Miami Dolphins Fall Back Into Mediocrity

It was fun while it lasted.  The Miami Dolphins had been on a run.  A good run.  Four of their last five games were convincing wins and their lone loss was a nail-biter on Thanksgiving day.  Enter the reeling Philadelphia Eagles.  A team that is teetering on the tight rope of complete internal collapse.  Verdict?  Miami slips back into the hole of mediocrity.  They simply couldn’t compete with the arsenal of weapons that the Eagles possess.

The Dolphins opened the game with a seven point lead but it was all Philly after that.  Turnovers were the story for the Dolphins, when they were not handing the ball over to the Eagles, they were making nothing out of the turnovers they stole from the Michael Vick led Eagle offense.  Case in point…on an Eagle punt fumble, the Dolphins gave the ball back on their first offensive play.  The game continued to be a wash for the Phins through the first half and continued through the second.

If the score and game play wasn’t bad enough, the Dolphins lost Jake Long for the rest of the game with an undisclosed injury.  He was last seen walking into the dugout which leads to the locker room.  In his place the Dolphins used a platoon on the line with John Jerry, Marc Columbo, and Vernon Carey moving around.  Carey played like his normal roller coaster self until he too joined Long on the sideline with an injury.  Eventually, the line shuffling and poor play by the right side would knock Matt Moore out of the game in the final seconds of the third quarter.  JP Losman came in to replace him.

Losman would be tasked to finish the game with a 14 point deficit.  With both Long and Vernon Carey out, the Dolphins offense was inept at best.  The Eagles got their fifth sack at the 12 minute mark of the 4th quarter and put the clamps on the Dolphins offense to clean up the final minutes finishing with 9 sacks on the day.  The loss officially puts Miami out of the playoffs ending that one half percent mathematical chance they had when they entered the game.  The loss will also almost assuredly sway some Tony Sparano supporters to swing back onto the other side of the fence.  (We will run a poll later this week to gauge the swing).

All in all, the Dolphins got beat by a team that is full on talent and low on discipline.  The Eagles were heavy favorites to challenge for the NFC West this year and have been a major disappointment.  The Eagles will keep a slim playoff hope alive.