Dolphins Lose On The Little Things
By Brian Miller
Sept 23, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter (5) reacts after missing a field goal in overtime against the New York Jets at Sun Life Stadium. The Jets 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE
It’s a cliche’ to say that when you win, you win as a team and when you lose, you lose as a team. Today, the Dolphins lost and while many will point to the leg of Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter, the truth is that so many little things went wrong to drop the Dolphins to 1-2.
Little things.
Joe Philbin‘s decision to run out the clock at the end of the first half was a decision that could come back to haunt him. On the second play from with under a minute, the Dolphins lost Reggie Bush for the afternoon and we all still await word on his injured knee.
Little things.
The Dolphins struggled to get out of the special teams games without penalties. The consistently moved the ball backwards starting Ryan Tannehill deep in his own end of the field. Blocks in the back and holds were the norm. On the opening kick of the 2nd half, a block in the back, backed Tannehill and the Dolphins to the goal line. Tannehill threw his first pick-6 of this NFL career when the safety jumped on a ball intended for Anthony Fasano. In what appeared to be a replay of week 1, Daniel Thomas fumbled the ball off to the Jets on the first play of the ensuing drive.
Little things.
The Dolphins defense stepped up and limited Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense but they couldn’t put Sanchez on the ground and allowed him the seconds he needed to complete passes. In the secondary, the Dolphins were called for holds and pass interference’s that prolonged drives and in the end led to the winning field goal by Jets kicker Nick Folk.
Little things.
Ryan Tannehill for his part did the job he was hired to do. He kept the team in the game by making smart plays and finding the right receivers. Faced with his biggest NFL game yet, Tannehill missed not once, not twice, but three times on deep balls that needed only a tad bit more touch for long completions. It was his fourth attempt deep, in overtime that could have changed the game. The deep completion to Brian Hartline was just a tad long making Hartline leap for the ball and lose his balance. Wide open, a perfectly thrown ball would have led to an easy walk off touchdown.
Little things.
While Brian Hartline made the catch, the Dolphins failed to move the ball more than a few yards closer to the endzone and instead set up a long 48 yard field goal attempt by Dan Carpenter. Carp had missed an earlier attempt from 49 when he sailed the ball left of the post. Lined up for his second attempt and first to win the game in OT just minutes after knocking a 39 yard FG to tie the game up. Carpenter again pushed his kick to the left allowing the Jets the final touch of the ball that they would need.
Little things.
With their backs against the wall the Dolphins defense stopped the Jets on first and second downs but couldn’t put them away on 3rd. A holding on CB Richard Marshall left Santonio Holmes wide open on the sideline for a gain to the Miami 30. A few plays later and the Jets lined up for a field goal that would win the game. As the ball was snapped, Philbin called a time out and as the kick came off the leg of Folk, DT Randy Starks blocked it. Philbin’s time out was just in time. The Jets laughed on the sideline and then put the winning kick through the posts.
Little things.
The Dolphins played better than simply well enough to win. They should have won. They should have controlled the game from top to bottom. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and controlled the tempo. They simply couldn’t put it all together at the same time. The team showed what they could develop into and reminded us that they are still a young team with a lot of growing ahead of them.
They simply need to find a way to do the…little things.