The Morning After

There has to be one, a “morning after” at least according to the very old Maureen McGovern song, ironically from the original “The Poseidon Adventure“.  Well, like that sinking ship, the Miami Dolphins begin the task of breaking down what the media is calling an ugly game, and trying desperately to “right” theirs.  I have not seen it as the game itself will not be broadcast until later on NFL Net.  That however has not stopped those who did see it offering up their opinions.

Many seem to think that the play of the Phins starting defensive line was good, the play of the LB’s…not so much.  It seems that the secondary struggled as well.  The Buc’s had a couple of very long drives and with 2 missed field goals, the game should have been 23 to 6.  Miami as it did last year, failed to put the ball into the end zone.

On the offensive side of the ball, the morning talk is Chad Henne.  Henne didn’t take the team down the field, but he showed the poise few rookies have.  In fact, it was said on the ‘live’ radio broadcast that he looked more confident than 2nd year man John Beck who is now fighting for his job.  Henne suffered from a few dropped passes by his WR’s and took some big hits…something he needed to get out of the way.

On the line, some false starts and holding, normal penalties for a pre-season game.  The real talk though is the 31 yards posted by Ricky Williams who came in after a series that saw Ronnie Brown get his first action since last October.  The 1st line appears to be looking sharp and that is a promising development.

For me, the other QB talk is a lot more pleasing.  His name is Chad Pennington.  Pennington was on the sideline for the game last night, jersey and all.  It obviously wasn’t his play as he didn’t but instead what he did off the field.

Pennington was seen often walking the sidelines talking with the offensive lineman, talking with the WR’s and more importantly he was the one waiting for the young QB’s when they came off the field.  Chad was going over photos and flip plays sharing some of his veteran knowledge.  Chad may not be the greatest QB or have the best numbers in the league, but he has been around awhile unlike two of the other Phins QB’s.  While Chad wants to be the starter, and all indications are that he will be, he obviously is taking care to “take care” of the young guys as well.

Tomorrow I will have a more thorough breakdown of the game in terms of my observations.  It’s pre-season one and although the results were more like what we saw last year, it is way too early to get upset about what the result was.