Don't be too down this week

It's never a good feeling when our beloved Dolphins lose a game, though losing to a division rival at home is always tough to swallow.  Miami had some bad times with the blocked punt and poor kickoff coverage.  We all know Jason Allen struggled tonight as well.  I'm not exactly advocating the discontinued use of the Wildcat, but it is becoming increasingly apparent the formation is becoming less effective against  teams used to playing against it.  This mean the AFC East and a few other clubs are catching on.  Miami also failed to generate much of a pass rush and didn't open many lanes for our RBs.

So with all the negativity why does the title of this post tell us not to be too upset?

First off, we must remember this is a division rival and a talented team we faced.  Division games are never easy victories.  Miami is still 2-1 and tied for first in the division.  They have another winnable game next week vs the Patriots at home before heading into their bye week.  Remember that earlier on the general belief was if Miami started the season 5-3 or 4-4 we would be in good position.  We have tough games ahead with New England, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Baltimore.  They may be tough games, but Miami can still get to the mark we set out for them earlier.

Miami may have lost the game, but I believe their offense answered a lot of questions.  Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline, and Davone Bess all played well.  Chad Henne also had a solid outing and I don't blame him for the INT on the final play because he had to try and force the ball in somewhere.  Henne had a very good outing and I could only count a few errant passes.  For a team that went into the game with so many questions about their passing attack, they definitely answered in a strong way that they can attack through the air and gain those chunk yards.

There were a few instances where Miami's secondary lost their footing which resulted in Yeremiah Bell giving up a TD to Dustin Keller where he struggled to defend him after he tripped up.  Jason Allen also slid by Braylon Edwards which ended up giving New York a big TD.  The Dolphins defense did rebound well afterwards and allowed 26 yards on New York's next three drives.  It is relieving to see this is a team that over the past year have continued to fight and scratch throughout the game even after taking a big tumble like Jason Allen did against Braylon Edwards.  With Dolphins teams in previous years, you were able to sense when they would start to lose grasp on a game and it would spiral out of control.  This team just doesn't let that happen.

The run defense looked pretty solid most of the time.  It was when Miami failed to set the edge against Brad Smith that New York was able to gain their big yards.  Paul Soliai has looked solid for the second week in a row and I'm not missing Jason Ferguson as much as I thought I would a few months ago.  Vontae Davis wasn't challenged much and has continued to play well this season as has Karlos Dansby.  He's going to be a star in our defense.  It was another quiet day for Chris Clemons and that is exactly what we need from our young FS.  He played well and did a good job in coverage.  I really don't blame him for the penalty called on 3rd and 20 even though it allowed New York's drive to continue for an eventual TD.  To me, it appeared Clemons was trying to stop and was actually bracing himself for the hit more than trying to deliver a knockout blow.  If that one was called, I don't see why the helmet-to-helmet contact from David Harris to Ronnie Brown wasn't.  That's a topic I don't really care to get into though.  Overall, our defense struggled with the pass rush and was inconsistent setting the edge.  Match those up with a few big plays and penalties, it was enough for the Jets to add a good amount of points on the board.  The defense will have their up and downs thanks to all the youth and this game was one of the down moments.  What we are witnessing though is the development of a lot of our young defensive players.

I don't believe anyone was expecting us to finish 16-0 and the loss was tough.  I for one still have a lot of confidence in this team and I think we can accomplish some great things this year.  Here's to better luck next week vs the Patriots!