Xavien Howard proves he is worth Miami Dolphins money

Xavien Howard. The name just screams in the ears of Miami Dolphins fans. He is close to becoming one of the best cornerbacks in Miami Dolphins history and while he has a few more years to go before he can statistically make that claim, he showed on Sunday why he deserved more money.

The Patriots are well aware of what Howard brings to the field. They didn’t throw the ball in his direction often, in fact, I don’t know if they threw his way at all. It really didn’t matter. When the game came down to inches late in the game, it was Howard who stepped up and made the play when it needed to be made.

Howard’s forced fumble and recovery gave Miami’s offense the chance to run the clock out and control the last 3:35 minutes of the game. Miami still had to get a couple of first downs but Howard’s game changing if not clinching tackle saved the game for Miami who would have in all likelihood watched more time tick off and at worst go down by two with only minutes left.

I was on the phone with a good friend of mine from Miami at the time. Steve is about 60 seconds in front of me on the telecast and we were talking about how someone needed to step up and make a play if Miami was going to win this. His next text was simply “Woooooo”. I texted back, “great” and he replied “keep watching”.

It isn’t often that a single play will change a game but in the waning moments of close contests, a single play can be the difference between a win and a loss. It doesn’t matter how ugly it is it will always be better than a well played loss.

Howard’s off-season holdout stung Dolphins fans and divided the fans. He wanted more money after a record year and he wanted a trade if he didn’t get it. Miami didn’t want him to leave but couldn’t simply give him a new contract. Instead, in the end, they worked out details of a restructure. Howard got his money and on Sunday, he gave the Dolphins a little something back in a very big way.