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[COLOR=#284E36 !important][h=1]NFL Week 9 Grades: Is it time to take the Dolphins seriously?[/h]By John Breech | CBSSports.com
November 2, 2014 11:59 pm ET
Usually when NFL fans around the county are talking about the Dolphins, it's because they just finished watching Ace Ventura on late night cable. That might not be the case going forward though for a team that's only made the playoffs once since 2002 because it's looking like they might make the playoffs again.After Miami's 37-0 victory against the Chargers on Sunday, it's probably time to start taking the Dolphins seriously. The win was Miami's first shutout victory since 2006 and the team's largest shutout win since 1987.
The fact that the Dolphins are 5-3 and a serious playoff contender is kind of amazing when you consider that six weeks ago, things were so ugly in Miami that coach Joe Philbin was threatening to bench Ryan Tannehill.
Philbin finally did get to bench Tannehill, but it wasn't because he was bad, it was because the Dolphins led the Chargers 37-0 at the end of third quarter. As a matter of fact, Tannehill was the opposite of bad. Against San Diego, Tannehill threw three touchdown passes and registered a career-high quarterback rating of 125.6.
Tannehill didn't throw any picks against the Chargers either, marking only the second time in his career that he threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions.
If Sunday's game had been competitive, Tannehill probably could have hit the 400-yard mark. The Dolphins quarterback had 208 yards by halftime.
Rivers completed as many passes to Dolphins corner Brent Grimes (2) as he completed to his running backs (2). Besides Grimes' two picks, there was also an interception by Dolphins safety Reshad Jones. The Dolphins defense also forced a fumble.
It was an all-around big victory for the Dolphins and especially for Philbin, whose dad died on Friday.
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The Dolphins (5-3) are now over .500 through eight games for the first time since 2003. It's looking like the only thing that can stop this team is if someone kidnaps their mascot.
 | A+ | We could probably talk about Ryan Tannehill here and how impressive he has looked over the past three weeks (six touchdowns, one interception), but instead, let's talk about the Dolphins' defense. In a dominant performance, Miami handed San Diego its first shutout since 1999 and held the Chargers to 178 total yards, marking only the second time since 2008 that San Diego has been held under 180 total yards. |
