Breaking Down the Game

We won, and in the end that all that matters. There was alot of good, especially with the Defense, and while the Offense shined at times, there was still certainly room for improvement. 

Defense:

They really came together and dominated in the 2nd half. Both the secondary and the line were impressive, and really made a name for itself by playing as a great defense as a whole. Things were just flowing for them. The line was getting penetration and the secondary was getting in between the ball and the defender. Overall, it was hard to not be impressed by the Defense this week, especially in the 2nd half, were the Cincinnati Bengal's 3 and outs kept piling on and on.   

Special Teams:

Dan Carpenter has been amazing this year (17 for 19) and tends to keep us in games, especially today. His 5 FGs (including the 54 yarder at the end of the half) got us points when our offense sputtered in the red zone. Cobb's kickoff return at the end of the 1st half gave Miami the field position they needed to put points up by the end of the half. There are still many problems I see with the special teams however. First, Davone was shaky when it came to punt returns today, although he is normally stellar and sure handed, he misplayed the ball twice on punt returns, blame it on the sun if you would like. I am also always weary on kick off coverage. This entire season kick coverage has been shaky, and I never really feel safe from a big play when they are on the field.

Offense:

They drove well, however didn't finish well. they has 5 trips to the end zone and only 1 TD. The bright side of that is that they didn't turn over the ball in those situations, and always ended up with at least 3. As I watched the game, I sorta wondered why we have Marshall, if the other receivers combined for 4 drops, and Marshall isn't even looked at in many situations. If we want to succeed, we have to get the ball to Marshall, because as you all know, when he gets the ball, he's scary. Their one TD Drive was really impressive, and showed me the true capability that this team has. It had a combined effort of long passes, long runs, and great play calling. In my mind, it was the best drive of the year for the Fins this season. We still need to punch in for 6 while in the red zone though, and if this lackluster offense inside the 20 continue, we won't have success. 

Coaching:

I thought coaching, really offensive coaching had it's ups and downs. There were those two trick plays, one the "flea flicker" of sorts, which a wide open Hartline flat out dropped, and the other, the end around that went for big yards on the TD Drive. Still though, there were some calls that left me scratching my head. At one point, Chad Henne and the offense was driving so well in a conventional offense...and then the Wildcat was brought out and the offense stalled. The wildcat is no longer a viable threat, and to be honest, our offense doesn't need it anymore. There was also a couple 3rd down situations where the play calling was poor.  One 3rd and 1, a situation were Polite is unstoppable, Henning called a play that called for a 10 yard throw, which fell incomplete, and caused them to punt. Also, there were a couple 3rd and medium distance situations were run plays were called, and it really confused me as too why they would run (and fail) in those situations. I will give credit to Henning to continue to trust Chad Henne. It has really helped him in his progression. I have no complaints about Nolan and the defensive play calling, in fact i commend him for his great calls, and also benching Jason Allen, and putting in Sean Smith after Allen was burnt for a TD. 

I am truly happy with this win, we came together as a team, and our Defense and Special Teams stepped up. Our Offense also got it done to seal the deal. Great job today Dolphins, and let's go beat Baltimore.