Well, we all have many things to say about today’s loss and the season in general. Once again, today it was proved that being a Dolphins fan is often frustrating and disillusioning. There are however, positive things to be observed about today’s loss at New England.
Of course, we lost the game because we made some mistakes and had some bad play at crucial moments. Here are some of the negatives I observed.
- Joey Harrington: The stat sheet will show there is no real difference between him and Daunte Culpepper thus far. Yet it seemed the offense had more of a spark at times during this game than what we’ve seen all season. With Culpepper playing, good plays were sparse and inconsistent, with Joey I feel like our offense did a good job of picking up momentum and getting on a role, even though they were far from perfect. Whether or not the better play is due to the o-line’s play is tough to argue. They had multiple drive-killing penalties and gave up a critical sack late in the game. Harrington had a couple of bad picks, and they cost us, yet he seemed to get our offense in the game when we regularly look flat and hopeless. I don’t know about a definite QB issue, but I am very intrigued as to what Harrington could develop into. It seemed as though more receivers got involved, and is it me or do Harrington and McMichael have good chemistry? I think a healthy, rejuvenated Harrington could develop into something good.
- Wes Welker: Once again, he always seems to get us out of trouble whether in the kicking game or making a nice catch in the most needed moment. He isn’t our number 1 guy, but he has become a key contributor and will be a big part of Dolphins success in the future.
- O line pass blocking: Yes, they caved in a bit in the end and gave up a sack and began struggling against the pass rush. They also had a few silly flags. But we gave up only 1 sack instead of 5 or 6, and that has to be respected, especially against a New England team that ate Carson Palmer alive last week. The o line hasn’t been the only problem, but their improvement in this area will facilitate things greatly.
- Run defense: We are very good on first and second down against the run. We rarely allow for big plays and because of this we often put our D in favorable third down situations. It’s only too bad our third down defense is pitiful.
Of course, we lost the game because we made some mistakes and had some bad play at crucial moments. Here are some of the negatives I observed.
- Defensive line: I like the Matt Roth sightings lately and Taylor had a huge sack on that New England drive in the third as they were gaining momentum, but the line looked weak overall. Where is Vonnie Holliday? We got decent pressure on Brady but lacked our normal couple of sacks. If we would have played like any other game this season, we would have troubled Brady a lot more.
- Third down defense: It does no good to have a good run defense if you cannot protect against the pass on third down. Particularly our secondary has a lot of trouble staying consistent. The way this team plays defense makes it so they stay on the field FOREVER because they stop the opponent on first and second down only to fold on third down to consequently stay on the field. Combine this with the fact that sometimes we stall on offense and you have an old, tired, unmotivated defense on the field late in the game when we need a stop the most. This is not part of the formula for this team to be successful, this defense has too many miles on it for that.
- Secondary: With moments of solid play becoming more apparent, we still seem to have a problem staying consistent. We’ve seen good play at different times from different players, but none of those players have risen to the occasion full-time. Will Allen seems to be the furthest ahead, but he has had awful melt-down moments in the last two weeks. I don’t care what you read on this board, you have to call that pass interference in the NFL, that is the second time Allen leaves the opposing offense on the goal line because he was getting beat down field and could do nothing but interfere. If you have that happen once a game, it makes things a lot easier for the offense. The truth is, New England wasn’t shy about going for it on 4th down because our secondary is weak, and everyone knows it.
- Olindo Mare/Special teams: What is with the special teams blunders this season. A fumble on a punt and a blocked and missed field goal today, plus more missed field goals and another blocked kick against Buffalo don’t make a good case for this unit. If Olindo makes that 50 yarder we are in great position. That shouldn’t have even been the case, as we should have never had a field goal blocked earlier. Welker and the punt covering unit made some good plays today but this is also an inconsistent part of our game.
