Let's talk about two plays Sunday. Two awful plays that show why this offense has to be blown up. Two conservative plays that tell why this franchise hasn't won a playoff game in a decade.
Two back-to-back plays in the final minutes that explain how this regime of Jeff Ireland and
Tony Sparano is really at the mercy of owner Steve Ross now.
"Why would anyone be surprised?" Buffalo cornerback Drayton Florence asked about the first play, the one where Wildcat formation was inserted on second-and-10 from the
Bills' 31 with just over two minutes to play. "They were playing for a field goal. That's what they do."
It's all so Wannstedtian, this philosophy. Win with defense. Fear the quarterback. And, well, you can understand how it's come to that if you've watched
Chad Henne play in 2010.
But on this climactic drive Henne looked just fine throwing it. Trailing 17-14, Henne had completed five of seven passes for 49 yards. He had driven the
Dolphins from their 20 yards to within striking position.
Then, after that seventh pass, an incompletion, the Wildcat was sent in as if the coaches wanted to do this before Henne made a mistake. Again, he's provided ample examples of that. But now? Here? You take the ball from him?
"Thought that was a good play and that was it,'' Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said by way of explanation.
Let be fair. Ronnie Brown ran 6 yards for a touchdown earlier off the Wildcat. But this felt all different.
"We thought, 'playing for a field goal,' '' Bills safety George Wilson said. "And we stuffed them there."
Brown got 1 yard. So now it was third-and-9. Here came the second, even more revealing play of who the 2010 Dolphins are and exactly what has ailed them across this long, lost decade.
"We watched the
Jets game this week and saw Henne was getting hit a lot and didn't look comfortable in the pocket,'' Florence said. "We knew they'd had some [problems] on the line and that Tony Sparano was a line coach.
"So we knew two things. One, Henne wouldn't be holding the ball long on most plays. And, two, if they were going to throw medium or long, they'd have maximum protection and only send two guys out."
All Sunday, that was the case, Florence and Wilson said. Easy to defend, huh?
"It's not complicated,'' Florence said. "Henne had one shot of anyone open deep all day when [Kevin] Curtis got behind us. But he missed him."
Does this help explain how this offensive problem is systemic? It's not just Henne's lack of development. It's this offensive line, too. It's seasons of issues not being addressed and polluting another season.
Now, on this third-and-9 play,
Davone Bess and
Brandon Marshall came to one side. Florence knew from filmwork what play was coming. This was the other part of a predictable offense.
So Florence covered Marshall over the top, just as the Bills' defense called. Henne saw he had no one to throw to.
"Remember, he doesn't want to hold onto the ball long,'' Florence said.
He checked down to Bess, who was running a route just over the line of scrimmage. Sparano said Henne made the right decision there. That sure seems a flaw in the play when your leading receiver isn't running a first-down route.
Florence slid over when he saw Henne going there and knocked down the pass.
"I would've had it, too, if my hand hadn't got caught in Bess' facemask,'' he said. "I'll take the [pass defensed], though. That worked for us."
To cap that off, Dan Carpenter missed the 48-yard field goal attempt. And that was that. The end for the playoff hopes, the 2010 season and no doubt a lot of this offense, both coaches and players.
Offensive coordinator Dan Henning is the easy target today. But don't go overboard here. Because across the way Sunday was another guy who was Dolphins offensive coordinator when he didn't have a quarterback to trust.
Chan Gailey does now as Buffalo coach.
Ryan Fitzpatrick made the kind of throws to again suggest he could be a franchise quarterback. That shows why the Bills have won four of their last six and have hope riding into 2011.
The Dolphins? What did they accomplish this season? Cameron Wake became a star. Cornerbacks
Vontae Davis and
Sean Smith progressed. But did anyone on offense take a step forward?
Two games to go. Nothing to play for. We've been here before over this past decade. But now even Buffalo looks to have a better tomorrow.
