Category: Post Game

Tannehill takes control, leads Dolphins over Jags 24-3

Dec. 17 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins were determined to get back to winning on their home field.  Yesterday, they did just that.  After a slow start, the Dolphins turned up the heat on defense and the offense started to show some life.  The Dolphins defense surrendered a field goal on the Jaguars opening drive.  However,  the Dolphins defenders dominated the rest of the game and kept the Jaguars from scoring another point the rest of the way.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Offensively, the Dolphins answered the Jaguars field goal with one of their own.  The Jags defense stalled on the following drive, giving the Dolphins offense the ball back.  With the score tied 3-3, Jason Babin provided the Jags with good field position on his strip-sack-fumble.  Chad Henne and the Jaguars offense stalled again and were stuffed on 4th and 1.  The Dolphins offense used that spark and never looked back.  The Dolphins went on to score 21 unanswered points on 2 touchdowns, a 2 point conversion, and a couple of Dan Carpenter field goals.

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Dolphins show they aren’t ready for prime time with 19-14 loss to Bills

Nov. 16 Post Game

Two weeks ago, the Miami Dolphins were 4-3 and fans were talking about the possibility of the playoffs….Two weeks ago, the Dolphins players looked like they were buying into Joe Philbin’s system and philosophies….Two weeks ago, Ryan Tannehill was proving doubters wrong, posting 85+ QB ratings week after week…..Two weeks ago, the Dolphins were headed to Indianapolis to take on the Colts and the winner would improve to 5-3…..Two weeks ago, the Dolphins had hope.

What a difference two weeks makes, huh?  The Dolphins that have showed up the last 3 games have looked nothing like the team that went on a 3 game winning streak.  The Dolphins are turning the ball over on offense, not creating turnovers on defense, not stopping the run, not blocking anyone, and their rookie quarterback has looked like a rookie quarterback.

Last night, the Dolphins offense through the first 3 and a half quarters made the NY Jets offense look like the Greatest Show on Turf, Rams team.  The Dolphins offense was so bad that they failed to convert a 3rd down through the air or on the ground until the 4th quarter.  For 3 quarters, their longest drive lasted all of 5 plays. The defense, to their credit, shut the Bills out in the second half.  The Dolphins had 2 chances with the ball late, but both drives ended with Ryan Tannehill interceptions.  The Dolphins fell too far behind and their comeback effort was too little, too late.  The Bills held on for a 19-14 win and moved into a tie with the Dolphins for second place in the AFC East at 4-6.

What I liked

Marcus Thigpen – Thigpen broke a 96 yard kick return for a touchdown in the first quarter. At the time, I had hoped that this would wake up the sluggish Dolphins team that fell behind 10-0 early.  Thigpen has now returned a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown this season and is really one of the only players on the Dolphins playing well right now.

Rashad Jones – Jones led the Dolphins with 14 tackles last night. His play this season has been much improved from the last few years. He needs to create more turnovers in the passing game, but he has been solid against the run.  However, it speaks volumes when your leading tackler on defense is the furthest guy from the ball when it’s snapped.  Jones made a ton of tackles, but I’d rather see Burnett or Dansby leading the team.

Situational Defense – The Dolphins defense that hasn’t been able to get off the field on 3rd downs, turned things around last night.  They held the Bills to just 2 conversions on twelve 3rd down opportunities.  That’s a stark improvement from recent weeks.  The Dolphins red zone defense also did a great job, keeping the Bills offense out of the end zone the entire game.  The Bills were 0-4 in the red zone and had to settle for field goals each time.

Brandon Fields – You know we’re stretching for positives when Brandon Fields is on the list.  Fields did a good job last night, averaging just under 50 yards per punt, with 2 of his 6 punts downed inside of the Bills’ 20 yard line.

Davone Bess’ TD Grab – Davone Bess caught the Dolphins only offensive touchdown of the game by doing a great job of keeping 2 feet in bounds, while falling.  The play was initially ruled incomplete, but the Dolphins challenged and it was overturned.  Great play by Bess.  (cont’d on page 2, click below)

Bush benched, Tannehill erratic, Defense lifeless in loss to Titans

Nov. 13 Post Game, Uncategorized

The Miami Dolphins did not show up on Sunday against the Titans. Quite simply, the Dolphins came out flat and stayed that way throughout the game. Where was the Dolphins dominant rushing defense? Where was the efficient quarterback play? Where was the turnover free football that has helped the Dolphins of late? None of it was present on Sunday. I’ll apologize now, as I’m still on vacation, so this will be an abbreviated recap. But here is what I liked and what I didn’t in the Dolphins 37-3 loss to the Titans.

What I liked

Lamar Miller – I know, I know, he only got playing time because Reggie Bush was benched. However, you can’t help but get a little excited every time this guy touches the football. He ran 3 times for 12 yards and caught 2 balls for 13, so his action was limited. But, you can see the home run potential in this kid.

Brian Hartline – Hartline showed up again catching 8 balls for 79 yards. He didn’t catch a touchdown, but he caught balls in traffic and also showed the ability to get open. He’s proving people wrong, but must have more production in the touchdown department.

Ryan Tannehill’s hustle – On his 3rd interception of the day, Tannehill didn’t give up and tackled the Titans’ defender before he could get into the endzone, in a game that was already a blowout. I’m sure that part of it was frustration, but it was nice to see Tannehill hustling down the field to make a touchdown saving tackle.

Sadly, that’s all I could salvage as far as ‘likes’ goes for Sunday’s game. The Dolphins came out flat and played flat the entire game. I was in attendance and I know that people are down on the South Floirda faithful. However, people were just looking for something to cheer for; But the team didn’t give us ANYTHING to cheer for on Sunday. (cont’d on page 2, click below)

Dolphins defense bends AND breaks versus Colts in 23-20 loss

Nov. 05 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins entered Sunday’s game with a chance to move into a first place tie in the AFC East.  The Dolphins did a good job in the first half, their offense was moving the ball and scoring points.  The Dolphins defense was allowing rookie Andrew Luck to move the ball, but limited the Colts to just 13 points (thanks in part to 2 missed Adam Viniteri field goals).  However, in the second half, the Dolphins offense faded and managed to score just 3 points, while the defense allowed the Colts to put up 10 points en route to their 23-20 victory.

Quite honestly, the Dolphins did not deserve to win this game. Their defense played very poorly and their offensive line was harassed by Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney all day long.  The Dolphins did not turn the football over, but they did not have the balanced  offensive attack that had helped them win 3 straight games.  The Dolphins threw the ball 40 times and ran the ball just 18.  That is not the type of offensive balance you need when  you have a rookie quarterback, especially one that is injured.

What I liked

Ryan Tannehill – Tannehill’s performance will go mostly unnoticed because the Dolphins lost and Andrew Luck had the highest rookie passing yardage total every (433 yards).  All Tannehill did was complete 22 of 38 passes for 290 yards, 1 TD for a 90.9 QB Rating.  That’s not bad for a rookie quarterback who was running for his life most of the day a week after hyperextending his knee and having his thigh bruised.  At one point in the 4th quarter, as the defense continued to give up yards like they were Halloween Candy, I said that Tannehill would have to put this game on his back if the Dolphins were to win.  Unfortunately, the late drive in the 4th quarter came up short.

Overall, you have to like the toughness Tannehill showed as he continued to get up after taking some vicious shots from the Colts defenders.  The kid is tough.  This season, as much as we want to see the Dolphins make the playoffs, is about Tannehill continuing to improve.  He’s doing just that.  We’re all mad that the Dolphins aren’t 5-3, but remember that this is about building around a franchise QB that is only going to get better with experience.

Reggie Bush’s TD Run – Reggie Bush’s 18 yard touchdown run brought back memories of Barry Sanders in his prime.  Initially, the play looked like a short gainer, but as Bush headed to the left, so did 3 Colts defenders…..Bush cut on a dime with a jump stop to the right and left the Colts defenders in his dust.  On his way to the end zone he juked another Colts defender before walking in standing up.  Great run by Reggie, we need to see more of that!

Olivier Vernon, Special Team’s Ace – I’m calling out Vernon on special teams here because the guy is a beat on the field goal/punt block units.  He blocked another field goal yesterday, jumping over the center and deflecting Adam Viniteri’s second field goal attempt.  I can’t just say that I like Vernon overall because he was invisible when rushing the passer yesterday.  If he wants to be a full time player in the NFL, he needs to work on his pass rushing.

Brian Hartline – Hartline caught 8 balls for 107 yards in a losing effort.  It was nice to see Hartline get back into the gameplan for the Dolphins.  He needs to continue to be the security blanket for Ryan Tannehill.  Hartline made a great move and catch on the 35 yard hookup from Tannehill, early in the game.   (cont’d on page 2, click below)

Dolphins do their talking on the field and crush Jets 30-9

Oct. 29 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins listened to all of the noise that came out of New York this week.  For the most part, the Dolphins did not retaliate with more trash talking, except for Mike Pouncey, who put Aaron Maybin in his place.  By the way, Maybin didn’t record a tackle in Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.  He still have only 1 more tackle than me on the season.  The Dolphins decided to let their play do the talking…..and boy did it ever.

The Dolphins took their opening possession down the field and jumped out to an early 3-0 lead.  The Dolphins then recovered a surprise onside kick.  Shortly after, Ryan Tannehill was sacked and hit on the quad/knee and forced to leave the game.  The Dolphins would punt and pin the Jets deep.  The defense then  forced a 3 and out from the Jets offense and forced them to punt from deep in their own territory.  Tim Tebow was in punt protection and when the Dolphins brought the house, forcing Tebow to block 2 men. he didn’t and Jimmy Wilson blocked the punt, allowing Olivier Vernon to pick it up in the endzone for a touchdown.

From there, the Dolphins stepped on the gas pedal and didn’t let up, cruising to a 30-9 victory over the trash talking, hated, stinking Jets.  MetLife Stadium started clearing out in the 3rd quarter.  There were even ‘Tebow’ chants at one point.  Overall, it was a glorious day to be a Dolphins fan!

What I liked

Matt Moore – Moore relieved Tannehill and did a great job leading the Dolphins to the victory.  Moore finished the day completing 11 of 19 passes for 131 yards and a TD for a 96.6 QB rating.  Moore might be the best backup QB in football, which is why I don’t think the Dolphins will trade him before the trade deadline on Tuesday.  Before the talk even begins, there should be NO quarterback controversy.  Ryan Tannehill is the Dolphins starter. Period.

Dolphins Defense - The Dolphins defense held the Jets to just 9 points, caused 2 turnovers, and sacked Mark Sanchez 4 times.  The statistics show that the Dolphins allowed 363 yards of total offense to the Jets and 5.0 yards per carry to the Jets running game.  However, this game was out of hand early and the Dolphins played ‘bend but don’t break’ defense for most of the second half.  Great job applying pressure to Mark Sanchez and stopping the running game early.  Sanchez attempted 54 passes, but completed just over 50% of them. (cont’d on page 2, click below)

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Tannehill has his best day yet, Dolphins move into tie for 1st place

Oct. 15 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins never came out and said that this was a rebuilding year.  However, after the Dolphins drafted Ryan Tannehill with the #8 pick in the draft and decided to start him, most wrote off the Dolphins 2012 season to a rebuilding year.  The Dolphins front office also made moves that were geared more towards the future than for the present.  The Dolphins traded away Brandon Marshall for 2- 3rd round picks and then Vontae Davis for a 2nd rounder.  The front office was building the team around young players and fans thought they could only look towards the future.

While all of this was going on, the Dolphins continued to say that they were re-tooling, not rebuilding.  The Dolphins players, to their credit, have played hard under coach Joe Philbin.  The Dolphins players are out to win football games and many are not signed through 2013, so they have to make the most out of this season.  Players like Sean Smith, Reggie Bush, Randy Starks, and Jake Long are playing out the last year of their contract, so they all hope to have impressive 2012 seasons.

On Sunday, the Dolphins did something that many people didn’t think was possible; They moved into a tie for 1st place in the AFC East with their 17-14 win over the Rams.  Yes, it’s only week 6. And yes, after next week the Dolphins will be knocked out of first place (The Jets play the Patriots, so one will improve to 4-3).  However, Dolphins fans have to be happy with what they are seeing out of their team. Many will even point out that if Dan Carpenter hits a couple of kicks in weeks 3 and 4, the Dolphins could be 5-1. He didn’t, so they’re not.  BUT, they are playing better football than they were at the beginning of the season and they seem to be learning how to finish games.

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Dolphins defense dominates as Tannehill continues to improve in win over Bengals

Oct. 08 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins held 7 point leads in the 4th quarter of their last two games and ultimately ended up losing in overtime.  The Dolphins again held a 7 point lead again on Sunday in the 4th quarter.  However, this time, Dolphins were finally able to close out a game against an opponent.  The Dolphins fell behind the Bengals early on Sunday, but were able to make big stops after costly turnovers. Combine that with the fact that Ryan Tannehill did not turn the ball over and you have happy Dolphins fans everywhere this morning.  Here’s a look inside the Dolphins locker room after the game.

What I liked

- Dolphins Defense - The Dolphins were without Richard Marshall for Sundays game and Nolan Carroll missed a good portion of the 2nd/3rd quarters because of an injury.  This left Sean Smith, the Dolphins starting safeties, and young, inexperienced cornerbacks to take on AJ Green and the talented Bengals receivers.  The Dolphins defense really impressed me early in the game when they limited the Bengals to just 6 points off of 2 turnovers.  6-0 is a lot more reasonable than 14-0 and the defense should be commended for limiting the damage.

The Dolphins defense also did a great job on AJ Green, limiting him to 9 catches for only 65 yards and 1 TD.  Once Green caught the ball, the Dolphins tackled him.  Twice, they forced Green to fumble the football, although he recovered the ball himself each time.  Sean Smith did a good job on Larry Fitzgerald last week and did a good job this week on Green.  Randy Starks came up with a pretty awesome interception and was a force on the defensive line.  Rashad Jones had a really good game and sealed the win with his interception of Andy Daulton with 1:22 left in the 4th quarter.  Finally, this defense put it’s foot on an opponents throat and finished a game the right way.

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Tannehill, Dolphins impressive, but come up short in loss to Cardinals

Oct. 01 Post Game

Give the Miami Dolphins credit, they’re playing hard.  But, the Dolphins are young and need to figure out how to finish games.  That goes for the Dolphins players as well as the Dolphins coaching staff.  The Dolphins dominated the Cardinals in the first half of Sunday’s game, taking a 13-0 lead.  Granted, the Dolphins lead at the half should have been much larger.    The Cardinals trimmed the Dolphins lead to 13-7 before taking the lead 14-13 in the 4th quarter.  After the Cardinals took the lead, Ryan Tannehill hit Brian Hartline for an 80 yard TD pass to give the Dolphins 21-14 lead (after the 2 point conversion).

Unfortunately, the Dolphins defense that was so dominant early in the game, allowed Kevin Kolb to hit Andre Roberts for a touchdown pass on 4th and 10 from the Dolphins 15 yard line.  This tied the game and the Dolphins headed to overtime for the 2nd straight week.  The Dolphins lost the toss, but the defense forced a punt.  The offense started to move the ball, but then Ryan Tannehill was hit while he threw, the pass fluttered, and was picked up.  That set up the game winning Jay Feely field goal in overtime.

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Dolphins’ Coach and Kicker to blame for loss to Jets

Sep. 24 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins entered Sunday’s game with hopes of improve to 2-1 on the season.  For a portion of the game, the Dolphins outplayed the Jets.  BUT, crucial mistakes by the Dolphins coaching staff and former Pro Bowl kicker, ultimately cost the Dolphins that victory.  Watching the game on Sunday felt like a roller coaster…but it felt like a roller coaster I’d been on before.  The Dolphins once against managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.  AND, like many other times, they did it to themselves.

Let’s start the festivities today, talking about Joe Philbin.  Philbin is a rookie head coach and quite frankly, he’s making decisions ‘in-game’ that are hurting the team, not helping them.  When Philbin was named Dolphins coach, Dolphins fans were excited because they knew that Philbin helped create the offensive powerhouse that was the Green Bay Packers.  We thought the Dolphins would be an attacking, aggressive offense.  Through 3 Dolphins games, do we still feel that way?  What I saw on Sunday was a coach that was scared and a coach that played not to lose instead of trying to win.

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Dolphins’ starters struggle in 23-17 loss to Panthers

Aug. 18 Post Game

The Miami Dolphins underwent a lot of change this offseason. Most thought that the changes that were made would pay dividends rather quickly. Well, if last night’s performance was any indication of how the 2012 season will go, more changes will be needed.  The Dolphins starting offense and defense BOTH looked pretty terrible against the Panthers.  The offense went 3 and out in almost every series in the first half.  The defense?  They gave up 17 points and were pushed around by Cam Newton and the Panthers.

The big story entering the game revolved around Ryan Tannehill getting his first career start.  The results?  Tannehill went 11 of 23 for 100 yards.  He didn’t throw a touchdown, but did lead the Dolphins to a 15 play touchdown drive.  Also important, he didn’t turn the ball over.  Through 2 games, Tannehill has not turned the ball over, which is a good sign.  Honestly though, it is hard to evaluate Tannehill properly based on last night’s game.  His Dolphins teammates didn’t do much to help him.  Anthony Fasano dropped an easy pass early on.  Jonathan Martin did a great Marc Colombo impression and almost got Tannehill killed a few times.   Matt Moore came in against the Panthers 2nd/3rd team defense and went just 5-15 for 57 yards.  Neither QB separated himself from the other in the QB battle.

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