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On Sunday, the Dolphins continued their excellent execution and performance inside the red zone in 2009, converting two red zone opportunities into two touchdowns.
Their first opportunity came on their second possession of the game. The Dolphins needed only seven plays to get into the red zone. They then converted on a 4th & 1 play by giving the ball to - who else - Lousaka Polite. Polite is now 13 for 13 on 3rd or 4th and two yards or less to go. Ricky Williams then gained four on the next play - and got lucky that his first fumble of the game went out of bounds. Another Polite run and a four yard pass to Polite set the Dolphins up at Jacksonville's one yard line. That's when Ricky ran it in behind Jake Long completely untouched for the touchdown.
Of course, that got me thinking - isn't it about time the Dolphins give it to Lousaka Polite from the one yard line and let him have a scoring opportunity? He only has one touchdown in his career - a receiving touchdown back in 2005 with Dallas. I say we let the big man punch one in!
Anyways, following a Jaguar three and out, the Dolphins again found themselves inside Jacksonville's 20 yard line. This time, it was thanks to a Chad Henne bullet pass to Brian Hartline over the middle for 25 yards, setting themselves up at the 14 yard line. That's when Polite carried for five yards and Henne found Joey Haynos for eight. After a Ricky run for no gain, Chad Henne rolled right on 2nd & goal and ran it in untouched for his first career rushing touchdown.
On the season, the Dolphins are converting red zone opportunities into touchdowns at an efficient rate of 64%. So I don't want to nit-pick. But I'm squarely on the "Let Lousaka Score" bandwagon. The big man deserves at least one shot.