Watching the game today, I couldn't help but notice how these two teams matched up talent wise. They play similar brands of football, but they are going in completely opposite directions. Miami, just one year removed from a 1-15 season, is playing for their proverbial lives every week, scraping and clawing their way towards a playoff spot. St. Louis appears to be a team in disarray, falling further down the ladder in a weak NFC West. Miami found a way to win, with a defense rising to the occasion when it mattered most. St. Louis found a way to lose, with Marc Bulger throwing interceptions at the worst possible time. Some folks will rightfully claim that we won this game ugly; they are correct. What gets lost in that analysis, however, is that this is a team coming off a 1 win season. Here we are, in late November, and talking about the Dolphins as playoff contenders. There's no denying that this team has holes, that's obvious. What gets lost in the discussion is how far this team has come in such a short time. I'm so excited to watch this team every Sunday. They may not blow every team out, but they do find a way to win. What I liked Perhaps the most telling aspect of this game was how calm I felt as I watched the fourth quarter unfold. In previous games, such as New England last week, I've often found myself highly excited as I watch the game action unfold. That really didn't happen for me today - I felt confident we would find a way to win, and we did. That's another sign of maturity for this team, and really for me as a fan. It felt like we were in control today, despite the fact that we maybe didn't play our best ball of the season. Defense Rising to the Occasion - Any time that your defense does not allow the opposition to score a touchdown, you should find yourself in a position to win the game. Today was no exception, as our defense, shredded last week against New England, made just enough plays to find a way to win. We again used the corner blitz with success, particularly in the second half. We made just enough plays (today, interceptions) to close the game out and ensure that we put another W in the win column. It was a nice rebound game for a defense that needed a performance like this after last week. No Camarillo? No Problem! - We got a glimpse of life without Greg Camarillo in today's game. Ted Ginn and Davone Bess both rose to the occasion, making key plays on third down and coming up with catches. Ginn still suffers from the dropped pass every once in a while, but he's explosive enough (and resilient enough) for us to continue to target him. The passing game looked decent today, but there were times when Camarillo's absence was felt. We are missing that guy that moves the chains, especially on third downs. It looks like we will be able to continue without #83, but we aren't the same team that we were when he was healthy. Calm, Cool, and Collected - Despite playing average football throughout the game, the Dolphins never appeared to lose their heads out there. After last week's meltdown against the Patriots, that's a good sign. While the team didn't come out and blow the doors out against the Rams, they also didn't allow themselves to look too far in the rear view. I've said it before, but it's worth noting again. This is a well coached team. While they didn't look like world beaters, they also didn't allow themselves to give a game away to a Rams team desperate for a win. What I Didn't Like We always seemed to be starting behind the proverbial 8 ball today, as our drives started inside the 25 yard line routinely (9 out of 11 drives, or 82% of the time), and our average field position was terrible (21 yard line). It's tough to generate consistency offensively when you are constantly starting so deep in your own territory. This isn't necessarily an indictment of the return game; St. Louis has a good punter and even better kicker, so perhaps poor field position was to be expected. Either way, it really seemed like we were always starting our drives deep in our own territory. New England Hangover - It really seemed like we suffered from a New England effect throughout the game, especially throughout the first quarter and into the early second quarter. It didn't help that we lost Smiley to what appeared to be a serious leg injury early in the game. Throughout the game, the team appeared flat (it was even noticed by the CBS announcers), and it looked, for all intents and purposes, as if we were playing down to the level of our competition. Sam called this a trap game in his Manifesto - I have to agree with him, this really looked like a textbook definition. St. Louis marched all over us in the first half, we were lucky they could not punch it in the end zone. We also played more undisciplined than usual, with penalties absolutely crippling us in the early going. Even the normally reliable Jake Long looked mortal today, as more often than not Chris Long got the best of him, particularly in passing situations. Where's Ronnie? - 15 touches for Ronnie Brown simply isn't going to cut it. By my count, we only used the Wildcat formation twice in the entire game. Brown had a very quiet day, particularly in the second half. I have heard that Brown had bruised ribs (suffered on the TD run), so that may account for his lack of involvement. However, if he was healthy, and simply not used, then it's a questionable decision that I don't really understand. Poor Play From the Linebackers - Ayodele's interception aside, our linebackers really didn't do much today. Both Crowder and Ayodele allowed too many rushing yards, particulary in the first half. Matt Roth had a couple of nice stops, but looked slow and stiff when being asked to cover backs out of the backfield (as he has all year). Joey Porter was doubled at times, but also didn't do a lot in generating pressure on Bulger. This unit could use an infusion of talent (such as Clint Scintim) during the offseason, and I wouldn't be shocked to see 2 or even 3 starters replaced by the start of the season next year. Gameballs of the Week Lousaka Polite - It won't show on the stat sheet, but I'd make the argument that Polite was our MVP of the game. Every team needs a short yardage specialist and it's becoming increasingly clear that Polite is ours. He had two key first downs on our last offensive series, helping to extend the game and bleed out the clock. Polite is reliable as a runner, and underrated as a blocker. He's been a great mid-season addition. Davone Bess - With Greg Camarillo out for the season, someone had to step up and make some plays. Today that person was Davone Bess, who looked comfortable in the offense and made six catches for 84 yards, including a key 37 yard reception in the second half. Bess has put together back-to-back games of 80+ yards receiving. He has been a key contributor for this team, an UDFA that now finds himself starting. I'm really excited that we have this guy on our team. Kendall Langford & Phillip Merling - After hitting the rookie wall a few weeks ago, Kendall Langford and Phillip Merling both rose to the occasion and made some big plays today. Langford had several tackles behind the line of scrimmage, while Merling had a nice tipped pass late in the first half. They've been a bit inconsistent as of late, but today both these rookies had very good games. Yeremiah Bell - If Bell had hands at all, he'd be garnering Pro Bowl consideration. I think Bell fills a nice role on this team, he's reliable and consistent week in and week out. I'd love to see him resigned, but I'm concerned he is going to demand elite money, and we aren't willing to pay elite money for his services. He's a solidly good player, but he's still been an injury-prone SS that can't catch. I wouldn't be surprised to see him walk, and for us to replace him with a cheaper option (such as Roy Williams). Goats of the Week We played this game not to win, but to not lose. While we didn't make a lot of mistakes (only one turnover), we also didn't do a lot to win the game, either. We couldn't generate or sustain a pass rush, but at the same point we couldn't get up big on a below average Rams team. I'm happy that we won, but I'm concerned that we didn't do more against this opponent today. Joey Thomas - Jason Allen was mysterious inactive (FFG stated in chat that it was a hand injury in practice keeping him out), which meant that the Dolphins were forced to turn to recently signed Joey Thomas as our nickel cornerback. Thomas was targeted early and often, getting turned around and beaten throughout the game. Aside from Camarillo, Jason Allen's absence hurt possibly the most in this game, as Joey Thomas simply was not very good out there. Here's hoping that Allen is recovered enough to play against Buffalo next week. Joey Porter - One tackles and zero sacks for Joey Porter today. Sure, St. Louis schemed against him in the game, but Porter really did nothing of note. We moved him around, blitzing him from both the left side and the right side, but he couldn't get free. Disappointing day for #55. Anthony Fasano & David Martin - With Camarillo injured, I was disappointed that our tight ends were unable to make any kind of an impact today, particularly in the passing game. We really could have used plays from them on third down and in the red zone. Both Fasano and Martin have tapered off this year, after starting strong and showing progress at the beginning of the year. Overall Thoughts This game could be described as a businesslike effort, as the team made just enough plays to win. That could be due to the fact that the team played so hard against New England last week, and also could be due to the fact that they were looking forward to Buffalo next week. It was a close game, but lacked the excitement and energy that we've seen in other games this year. On the one hand, I'm happy that we won, but on the other hand, I'm concerned with how flat we looked today. It's still a win though, and that's the important thing. Buffalo lost today as well, so our slim playoff hopes are still alive. Next week Miami faces another "must win" situation in Toronto against the Bills. We played well against the Bills in our previous outing, and I see no reason for a let down next week. It's a home game for the Bills, but it's also in a dome. Trent Edwards missed time due to a groin injury, and it's possible that J.P. Losman will get the nod next week. Smiley looks as though he may miss time due to a serious injury, which doesn't bode well against the Bills physical DTs. I expect it to be a close game, but I also expect Miami to come home with a win.
Thanks for the writeup. I still can't give out GOATS unless we lose, or they effed up pretty bad (back to back PIs, game changing fumbles etc.). But hey, it's your writeup!
good write up VO.The Ronnie Brown thing has become frustrating to watch. Why he doesn't get more touches I don't understand.
great writeup as usual VO. Bess was outstanding for us today, can't say enough about him and how quickly he's come along. Ronnie... NEEDS the ball. Nice job done again by pennington as well which nobody seems to be mentioning Also, lousaka polite. I agree 100%. he's come up big for us in several short yardage situations since being signed.
During the game chat Finfangirl said she got a text stating he had bruised ribs after the TD run. That would make sense as to why his carries dropped off in the second half.
In the end of the game, after CP takes a knee, you see Longs high five each other and give each other a hug..if you recoreded the game you cna watch em do it right after Chaddy takes a knee. Nice to see good sportsmanship.
I saw that immediately. They're friends, going through a common struggle. Lots of people wrote off Chris Long early because he wasn't make much noise, but he seems to be a damn good rookie with potential. He didn't get a sack on CP through Long but his motor was noticed throughout. What ever happened to Gholston btw.
Good writeup with one critique. I really don't think that Miami is going to replace 3/4ths of the LB core, Yeremiah Bell, Vernon Carey, drop Andre Goodman and bench Matt Roth. We're not going to destroy the team just because some players aren't perfect. I agree we need a new SOLB, but one bad game from the LBs at stopping the run isn't the end of the world. As for Buffalo, the key will be to find a way to avoid their very good DTs and hit off tackle on the left as well as the right. Their OLBs are fairly mediocre. Pos is fairly good but not Ray Lewis or anything out there. If you can get past the DTs you can run on these guys. I don't know how well Whitner will play but it'll help Buffalo having him back.
Odin.........RB got more carries today then he has average for the year. They should be trying to get RB and RW the ball more on screens.As much as i didn't like Cam........... after the 1st two games last year he showed he did know how to get RB the ball.
Good points, but I think that Satele is going to get destroyed again next week, and no Smiley on top of that. Less running, more Chad.
Screens are dump offs often are a great way to get a team with a struggling offensive line significant yardage and create those 2nd and 5s we seem to thrive on. The Patriots in 2003 did something very similar utilizing Troy Brown, David Givens, and especially Kevin Faulk to make up for their deficient running game. A number of dump offs to Ronnie Brown should tax the Bills fairly decent but more or less average LBing core. It also gives us a way to tire out those DTs. Those types of plays are most effective when you have an enclosed environment and that's where we'll be playing fortunately.
Two things...first, for this team right now, every game is a must win...we don't hold any tie breakers (although we may against NE if (a big if) we beat both the jills and jests), but either way, every game from here on out is a must win unless someone like NE, Baltimore or Indy waver... And second, as much as I've liked Bess' contributions, does anyone else get the feeling that if this guy learns to make the first guy miss, he'd be fantastic ?? There are just too many plays where the first guy tackles him or trips him up...if we can get him in space....but we haven't been able to do that with any of our WRs all season long...Also, I'm a little concerned that he takes a lot of big hits...he's a really small guy and somewhere along the line those hits will catch up to him...
I totally agree about the TEs, but I don't know who the blame should go to here...is it their fault for not getting open, Henning's fault for not calling their number, Chad's fault for not throwing their way or the O line's fault for sucking so bad that they have to keep the TEs in more often?
Great write up VO. IMHO, bring in Chad was the key for this roll we have been on. He is always cool and calm and it trickles down to the rest of the offense.
what baffles me most about the use of Ronnie is why we dont run the screen with him more... hes great at executing the screen, as is Satele... i dont know if its that our guards aren't efficient at it or what, but id like to see us run that more...