First off, a thanks goes out to "Little Nicky 21" for starting a very successful Monday Night Football game thread. But I'll admit that scrolling through the comments was painful at times - proof that we do indeed have the best Dolphins fan community on the internet.
Moving along, we're now two days removed from Sunday's heartbreaking loss. And there's plenty to talk about - both related and unrelated to the game in Houston.
Ronnie Brown should have taken a knee? Really?
I can't believe some of the things I've read since Sunday's game about how Ronnie Brown should have taken a knee rather than going into the endzone for the touchdown that made the score 28-23. These people claim that the Dolphins could have then ran down the clock, kicked a FG, and left Houston with under 30 seconds on the clock trailing by a point. Some even compared it to Brian Westbrook's move a year or two ago when he broke free on a long run but went down at the one yard line so the Eagles could run the clock out.
The difference? The Eagles were winning the game. So Westbrook took a knee and then the Eagles simply sat on the ball to kill the rest of the time on the clock. The Dolphins were losing. That's a huge difference. You never pass up an opportunity to score lead-changing points in hopes of running out the clock. This isn't Madden NFL '09. Get real.
So many things could have gone wrong. The Dolphins could have botched a snap from center. Our holder could have muffed the snap from center during the FG attempt - a la Tony Romo in the playoffs against Seattle, essentially sending Bill Parcells into head coaching retirement. Or Miami's rookie kicker could have choked and missed the kick. How angry would Dolphin fans be if that would have happened?
The bottom line here is that the offense did their job. Unfortunately, the defense couldn't hold up their end of the bargain. The fact of the matter is that if Yeremiah Bell finds a way to bat down that 4th & 10 pass to Andre Johnson, the Dolphins win. So, as fans, let's stop coming up with these ridiculous theories, tip our caps to the Texans (after all, they made some big plays), and move on.
Remember The Cam Cam
I think the Dolphins two wins over good teams might have caused some fans to forget what this season was supposed to be about. It's not about reaching the playoffs - this team isn't at that level just yet. It's times like these that I want to ask you all to simply remember Cam Cam.
The 2007 season was a disaster and we all knew that it wouldn't be easy to fix this mess that Cam Cameron and Randy Mueller left here. The 2008 season was meant to be one in which our supposed saviors (Parcells, Ireland, Sparano) would come in here and begin the process of turning this franchise around.
So rather than being disappointed in a tough loss, I think we should look at the positives. The Miami Dolphins are a competitive football team again. And it only took a month of regular season play for this to happen. Just think where this team might be headed considering our saviors have come in and made this team competitive so damn quickly. One more offseason could potentially be enough to make this team a legitimate playoff contender for years to come. That's what we need to be focusing on.
Enjoy the ride and hope for the best. But don't forget where this team came from.
John Beck on the trading block?
This has been a topic of discussion for a few days now. Adam Schefter reported it last week on NFL Total Access. And this week, he wrote about it on his blog. Considering the source, I'll trust it to be true.
Then I came across this interesting idea courtesy of the Sun-Sentinel's Harvey Fialkov. Considering the injury news about Tony Romo (he's out 4 to 5 weeks with a broken finger), might the Dolphins look to deal John Beck to the Cowboys? In return, the Dolphins could ask for a wide receiver - like Miles Austin.
As much as I like John, I'd have to say that I really like this idea. And it's not just because he went to Monmouth University - though that helps. He's young (only 24), big (6'3), and has really progressed since being drafted back in 2006. He only has 13 career receptions - 8 for 186 and 3 TDs this season - but he has a lot of potential. Tony Sparano and company are familiar with him from their days in Dallas and Bill Parcells loves players from Jersey.
So I'm just saying...it would be a good match and a solid addition.
Your thoughts on any of this below...