolphin receivers vs Patriot corners
While the Pats did a good job containing Miami on the ground back in week nine (Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams combined for just 81 yards on 22 carries), the Dolphin receivers were able to get open against this New England secondary. Greg Camarillo and Davone Bess combined for 11 receptions and 127 yards receiving while rookie Brian Hartline added an 18 yard reception. And we saw just how vulnerable New England's secondary is on Monday night when the Saints just lit them up.

Of course we all know that Drew Brees is a top three quarterback and he has a number of weapons at receiver. But still - the Patriots knew that the Saints would throw, spent the week drawing up a game plan to defend them, and still couldn't even come close to containing that offense.

Personally, I wouldn't even mind seeing Chad Henne come out and throw it around left and right on Sunday early in the game to loosen up that Patriot defense before turning to the usual run-heavy offense. I hope to see the Dolphins use some play-action passes early and take some shots in the 10 to 20 yard range to keep New England honest. But for this to work, Miami's receivers have got to step their game up and create some separation from these average (at best) Patriot cornerbacks.

Bills Fantasy Friday: Week 12 Start 'Em/Sit 'Em

Kurupt — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Stephen Morton - AP

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Amazingly, it's already Week 12. The fantasy football regular season is coming to a close in the next few weeks, and it's time to make one final push to the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills might be out of it, but most fantasy teams are still fighting for that championship. Congratulations to all those teams that have been good enough to clinch a playoff berth already. For the rest of you (us!), buckle up, the crazy roller coaster ride of fighting for playoff berths continues! Head on in after the jump for the individual players of note for this Sunday's Miami Dolphins visit to the Buffalo.

Quarterbacks
Chad Henne - Henne made his first NFL start the last time these teams met. He threw for just 115 yards and was sacked 6 times that day, but the Dolphins hardly needed him to do much. That trend has continued for much of the season, as Miami continues to rely heavily on the ground game. However, Henne has thrown 26 or more passes in five of his last six games. Many of those passes are of the short, underneath variety as Henne has averaged 6.4 yards per attempt or less in all but one of his starts. Expect that trend to continue, as well. He has done a nice job protecting the football, throwing just four interceptions and not losing a fumble over 218 pass attempts. On the other hand, he has just 6 touchdowns. Expect the Bills to force Henne into making plays, just don't expect him to make many big plays. He might not make many mistakes, though, either. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Ryan Fitzpatrick - Fitzpatrick looked much better against the Jaguars, although he was still amazingly erratic and inaccurate. The final numbers looked good (297 yards, 1 touchdown, 9.6 ypa) even if most of his passes didn't. Fitzpatrick continues to look downfield more than Trent Edwards ever dreamed of, and was finally able to get Terrell Owens involved. Lee Evans also caught a long touchdown that was negated by penalty. Expect those attempts to continue. I wouldn't expect 297 yards any time soon, or even 200 yards, but if he continues to throw it around, the big play potential is there. Fitzpatrick and the Bills get to face the 22nd ranked Dolphins' pass defense this week. With all that said, he still stinks as a starting quarterback and shouldn't even be a consideration for fantasy owners, especially those of you with playoff aspirations. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Running Backs
Ricky Williams - Is the holistic one the fantasy story of the year? Probably not, but he is one of the nice surprises for fantasy owners. With Ronnie Brown out for the season, Williams is going to be a huge part of the rest of the fantasy season. If you are lucky enough to have him for your playoff run, enjoy! Wiliams already has 10 touchdowns this year, has averaged 5.3 yards per carry and has even added 212 receiving yards. He also needs to average about 54 yards per game to have his first 1000 yard season since 2003. He's going to get that, barring injury, and is going to help a lot of fantasy teams win down the stretch. With the juicy Bills matchup, expect a big week out of him again this week. Even after holding Maurice Jones-Drew to just 66 yards on 25 carries this past week, don't expect that type of success for the Bills defense to continue. Williams had 85 yards and a touchdown in shared duty the first time around. Expect those numbers to go up this week. Verdict: Start 'Em

Marshawn Lynch - As of the time I'm writing this, it's unclear as to whether Lynch will play this Sunday. I'm going to say he is simply because we haven't heard of any major damage. Assuming he does give it a go, I wouldn't expect him to have big numbers again. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Fred Jackson sees more carries anyhow. The Dolphins are 12th in the NFL in run defense giving up about 106 yards per game. Lynch has been a major fantasy disappointment this year. I'd expect it to get worse before it gets better. Keep him benched until we see some signs of life out of him. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Fred Jackson - Jackson continues to see roughly 10-12 touches a game on offense. I would guess that number goes up this week with a banged up Lynch being questionable. If Lynch were to miss the game, Jackson is probably a solid RB2 this week. Remember late last season when Lynch was out and Jackson ran wild? Well forget about that. Other than Lee Evans, every single other starting player on offense is different. Don't expect a similar close to the season for him this year. BUT you can expect solid numbers, especially if he gets the full workload. If Lynch plays this week, I'd still consider Jackson a flex option as he seems to be getting involved in the passing game more, while continuing his kick return duties. Verdict: Start 'Em as a flex, and a RB2 if Lynch sits

Wide Receiver
Davone Bess - Bess leads the Dolphins with 46 receptions for 397 yards. When your leading receiver averages 8.6 yards per catch, it's safe to say none of these guys are startable. I actually really like Bess as a slot receiver in real life, but he's not a fantasy option and neither are his fellow Dolphin receivers. Bess does have 16 catches for 191 yards in his last three games, so he does have some PPR value. If you are stuck and need a guy to get you 6-8 points in your PPR league, Bess could be your guy. Other than that, don't start him or Ted Ginn, Brian Hartline and Greg Camarillo. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Lee Evans - Poor Evans. He lost out an amazing 53 yard touchdown catch last week because Jonathan Scott couldn't avoid the Three Stooges penalty. He finished with just one catch for 15 yards. Many people wanted to start Evans after his nice game the previous week against Tennessee and his solid production with Fitzpatrick under center before. Pity you folks. If there's one fantasy football mantra to follow, it's never start Lee Evans, ever! He will burn you. He has routinely hurt the Dolphins in the past, but again, don't. start. Lee. Evans. If he puts up big numbers on your bench, so be it. That means the Bills offense did something good and you didn't have to worry about whether he'd actually do anything in your starting lineup. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Terrell Owens - Welcome to the 2009 NFL season T.O.! You were missed. I really don't know what to make of his performance against Jacksonville. Is it a sign of things to come down the stretch, or is it just a blip on an otherwise quiet radar? Did the promotion of Perry Fewell to head coach mean anything for Owens? There are too many questions and too many useless performances from Owens this year to consider moving him back into your starting lineup. He is, however, back in the discussion. If Fewell's gameplans are to get Owens involved early and often, he could be one of the playoff heroes in fantasy football this year. It wouldn't surprise me if Owens were to have a nice finish to the season, I just want to see how he's used this week before recommending him again. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Tight Ends
Joey Haynos and Anthony Fasano - Both barely have 100 yards receiving on the season. They are barely a part of the Dolphins' passing game, they shouldn't be a part of yours. I'd rather start a Bills Tight End. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Shawn Nelson - Nelson made a beautiful catch over the top of the defender against Jacksonville, but again wasn't much of a factor overall. That should continue, although it'd be nice to try utilizing him more in the passing game. He's not even worth considering here. I'd rather start a Dolphins Tight End. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Kickers
Dan Carpenter - Carpenter has been rather good for Miami this year, connecting on 16 of his 17 field goal attempts. Against the Bills, he might be worth a spot start. As always, I'd be looking at a guy on a team with a better offense. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Rian Lindell - Lindell has also been quite good for Buffalo, hitting 17 of his 19 field goal attempts. Just like Carpenter, I'd be looking at a guy with a better offense. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Defense/Special Teams
Miami D/ST - This unit had four sacks and an interception last week against Carolina. Going against the sieve that is the Bills' OL and Ryan Fitzpatrick, those numbers look likely again. I wouldn't start them, though. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Buffalo D/ST - They sacked Henne six times in the first matchup, but don't go expecting that again. Expect a sack or two and maybe an interception. Injuries have ravaged this unit that was only mediocre to begin with. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Sleepers
None. Really, I don't see a surprise performance out of anyone in this game. It'll probably be a boring field goal contest with Ricky Williams running wild.

********

The Thanksgiving games have come and gone, so your Week 12 matchup is likely well under way. This Sunday will make or break a lot of fantasy seasons. Good luck and enjoy the games!

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!

Dolphins Mid-Season Review: Shifting expectations

Matty I — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:15:18 -0000

by Lynne Sladky - AP

Can this head coach/quarterback (Sparano/Henne) duo eventually do what the greatest head coach/quarterback (Shula/Marino) duo in team history couldn't do?

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We've officially hit the halfway point of the 2009 Miami Dolphins season and are now a season and a half into the Bill Parcells-Jeff Ireland-Tony Sparano era in Miami. Considering where we were when the "trifecta" took over, nobody should be disappointed about where this team is in terms of the long haul. With that said, of course, it's difficult to not be disappointed with Miami's current 3-5 record.

In this league, you are what your record says you are. That's generally true. But in the grand scheme of things, the Dolphins are much more than just an average run-of-the-mill 3-5 football team.

A shift in expectations

Entering the season, I was among the many who declared we wouldn't just be satisfied with an 8-8 or 9-7 season because of the "tougher schedule" the Dolphins faced in '09 as compared to '08. I wanted to be a playoff team once again and I honestly thought this team could pull it off. But lo and behold, wouldn't you know that it was indeed these "tough games" that have dug the Dolphins into a deep hole in the AFC playoff picture.

Now I'm not saying that I'm giving up on the playoffs in 2009. In fact, if the Dolphins take care of their next three games (against Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Buffalo) and they get a little help from New England's tougher opponents (@ Indianapolis and @ New Orleans), the Patriots could potentially be heading down to Miami on December 6 with a 7-4 record to face the 6-5 Dolphins. While those are a ton of "ifs" that must break in favor of Miami, it's not totally out of question.

With that said, my own personal expectations have shifted. I'm no longer as concerned with making the playoffs in 2009. If the Dolphins somehow pull it off and reach the postseason, that's terrific. But if they don't, that's fine too. Why? Because injuries and a lack of talent at critical positions have made me more concerned with developing this team for the long haul - not just for the immediate future.

The injuries to Chad Pennington and Will Allen, in particular, have changed what this season means to the Dolphins. I'd say that most fans would agree. But it's been these losses to teams like the Colts, Saints, and Patriots that have made me realize that this Dolphins team just isn't ready to really compete with their talent level. However, the strides that this franchise has made since the 2007 disaster are remarkable.

Integration of young players

Want to know why I'm not as distraught as some other Dolphin fans seem to be about this 3-5 season? It's because of how the Dolphins are setting themselves up for the future. The coaches are doing something that you don't see too often - they are trusting a number of rookies and young players. And the result is that we're seeing tangible reasons of why we should be excited for the future of this franchise.

First and foremost, there's Chad Henne. As you all know, I was squarely on the "start Chad Pennington" bandwagon all offseason long. While I hate to see what happened to CP - he deserves better but his body continually lets him down - letting Henne play and gain experience has been huge, and will continue to be huge, for this franchise. Ffor the first time in a long time, fans, coaches, and the front office can all be excited about the quarterback position. Folks, I really think we've found "our guy."

Has he been great? No. Has he been terrible? No. Has he shown flashes of greatness? Yes. Think back to just his second career start when Henne put together one of the best fourth quarters a young quarterback has put together in recent memory.

Does he have a lot to work on? Of course. His accuracy is shaky at times. He holds the ball too long sometimes. At times, he runs backwards when pressure is closing in - especially when he's pressured on those designed roll-outs.

At the same time, I've seen just as many positives. I've seen that strong rocket arm. I've seen some perfectly thrown balls. I've seen a toughness to hang in the pocket and deliver a pass with pressure bearing down on him. I've seen him get back up after taking a nasty shot in the pocker - like Sunday's "roughing the passer" hit by Patrick Chung. Most of all, I've seen the poise and mental toughness necessary to lead a team in hostile situations. Sure, against both the Saints and Patriots, Henne was unable to lead a game-winning or game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter. But both times, it wasn't because Henne failed. His teammates failed him.

There's a lot to like about Henne, that's for sure. But there are also other young players with a lot to like.

You got two rookie corners who are being trusted to start. And neither of them have played poorly. Both Sean Smith and Vontae Davis have had their ups and downs. But there have been more positives than negatives and they will only continue to get better. Over the long haul, the Dolphins are set with their starting cornerbacks.

The offensive line is also set for the foreseeable future. Only one starter, Jake Grove, is over 28 years old. And two, Jake Long and Donald Thomas, are only 24 and in just their second season. The way an offensive line gets better is by playing together for a long time, and that's what we're going to see in Miami over the next few seasons.

The defensive line also suddenly has a nice young core to build around. Kendall Langford, Phillip Merling, and Randy Starks all look like long-term contributors at defensive end for the Dolphins. And none of them are older than 25 years old (Starks). Tony McDaniel also looks like he could become a solid backup and he's only 24 himself.

The Dolphins also have other young contributors who could become major long-term factors. Chris Clemons and Tyrone Culver are two young safeties who will probably see more and more opportunities as the season goes on. Davone Bess and Brian Hartline are two young receivers who, ideally, would be very good complimentary receivers. Greg Camarillo is also relatively young and is looking more and more recovered from his knee surgery every week. I will continue to stand by my belief that Camarillo, once he's healthy, can be a starting #2 receiver in this league.

And let's not forget our favorite former CFL stand-out, pass rusher Cameron Wake. He's only 27 and has the potential to be a pass-rushing force for years to come. But he is still raw, which is probably why he hasn't seen the amount of snaps many would like him to see.

Clearly defined needs

One of the positives - if you can call it that - to come from Miami's 3-5 start has been how well defined this football team's needs have become. We all know what this team needs - some needs more pressing than others, of course.

Perhaps the most pressing need is at the wide receiver position. This offense will never be what it needs to be to get to that next level until they get a true "go-to" number one receiver. Opposing defenses have no reason to respect Miami's passing attack, allowing them to go all-out to stop the only real threat this offense has - their ground attack. But Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams will become less and less effective on the ground as teams continue to put eight, and sometimes even nine, in the box to shut them down. In all honesty, can you blame them? I'd do the same thing. None of these receivers would even scare me a little bit.

This need has been magnified even more the past few weeks, too. In their last two losses, the Dolphins have been within a touchdown and had possession of the ball with over three minutes left. But each time, the Dolphins failed to move the ball, thanks in large part to receivers who just can't make the plays necessary to win football games.

But there are other needs as well. The Dolphins need upgrades at both inside and outside linebacker. A play-making free safety is another obvious issue. And we saw on Sunday that Paul Soliai might not be anything better than a back-up nose tackle. He underwhelmed as a starter, replacing the injured and aging Jason Ferguson. So nose tackle is also a need.

See this team for what it is

As a fan, we all want to see our team win championships. Year in and year out, we all look through "aqua and orange colored glasses" and view our team as either championship caliber or playoff caliber. But let's be real - this team just isn't as talented as the league's elite teams. That's why it's so impressive that the Dolphins were able to play teams like the Colts, Saints, and Patriots and nearly knock them off. Is it frustrating to lose those games? Of course. But we need to see what these losses show.

The Dolphins played teams with superior talent and gave them all they can handle - with a number of rookies and second-year players being key contributors. That says a lot about where this team is.

It says a lot about this coaching staff. Say what you want about some of their questionable play-calling and their gameday decisions. But this staff knows how to prepare to play more talented football teams.

It also says a lot about the mental toughness of these players. Some young players will go into a shell and back down to the elite NFL teams. But not this group of guys. They battle. And they're only going to get better.

The future is bright, people. We just need to give this front office time to address those remaining needs and the young players on this team more time to mature. But we're clearly on the right path.

Sunday Fish Fry, Part I: This Chowda not "Dolphin Safe," but pulling in the nets no easy task

JohnHannahRules — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:34 -0000

More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP

New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather (31) with a pick-6 in London two weeks ago. Disciplined play from the safety position will be a key this week against Miami Dolphins. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

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Well friends, we're in it now. With the bye week in our rear-view, the true meat of the schedule is here. In what promises to be an absolutely brutal five week stretch, New England will face, in order: Dolphins, Colts, Jets, Saints and Dolphins. If that doesn't look like a sphincter-clenching run through the briar patch of the AFC, then you must know something about football that I don't. Or you're clueless and at this point I'm prepared to go with that. Other than the Steelers, the Pats will have played the class of the Conference by the time all is said and done, plus the best the NFC has to offer. Right now, we're 1-1 against better teams, with a squeaker over Baltimore and an overtime heart-breaker at Mile High (I hate playing in Denver).

High School, college or pro, the best teams discipline themselves to focus on only the next game. It is for the fan to agonize and prognosticate over what the future holds. But that's all part of the fun and the media are more than happy to help us along. Below the fold, I've swiped wholesale Tim Graham's first half/second half graph, analyzing the relative strength of schedules for the AFC East. Under the heading of "it figures," the 'Phins have the easiest road the playoffs. The hardest row to hoe belongs to your New England Patriots.

Take a gander, but this week we face the first game of our annual series against Miami. Since that's what's on the menu, let's get out our tartar sauce and lobster bibs and look at how to catch some Phish. Part I is a look at the Dolphins on offense and some of the challenges they pose.

(Note: Part I may also be the only part I get to, as I need to be on the road this weekend. But if it isn't, I'll be taking a look at the Miami defense in Part II.)

AFC strength of schedule: Weeks 9 through 17
Team	Opp. record	Opp. win pct.
New England Patriots	38-28	.576
Indianapolis Colts	38-29	.567
Kansas City Chiefs	35-31	.530
New York Jets	30-27	.526
Baltimore Ravens	34-31	.523
Houston Texans	29-28	.509
Oakland Raiders	29-28	.509
Denver Broncos	32-33	.492
Buffalo Bills	28-29	.491
Tennessee Titans	32-34	.485
Jacksonville Jaguars	32-25	.478
San Diego Chargers	31-34	.477
Pittsburgh Steelers	30-35	.462
Miami Dolphins	30-35	.462
Cleveland Browns	25-32	.439
Cincinnati Bengals	29-38	.433
AFC strength of schedule: Weeks 1 through 8
Team	Opp. record	Opp. win pct.
Cleveland Browns	38-20	.655
Miami Dolphins	33-19	.635
Tennessee Titans	32-19	.627
Oakland Raiders	34-25	.576
Cincinnati Bengals	29-22	.569
Baltimore Ravens	29-22	.569
Kansas City Chiefs	27-24	.529
Denver Broncos	26-25	.510
New York Jets	29-30	.492
Buffalo Bills	28-31	.475
San Diego Chargers	23-28	.451
Pittsburgh Steelers	23-28	.451
New England Patriots	22-29	.431
Houston Texans	25-34	.424
Jacksonville Jaguars	21-30	.411
Indianapolis Colts	17-33	.340

The two-headed monster: Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Coming out of Auburn, Ronnie Brown weighs 230 pounds. He's not slow, he doesn't shy away from contact and he's smart with the football. That's a good thing, because in the catPhish offense, he's the guy that makes ballhandling decisions. He'll throw, too. He's only 1 of 4 this year, but that one went for over 20 yards.

Unlike a team might do if it were running the 'cat as a gimmick, Miami will frequently pull quarterback Henne off the field altogether, rather than splitting him out wide. They do this for a couple of reasons: first, it discourages the corner blitz -- a quick way to stuff up the 'cat if you're asking a QB to get in the way. Second, because they trust Brown to throw the occasional pass, defenses can't load up against the run. They have to honor the pass at least a little bit.

That puts Brown on the field with Ricky Williams along with a full compliment of blockers.

The attraction of the single wing for most amateur teams that run it is the misdirection piece. It lets you move the ball effectively against bigger or faster defenses by using their superior ability against them. You can line up with a smaller line, or slower backs, and still grind out yards by getting defenders to chase players instead of staying home and playing their assignments. That's one way it works.

The other way it works is by taking that misdirection piece and complimenting it by smashing you in the mouth at the same time. That's what Miami does. As Vince Wilfork said, "They're not trying to trick you. They're going to try to run the ball." Their two-fisted, body-blow approach to running the ball is balanced with the much-maligned Ricky Williams.

I will say straight out: I am a fan of Ricky's. There are two reasons for this: First, when it came about that Ricky likes the reefer, the cry that went up condemning him was so loud and so strident that you'd have thought that he beat his girlfriend. Or obstructed a murder investigation. Or broke a teammate's jaw. Except all that he did was a) smoke weed and b) admit that maybe football isn't the most important thing in the world. In fact, it might not even be the most important thing in Ricky's world. Second, Ricky fought with and overcame social anxiety disorder, in public. So anything he does in the way of paying back the 'Phins on his contract, rehabilitating his image, or being a success, I'm willing to celebrate.

via blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com

Plus, he brings the wood. Ricky is averaging 5.4 yards per carry right now, more than he ever has. He's also catching the ball, with 15 receptions for an average of 12.3 yards per catch. As Belichick said, "I think either one of those backs could be the back for anybody." The Jets, the Saints and the 'Phins are the only teams that run more than they throw. They aren't fooling around.

The obvious implication is that you have to stop the run. At times, the Jets and the Saints had eight men in the box to do that. Can the Patriots follow suit, and will that work?

Phlying Phish: We all know Chad Henne is young. He's starting at least a year ahead of schedule, and he's struggling a little bit. But one thing that he has which Chad Pennington does not is a cannon. Henne can air it out if he gets the chance. We know our pass rush has been anemic, and we know that Miami has a good offensive line. Who is catching Henne's passes?

The Patriots match up well, in my opinion, against the Dolphins pass-catchers. The Dolphins' two leading receivers are Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo, with Ted Ginn Jr. in the number three slot. Ginn's troubles with route running and catching (you know, the two things receivers do) have been mentioned before. He's probably the most explosive return man in the East, though. Bess has had similar trouble of late, with two fumbles and a dropped ball in the last two games. Still, if Henne has a go-to wideout, it's probably Bess.

Don't sleep on Brian Hartline. He's only got 10 catches, but they've gone for 157 yards -- highest average on the team. He's the kind of gut-punch white slot receiver that always seems to kill us (see, Stokley, Brandon).

Patriot Pride: Defense used to be the name of the game in New England, forget what you heard from the press. During the second Super Bowl Run in 2003, New England enjoyed one of the finest defenses to play the modern game. That unit grew old as the offense matured and later days have seen lots of fireworks, but no championships. I believe the defensive side of the ball is on the way back.

There has been an enduring impression, created over the past few years, that the Patriots defensive backfield is weak. That is no longer true. I expect to see Brandon McGowan playing close to the line -- perhaps getting a "shadow Ricky" assignment -- in his key run support role. The Patriots will rotate corners through according to matchups, down and distance, and who seems to have the hot hand. I'm going to predict that UConn's own Darius Butler pulls down another pick and that Brandon Meriweather does at least one thing that blows your mind (in a good way).

That leaves the front of the house, and what is still something of a soft underbelly. I hope that someone shows that to the fellas, 'cause they're going to have to man up this week. If you grew up watching the Dolphins of Dan Marino, as I did, you'll remember a team with a questionable running attack and an erratic defense. Well, this is not your father's Miami Dolphins. These guys aren't going to carry the fight with the pass -- they want to run it down your throat.

The Patriots have been good against the run, but only when they're concentrating. The front 7 have yet to put together a complete game in that way, and every team we've played has seemingly had at least one drive where they ran through, over and around our guys. We can't have that this week, which makes it an even tougher time to lose Jarvis Green. Pryor, Wright and probably Brace are going to have to step up and match Wilfork and Warren.

I'm not worried about Mayo, but I am worried a bit about our outside linebackers. There isn't one among the five of them (Banta-Cain, Burgess, Ninkovich, Thomas and Woods) who hasn't had some trouble setting the edge this season. I think Ninkovich and Banta-Cain have been the most consistent in that regard, but maybe this is finally Thomas's week to show us the real deal. I hope so, because you don't want to see Ricky Williams get into the flat.

Special Note: Tyler Thigpen can throw and run, and Pat White can run and throw. If you're looking for the Dolphins to launch a surprise on the league by slashing the Pats like they did last year, I'd look for more passing out of the catPhish. White could be dangerous on some of Williams' sweep-style plays, particularly if he pulls up and chucks it. Vice versa for Thigpen out of Brown's customary slot. He's not averse to running outside the tackle.

Overall, I think this game will come down to our safeties. The Dolphins are going to break off their share of runs. The key will be to limit big plays and that goes to discipline in the middle of the secondary. Run-force is a critical role for the secondary as a whole, but a misdirection running attack is a great opening act for play-action passing. If Meriweather and McGowan can keep everybody on the same page while making their own correct reads, the Dolphins will eventually screw up. You can't win it all with a run game -- since the invention of the forward pass, no one has. Dan Henning has shown that he won't stick with it anyway, even if it's working. If our safeties have solid outings, we'll be able to keep the score down.

Then it will be up to our offense to hang up some points.

(For the record, I hadn't yet read Bruschi's Breakdown when I wrote this up. In it, he tips safety play as a key.)

Tale of two halves as Dolphins collapse in loss to Saints

Matty I — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:27:55 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey M. Boan - AP

I think this photo says it all. Darren Sharper would catch this ball off of Ted Ginn's hands and return it for a touchdown.

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With less than two minutes to go in the first half, it seemed like the Miami Dolphins were on their way to one of their best wins in years, holding a 24-3 lead over the undefeated New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately, football games require a full 60 minutes. The Dolphins put together an outstanding 28 minutes - followed by about 32 minutes of complete disaster - which is what makes this game so hard to swallow.

Defensive breakdowns in second half
Even after that disappointing end to the first half - which we'll get to in a little - the Dolphins still held a 14 point lead at halftime. But Miami's defense collapsed in the second half, allowing the Saints to just march up and down the field on seemingly every possession.

There are a number of places you can lay some blame for this loss. But the defense certainly has to get a lot of blame. They played so well in the first half only to allow 23 points and 317 yards on just 38 plays. Worse yet, the Dolphins surrendered 285 yards of offense and 9.83 yards per play over the final 20 minutes of the game. So while a lot of you will point the finger at others - who do deserve some blame as well - don't let an outstanding defensive first half taint your view of how this defense performed. The final quarter and a half was just disgusting.

What exactly was the problem? Some of it was probably execution and players not being where they were supposed to. That could explain why Saint receivers were running wide open down the field for much of the second half. Missed tackles were also a problem - such as Gibril Wilson's whiff on Reggie Bush on a key 3rd down. There was a lack of pressure on Drew Brees in the fourth quarter as well, which is not good. We saw in the first half how much consistent pressure on Brees makes him uncomfortable.

But the biggest issue might be what we don't know and likely will never know: did the Dolphins coaching staff go into halftime anticipating the adjustment New Orleans would make in the second half? During our live game thread, somebody said at halftime how it would be important to see how the Dolphins react to the halftime adjustments the Saints make on offense. That's hitting the nail right on the head. We won't ever know for sure - especially without being able to see the film. But there were clearly issues in the second half. We didn't see nearly the amount of receivers running wide open - especially over the middle - in the first half as we saw in the second.

Questionable play-calling a factor
I generally try not to harp too much on in-game play-calling because we simply don't know as much as the guys on the sidelines making the decisions. But it's impossible to not question a number of decisions regarding play-calling on Sunday.

Some will point to the play-calling on Miami's final possession of the first half as bad. Some will say Miami's decision to try passing on a 1st & 10 at NO's 40 yard line with 1:51 left was a bad decision - made worse by the screen pass to Davone Bess on the next play that resulted in a fumble. But let's be fair. If the Dolphins run the ball three times and then try a long field goal, many fans would be complaining about how conservative the Dolphins were playing it. Instead, the Dolphins were clearly going for seven before the half - the right move when you're facing a potent offense like the one the Dolphins faced on Sunday. Hindsight is always 20/20, though, and that's why some will probably complain about Miami's decision not to just run the ball and get into position for a long field goal.

However, a couple of possessions certainly deserve some criticism. The Dolphins' second possession of the 3rd quarter - the one following the Darren Sharper pick six - was terrible. If you have the top rushing offense in the league, it might be a good idea to run the football after your young quarterback, making only his 3rd career start, threw a pick six to cut your lead from 14 to 7. He might be a bit gun-shy. It might be a good idea to use your best offensive players - Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. But no - the Dolphins come out and go with three passes, resulting in a sack, a short completion, and an incompletion - a lovely little three and out.

The other possession that really bothers me was the one following Reggie Bush's touchdown to cut Miami's lead to 34-31. Again, the Dolphins should have attempted to get back to what they do best and run the football. Instead, the Dolphins go with three passes - all incompletions - and punt the football away. And they would never again have a possession where they weren't trailing.

Too many miscues
From missed tackles to blown coverages to penalties to dropped passes, the Dolphins made mistake after mistake to help aid the epic collapse on Sunday. You can't commit eight penalties - especially dumb penalties like personal fouls. Channing Crowder and Joey Porter each had one of those on Sunday. Porter, meanwhile, who is supposed to be a leader, left the locker room on Sunday without speaking with the media. Good leadership.

As far as drops go, there were a ton of them. Some of the bigger ones include Ted Ginn's drop on a beautifully placed ball on the first possession of the second half as well as Anthony Fasano's drop on a pass by Ronnie Brown. Ginn's drop resulted in an interception as Darren Sharper plucked the bobbled ball from the air and took it into the endzone. Fasano's drop would have been a 20+ yard gain and would have helped swing the momentum back a little.

But even after all those mistakes, the Dolphins still found themselves with the ball, needing a touchdown to win, and having 3:23 to accomplish that. But that drive had even more mistakes. On 2nd & 3, Ginn again dropped a pass - this time with nobody even bothering him. It would have been a first down plus a little extra. Luckily, Chad Henne connected with Greg Camarillo on the next play for a first down. But on the next play, Camarillo made the mistake of attempting to fumble the football out of bounds after a 7 yard reception. He was trying to get to the sideline to stop the clock, couldn't make it, and then then basically flung the ball towards the sideline as he fell - which is illegal and resulted in a penalty. After the game, Camarillo admitted that he was trying to do that and wouldn't do it differently now if he could. On the ensuing play, Ricky Williams dropped a pass in the flat that would have sent for a likely first down. And then on the very next play, Jake Grove was called for a false start - making a 3rd & 8 now a 3rd & 13.

That's not how you execute the two minute drill. And miscues like these cost the Dolphins a potential win over an unbeaten team on Sunday.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
The turning point of the game is pretty easy. The Dolphins had a 24-3 lead with less than two minutes to play in the 2nd quarter. That's when Brees and the Saints' offense got going, driving down the field and getting down to the one yard line in about a minute and a half - converting two third downs along the way. Then, following an official review, the Saints had the ball inside the one but were seemingly going to settle for a field goal before the half. That is, until Tony Sparano called an ill-advised timeout. That gave the Saints the time they needed to change their mind and go for the touchdown. The end result was Brees taking a QB sneak over the top and into the endzone for a touchdown.

Whether you want to call the turning point of the game the Davone Bess fumble that led to this possession, either of the 3rd down conversions by the Saints, or the timeout by Sparano - most probably agree that this possession was the turning point - and the beginning of a disgusting collapse.

QUICK HITS
Some more quick thoughts on this game:

Will Allen was lost for the season with a torn ACL. This is a big loss, but gives Vontae Davis and Sean Smith a great opportunity to both start and learn as much as possible on the fly.
Say what you want about Ted Ginn, the bottom line is we can't just get rid of him this year. Yes - he's far too inconsistent. But he's also the only deep threat this team has. Without him, opposing defenses have no reason to be worry about the long ball. If nothing else, he's still a necessary decoy until the Dolphins can find another deep threat. Also - wasn't it just last week many raved about him after making a huge play against the Jets?
I was disappointed with the offensive line today. They didn't play as well as they have in the run game and had issues protecting Chad Henne in the second half. Let's hope this was just a one-game issue.
Related the the OL problems, the Wildcat only gained 30 yards on 14 carries on Sunday.
I don't have a problem with Chad Henne's performance on Sunday. He hung tough in the pocket and did make some nice throws. But he also had his receivers drop at least five passes. He'll also learn a lot from this game once he goes back and watches the film. Now I'm anxious to see how he does in his first career road start next week against the Jets.
Jason Taylor - you still got it. I apologize.
I do love the safety blitz. Both Yeremiah Bell and Gibril Wilson seem to be very good blitzers. I hope to see more of that in the coming weeks.
Nathan Jones - who knew? He had his best game as a Dolphin. And now he will see even more snaps with the injury to Will Allen.