This time last week, all of us Dolphin fans were sitting here in despair, wondering if the Dolphins had just blown their shot at an improbable playoff birth.  One week later, we all feel rejuvenated - even after a classic "ugly" win by the Fins in St. Louis.

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU WIN
This seems to be a reoccurring theme for the 2008 Miami Dolphins.  Some of their best wins have come in excellent performances against good teams.  But others have come in "different" performances against teams in which the Dolphins were actually heavy favorites.  The Seahawks and Raiders games come to mind.  Well you can also add to that list Sunday's game against the Rams.

The offense struggled.  Against one of the NFL's worst defenses - statistically speaking, the Fins were only able to find the endzone one time.  Chad Pennington was only able to complete 56% of his passes and didn't even top 170 yards through the air.  There were some dropped balls by receivers.  Running backs simply tripped before the line of scrimmage from time to time.  And on one of the most exciting offensive plays, a play that saw Ronnie Brown take a toss, scramble, and throw a completion on the run to David Martin, the end result was a turnover when Martin fumbled the ball away to St. Louis.

Of course, the offense wasn't all bad.  The running game really did get going, with the backs combining for 134 yards on 32 carries.  We also found out that Davone Bess can indeed be a key part of the offense and help take up some of the slack created by Greg Camarillo's knee injury.  Bess made a number of plays, catching 6 balls for 84 yards - including 2 key receptions on 3rd downs.  One converted a 3rd & 9 on Miami's only TD drive - with Ronnie Brown taking it into the endzone just 2 plays later.  The other was on a 3rd & 2 and kept alive a drive that would end with one of Dan Carpenter's field goals.  Let's hope for continued production from Bess.

But it was the defense - despite allowing chunks of yards to Steven Jackson on the ground - that really deserves the credit for Sunday's win.  They exemplified the old "bend but don't break" cliche - never allowing the Rams into the endzone - which includes 2 drives that saw the Rams inside Miami's 20 only to have to settle for 2 field goals.  It wasn't a dominating performance by any means - no matter what the 3 interceptions and 12 points against would lead you to think.  But they did enough in a game where they needed to step up and carry a sluggish offensive unit.

The bottom line?  The Dolphins went on the road, committed 10 penalties, converted just 33% of their 3rd downs, allowed the Rams to convert 50% of their 3rd downs, and lost the time-of-possession battle by 3 minutes.  But they found a way to win.

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First off, let the record show that this game was far closer than the final score would lead you to believe.

With that said, it was sure tough to watch those final 8 or 9 minutes.  But the first 3 quarters were entertaining - and it felt good to be playing a big game this late in the season once again.

Onto some of the headlines:

TWO BIG TURNING POINTS
When I think back to the "ebb and flow" of the game, there are two key turning points that really stand out.  The first one was towards the end of the 3rd quarter with the Pats leading 24-21.  It's the drive in which Jake Long hurts his ankle and has to leave.  The Dolphins had gotten down to New England's 27 yard line.  But a holding penalty by Samson Satele and a sack by Richard Seymour (who was quiet most of the day when Jake Long was in) would put Miami back at NE's 41 and force them to punt rather than tack on 3 with a Dan Carpenter FG, which would have tied the game.

The other key turning point, the biggest of the game, came 3 drives later.  With the score 31-28 Patriots, and with the crowd as loud as they've been in years, the Dolphins had New England in a 3rd & 10 situation at their own 42.  A stop on that play would have forced NE to punt and would have kept momentum squarely on Miami's side.  However, Jabar Gaffney caught a 23-yard pass in front of Jason Allen from Matt Cassel for a first down.  Randy Moss scored his 3rd TD just 2 plays later and the Dolphins would never get back into this game.  You know - if Jason Allen can't defend Jabar Gaffney on one of the most important plays of the season, then what good is he?

DEFENSIVE PLAY IS OFFENSIVE
I seriously am offended with how this Miami defense performed on Sunday.  The Patriots drew up the perfect gameplan and executed it beautifully.  The Dolphins had no answer.

Did anyone really expect the Pats to line up in the shotgun right from the beginning with 4 and 5 receivers?  Is the "spread offense" something you thought Bill Belichick would use?  Clearly, the Dolphins didn't think so.  Both Jason Ferguson and Yeremiah Bell said after the game that they were surprised.  But what worries me more is how the coaching staff failed to adjust to New England's offense at halftime.

This was the first time that I would say this coaching staff got out-coached.

And what was with the one-on-one coverage on Randy Moss?  He's the game's best receiver.  You don't cover him one-on-one?  Sure, we can complain about how Jason Allen was put on Moss for much of the game.  But when Andre Goodman lined up to cover him, the results weren't any better.  The bottom line is that you need safety help over the top of Randy at all times.  Moss even said that he felt "disrespected" by being matched up with a corner one-on-one.  Disrespected.  Well 125 yards and 3 touchdowns later, there's nothing left to say.  The coaches blew this particular matchup - and it was costly.

Oh - and I'm not buying Yeremiah Bell's theory here.  He said that doubling Moss would have created holes elsewhere because of NE's use of the spread.  That's true.  But you need to take away the opposing team's best player.  Teams stack 8 in the box to stop Ronnie Brown against us.  And we should have doubled Moss all day and took our chances elsewhere.  Would the results have been different?  Probably not because this entire secondary really played like crap.  But I just hate getting beat by the one player that you can't let beat you.

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Is it just me or is this week moving along very slowly?  I guess it's just the anticipation getting to me.  After all, this game is the biggest game in years for the Dolphins.

So, as we do every week, let's talk about some of the key questions for Sunday/s game:

What will be Miami's gameplan on offense this time?
We all remember back in week 3 when the Dolphins just dominated the Patriots up in New England, scoring 38 points on NE's defense.  And we all know that this was the game Miami debuted the 'Wildcat.'  And while the new formation did account for 119 yards on 6 plays - 4 of which were touchdowns - the Dolphins still moved the ball out of their base offense as well.  The Dolphins didn't "wildcat" their way to 461 yards of offense.  Chad Pennington didn't attempt one throw out of the formation, but still managed to go 17/20 for 226 yards.

So what's the plan for this week?  We know that there are still things the Dolphins can do out of the 'Wildcat' formation that nobody has seen yet.  And Dan Henning can also dial up some other surprise plays - a la Ted Ginn's reverse.  But the base offense has been pretty damn good, too.  Ted Ginn, in particular, has developed into a dangerous threat on offense - totaling 30 catches for 433 yards in 7 games since these 2 teams last met.  And Chad Pennington now has a much better grasp of the offense since week 3.  He's averaged 255 yards passing per game (and 8.2 yards per attempt) since their first meeting.

So what the Dolphins do this time around?  That's what we're all dying to see.

How will the Dolphins handle the spotlight of an enormous "playoff-like" game against a bitter division rival?
The Dolphins really have passed every test that has been thrown at them so far this season.  We wanted to know how this team would respond to being 0-2.  They won their next two games.

Then we wanted to see if the Dolphins could put together a game-sealing drive when they needed to kill the clock.  They successfully accomplished that feat against the Chargers. 

Then we were curious to see how the team would respond to two consecutive losses after getting the taste of success in their mouths.  They responded with 4 consecutive wins - including a knocking off a divisional opponent that came to Miami 5-1 and winning a game in a hostile environment in Denver.  Included in this 4 game win streak, the Dolphins also answered another question.  Could they come from behind late in the 4th quarter?  On Sunday against the Raiders, this team did just that.

But now they face a divisional opponent for the 2nd time this season.  In their first meeting, the Dolphins simply embarrassed the Patriots up in their own stadium.  You think Bill Belichick and his players have forgotten the 38-13 beatdown the Dolphins handed them in week 3?  Not a chance.

Throw in the fact that this game is essentially an early playoff game - where the loser faces a much tougher uphill battle into the postseason - and what you got is simply the biggest game that many of these Dolphin players have ever played in.  And it's the kind of game where Chad Pennington's leadership will be a key factor.

With the spotlight squarely on South Florida, how is this team going to respond?

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As if it wasn't impressive enough what Chad Pennington has done for the Dolphins - and what he's meant to this team - we have learned something else.  Imagine having to lead that final drive against the Raiders not only without the usage of the helmet radio signal, but also with a loud noise continuously playing out of your speaker in your helmet.  That's what Pennington had to do yesterday:

During a come-from-behind drive in the final minutes of a 17-15 victory Sunday against Oakland, the coach-to-player radio in Pennington's helmet badly malfunctioned. His ears were invaded by a deafening shriek that he couldn't stop for several snaps.

With more than half of a field between he and the end zone during the critical drive, Pennington also could no longer hear offensive coordinator Dan Henning's voice telling him the plays.

''It just kept ringing!'' Pennington said. 'When I finally had a chance, I just took it over to the sideline and said, `Cut the stinking cord!' ''

Pennington would roll on. And so, too, would the magic of Miami's improbable season.

Come to think of it, I did wonder why, at one point on that last drive (I believe at the two-minute warning), Chad came to the sideline, took off his helmet, and handed it to somebody.  I guess they were cutting the wire to quiet that "deafening shriek" that Pennington was forced to listen to.

And the legend of CP10 in Miami continues to grow...

Make no mistake about it: this one was ugly.  But in this league, you never, ever apologize for a win.  You simply take the "W" and move on to the next game.

And that's what the Dolphins will do.  Despite the nail-biting, and nearly heart-breaking conclusion to this game - another game where the Dolphins, as favorites, failed to ever pull away - the Dolphins simply won a game that they had to have.  And in the process, they set up a huge game next week against the Patriots.  I know this phrase has gotten thrown around a lot, but next week's game is probably the biggest game the Dolphins have played in years. 

But let's not go there just yet.  There's plenty of time for that in the coming days.  For now, let's just talk about some of the headlines from Miami's win over the Raiders:

SHOWING US SOMETHING NEW
So by now, all of us knew that this Dolphins team has the ability to to put together that key game-ending drive to either kill the clock or score the proverbial game-clinching TD.  We've seen that happen a few times already in '08.

But this game - and this late-game drive - was different.  The Dolphins had just surrendered the lead with about 4 and a half minutes left on a 93-yard punt return for a touchdown.  The Dolphins found themselves trailing despite only allowing 177 yards of offense and 6 offensive points.  I don't think many of us would have been too surprised to see this Dolphins team wilt away under these circumstances - especially considering the demoralizing way the Dolphins gave up the lead.

Instead, Chad Pennington and company showed the kind of character this team possesses, marching down the field and into field goal range.  They came out firing - rather than playing conservative.  Starting at their own 20, Pennington quickly completed two passes and the Dolphins found themselves at the Raiders' 40 yard line.  But 4 plays later, the Dolphins faced a tough decision: 4th & 5 from Oakland's 35.  Do you trust the rookie kicker?  Do you trust the veteran QB and the weapons at his disposal?  Tony Sparano made the right decision, and Ted Ginn made the reception - probably the biggest 7 yard reception Teddy has ever made.

Three more runs got Miami in position for a 38 yard FG - the first "critical, pressure-packed" kick that rookie Dan Carpenter has ever had to attempt this year.  And Carpenter effortlessly knocked the kick home - giving the Dolphins their 2 point lead with 38 seconds remaining.

Clearly, this is a resilient and confident team.  And both of those things bode well for us as the Fins enter the home-stretch of the regular season.

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In a game that was a lot closer than most would have hoped, the Miami Dolphins held on, made just enough plays, and escaped with a 2 point victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

It was a very entertaining game - if by entertaining, I mean a stressful, "too close for comfort" kind of game.  But a win is a win - and in this league, you take wins however you can get them.

Let's talk about some of the headlines:

A LESSON LEARNED
If nothing else, here's what we, as fans, learned about the Dolphins: don't ever "expect" a win.

I don't think the players themselves took this game for granted - mainly because I don't think this coaching staff would ever let them - but I know I was one of many fans who probably did think of this game as an easy win.  But we learned today that nothing about this potentially improbable season will come easy.  Somebody said during the game thread that the Dolphins are the kind of team that these struggling teams will really get up to play against - and I agree 100%.  These struggling teams will certainly circle the Dolphins on their schedule as a potential win - and might be a bit sharper against the Fins than against a team that is clearly better than them.  That makes these teams even more dangerous against the Dolphins than some of the better teams that this Fins team has played or will play.

And though it isn't likely that the players would ever admit it, it sure does seem like the Dolphins either play up to their competition (when they face good teams) or down to their competition (when they play the not-so-good teams).  But this shouldn't come as any shock to us Dolphin fans.  In fact, this game on Sunday was the 6th straight time that the Dolphins - as favorites - failed to cover the point spread.  And all that shows is that when the Dolphins are "supposed" to win, they tend to struggle a little bit more than typical "Vegas favorites."

But I think this game will prove to be beneficial to the Dolphins in the long run.  It was a game that they could have easily lost - but they stepped up when they had to.  For a team that is learning how to win, games like these tend to be invaluable to the rebuilding process.  And this game will also likely prove to be a benefit in terms of preparation for upcoming games.  I fully expect the coaching staff - despite the win - to really chew this team out and get on them in practice this week.

Let's just hope the players themselves learned from this game - just as the fans did.

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We're now just a couple of days away from Sunday's game between the Seahawks and the Dolphins - a game that the Dolphins are expected to win.  That alone worries me.

And with that said, let's highlight 4 critical matchups for Sunday's game:

Joey Porter vs Walter Jones
We all know that Joey is having an amazing season so far in terms of his pass-rushing performance.  His 11.5 sacks are a league high and keeps him on pace to break Michael Strahan's sack record of 22.5.  But to remain on pace, Porter is going to have to have success on Sunday against one of the league's best left tackles.

Walter Jones is an 8 time Pro-Bowler, including a current streak of 7 years in a row.  He's been a dominant force at LT for Seattle since being a 1st round pick back in 1997.  And though Jones is older now, he's still a monster, anchoring a line that has allowed just 17 sacks this season through 8 games.  It'll be interesting to see how Porter fares against Jones.  And it'll be interesting to see if they move Porter around if he does struggle early on against Jones, potentially trying to match him up with 5th year RT Sean Locklear.  Regardless, Joey is going to have his work cut out for him on Sunday against a good offensive line and a mobile QB.  Advantage: Push

Seahawks' Pass Rush vs Dolphins' Offensive Line
The Seahawks are a very poor defensive team against the pass - allowing 258 yards a game through the air (2nd most) and letting opposing QBs complete over 66% of their passes (5th highest).  So Chad Pennington could easily be in line for his 5th consecutive 280+ yard passing game on Sunday.

But that's only if the Dolphins can keep Pennington upright in the pocket.  Pennington was sacked twice last week by a team with a similar pass rush.  This week, the Seahawks come into Miami with the 9th most sacks in the NFL (20).  Though it helps that their leading pass-rusher, Patrick Kerney, is out for Sunday's game, the Dolphins have to protect Pennington better than they did at times last week.  Honestly, I thought the line struggled to protect him up until that last "game-sealing" drive.  This week, let's hope for more consistency in pass protection.  Advantage: Dolphins

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This has been quite a half-season, hasn't it?  I bet it would be hard to find many Dolphin fans who honestly thought this team would be 4-4 and just one game back from the division lead at the midway point.  But that's why they play the games, I suppose.

And with this being one of the more memorable and more fun first halves in recent memory, let's take a deep breathe and look back at these 8 games - giving out a little hardware.  Well, imaginary hardware, that is.

Team MVP: Chad Pennington
There's a few players who could be considered for this award.  But when you're talking about the most valuable player to this team's success, you have to top the list with Chad Pennington.  No individual player has meant more.  Pennington has come in here and stabilized the quarterback position.  He's playing the best football we've seen from a Dolphin QB since Dan Marino.  His stats alone are impressive - 1,991 passing yards (7th in NFL), 8.2 yards per attempt (4th), 95.2 rating (7th) - but his poise and leadership have been simply priceless.  And if you really want to think about what Pennington has meant to this team, all you have to do is think about where this team might be right now if the Dolphins hadn't acquired Pennington back in August.
Honorable Mention: Joey Porter, Ronnie Brown

Offensive Player of the Half: Ronnie Brown
It's hard to believe that Ronnie is just a year removed from tearing his ACL against the Patriots.  Brown has bounced back and cemented himself as the most talented player on this offense.  His 465 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns (oh - and a passing TD) aren't eye-popping numbers by any means.  But what he's meant to this offense is immeasurable.  He can pick up tough yards when asked.  And teams gameplan around stopping him - opening up the rest of the offense (see last week's game against Denver for an example).  Brown's talent and ability is also what has made the Wildcat formation work.  And I expect an even more productive 2nd half of the season now that teams are going to have to really respect the passing attack much more than they have.
Honorable Mention: Chad Pennington, Greg Camarillo

Defensive Player of the Half: Joey Porter
I don't think many Dolphin fans were expecting a season like this out of Joey Porter after last year.  But Porter is thriving in Paul Pasqualoni's defensive scheme and is definitely back to being one of the game's most feared defenders.  His 11.5 sacks leads the league and is a new career high for Joey.  His 3 forced fumbles are tied for the most in the league - with one of them resulting in a safety.  And he's been a force rushing the passer even when he doesn't reach the QB.  Offenses must gameplan around containing him - which is the ultimate compliment as a pass-rusher.  And right now, he's definitely among the top 5 in the Defensive Player of the Year award conversation.
Honorable Mention: Yeremiah Bell, Channing Crowder, Will Allen

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So we're now 7 games into the season - and the Tony Sparano era - and I thought it might be fun to examine some of the interesting statistics and decide which is the most surprising.  Check out the nominees below and then vote.

Dolphins being 3-4:  I know that I wasn't as optimistic as some of you.  But the Dolphins have found a way to win football games and are 3-4 through 7 games - with the 3 wins coming against pretty damn good teams (Pats, Chargers, Bills) whose combined winning percentage is currently .591.  Entering training camp, I don't think many people saw this coming.

Dolphins having a 2-1 divisional record:  The last time the Dolphins won at least 2 divisional games in a season was 2005.  In 2006 and 2007, the Dolphins had a combined divisional record of 1-11.  But the Fins have found a way to win these divisional contests in 2008 - including a trouncing of the Patriots up in New England.

Dolphins having a +7 turnover differential:  This is a really great stat because it takes into account both offensive efficiency and a defense's ability to force turnovers.  Last season, the Dolphins had a -7 differential.  This year's +7 differential is tied for 2nd in the NFL, only one behind the Titans.  The last time the Dolphins finished a season in the top 10 in turnover differential?  2003 - with a +2 differential.

Dolphins having the 9th ranked offense in NFL:  Last season, the Dolphins ranked 28th in the league in offense, averaging just 287.5 yards per game.  But in 2008, the Dolphins average 350.1 ypg and are currently ranked 9th.  When was the last time the Dolphins had a top 10 offense?  You'd have to go back to 1995, when the Fins ranked 8th and averaged 357.2 ypg.

Chad Pennington's success:  One of the main reasons the Dolphins offense has been so good is because of who is under center.  Chad Pennington has had a surprisingly good first 7 games as a Dolphin.  His 1,710 yards passing ranks him 9th and he has a QB rating of 100.5 - 5th in the league.  Projecting his stats out across 16 games puts him on pace for 3,900 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and just 7 interceptions.  His previous career high for passing yards in a season?  3,352.  If he can keep up this pace, he'll be headed to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.

Defense ranked 9th in sacks:  Remember back when the Dolphins traded Jason Taylor and many people were wondering where the Dolphins pass rush would come from?  Anyone still worrying about that?  Joey Porter has led a fierce pass rush this season.  And thanks to his remarkable 10.5 sacks, the Dolphins are ranked 9th in the NFL with 17.  Last year with Jason Taylor, the Dolphins only finished the season with 30 - which was 9th lowest total in the league.

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For the 3rd time this season, the Dolphins not only won their game but also feature 3 players who are up for weekly award honors.  So be sure to click the links below and cast your vote for the following three Dolphins:

Motorola Coach of the Week: Tony Sparano

Fed-Ex Air Player of the Week: Chad Pennington

GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Week: Joey Porter

So go vote, vote, vote!!!