Usually we have some kind of cross-blogging take place on Thursday or Friday with this site and the site of the opponent. I still hope to have that posted later on Friday. For now, though, I just wanted to throw out a couple interesting little statistical tidbits followed by the game capsule provided by the league.
First off, you may or may not know that Ricky Williams is closing in on history. With just 25 more rushing yards, Ricky will become just the seventh player in NFL history 32 yars of age or older to rush for 1,000 yards. And he would set a new league record for most years between 1,000 yard rushing seasons. Five players have had 1,000 yard rushing seasons that were five years apart. But the last time Ricky ran for 1,000 was in 2003 - meaning it's been six years since his last 1,000 yard season. Very impressive - but also kind of sad in terms of the "what might have been."
Williams is also just 1,120 yards away from the franchise career rushing record held by Larry Csonka - and just eight rushing touchdowns away from Csonka's record of career rushing touchdowns. At the moment, Williams is also the franchise record holder of rushing yards per game - averaging 75.9 as a Dolphin. Second place, by the way, is a tie between Ronnie Brown and Lamar Smith - at 68 yards per game.
That brings me to my question: is Ricky Willims the greatest running back in Dolphins history?
I also just wanted to throw out some "props" to Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo.
Camarillo doesn't get much national attention. But he's been as reliable as any receiver in the NFL despite being a year removed from a torn ACL. On the season, he's caught 75% of the passes thrown his way - which ranks him 4th among all receivers in the AFC. Davone Bess, meanwhile, is catching 69.7% of the balls thrown his way - tied with Hines Ward for 7th among all AFC receivers. Bess is also second in the entire NFL in first down receptions on 3rd down. He has 24, just two behind the Giants' Steve Smith.
Both Davone and Greg, by the way, went undrafted coming out of college.
Game capsule is after the break...
MIAMI DOLPHINS (7-6) AT TENNESSEE TITANS (6-7)
SERIES
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DOLPHINS |
TITANS |
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SERIES LEADER |
17-13 |
|
|
STREAKS |
7 of past 9 |
|
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COACHES VS. OPP. |
Sparano: 0-0 |
Fisher: 2-6 |
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LAST WEEK |
W 14-10 at Jaguars |
W 47-7 vs. Rams |
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LAST GAME |
9/24/06: Titans 10 at Dolphins 13. Miami K Olindo Mare converts 39-yard FG with 3:39 remaining as Dolphins rally to win. QB Daunte Culpepper rushes for 5-yard TD. |
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LAST GAME AT SITE |
11/9/03: Titans 31, Dolphins 7. Tennessee QB Steve McNair passes for 201 yards with 2 TDs & 0 INTs for 129.1 passer rating. Titans DE Jevon Kearse has 2 sacks & 1 FF. |
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|
BROADCAST |
CBS (12:00 PM CT): Dick Enberg, Dan Fouts. SIRIUS: 123 (Mia.). XM: 106 (Mia.). |
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STATS
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PASSING |
Henne: 194-330-2,067-9-9-74.9 |
Young: 113-183-1,383-7-3-90.9 OR Collins: 119-216-1,225-6-8-65.5 |
|
RUSHING |
R. Williams: 200-975-4.9-10 |
Johnson: 272-1,626 (1L)-6.0-11 (T3L) |
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RECEIVING |
Bess: 62-570-9.2-1 |
Johnson (RB): 42-391-9.3-2 |
|
OFFENSE |
328.2 |
360.4 |
|
TAKE/GIVE |
-5 |
-3 |
|
DEFENSE |
339.7 |
357.5 |
|
SACKS |
Porter: 8 |
Tony Brown: 5 |
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INTs |
V. Davis (R): 3 |
Finnegan: 5 (T3C) |
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PUNTING |
Fields: 45.9 (3C) |
Kern: 44.8 |
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KICKING |
Carpenter: 88 (31/32 PAT; 19/21 FG) |
Bironas: 99 (30/30 PAT; 23/27 FG) |
NOTES
DOLPHINS: Club is 6-0 in Dec. under head coach TONY SPARANO...QB CHAD HENNE is 7-3 as starter & has 9 TDs vs. 8 INTs...RB RICKY WILLIAMS (975) needs 25 rush yards to reach 1,000 for 5th time in career & 1st since '03. Can set NFL record for longest span between 1,000-yard seasons (6) & can become 7th RB in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards in season in which RB was 32+ years old at start of season. Williams has 100+ rush yards in 4 of past 5...WR DAVONE BESS leads AFC & ranks 2nd in NFL w/30 3rd-down rec. in '09. WR GREG CAMARILLO had season-high in rec. (7) & receiving yards (110) last week...DE RANDY STARKS has career-high 6 sacks in '09. Starks was selected in 3rd round of '04 NFL Draft & spent 4 seasons w/Ten...Since 2000, LB JASON TAYLOR leads NFL w/38 sacks in Dec. Taylor (126.5) needs 0.5 sack to surpass DERRICK THOMAS for 11th-most sacks all-time...LB JOEY PORTER has 5.5 sacks in past 4...
TITANS: Aim for 5th win in row at home...Team ranks 2nd in NFL w/165.3 rush yards per game...Club has 2,149 rush yards & is on pace (2,644) to surpass franchise record of 2,635 in 1980...QB VINCE YOUNG is 4-0 as starter at home in '09 & has completed 65 of 94 passes (69.1 pct.) for 854 yards w/4 TDs vs. 1 INT & 107.3 passer rating. Since '08, QB KERRY COLLINS is 12-9 as starter (.571)...RB CHRIS JOHNSON (1,626) needs 72 rush yards to surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer EARL CAMPBELL (1,697 in '79) for 2nd-most rushing yards in season in franchise history. Leads NFL w/franchise record 2,017 scrimmage yards (1,626 rush, 391 rec.). Has franchise record 8 consecutive games w/100+ rush yards. Ranks 3rd in NFL w/13 total TDs (11 rush, 2 rec.)...Rookie WR KENNY BRITT (Round 1, Rutgers) leads AFC rookies & ranks 3rd among NFL rookies w/642 receiving yards...LB KEITH BULLUCK posted 2 INTs last week & is tied for league-high among LBs w/3 INTs in '09...CB CORTLAND FINNEGAN tied career-high w/2 INTs last week...S VINCENT FULLER posted 2nd INT-TD return of season last week.