SB Nation - Dan Carpenter

Game Recap: Dolphins defeat Patriots, 22-21

MaPatsFan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:50:26 -0000

More photos » by Lynne Sladky - AP

11 days ago: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) sits on the bench in the closing minutes of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009. The Dolphins won 22-21. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

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Let's see... failure to convert in the RedZone...check. Failure to finish (ie: consistently score in the 2nd half)...check. Defensive backfield getting burned by what was to be considered an average passing offense...check. HoF QB throwing critical interceptions...check.

First, credit where credit is due. Miami did a good job of exploiting the mistakes made by this Patriots team and turning them around to their advantage. Behind most of the game, the Dolphins made big plays when they needed to and turned this game around for Miami. However, I am here to focus on the myriad of "fails" plaguing this New England Patriots team.

I normally can't stand columnist Ron Borges. He's cut from the same cloth as Dan Shaughnessy, which is to say they both hammer away at the team they're covering, claiming "the point everyone is missing...", in order to sound like the smartest guy in the room. I normally can't stand Borges, but in this column, I think he's right:

Years ago, Chuck Fairbanks said it best. "It’s not about X’s and O’s. It’s about Jimmys and Joes." For half a decade with the Pats people believed otherwise. In Bill We Trust became the motto, but does anyone honestly believe Bill Belichick forgot how to coach? A guy who has been watching game film since he was 6 now can’t break down film and discover a team’s weaknesses?

Bill Belichick didn't suddenly become stupid. He didn't wake up one morning with an IQ 50 points lower than what it was the day before. No, as Ron Borges claims, it's not about Belichick (at least, not all of it) but about the onfield talent. I haven't brought this up before, but it's been on my mind for the past few weeks or so: there's just not as many playmakers as there used to be. The players are simply not executing. Is the coaching staff showing them what to do? I would assume so; it's relatively the same staff as in previous years with the obvious exceptions of Scott Pioli and Josh McDaniels.

But if coaching were to be blamed, it would be in the Belichick player acquisition strategy. For years, Belichick has been known as a guy at the top of his game in finding "value" players, at piecing together a team with a sprinkle of seasoned vets as well as using later rounds in the draft to shore up the ranks for the future. But has this turned out to be the best approach for this team? Sure, Randy Moss and Wes Welker were brilliant moves, no question. Fred Taylor? The jury's still out as we need to see more playing time from him. But along with the brilliance have been some big whiffs, ones that have cost us dearly. Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs, Greg Lewis, Derrick Burgess, Adalius Thomas... all were relatively big money acquisitions that left this team digging into the young up-and-comers to fill the gaps.

Look in the past, at the years on the banners hanging at Gillette Stadium. You could name scores of big playmakers. Troy Brown, Corey Dillon, Deion Branch, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Rodney Harrison...all of them ready to step up when it was needed. Who do we have now? Wes Welker, Sebastian Vollmer (when he's playing), Julian Edelman (when he's playing). Who else?

Ok, enough of that. Let's get back to the debacle known as Patriots @ Dolphins. The whole is usually the sum of its parts. There's rarely one part that is the cause of a catastrophic failure. But, like a car, enough blown gaskets can seriously derail the vehicle.

4^th and 1 on Miami 6 - We could argue all day about whether or not to go for it on this 4^th and 1. I get the whole "play to win vs. play not to lose" argument. But I'm conservative. Unless you're about to lose the game if you don't score a touchdown, go for the field goal. But that's not what I consider to be the biggest gaff of that series. Brady hands the ball to Sammy Morris who encounters, guess what, a stacked Miami line. Why Brady didn't hand it off to Laurence Maroney, who was right behind Morris, is beyond. He had more room and could've a) built up a bigger head of steam or b) had a chance to choose another hole. And how about being creative? Maybe fake handoffs to the backs and slip it to Wes on a reverse? Welker can dodge cruise missiles never mind defensive backs.
2^nd and 5 on Miami 5 - With a running game that appears to be doing fairly well, what does Brady do? He tosses a floater to the right-hand corner of the endzone, forcing it to a blanketed Randy Moss. Miami's Vontae Davis makes a great play on a guy who has 5 inches on him and comes down with the pick. What does Randy do? He watches. How about, you know, KNOCKING THE BALL AWAY!!! Put in some effort, Randy.
Chad Henne's 51 yard march - After a failed NE series culminating in a desperate 4^th and 11, Chad Henne marched down the field to put Miami kicker Dan Carpenter in range; Carpenter nailed a 41 yarder to go up by 1. As mentioned above, where were the playmakers? Where were the guys coming up with big stops on defense? Henne did a great job of connecting with is receivers, something our defense couldn't prevent and our own offense couldn't do.
Final Brady interception - This may have aggravated me the most. Chances are it wouldn't have made a difference, but EAT THE BALL!!! Instead, Tom Terrific decides to, I don't know what, and Channing Crowder intercepts. That was not the Tom Brady I've come to "know". That was a desperate, rookie move. I hate to say it, but he looked like Mark Sanchez on that one.

Now that you're all depressed, let me leave you with some good cheer. In 2007, there was this 10-6 team who squeaked into the playoffs as a wildcard, won out in the playoffs by the hair on their chinny chin chin, and defeated an 18-0 juggernaut by 3 points to win the Super Bowl. Well, maybe that didn't cheer you up that much, but think about it this way: if they can do it, why can't we?

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.

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!

Big plays doom Dolphins as they fall to Patriots

Matty I — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:39:16 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

Note to Paul Pasqualoni: You might want to double-team Randy Moss. He's only one of the greatest receivers of all-time.

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A lot of people will likely want to focus on the negatives in the Dolphins 27-17 loss to the Patriots on Sunday. And I'll obviously highlight some of the more glaring ones myself. But let's not sell this team short. The Dolphins went up to New England and stood toe-to-toe with a team with superior talent. And despite everything that went down, the Dolphins had the football with three and a half minutes left in the game, needing only a touchdown to tie. That's not too shabby.

Of course, there are no m oral victories in the National Football League. And I think head coach Tony Sparano said it best:

"Close in this game just doesn't get it. That's why these guys have a lot of banners out there right now. They figure out a way to win those close games. From our end, we understand where we are right now."

"We're a good football team. We're really close to being a really good football team. But we've got to get it to turn.''

Let's talk about some of the story lines from Sunday's game.

Can we get a little pressure, people?
You will look at the box score from this game and see that the Dolphins registered two sacks. But even that figure is misleading. Personally, here's the important question to ask: did the Dolphins make Tom Brady uncomfortable at all in the pocket? The answer, obviously, is a resounding "no."

How many times did we have to sit and watch Brady sit in the pocket for three or four seconds? How many times did we see Brady have the time to stand tall in the pocket and pat the football two or three times before firing a completion to one of his receivers? Far too many times, folks. Far too many.

After the game, Sparano himself acknowledged that a lack of pressure on Brady was a huge problem. But he also explained why the Dolphins couldn't just continually blitz left and right like some were probably hoping to see.

"We need to have more pressure on the quarterback," Sparano said. "Against a guy like Tom Brady, you can't come out there and just blitz the guy. This ain't his first rodeo. You've got to be able to win some of these [one-on-one] deals. You've got to win some of these five-man rush situations. We've got to do a better job of getting pressure on the passer, period."

Randy Starks was among those who echoed Sparano's sentiments.

"He had far too much time sitting back there," said Starks. "When you have the one-on-one, you've got to win."

Reggie Torbor was another Dolphin who believes that a lack of pressure on Brady was a big problem. In fact, even Brady himself said after the game that he really didn't feel any pressure, telling the media:

"There weren't too many pressures or hits, or anything like that. I had a lot of time to sit back there and make the throws."

But for some reason, Joey Porter - whose mouth I might be beginning to grow tired of - doesn't think that anything was wrong with Miami's pass rush:

"As a team we got pressure on them. But not enough. We could have made more plays out there. But it wasn't the lack of pass rush why we lost the game."

Ugh! Of course the lack of a consistent pass rush wasn't the one reason why the Dolphins lost. But it's among the biggest reasons. If Joey honestly thinks that the Dolphins got enough pressure on Brady, then I think he needs to take some time off or something because he's delusional. His head coach, teammates, and even the opposing quarterback all agree that the Dolphins really didn't do a good job at all pressuring the passer. And in my humble opinion, the lack of consistent pressure was the single biggest defensive problem on Sunday.

The 'Wildcat' and 'WildPat'
You know, maybe this Pat White experiment has some hope after all? That's what many Dolphin fans - those who have doubted White - were left saying following Sunday's game in which we saw some extensive Pat White snaps.

While White is still yet to complete a pass, we saw the kind of play-making ability White has and the new wrinkle - the spread option - that White introduces into this offense. White had a dazzling 33 yard run on Miami's first touchdown drive. And that drive was capped by a Ricky Williams 15 yard touchdown run in which White took the snap and ran the option to the right side, executing a perfectly timed pitch to Ricky, who then did the rest by powering his way into the endzone to tie the game at 10.

If nothing else, this is just another wrinkle now that opposing defensive coordinators must prepare for when facing the Dolphins. But at its best, this new wrinkle has the potential to gain some of that elusive "chunk yardage" that this offense seems to have so much trouble gaining.

White actually looked comfortable running the ball, too. He showed good vision, terrific acceleration, and even some toughness when running between the tackles. It's enough to get me excited about what this new wrinkle could become as White progresses.

All told, White took eight snaps at quarterback. On those plays, the Dolphins gained 60 yards of offense - including 52 of the 80 yards gained on that first Miami touchdown drive. Not too shabby.

On the flip side, the 'Wildcat' wasn't very effective at all. The Dolphins gained just 11 yards on 10 'Wildcat' plays. But they did lose 11 on the attempted reverse pass in which Henne was sacked. So if you take that away - which is a high risk, high reward, kind of play - the 'Cat gained 18 yards on 9 snaps. It did score a touchdown, though, when Ronnie Brown threw a 1 yard pass to Joey Haynos. And I really like the potential of more 'Wildcat' snaps inside the red zone because of Ronnie's ability to accurately throw. But the 'Wildcat' was bottled up effectively for the third week in a row.

To be fair, though, the entire running game was bottled up due to the lack of any real passing attack. Ronnie and Ricky combined for just 81 yards and averaged only 3.68 yards per carry. So it's not so much that the 'Wildcat' is dead as it is Miami's inability to run the football right now due to defenses making it a priority to shut down the ground attack.

Passing continues to be an issue with mediocre receivers
Chad Henne's stat line wasn't terrible. Of course, 42 of those yards were garbage time passing yards. But even still, I like what I have seen out of Henne thus far.

Henne continues to impress with his arm strength. There's no question that he has a cannon. His accuracy is still off at times - but I see the number of inaccurate throws going down each week it seems, which is a positive sign. But most of all, I have been impressed with his poise and toughness in tight situations.

Take that final drive with the score 24-17, for example. In a hostile environment with the game on the line, all Henne did was put the ball right on the money on to two of his receivers. But, yet again, Miami's receivers failed to make the plays that must be made to knock off good football teams. Brian Hartline dropped what was a catchable ball and would have resulted in a first down. Then two plays later, it was Ted Ginn dropped a catchable ball that would have also resulted in a first down and extended that potential game-tying drive.

Was either catch an easy catch to make? No. But Henne put the football right where it had to be each time to give only his receiver a chance to make the catch. Both passes hit the receivers in their hands. Both catches have to be made.

But more than anything else, those two plays just emphasize what the Dolphins must address in the offseason. They need that true "go-to" receiver that good NFL teams have. They need to give their young (potential franchise) quarterback some help out there. All he can do is stand tough in the pocket and put the football right where it needs to be. He did that twice on a potential game-tying drive and his receivers failed him. It's that simple.

With all that said, Henne still has issues to iron out himself. For example, he can't run backwards when under immense pressure. He needs to learn to either throw the ball away or at least reduce the negative yardage by going down rather than backwards. Obviously, his use of that "fourth timeout" was costly in a crucial moment of the game - resulting in a five yard penalty. But even still, he showed the mental toughness to put that mistake behind him and make a throw to Ginn that a good receiver has to make.

The fact of the matter remains that the Dolphins simply don't have the receivers to get the job done. And until they do, this offense will struggle. Teams will key on the run - as we've seen these past three or four weeks - and will force Chad Henne to beat them. I think he has the talent to do so. But he needs his supporting cast to make some plays.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
The Dolphins had just put together a 16 play, 66 yard, 10 minute touchdown drive to take a 17-16 lead. Leave it to this defense to give the lead right back.

On the ensuing New England possession, on the third play of the drive, Tom Brady connected with Randy Moss on a crossing route - in which Brady had a ton of time throw - and Moss stiffed-armed Vontae Davis and was off to the races for a 71 yard touchdown. The Dolphins never recovered. Without question, that play was Sunday's turning point of the game.

QUICK HITS
Some more quick hit thoughts on Sunday's game:

I know the secondary didn't perform well today. But I'm very excited about the futures of Sean Smith and Vontae Davis. Vontae's interception was a spectacular play. And he even impressed Randy Moss, who said after the game about Vontae, "Look, I'm heading out of this league. You're coming in. You're going to be a good player. Keep working."
So why was Moss single-covered so much? Tony Sparano said after the game that "you can't double them all." And that's exactly it. When the Patriots have 5 guys going out in routes, the Dolphins don't have too many options. Should they have had a deep safety more often? Probably. But a deep safety doesn't help on Randy's 70 yard touchdown off of a crossing route. And Vontae was step for step with Randy on his first big reception. He just didn't get his head around quick enough and Randy made a terrific one-handed catch. What can you do?
The Dolphins converted 52% of their 3rd downs (9/17). That's pretty damn good.
Dan Carpenter continues to earn his "DC$" nickname. Anyone want to argue about it at this point?
Joey Haynos? Ain't nothing wrong with that. I want to see some more of him in the coming weeks.
I'm still not a fan of Ricky Williams taking the 'Wildcat' snap. I think I've seen enough of it. Ronnie just has a knack for it - let's stick to him as the 'Wildcat' orchestrator.
Did the Dolphins miss Jason Ferguson and Channing Crowder or were the Dolphins just too concerned about the pass? Either way, the Pats averaged 4.5 yards per carry on the ground. Not acceptable.
Still some questionable play-calling. But the thing is - if those play-calls work, nobody would be calling for Dan Henning's head like some were during the game. He's a genius if a play works; an idiot if it doesn't. Is that fair?
With that said, I HATED the quick screen to Davone Bess on a 3rd & 19. At least take a shot deep. In fact, why didn't we see at least one deep pass attempted during the game?
Last word about the "clock" controversy before halftime: it's not a controversy. When the football hit the ground on the incomplete pass, there was still one second left on the clock. Period. Sure, if it's in Miami, the operator would run that second off. But props to Gillette Stadium's clock operator for being alert and stopping the clock as soon as the ball hit the ground. That's a benefit of home field advantage. If the roles were reversed and we were at home, I'd hope our clock operator would be as alert.

FANTASY WEEKEND REPORT by Craig T

Niko Houllis — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:00:20 -0000

Craig T's FFH (we lied about the year established. Stolen via Google search. How's that for honesty.

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Our good buddy Craig T has his internet down, let me guess, Brighthouse? Remember when Brighthouse tried to make everyone think the NFL Network was the bad guy? Now BH is the only one that Doesnt have it. Heck, I get NFL Network on a sprint phone for goodness sake!! " You carry 8 shopping channels, but no NFL Network!!!"

Anyways..This message brought to you by Verizon's Fios. JK, ....

Take it away Craig T...

Welcome, BucEm fans, to what will be our weekly look at some fantasy football help some of you might be musing over. With 8 weeks down and 5 to go, many of you are likely jockeying for playoff berths, so let's get down to it...

QBs TO START (excluding weekly automatic starts P. Manning, Brady, Roethlisberger, Brees, B. Favre, A. Rodgers, and K. Warner)

1. Tony Romo @ PHI. 8 TDs, 0 INTs in last 3 and seeing field as well as anyone.

2. Matt Hasselbeck vs DET. Weak SEA running game + weak DET defense = big bounceback game for Hasselbeck.

3. Donovan McNabb vs. DAL. Like Romo, also seeing field well in what should be a game filled w points.

4. Philip Rivers @ NYG. Clicking V-Jack lately and has passed for not less than 249 yds this season. NYG defense still not right.

5. Matt Schaub @ IND. First time he and Andre Johnson have been on the field together vs IND since 2007.

Sleeper: Jason Campbell @ ATL. Yes, ugh, I know, but WAS is coming off a bye and ATL can't stop anybody through the air. Look for a solid, if not great, game from Campbell Sunday.

QBs TO SIT

1. Eli Manning vs SD. He's just not trustworthy since injuring his heel.

2. Matt Ryan vs WAS. Roddy White is iffy for the game and WAS pass defense has been solid this season. If you have a 2nd option, consider it.

3. Jake Delhomme @ NO. If you were considering Jake as a bye-week replacement, dig deeper for an option, such as Alex Smith or Campbell. Delhomme vs a turnover-minded defense like NO is a nightmare.

4. Jay Cutler vs ARI. Has hit 3 PaTDs only once since week one.

5. Kyle Orton vs PIT. Steeler D boosted by return of Polamalu.

RBs TO START (excluding C. Johnson, Gore, MJ-D, Turner, LT, SJax, AP, Forte, Ronnie Brown, B. Jacobs)

1. Ryan Grant @ TB. Duh.

2. Joseph Addai vs. HOU. Comeback player of year candidate has scored in 4 straight.

3. Ray Rice @ CIN. Now the guy in BAL, should be key piece of offense in a close game.

4. Marion Barber @ PHI. With trio of RBs, no longer an auto start, but still gets majority of carries and goalline touches and should be started when DAL offense is clicking like it is.

5. Pierre Thomas vs. CAR. Still the main guy in the backfield of the most explosive offense in football.

Sleeper: Jamaal Charles @ JAX. Did you see what Johnson and Titans did to this run defense last week? Charles will get majority of carries and should have a good chance to score.

RBs TO SIT

1. LeSean McCoy vs DAL. Westbrook back and Cowboys have been strong against the run.

2. Laurence Maroney vs MIA. Sammy Morris' return clouds backfield picture and MIA also solid vs run.

3. Cadillac Williams vs GB. GB ranks near the top of the NFL in rushing YPGA. Certainly you've got a better option.

4. Rashard Mendenhall @ DEN.

Denver ranks 3rd against run and Willie Parker to get some work as well.

5. Beanie Wells @ CHI. Still splitting 50/50 w/Hightower, and appears not to be getting majority of goalline carries. Maybe a flex play, but not RB2 material.

WRs TO START (excluding R. Wayne, A. Johnson, L. Fitzgerald, M. Colston, R. Moss, W. Welker, Desean Jackson, R. White, Calvin Johnson, H. Ward, Vincent Jackson, D. Bowe, B. Marshall, Ochocinco)

1. Santana Moss @ ATL. Falcons giving up yards in droves to opposing number 1 WRs. Moss on Grimes' backup should be a mismatch.

2. Miles Austin @ PHI. Ride him til he bucks ya.

3. Nate Burleson vs DET. Hasselbeck's main target should cash in Sunday.

4. Donald Driver @ TB. Bucs' secondary will get a stiff test Sunday, and Driver has been Rodgers' go to guy. Jennings also a solid play.

5. Kevin Walter @ IND. Should have more one on one matchups than Johnson and targets should increase with loss of Owen Daniels.

Sleeper: Steve Breaston @ CHI. In line for solid number of targets with Boldin re-aggravating his ankle.

WRs TO SIT

1. Ted Ginn, Jr @ NE. Don't be fooled by his 2 KRTD performance against NYJ... He still hasn't earned his starting WR spot back yet from Hartline/Bess.

2. Roy E. Williams @ PHI. I don't care that he scored last week. He stinks and doesn't have trust of his QB.

3. Eddie Royal vs PIT. Only receiver worth trusting right now is B. Marshall. Gaffney stealing some of Royal's targets.

4. Lance Moore vs CAR. Gimpy, may be a GTD. With Meachem and Henderson likely to get targets, consider better alternatives over Moore if you can.

5. Mario Manningham vs. SD. Manning spreading around the targets and is having a tough time throwing an accurate deep ball, which hurts a big play WR like double M.

TEs TO START (excluding Witten, Gates, Clark, V. Davis, Shockey, T. Gonzalez)

1. Brent Celek vs DAL. Even though DAL has been great at holding down opposing TEs, he's too valuable to this offense lately to sit.

2. Kevin Boss vs SD. Great underneath option for Manning, who's struggling to step up and make deep throws.

3. Fred Davis @ ATL. TE is a big part of WAS passing game, and Davis has the athletic ability of a WR.

4. Donald Lee vs. TB. Rodgers looks at TE in red zone often and matchup problems exist for Buccaneers. Sub in Jermichael Finley here if he's cleared to play.

5. Heath Miller @ DEN. With Denver's defense so tough against the run and in the red zone, Big Ben's go to guy in the red zone should get some scoring looks.

Sleeper: Ben Watson vs MIA. Scored in 2 of last 3 games.

TEs TO SIT

1. Brandon Pettigrew @ SEA. If you're looking for a bye-week filler, look elsewhere. Without Stafford healthy, Pettigrew is a forgotten part of the offense.

2. Kellen Winslow vs TB. Yea yea, Freeman's gotta throw it to somebody, but who can really tell who he'll connect with? If you've got another solid option, consider it until we see how he connects with K2.

3. Bo Scaife @ SF. Niners 3-4 defense matches up their athletic LBs very well with opposing TEs.

4. Todd Heap @ CIN. Good for 3 catches, 40-50 yds, and that is all.

5. Tony Scheffler vs PIT. Except for his big game against SD a few weeks ago, has done nothing this year.

5 KICKERS TO START:

1. Shaun Suisham @ ATL

2. David Akers @ DAL

3. Nate Kaeding @ NYG

4. Kris Brown @ IND

5. Shayne Graham vs BAL

5 KICKERS TO SIT:

1. Dan Carpenter @ NE

2. Jason Elam vs WAS

3. Olindo Mare vs DET

4. Robbie Gould vs ARI

5. John Kasay @ NO

5 DEFENSES WITH GOOD MATCHUPS:

1. PIT @ DEN

2. SEA vs DET

3. NO vs CAR

4. JAX vs KC

5. SF vs TEN

5 DEFENSES WITH TOUGH MATCHUPS:

1. DAL @ PHI

2. NYG vs SD

3. PHI vs DAL

4. MIA @ NE

5. ATL vs WAS

Big Fish: Jake Long Leads Miami Youth Movement

JohnHannahRules — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:33 -0000

by Bill Kostroun - AP

Miami Dolphins' Ted Ginn Jr. (Booo!) returns a kick for a touchdown against the New Jersey Jets (Yaaaay!) during the third quarter at Giants Stadium last Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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In the history of the NFL draft, only three offensive lineman have been picked first overall:

In 1968, the Minnesotta Vikings made young Ron Yary the first pick. Coming from Chicago by way of Cerritos Junior College and USC, Yary anchored the right side of the Vikings' line for 14 years. Over a 15 year NFL career, Yary missed only two games due to injury. He was a seven-time pro-bowl selectee and would be enshrined in Canton in 2001.

In 1997, Orlando Pace was taken in the first slot by the St. Louis Rams. Pace came roaring out of Ohio State as the hands-down best offensive lineman in that year's draft and, by some writerly lights, one of the best young tackles in a generation. Starting 13 games in his rookie year, Pace is now under a 3-year agreement with the Bears in this, his twelfth season. Like Yary, Pace has been selected to seven Pro Bowls and, like Yary, will one day be given a very ugly yellow jacket to go with a bronze bust of his head and a place in the Hall of Fame.

via assets.espn.go.com

Finally, in 2008 the Miami Dolphins made Jake Long from the University of Michigan the third offensive lineman chosen first overall. They also made him the highest paid offensive lineman in the game, with a five year, $57.75 million contract, $30 million guaranteed. He started immediately, helping to lead a resurgent Miami to an 11-5 record and the AFC East title. In his first year, he started every game and played in the Pro Bowl as an alternate selection.

Long's selection was the first big move by the Sparano-Parcells partnership, and it represented a commitment to youth that paid immediate dividends.

In all, the Dolphins have 24 players on their roster with two years or fewer in the NFL. And they play:

Chad Henne, QB; Davone Bess, WR; Donald Thomas, RG; Long; Brian Hartline, WR; Vontae Davis, CB; Kendall Langford, DE; Sean Smith, CB; Ted Ginn, WR/KR; and Dan Carpenter, K, all start or see significant playing time. That's half of the offense and a third of the defense, plus the kicker and a guy who, while he still can't seem to run routes or catch passes, managed to return two kickoffs 200 yards for two touchdowns in New Jersey last week.

In 2008 the Young Fins rode the surprising introduction of the so-called "Wildcat" to media acclaim though, as detailed by Cold, Hard Football Facts, it was pinpoint passing by underrated Chad Pennington that made it all hum. With a season-ending injury to Pennington (brittle hardly begins to cover it) the 2009 Wildcat has seemingly lost much of its bite. Miami stumbled out of the gate, dropping its first three in a row before beating hapless Buffalo and scoring two wins over the fraudulent New York Rex (thanks, gents).

These wobbles are perhaps to be expected from a young club with a young new leader, as it tries to sort its identity in a competitive division with inbred franchises that all hate each other. To be fair, the Dolphins have lost to some very respectable teams. The Falcons, the Colts and the Saints are not to be sniffed at. All three of those teams were pressed by the feisty Phish to their respective limits.

Anyone watching the tilt with the Saints will have been impressed by an opportunistic Miami defense and a spirited and resilient offensive unit. The "O" was at its best when Jake Long and company were paving roads with golden helmets and fleur-de-lis. Wildcat or pussycat, Miami's run game is legit. They average 4.5 yards per carry (5.4 when running the old single wing) and have racked up enough running yards to rank 4th overall. (New England's run defense is, shall we say, a bit porous at 14th league-wide.)

The Miami team that pressed New Orleans ripped into the Jets (in an odd scheduling arrangement, only two weeks after their first meeting) with special teams success, again led by a youngster -- this time Ted Ginn. Given the Patriots' uneven performance in coverage, it was a sobering sight. (Our coverage unit ranks 20th in average yards per opponent's return.)

Keeping with the youth movement in South Beach, we'd be remiss not to tip the tri-corner in the direction of Henne. He isn't lighting up the highlight reel by any stretch. But as a young guy who wasn't slated to start until 2010 at the earliest, he is settling into the role. His biggest trouble on the field has been a sustained case of the dropsies in the receiving corps. (Besides, Henne's all they've got before Pat White. White's a project for now, but don't sleep on him. He's got a rifle arm and in spite of all the yak about his potential as a runner, he's a more complete passer than people give him credit for.)

There is plenty of promise in the Sunshine state. Luckily for us, "promise" is a word which, like "potential," better describes what is missing than what is there. This young team is mistake-prone. Where it isn't young, it sadly lacks discipline. Joey Porter and Channing Crowder continue to lead the league in the "losing your cool and costing your team 15 yards at the worst possible time" category.

Perhaps more unsettling to the Phins Phaithful is the questionable play-calling and game management of Dan Henning, OC and playcaller for Tony Sparano's men. When then-65 year old Henning was fired by the Panthers following the 2006 - 2007 season, he was heavily criticized by fans and media for being overly conservative in his play-calling. In what might be considered a reaction against that label, Henning installed the single-wing in Miami. Ironically, it could be argued that this was the ultimate in conservatism, as the single-wing had its hey-day when Henning was in high school. Nevertheless, the catPhish have made for some exciting times and entertaining football. For a year at least it was also associated with winning football as Miami won the east.

This year, however, the Wildcat doesn't surprise anyone. It's still effective -- yielding a respectable 5.4 yards per carry -- but the shine is off the apple and no longer dazzling the eyes of the defense. With Pennington sidelined, the pinpoint passing of last year's run is largely gone, showing the difference between a leading game manager (Pennington) and a quarterback for whom the game must be managed (Henne).

Yet confusingly, Henning has kept the pattern fresh -- even when some regularity might be of help. Miami was giving New Orleans all the Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams it could handle and more. But as the second half dawned, Henning turned to his young gun, bizarrely engaging Pro-Bowler Brees in a shootout with a first year quarterback. He was in a back-alley brawl, bashing a flashy foe with two big bats, but he picked up a BB gun and dared Drew to draw: Dumb, Dan. (Needless to say, I gave him a "D.")

Nevertheless, there can be no denying that the Dolphins are stockpiling the young talent. Jake Long should be the poster-child for that movement, a brilliant draft choice and a very solid cornerstone for the franchise's future. As Henne develops, one thing he won't have to worry about is what's going on behind him. That's peace of mind worth paying for. The Miami youth movement will certainly pay dividends as the young shoots mature. But without the steady hand of old head Pennington, 2009 isn't looking like 2008.

Youth will be served, but not this Sunday: Patriots 28, Dolphins 13.

Bills Fantasy Friday: Week 4 Start 'Em/Sit 'Em

Kurupt — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:45:09 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

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Welcome back once again to Fantasy Friday here at Buffalo Rumblings. Last week was a complete failure for the Buffalo Bills, both on the field and for fantasy purposes. The only positive aspect of last week's loss to the New Orleans Saints was that Buffalo shut down Drew Brees, which many, including myself, figured wouldn't happen. Kudos to the Bills' defense for that.

On the offensive side of the ball, Fred Jackson was the only player with a pulse (excluding Josh Reed, who shouldn't matter for anyone's fantasy teams), putting up 97 yards on 22 touches. Lee Evans had his most active game of the year, with 4 catches for 31 yards, but that doesn't really say a whole lot. Terrell Owens threw up the fantasy no-no, a goose egg. Finally,Trent Edwards showed why you shouldn't expect him to be a consistent fantasy starter, or even someone you should consider starting on a week-to-week basis.

After last week's rough outing, the Bills can start anew this week against the hated Miami Dolphins. Join me after the jump for a look at this week's individual fantasy players of note for Bills at Dolphins:

Quarterback
Trent Edwards - Last week, he was Trentative Checkwards, as he finished with 156 yards passing, 1 interception and a putrid 4.5 yards per attempt. Let's hope he steps up this week and gets his game, and the offense, going. The Saints did an excellent job of harassing him, changing up coverages and bringing a variety of blitzes to confuse and fluster him all game. With a weak set of tackles blocking for him and a defensive-minded Dolphins team on the docket, expect them to try similar tactics. If the offensive line can hold up and give him some time, he could be in line for a pretty decent game. The Dolphins' pass defense is giving up 265 yards per game, has allowed 4 passing touchdown, hasn't registered an interception (knock on wood!) and opposing quarterbacks have posted a 103.3 QB rating. They've been susceptible to the big play, having allowed 11 passes of 20+ yards (third-most in the NFL) and 5 passes of 40+ yards (most in the NFL). Edwards and his receivers will have opportunities to put up some big plays this week, especially if Joey Porter isn't there to make his day miserable. I think he'll rebound from last week, take a few more shots down the field, and post some solid numbers once again. I don't think those numbers will be good enough to consider him a starter this week, or going forward. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Chad Henne - The former Michigan standout will be making his first career start this weekend. In relief of Chad Pennington last week against the Chargers, Henne played scared and was rather inaccurate. Perhaps due to nerves or inexperience, he just didn't look to go downfield, instead settling for his underneath checkdowns. Look for that to continue this week, although he should be more comfortable in going downfield some. I expect there to be some nerves and some poor throws, but he's got the talent to make things happen. I'm guessing Perry Fewell will try his darnedest to confuse Henne, so there should be mistakes. With Henne making his first NFL start, you better not have to consider starting him. If so, I'm sorry. He could be a nice option once he settles in, so keep an eye on his progress. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Running Backs
Fred Jackson - I listed him first for a reason; I expect him to get more than Marshawn Lynch this week, as Lynch will be making his season debut. Those touches will be earned, too. Jackson has been one of the best running backs in the league so far this season, as he is currently second in the NFL in total yards (141.7 ypg) to Tennessee's Chris Johnson. It's tough to take too many touches away from a guy who's been playing so well. With that said, this is a tough matchup for him and Lynch. The Dolphins have been extremely stout against the run so far this season, ranking third in the NFL in yards allowed per game (66.0) and yards per carry (3.0). I don't think he'll have a ton of success, but there's no reason to believe he can't get roughly 50-60 yards on 12-15 carries. The Dolphins struggled in the opener against RBs out of the backfield, as Falcons RBs finished with 8 catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. They've clamped down the past two games, allowing a total of just 4 receptions for 45 yards. Jackson will get his chances through the air, however, so expect the receptions to be there for those of you in PPR leagues. Verdict: Sit 'Em in default league, Start'Em as a flex in all or in PPR leagues.

Marshawn Lynch - Well, after a slew of bad injury news this week, Beast Mode's return gives us a positive going into Sunday. I know we all want him to explode onto the scene this week, but I just don't see it happening after a month of no contact or practices. He will get the start and probably see a lot of carries early to get him into the flow again. I don't see him getting more than 12-15 carries this week, so I'm guessing his numbers shouldn't exceed Jackson's there. He'll probably get the goal line carries again, so if the Bills can finally get inside the 5-yard line, Lynch will get the touchdown opportunities. Don't go expecting the moon from Lynch this week, but he could be a valuable flex option for those with that as part of your league. Verdict: Start'Em as a flex, Sit'Em in 2 RB leagues.

Ronnie Brown - With Henne making his first start, I fully expect Miami to continue running the ball early and often. Brown has been rather good this year, rushing for 254 yards, 2 touchdowns and 4.9 yards per carry. After allowing the Saints to run all over them last week, the Bills' defense could be ripe for the picking this week. The Dolphins run behind a good offensive line against a beat up and weary Bills defense. The Wildcat could be out in full force this week, as I'm expecting the Dolphins to roll out a few wrinkles this week, which includes some passes. Brown has thrown from the formation in the past, so be on the lookout for that this week. I think Brown will have a solid game, with the potential for a very good game, and will be a target for Henne as a checkdown option. Verdict: Start 'Em

Ricky Williams - Believe it or not, Williams has been a very viable fantasy option this season. He's rushed for 163 yards, at 4.8 yards a pop, and has totaled two touchdowns (1 each rushing and receiving). He's averaging 14 touches per game, so he's getting a fair share of the work. With a lot of good fantasy runners on bye this week (Brian Westbrook, Michael Turner, DeAngelo Williams) or banged up (LaDanian Tomlinson, Frank Gore, Marion Barber, Clinton Portis, Kevin Smith, Willie Parker), you may have to plug Williams into your lineup. I'd definitely consider him a solid flex option this week, and have no problem recommending him, even our against our beloved Bills. Verdict: Start 'Em as a flex.

Wide Receivers
Terrell Owens - I think it's safe to say T.O. is not a happy camper after getting shut out last week against the Saints. It's ridiculous that the team couldn't get him the ball, and didn't try to get it to him or Lee Evans more often. There's no doubt in my mind that Alex Van Pelt will be trying to get T.O. the ball early this week. He may be on the verge of losing Owens to a meltdown, and somewhat rightfully so, if another week goes by and he isn't involved much. It's about time Owens gets more slants, drags and even quick throws out to him if the defender plays off the line. As mentioned above, the Dolphins are susceptible to the big play, so expect some shots downfield to Owens again this week. Let's hope we finally connect early. T.O., you're on notice! I might be done suggesting you as a starter if you aren't productive again this week, even if it's not really your fault! Verdict: Start 'Em

Lee Evans - I know, I know. I've talked about how juicy a match-up this could be for our passing game, and Evans has simply dominated the Dolphins in the past (693 yards, 8 TD's in 10 career games), but I'm done recommending him. He's just too unreliable an option, even though I'd hardly say it's his fault. The offense just isn't designed to get him the ball that often, at least thus far. I'm on a full-out wait and see approach with Evans from here on out. Until he is used consistently, he'll be sitting on my bench (if I owned him). After talking about how I wouldn't even consider starting him this week, watch him go for 100+ and multiple touchdowns. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Josh Reed, Steve Johnson, Roscoe Parrish - Reed had some value last week, catching 6 balls for 60 yards, and has 10 catches for 106 yards over the last two games, but I find it hard to believe there aren't better options out there. If you play in a PPR league and are decimated by the bye week (say two or three of the following: Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Roddy White, Steve Smith, DeSean Jackson), you could consider him this week. It might not be a bad option considering he'll likely catch his normal 4-6 passes for around 50 yards. Take a chance if you have to, but I'm probably looking elsewhere. Verdict: Sit 'Em all.

Davone Bess - Bess is the Dolphins leading receiver thus far, hauling in 17 passes, but those have gained just 140 yards. He's a very good underneath option for Miami, and should be the top option for Henne. Henne targeted Bess 7 times, completing 5 of them for 39 yards, in a little more than a quarter of play last week. Not great, I know, but Henne only completed 10 passes and had 19 attempts, so Bess was obviously in his sights a good chunk of the time. I think Bess is a very solid play this week, especially in PPR leagues. He should be Henne's binky again this week, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Dolphins were a bit conservative in their passing game, keeping it short and underneath. Bess benefits from that, especially going against a Bills defense that has allowed the underneath route routinely. Remember, Bess had 9 catches for 74 yards in the Toronto game last year, so he's done it against the Bills before. Verdict: Sit 'Em in default leagues, Start'Em in PPR leagues.

Ted Ginn Jr. - I guess Dolphins fans don't like him all that much. As Bills fans, we don't like him either. Ginn had a very solid fantasy performance in Week 2 against the Colts, posting 11 catches for 108 yards (along with some costly drops). He only has 2 catches for 26 yards in the other two games, including a donut last week against San Diego. He torched us once last year, but I really can't see that happening again. I think he'll get involved more than he was last week, but I doubt we'll see him catch more than a handful of passes. He's always a threat to break one, so you always have that potential, but Ginn isn't a fantasy starter or option this week. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Greg Camarillo - Camarillo is a very underrated possession receiver, but hasn't done a whole lot so far this season, catching 7 passes for 44 yards. He was having a very good season last year (55 receptions for 613 yards in 11 games) before tearing his ACL. He seems to have lost his role as the underneath, checkdown option to Bess, but he could be in for more work this week with Henne. He shouldn't be owned, but might be a guy to keep an eye on if Bess or Ginn go down at some point this season. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Tight End
Derek Fine - Talk about getting more work in the passing game than he should... Fine had 9 targets from Edwards last week against New Orleans, turning those into 5 receptions for 34 yards. It was an average performance, highlighted by a couple of drops, but as Derek Schouman was before him, Fine will probably continue to be a prominent option for Edwards. That's probably not a great thing for the performance of our offense, but Fine could be a sneaky fantasy option at some point this season. We'll have to see how he is used once Shawn Nelson is healthy and whether he continues with the 9 or so targets a game, but the potential for 4-6 receptions a game is there. I'm sure you have much better TE options, but Fine is another guy to keep on an eye as the season progresses, even if he's not that great of a receiving option in real life. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Shawn Nelson - It sounds like Nelson might be available this week as he continues to recover from a sprained shoulder suffered in week 2. I'm guessing he continues in the role he was playing before he got hurt, which was the second TE used occasionally in the passing game. It'd be nice if we could give him all of Fine's targets in the passing game, but his below average blocking will keep him off the field for a good chunk of games. It'd be prudent to get him more involved soon though, so we shall see if he can develop quickly into a solid receiving threat. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Anthony Fasano - I've seen various fantasy "experts" suggest Fasano as a quality starting option this week. I just don't see it. He has a whopping 3 receptions for 11 yards so far this season, and it's unclear whether he'll be a favorite of Henne. Even with the Bills rolling with their backup safeties this week, I find it hard to suggest starting a guy who has done so little this year. He had a decent season last year, and was a good red zone option, so maybe the production will return. Let's see it first. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Kicker
Rian Lindell - Lindell is always a kicker who is more likely to kick FGs than extra points. He had 5 FGs in the first two games, but only had the one extra point last week. Against a stingy Dolphins rush defense, the Bills offense might continue their propensity to settle for FGs. In what very well could be a lower scoring affair, Lindell could be a useful option in fantasy this week. I always prefer kickers for top offenses, so look to those first, but it might be worth picking Lindell up to plug him into your line up this week. Verdict: Borderline Start 'Em

Dan Carpenter - Carpenter also had 5 FGs on the season, but just 4 extra points. However, with a QB making his first career start against a defense who's usually pretty stout in the red zone, Carpenter might be the Dolphins' best scoring threat this week. Like Lindell, he could make for a good plug and play this week. Again, take your chances. Verdict: Bordeline Start 'Em

Defense/Special Teams
Buffalo - Normally, against a quarterback making his first NFL start, I'd have no problem suggesting a team defense to go against them, even the Bills, but with all the injuries, I think it's worth it to look elsewhere. The return units have done nothing all season, as well. If you're stuck and need a defense, the Bills could make for a decent play, but I wouldn't expect a whole lot. Turnovers and sacks are still hard to come by for this team. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Miami - The Dolphins' defense hasn't been very good for fantasy purposes this year. They have yet to record an interception, have just 5 sacks, and have a lone fumble recovery. They need to show they can get it done before considering them for your starting defense. Verdict: Sit 'Em

Sleepers
Josh Reed - Gotta choose someone, right? As mentioned about him above, Reed could make for a good play in PPR leagues this week. If you could get a guaranteed 5 receptions for 55 yards out of a one-week fill-in, you'd take it, right? You could probably do worse.

Davone Bess - I'd be more inclined to start Bess if I were you. He has a pair of 7-reception games so far this young season, and was the apple of Henne's eye last week, so he could be in line for a pretty good performance. I think he'll put up better numbers than Reed, and definitely has the much better chance of reaching the end zone. Don't forget, he returns punts for the Dolphins too, and we all know how much the Bills love to punt.

Recap: Colts 27-Dolphins 23

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:53:01 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey M. Boan - AP

2 months ago: Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Pierre Garcon scores on a touchdown run during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins on Monday, Sept. 21, 2009, in Miami. The Colts defeated the Dolphins 27-23. (AP Photo/Jeffrey M. Boan)

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Lots of people make a big deal out of three statistics: Time of possession, running the ball, and stopping the run. Pundits, coaches, and fans alike talk endlessly about the need to control all three, often saying they are vital to any team winning a football game. But, as we have often said here in the past, these three statistics are highly over-rated.

This is a throwing league. If you can throw the ball and stop the throw, you will win. It's that simple.

Last night's game, coupled with the NY Giants beating the Dallas Cowboys the night before, prove that running the ball is a highly over-rated and over-valued statistic. You must throw the ball to score and win in this league.

Now, before I go into the details and who-done-whats of this wild and entertaining game at Landshark Stadium in Miami, let me clarify why throwing the ball and stopping the pass are more important than running the ball and stopping the run. This is a league built around quarterbacks and scoring TDs. Rules like enforced illegal contact, pass interference, and new low hit rules to protect the QB (aka, the "Brady rule") are all designed to make it easier, safer, and more entertaining to throw the ball than to run it. As ESPN's Ron Jaworski astutely says during just about every Monday Night Football telecast, Points come out of the passing game. And if you cannot score throwing it in this league, especially in the red zone, you are going to lose football games.

For the Dolphins last night, and the Cowboys the night before, both teams ran for well over 200 yards. They used a combination of both power and finesse to control the line of scrimmage. In the case of the Cowboys v. Giants, NY was unable to get a consistent running game going themselves, and running the ball is their bread and butter. They managed just 3.7 yards rushing to 8.7 for the Cowboys. The difference in the ball game was the net yards per passing play. The Giants averaged 8.7 yards a pass; the Cowboys 4.4, and several costly turnovers from QB Tony Romo. By the way, turnovers factor into yards per completion in passing statistics.

When you look at this stat in the Colts v. Dolphins contest, the average yards per pass jumps out at you like a land-walking shark with a laser cannon strapped to his back. Indy averaged 12.3 yards per pass; Miami a measly 4.7.

I'll type it one for time, and even throw some bold in just to be obnoxious: Running the ball is over-rated.

You must throw the ball effectively in this league to win. Anyone who says otherwise simply does not understand modern football. More breakdown after the jump.

The formula to "beat" the Colts is simple, according to Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano (an intelligent coach who seemed to whine and cry his way through the post-game press conference). The formula involves running the ball, controlling the clock, blah, blah, blah, blah. All are typical Bill Parcells keys to winning, and all are over-rated and out-dated, especially in the regular season. The Dolphins used conventional and "wildcat" formations to hold onto the football for over 45 minutes. They also converted 71% of their third downs, and limited the Colts to just one series (a three-and-out) in the third quarter.

The problem for Miami is the same problem everyone else has when they play "keep away" from the Colts: When you only average 4.8 yards per play and score just 23 points, you are not likely to beat a Peyton Manning-led team. Hell, you can't beat an Eli Manning-led team doing that.

With a Colts passing game averaging over 12 yards a competition and a running game averaging 5.5 a carry, Indy didn't need 45 minutes to score over 20-plus points. The first play from scrimmage in the ball game was an 80 yard bomb from Manning to Dallas Clark, who is now firmly established as the best TE in football. When Jason Witten or Antonio Gates can make an 80 yard TD like Clark's last night, call me. Until then, shut up with calling them "the best." Clark is the best, no doubt.

Indy was able to score quickly and efficiently, answering almost every Miami score with a score themselves. Indy took advantage of Miami's poor corner and safety play, gaining large chunks of yardage throwing over the middle to the TEs and on crossing routes. Indy also did a good job protecting Manning using only five or six blockers, while the Dolphins seemed to be in max protect all night. This also used a lot of TE motion to chip players like Freeney and Mathis.

Here are more key observations from the game:

Charlie Johnson played very well, and the Colts o-line overall was very good. 5.5 a rush against a very stout Miami defense is a step in the right direction.
Peyton Manning continues to show why he is the best QB in the league. You do not see teams try and play keep away from Tom Brady.
The Wild Cat offense gave the Colts fits all game long. Despite practicing all week for it, the Colts looked lost, confused, and frustrated by it. Tackling was piss poor, and both Ed Johnson and Antonio Johnson were routinely blown off the ball. They simply did not know what to do.
Tim Jennings was hot and cold all night. One second, he makes a great tackle on a run play. The next, he's giving ten yard cushions to Ten Ginn Jr. on a 3rd and 7.
Gary Brackett seemed to hurt his knee late in the fourth quarter. I pray to God he is OK.
Pierre Garcon is one fast dude. He outran the entire Dolphins defense on that screen TD pass from Manning.
Adam Vinatieri is money. And yes, he called bank.
The Colts did not commit a turnover on offense and committed only one offensive penalty (5 yards), which they overcame. Outstanding!
Colts special teams outplayed the Dolphins. Playing "keep away" can work against the Colts, but only if the opponent's special teams play very well (see San Diego Chargers in the playoffs last year). Miami was unable to really pin the Colts using their kicking game, and Indy's coverage units played well all night. Miami's Dan Carpenter also missed a crucial 49 yard FG badly in the third quarter.

Now, all that said, Indy's "formula" for winning cannot sustain. The Colts simply must do a better job stopping the run if they want to have any kind of meaningful success this year. However, four other teams rushed for over 200 yards on their opponents this past weekend, and only one of those teams won (the 49ers). So, before people start pressing the run defense panic button, just know that a stout defense like the Giants got run over as well. Yet, like the Colts, they still won. Indy has good DTs, excellent coaches, and a strong system. Their run defense will improve.

The positives you can take away are that the offensive line played brilliantly, Adam Vinatieri seems healthy enough to make clutch kicks, and Manning is god. Also, young receivers Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie stepped up big while Miami double covered Reggie Wayne all night. Joseph Addai averaged 5.5 a carry, and made several strong runs on first down. And rookie Donald Brown looked like he was shot from a cannon on his fourth quarter TD run off a draw play.

As always, great job by Matty I and the Dolphins fans at The Phinsider. Check their post-game recap here.

Unlike last year, our team is 2-0 and looks ready to improve. Props to Jim Caldwell, who got his first road victory as a head coach, and to Peyton Manning, who passed John Unitas as the all-time "winner" at QB for the Colts.

Go Colts!

Colts vs Dolphins boxscore

Colts vs Dolphins coverage

Poll

Week Two game balls go to...

QB Peyton Manning: 303 yards, 2 TDs, all on 13 completions

521 votes

RB Donald Brown: 26 yards rushing on 4 attempts, 1 TD

11 votes

WR Pierre Garcon: 1 catch, 48 yards, 1 TD

23 votes

TE Dallas Clark: 7 catches, 183 yards, 1 TD

349 votes

K Adam Vinatieri: 2 clutch FGs from over 40 yards

11 votes

DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis: 2 sacks, numerous pressures

12 votes

LB Clint Session: 9 tackles

7 votes

934 votes | Poll has closed

Defense lets down Dolphins in 27-23 loss to Colts

Matty I — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:28:16 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

Indianapolis Colts' Jacob Lacey (27) applies pressure as Miami Dolphins Ted Ginn Jr. (19) misses a pass in the end zone during the fourth quarter.

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It had the makings of what could have been a great night for the Miami Dolphins. The offense ran the football for over 230 yards. They converted 15 of 21 3rd downs (71%). They had the ball for over 45 minutes. But in the end, it was the defense that just couldn't get the job done. And now the Dolphins will have to come off of a heart-breaking Monday night loss and travel to San Diego to avoid going to 0-3 in this young season.

Let's talk about some of the headlines.

Want to play the blame game? Then blame the defense
There's no way around this. You can point to a couple examples of how the offense might have cost the Dolphins the game. But most of the blame goes squarely on the play of the defense. Peyton Manning just had a field day - throwing for 303 yards on just 14 completions. That's a whopping 21.6 yards per completion for Manning. All total, the Colts ran 35 plays in the entire game and averaged over 10 yards per play. That's just ridiculous.

Most of the blame for the defensive struggles has to go to the Dolphins' safeties. Gibril Wilson missed tackle after tackle. There's no excuse for missing the tackle on Dallas Clark on the first play of the game and turning a 35 yard pass completion into an 80 yard touchdown. Wilson was also trucked by rookie RB Donald Brown as he steam-rolled into the endzone for his touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The linebackers get some blame as well. Basically anyone that even attempted to cover Dallas Clark shares some responsibility. Clark caught 7 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. And to a certain extent, you have to blame the coaches. There were a couple of plays where Channing Crowder was matched up on Clark - which is a total mismatch. Most linebackers wouldn't be able to cover Clark one-on-one - let alone Crowder, who isn't exactly speedy. Crowder was also asked to cover Donald Brown on his big 24 yard reception to help set up that field goal attempt right before halftime. You can't put Akin Ayodele and Channing Crowder in those kinds of situations - especially asking them to cover Clark, who is essentially a bigger wide receiver more so than a tight end.

On the plus side, the Dolphins actually limited Reggie Wayne to just 3 catches for 37 yards. But this is why we talked so much about the tight end than the receivers this week. I'm no worried about the cornerbacks. They played pretty well. But this team simply can't cover athletic tight ends at all - which is going to be a season-long problem. The Dolphins still have to face Antonio Gates, Dustin Keller (twice), Ben Watson (twice), and Jeremy Shockey to just name a few.

The pass rush was also non-existent, which was a major problem. Peyton Manning was never rushed at all - even when the Dolphins did try to blitz. And then on the biggest play of the game, the Dolphins showed blitz way too early, let Manning read it and change the play, and the result was a WR screen to Pierre Garcon for a 48 yard touchdown. There's no reason why the Dolphins didn't change their defense when Manning changed the play - or at least try to disguise the blitz a little bit better. That's basic football. If I was playing the Madden video game, I would have done exactly what Manning did. Once the ball was snapped, there was nothing the secondary could do - they were beat before the snap ever took place.

Defensively, all I can say is that at least Sean Smith and Will Allen had pretty solid games.

Don't blame the offense
I can't believe the people out there who want to sit here and blame the offense for this loss. The Dolphins held the ball for over 45 minutes and piled up over 400 yards of total offense. They converted 71% of their 3rd downs and did almost everything they were asked.

The running game was outstanding. Ronnie Brown showed how good he can be when he gets a little blocking out there. He shows patience for the hole to open, then can explode, runs hard through tackles, and gets extra yardage. Ricky Williams showed that he's still got it. And the offensive line was outstanding - both in the running game and in pass protection. They dominated in the trenches.

And that brings me to Ted Ginn - who, for some reason, is getting the blame for the loss. So let's talk about those two touchdown catches he almost made. Yes - the first one he probably should have had. It seemed like he slowed down at the end of the play because he thought he had less room in the back of the endzone than he really had. And yes, he "alligator-armed" it. But it certainly wasn't an easy catch. And perhaps the ball could have been thrown a little better.

The second "near-catch" is the one most are talking about - the one in the endzone with under a minute left. Did Teddy get both hands on the ball? Yes. But he also had a corner draped all over him - to the point where it was borderline pass interference. But more importantly - here's the question you ask yourself. If Ginn makes that catch, do we all go nuts about how amazing of a catch it is? If you answered "yes" then I don't see how you can get on him for not making it. You can't have it both ways and say that while it would have been an amazing catch if he caught it, it's a terrible drop of a bass he should have caught since he didn't.

In reality, I expect Randy Moss or Andre Johnson to make that catch. And I'd be disappointed if one of those two were on my team and they didn't make the catch. But I don't expect that from Ted Ginn because he isn't as good as those two. So let's be real here for a second. I'm disappointed he dropped it, of course. But Ginn is what he is - a 5'11 quality #2 receiver. Just because he's forced to be our #1 receiver due to lack of talent doesn't mean he'll actually play like one. He dropped the pass - deal with it. The offense shouldn't have even been in that position to begin with.

Terrible time management.
So you have 3 minutes to go 82 yards to win the game with 2 timeouts in your pocket. So you run the ball on first down, take a timeout because the play clock is winding down, and then run it again on second down? Seriously? Suddenly you go from 3:13 left at your own 18 yard line with 2 timeouts remaining to the two minute warning at your 24 yard line an only 1 timeout. Terrible. That might be the worst 1:13 seconds I've ever seen in terms of play-calling and clock management.

Speaking of play-calling, you also have to wonder about the QB sneak with 50 seconds left on 3rd & 1 from Indy's 46. That seems like the perfect time to take a shot down the field and then worry about the 1 yard on 4th down if it gets to that point. No matter whose decision it was to do that - Chad Pennington's on the field or the coaching staff's on the sidelines - it was a poor decision.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME
It would be easy to declare Garcon's touchdown as the turning point of the game. But I don't think it was. I think the turning point was the Colts' drive following Ronnie Brown's 3 yard touchdown to put the Dolphins ahead 20-13. The crowd was into it as the Dolphins held a 7 point fourth quarter lead. And then the Colts march right down the field and go 71 yards in 6 plays for a touchdown to tie the game back up. That drive - highlighted by a 49 yard completion to Dallas Clark, was the turning point of the game.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?
This week the honor could go to a lot of people. But I'm going to highlight just one player - and one play - because it seems like it's the most obvious bad decision of the game. Following the last Colts touchdown, what in the world was Patrick Cobbs thinking taking the kickoff out of the endzone? It was six or seven yards deep into the endzone and Cobbs isn't exactly known for his speed? Not surprisingly, he doesn't even get back to the 20. Just a bad decision and a risk not worth taking.

QUICK HITS
Some other quick thoughts from this disappointing loss:

One play-call that had me up in arms was the decision by Dan Henning to run the football on that 3rd & 6 play from Indy's 30 with just over 4 minutes left. Field goals don't beat Peyton Manning. Why play the game scared? Chad Pennington was on fire on 3rd down tonight. Let him put it in the air and try to pick up the six yards. Don't get conservative after calling a great game all game long.
Enough with the Pat White package for now. All it's doing is killing momentum.
Here's something to think about - the Dolphins only punted one time in the entire game.
I thought Gibril Wilson could at least tackle. I guess not. How did he lead all safeties in tackles last year when he misses tackles all over the place?
For all of his faults, 7 of Ted Ginn's 11 receptions resulted in 3rd or 4th down conversions. That's impressive.
Much improved kick coverage on Monday night headed by Lex Hilliard and Erik Walden. The Colts averaged just 18 yards per kick return.
If you want to play the "what might have been" game - what might have been if Dan Carpenter doesn't miss that one FG and Adam Vinatieri misses his FG that hit the crossbar? Or - for that matter - what if Tony McDaniel doesn't ge called for encroachment and give Indy five extra yards during the final first half drive? Or what if Gibril Wilson does something right and makes the interception in the final moments of the first half rather than let the ball slip out when he comes to the ground? Yes - lots of "what if" moments.
I do love the 'Wildcat' - it went for 107 yards on 12 plays. Happy Birthday to the 'Cat!