Same old Dolphins, dominate the first half, collapse in the second half. Same old Ted Ginn, dropping numerous catchable passes and he has actually now become detrimental to the team rather than just a monumental underachiever. Same old conservative play calling with the lead. Same old secondary, allowing opposing tight ends to dominate them, letting receivers run free down the middle of the field and giving up big plays at an alarming rate. Same old untimely turnovers, with Davone Bess’ crucial fumble sealing their fate. Same old coaches making poor decisions as it relates to the clock with a terrible decision to call a time out just before the half. The Dolphins played their hearts out but it wasn’t even close to enough when the aforementioned continues to happen.
Please forgive me for this lazy article but I am simply emotionally drained after yet another devastating loss. In many ways, this season has been more difficult than the 1-15 year. Hard to believe, but as I sit here right now it holds true.
The (2-3) Miami Dolphins had the (5-0) New Orleans Saints on the ropes for 29:55 and they let them off the hook with an inexplicable time-out with 5 seconds remaining in the first half as they Saints were seemingly forced to settle for a field goal from the Dolphins 6 inch yard line. The Dolphins were up 24-3 at that point and the Saints were out of time-outs and had their extra point unit on the field as they thought they scored a touchdown on the previous play that replay reversed and put them 6 inches out. With no time-outs left the Saints were forced to take the three as they had no time to get their offensive unit back on the field in time until the Dolphins defensive unit called timeout to “Prepare for anything” as Head Coach Tony Sparano later said trying to justify the decision. With time for Sean Payton to reconsider and with Drew Brees lobbying to go for it they did and after Brees took the plunge for the score the Dolphins lead was now 24-10 and it clearly felt like the beginning of the end.
The second half seemed like what it must feel like to be gut shot and to just lay there for 30 minutes until you bleed out and die. I don’t know how else to put it other than it was clear to Saints fans, Saints coaches and the Saints players just as it was clear to the Dolphins fans, players and coaches that New Orleans was undoubtedly coming back and winning the game. Not only did they, but they blew the Dolphins out of the water in the process. If these teams played 10 times, Miami wouldn’t win one. They just wouldn’t, the Saints are really that much better in all phases of the game and despite all the hyperbole and enthusiasm surrounding the up and coming Dolphins it shows how far they still have to go to get to the elite level.
It’s so easy to go on and on about all the mistakes made by both Dolphins players and coaches and there are certainly plenty of them to dissect but other than recognizing them in the film room and making the proper adjustments and execution on the field it’s really not productive. The truth is there were some outstanding efforts and performances on the defensive side of the ball left on the field and despite what the gaudy numbers the Saints put up might indicate. They did sack Brees 5 times, they forced him to throw three interceptions and recovered a fumble from a sack by good old number 99. In gact, Jason Taylor and Joey Porter both played like they were still in their prime harassing Brees all afternoon. JT had 2 sacks and forced 2 fumbles and spent most of the day applying pressure to Brees while Porter only added ½ sack statistically his presence was felt coming off the edge and forcing Brees either out of the pocket or to get rid of the ball quickly. Yeremiah Bell added a sack and a half coming from the safety spot and lead the team with 8 tackles. The Dolphins defense played extremely fast and aggressive but their Achilles heel all season has been allowing the big play and they allowed more than I even care to count on Sunday hence the misleading stats. Playing excellent for 2 downs and then allowing the big play has a tendency to screw up the stat sheet. Ricky Williams scored 3 touchdowns against the team that drafted him and along with running mate Ronnie Brown they both ran hard and physical like they always do. Until he went down with a season ending ACL injury, Will Allen, played like we’ve grown accustomed to with his usual blanket coverage. Sadly, Allen will be lost for the year and despite the emergence of rookie corners Vontae Davis and Sean Smith his presence, play-making ability and leadership will be sorely missed.
At the end of the day, it’s yet another heart breaking loss for the Dolphins, but they weren’t supposed to win this game anyway. They simply have to regroup, correct their mistakes, clean up the coaching blunders and try, as difficult as it may be, to forget about this loss and refocus on the fact, that despite all of these setbacks they are still 2-0 in the division. The road doesn’t get any easier as they hit the road to take on their arch rival New York Jets before heading to New England to take on the AFC East front running Patriots.
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