Miami Dolphins Win Behind Solid "O" & "D"

The Miami Dolphins used a strong offensive performance and a strong defensive performance to notch their first win of the season. A 38-10 drumming of the Buffalo Bills. The win marked a number of firsts for a team that has played to 3 consecutive heartbreaking defeats until today.

For Chad Henne, the sophomore back-up QB, his debut start was also his first win as professional. Henne completed 14 of 22 passes for 122 yards but it was his poise under tremendous pressure that stood out. Henne took 6 sacks but threw no interceptions. Most notably, his downfield tosses finally pulled the stacked defense off the line of scrimmage. Henne was visably angry after one sack and wasted no time letting his offensive line know about. Henne also threw the first passing TD of the season for the Dolphins to rookie WR Brian Hartline…who of course notched his first NFL grab for a score.

The Dolphins also saw their first round investment, Vontae’ Davis make his first INT of his career, and then saunter downfield with the ball for his first TD as well. The combination of Davis and fellow rookie Sean Smith effectively shut down high-profile WR Terrell Owens holding him to just one catch in the first half. Owens would finish with 3 catches for 60 yards while the Dolphins held Lee Evans to two catches for 60 yards.

Also making his way into the “firsts” category, TE Anthony Fasano caught his first ball of the season…and held on to it. Fellow TE Joey Haynos, who we interviewed this past week saw an increase in playing time and was a pivotal piece close to the goal with his blocking skills.

Jason Taylor notched 2 sacks today but the real talk centered around CFL standout Cameron Wake who spent most of the day in the face of Buffalo QB Trent Edwards and notched three sacks of his own. CB Will Allen who was burnt so many times last week in San Diego came up with his first and second INT’s of the season and Ronnie Brown added two more TD runs to his season total.

While the win was great and the play of key players was invigorating, there is still a lot of work to be done. Donald Thomas and Vernon Carey on the offensive line did not play well together and Thomas spent time platooning with Nate Garner. The Dolphins Oline gave up 6 sacks in the game but also allowed Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams to rush for over 200 yards combined and 3 TD’s.

The Dolphins still need to find a starting WR rotation that works. The team is still spreading the ball around too much with too many hands. Leading the WR’s today was Greg Camarillo led 8 different Dolphins receivers with 4 catches for 42 yards. Davone Bess had 3 receptions and Brian Hartline had 2. The rest all had one apiece and 3 of those were to running backs. The lack of consistency could eventually hurt the development of Chad Henne as he will never develop a repoir with any single WR. Ted Ginn for what it’s worth caught one ball for 4 yards.

For now the team can relax and enjoy the win and prepare for a Monday night showdown a week from tomorrow against the New York Jets who lost their first game of the season to the New Orleans Saints.