The Miami Dolphins have always had a knack for delivering heart-wrenching losses, so Monday Night's loss to the Indianapolis Colts was nothing new. However, the rather lopsided stats - particularly rushing yards and time of possession - made this an especially perplexing defeat. Let's go ahead and walk through some of the goodness, badness, and ugliness that transpired:
The Good:
-The offensive line bounced back nicely, paving large running lanes and protecting Pennington fairly well throughout the night
-Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown 195 yards and 2 touchdowns on 43 carries. Most weeks, that will be a recipe for a win
-Ted Ginn put up No. 1 receiver numbers, catching 11 balls for 108 yards including a half-dozen or so first-down grabs.
The Bad:
-For the second straight week, Miami's defense failed to force a turnover.
-Sparano and company made a very Wannstedt-esque decision late in the forth quarter. Facing third-and-6 from deep inside Colts territory, Miami elected to go conservative, having Ronnie Brown dive up the middle to setup an easier field goal. Miami made the field goal to take a 23-20 lead, but fans and media pundits are criticizing the decision, and rightfully so.
Pennington was in a groove and should have been given an opportunity to extend the drive and possibly put the game on ice.
The Ugly:
-Despite putting up solid numbers, Ted Ginn had a very disappointing performance. On two separate occasions, he failed to come up with catchable balls that would have been touchdowns and also had a number of questionable decisions including a play in which he ran out of bounds short of the first down, forcing Miami to run a short-yardage play to gain the extra yard and convert the first down late in the ball game. No. 1 receivers can't do that.
