It's been a few hours now and I still am having a hard time getting over this loss.  It's the kind of game that good teams win - one where you have no business winning, but pull make a few plays and pull it out.

The Dolphins had no right to win this game.  After all, they did allow 485 yards to the Texans.  Any time you surrender 485 yards, you should lose.  But thanks to a few lucky bounces (courtesy of those Football Gods), the Dolphins were in position to make one play and end the game a number of times - but failed.

Making it even tougher to swallow, the Patriots got killed by the Chargers - meaning a win by Miami would have placed them in a 3-way tie for 2nd in the AFC East and just one game behind the Bills for the division lead.  However, the result here is a missed opportunity - which was a theme on Sunday for the Dolphins.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
This was the theme of the game.  First off, having a 14-3 lead and blowing it is one major missed opportunity.  But it goes beyond just the score.  So many plays could have changed the game.  But the Dolphins, for whatever reason, just couldn't find a way to put the game away.

The most glaring missed opportunity, of course, was that 4th & 10 play on Houston's final drive.  Think about it.  The Dolphins had their best defender in the secondary in absolute perfect position to make a play on the ball and break up the pass.  But some how, some way, Yeremiah Bell can't get a hand on  the ball to tip it away - despite having his arm in between the two arms of Andre Johnson.  Instead, Johnson makes one of the toughest catches you will ever see on a football field to gain 20+ yards and pick up a first down.

But even after that reception, the Texans had to go 41 yards in 52 seconds with just 1 timeout to win the game.  However, the defense can't hold - surrendering 30 yard pass two plays later (with a spike to stop the clock in between).  And then on a 4th and 2 from the 3 yard line, the Texans call for a QB draw - which the Dolphins were clearly not even thinking about - and Matt Schaub walks into the endzone for the winning touchdown.  Two more missed opportunities right there.

Of course, we also can't forget the dropped interception by Renaldo Hill off of a tipped ball.  It hit Hill right in the hands and would have prevented the Texans from getting the opportunity to kick the FG that made it 23-21 Houston.  In theory, if Hill makes the pick and everything else plays out the way it did, then the Dolphins would have had a 28-20 lead entering Houston's final possession - meaning, at worst, this game goes into OT.

All in all, I think that a good way to sum up the game and emphasize missed opportunities is to bring up one stat: +3.  Anytime you win the turnover battle by 3 turnovers in a single game, your team should win that football game.

Missed opportunities.

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