Thoughts From the Morning After

To me, more insulting than the loss yesterday to the Buffalo Bills was Steve Tasker’s comments as Rian Lindell put the final extra point of the game through the up-rights. “The Dolphins came in and got way-layed by the Bills.” Ignoring for a second how aggravating it is to listen to an ex-player give commentary on a game involving his former team (especially a rival team like the Bills), Tasker’s comment was insulting because it’s indicative of what the national perception of this game will undoubtedly be.

Think about it, outside of Florida markets, the rest of the country saw either their local team on the one o’clock CBS game, had nothing on CBS in the time-slot or saw the Texans attempt to defeat the Colts. Miami-Buffalo was hardly the sexy option and it wasn’t seen by most of the country, what most of the country saw was the final score which was in no way indicative of what a close ballgame this was. The rest of the country sees this game as Buffalo way-laying the Fins. Let’s take a look at the Dolphins in this game…

Chad Henne

Believe it or not, I’m not going to bash Chad Henne. This game gave perfect insight into Chad Henne as a quarterback and how Miami can win with him at this stage in his development. In the first half, Henne was very impressive. At several points I was absolutely floored by some of his passes. In cool, windy conditions his balls had zip and accuracy and he was on the money even on difficult throws.  In the first half Miami was dominating the line of scrimmage with a powerful running game that gave Henne chances to utilize effective play fakes and gave him time to sit in the pocket and find open receivers. That continued into the first drive of the second half which culminated in a beautiful clock-eating drive and a touchdown.

But Henne, for all his ability the first three quarters, is still a young quarterback who is yet to see a lot of things in the NFL. One of them is a Bills-Dolphins game in November in Buffalo. I don’t have a whole lot of love, but I do give Buffalo a lot of credit for having very loyal, very loud fans. I doubt just playing at Ralph Wilson was enough to doom Miami in the fourth quarter, but asking any first year starter to overcome field position and lead a game-winning drive on the road in Buffalo is a tall order. By the point Henne took the field down 17-14, Buffalo was playing with confidence, had momentum and the crowd was back in the game. And for his part, Henne played a little better than the final stats indicated, having two of his three picks come on plays that really weren’t his fault. Deflections or hits that alter the course of a pass are part of the game and it seemed like luck just didn’t go Chad’s way in the fourth quarter.

Henne still has a ways to go, as any QB in this stage of his career does. His passes do sail a bit sometimes when he is under duress, for instance. But he has also made noticeable strides in terms of pocket presence (both buying himself more time in the pocket and not taking many sacks) as well as with knowing when to throw a pass away. Not to mention the fact our team is not built to move quickly down the field. Our receivers are serviceable when the pass is prefaced with a strong running game, but when the team needs to rely on them, well we all know the story by now… You never want to see your quarterback throw three picks in the 4th quarter, but this game was definitely not Chad Henne’s fault.

Ricky Williams

Why is it that every time Miami gets a big game out of Ricky Williams in Buffalo they manage to find some way to squander it? I may have jinxed us by invoking memories of Ray Lucas, but when Ricky attempted to throw into the Buffalo endzone and was intercepted in the first quarter, that’s what it reminded me of. If you want the most important moment of the game, that was it. Had Miami scored a touchdown on that first drive they may have broken Buffalo then and there. After coming out and forcing a three and out, then driving methodically down the field and pounding it into the endzone, whose to say Buffalo (who entered the game 3-7) wouldn’t have just packed it in right there. Miami had smashed them their first time around and the first quarter of this game was going exactly the same way.

But then that pass got attempted and Buffalo saw a glimmer of hope. Here’s the rub, I really don’t even mind the call that much. It was a risk, but when coaches are scared to take risks how effective can they really be? And with Ronnie Brown that pass may have gone completely differently. The play just didn’t go our way, and while it pisses me off I really can’t justifiably say I’m angry at anyone. Ricky could have probably just tucked the ball, but he’s not a quarterback so it’s understandable if he didn’t make the best decision with the throw (lord knows Cleo Lemon was guilty of far worse and he WAS a quarterback, kind of). And if the play goes the other way we’re all writing today about how it was a great call, which is a bit of a double standard. I guess all I ask going forward is the Dolphins not attempt that again. If anything, Pat White can do that.

But on to Ricky’s actual day, I do feel the Dolphins used him up too quickly as Gus Johnson said at the end of the game. Ricky is the type of back who gets stronger throughout the day, yet he was up around 20 carries by the half and Miami did seem to have every intention of protecting him and guarding the number of attempts he got. He finished the day with 27 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown. He never got more than 11 yards on a carry, he just gashed for 5+ a carry almost all day. Typically Ricky is best in the 4th quarter, yesterday, that was when he was the least active. Though situation dictated part of the reason for that, around the 2nd quarter I think most of us started asking why Lex Hilliard wasn’t coming into the game so Ricky could be fresh for the 4th quarter. Regardless of the outcome though, I don’t think there’s much doubt Ricky is capable of handling the load from here on out.

Lousaka Polite

I want to help this Polite for the Pro-Bowl campaign right here and now. Everybody stop reading, CLICK HERE AND VOTE FOR POLITE. I’m glad to see Polite finally getting attention in Miami, I hope the rest of the country is beginning to realize how talented this guy is. Ignoring for a second how incredibly proficient Polite is on short yardage runs for first downs, or the fact that he actually showed a little flash on a 13 yard run yesterday, this guy is just a top-notch blocker. If you can stomach a replay of this game watch Polite lead the way and you’ll understand just why Ricky and Ronnie love running behind this guy. Yesterday he really missed just one block all day, he spent the rest of his time driving defenders out of hole ahead of Ricky. The biggest difference right now between Williams and Hilliard (aside from Heisman talent) is Ricky’s patience. It’s hard to be patient without a solid line and a great fullback. As well as Ricky Williams is playing these days, a large part of his revitalization is thanks to Lousaka Polite.

Joey Porter

At a time when the defense needed someone to step up and make plays, Joey Porter did just that. I was actually complaining about Porter when he got his first sack, and then on the next drive he came out and got another. I give Tony Sparano a lot of credit, he must have done something to light a fire under Porter’s ass because the past two games Joey has been rushing the passer well and stepping up in big situations. That’s the playmaker the defense needs. If Miami had come back to win this game I imagine Porter would be getting talked up a lot right now, as it stands his sacks get lost in the defeat. But I remember, and I appreciate it. Hopefully this is the Porter that sticks around for the rest of the season.

Run Defense

I started missing Jason Ferguson around the third quarter, which incidentally was when Buffalo realized Fred Jackson could actually run on us. I don’t want to believe this is indicative of anything larger, but it’s hard to ignore that in the first game without our starting nose tackle the run defense collapsed at the end of the game. I don’t think it was a secret before, but I think Miami definitely needs to address the Nose Tackle position in the next draft. Paul Soliai is a solid player but there’s really no true backup behind him anymore. The rest of the line is geared more towards playing end in the 3-4. At this point it’s arguable Miami’s defensive personnel (as a result of injuries) is more geared towards running a 4-3. Jason Taylor and Cameron Wake have both been successful as 4-3 ends in addition to at OLB and the team could rotate Randy Starks, Tony McDaniel and Soliai in the middle of the line. I don’t know, I’ve just never thought of Fred Jackson as a premiere back so I was a bit taken by surprise when he could average nearly five yards a carry. I’m not advocating Miami switch its defense up drastically mid-season. I’m simply making an observation.

Playoff Chances

As Brian said, the Dolphins got a bit of a reprieve last night when the Steelers lost, but I still don’t like the prospect of having to win the next five straight to have a good shot. The schedule down the stretch looked promising a month ago but now it looks like Miami is in for a dogfight the rest of the way, starting with New England next week. This game was supposed to be an NBC game but it got flexed out of the time-slot in favor of a better match up. From here on out, every single game is a must-win. Miami probably had a one-game margin for error, that’s gone now. They’re not dead in the water, but Miami’s playoff hopes are fading fast.