Final Score: Dolphins 17, Steelers 28
Here is my intial take on the game:
The Dolphins came out tense on offense. They were up and down, and coming up short on drives. It was a field position game in the first quarter. The Steelers put together their only decent drive of the game to get their first points in the 2nd quarter on a TD reception. I thought Miami could have intercepted it or at least knocked it down. But they were playing on their heels a bit.
Wes Welker had a nice punt return after a big defensive stop. It set up the Dolphins first TD of the game to tie the game. Then, the Steelers put together a drive with the help of the crowd and a bad play in Miami's secondary. DB Goodman held the receiver's arm on 3rd down, and gave the Steelers awesome field position near their goal with a first down. THEN, on the next play, THE SAME DB was burned for a TD. I was worried at this point.
But Miami put together a nice drive in under 2:00 minutes to get a field goal before half time. Wes Welker was a big part of that drive at WR. I love that guy. He is a smaller guy (by footbal standards) that plays hard.
The score was Dolphins 10, Steelers 14 at halftime.
Miami came out of the gate RUNNING in the 3rd quarter. The defense came out and took over. Then, the offense got the ball, drove down the field and scored a TD. It was AWESOME!! They looked great. The score was Dolphins 17, Steelers 14 going into the 4th quarter.
There was big Steeler celebration going on the whole game. The cameras were almost always showing something Steeler related. Nobody wanted the Dolphins to win except the Dolphins. The refs began calling bad penalities on them in critcal situations. It broke their focus. The crowd got louder and louder. It broke their focus. The cameras praised the Steelers. It broke their focus.
Culpepper threw two interceptions, the ref ignored a challenge from the Dolphins head coach Nick Saban, and the Dolphins defense gave up a HUGE play. It got ugly. But this was the destiny of this particular game. The Steelers coach kept making his face look uglier and uglier.
I had the feeling that the Dolphins were like this:
"We can only take so much. We keep playing great football, and you keep denying us. If you want the Steelers to win, how can we stop it? What else can we do?"
That mentality led to the breakdown.
But I take a lot of good stuff from the game. I'm excited about the Dolphins this year. They played really well under HORRIBLE conditions. The crowd was hostile, the NFL praised the Steelers all night, the refs let the Steelers get away with murder, and the Dolphins still fought hard. It was good to see. Since the Dolphins did what they did under those conditions, I think the Dolphins will beat MANY teams this season.
Here are some stats from the game:
Culpepper: 18 of 37 completed for 262 yards, No TDs, 2 INTs
Welker: 4 catches for 67 yards
Booker: 3 catches for 64 yards
Chambers: 5 catches for 59 yards
Brown: 15 carries for 30 yards and 2 TDs
The defense had 3 sacks. Zach Thomas led the team with 12 tackles.
My game ball on offense goes to Wes Welker. My game ball on defense goes to Zach Thomas.
Here is my intial take on the game:
The Dolphins came out tense on offense. They were up and down, and coming up short on drives. It was a field position game in the first quarter. The Steelers put together their only decent drive of the game to get their first points in the 2nd quarter on a TD reception. I thought Miami could have intercepted it or at least knocked it down. But they were playing on their heels a bit.
Wes Welker had a nice punt return after a big defensive stop. It set up the Dolphins first TD of the game to tie the game. Then, the Steelers put together a drive with the help of the crowd and a bad play in Miami's secondary. DB Goodman held the receiver's arm on 3rd down, and gave the Steelers awesome field position near their goal with a first down. THEN, on the next play, THE SAME DB was burned for a TD. I was worried at this point.
But Miami put together a nice drive in under 2:00 minutes to get a field goal before half time. Wes Welker was a big part of that drive at WR. I love that guy. He is a smaller guy (by footbal standards) that plays hard.
The score was Dolphins 10, Steelers 14 at halftime.
Miami came out of the gate RUNNING in the 3rd quarter. The defense came out and took over. Then, the offense got the ball, drove down the field and scored a TD. It was AWESOME!! They looked great. The score was Dolphins 17, Steelers 14 going into the 4th quarter.
There was big Steeler celebration going on the whole game. The cameras were almost always showing something Steeler related. Nobody wanted the Dolphins to win except the Dolphins. The refs began calling bad penalities on them in critcal situations. It broke their focus. The crowd got louder and louder. It broke their focus. The cameras praised the Steelers. It broke their focus.
Culpepper threw two interceptions, the ref ignored a challenge from the Dolphins head coach Nick Saban, and the Dolphins defense gave up a HUGE play. It got ugly. But this was the destiny of this particular game. The Steelers coach kept making his face look uglier and uglier.
I had the feeling that the Dolphins were like this:
"We can only take so much. We keep playing great football, and you keep denying us. If you want the Steelers to win, how can we stop it? What else can we do?"
That mentality led to the breakdown.
But I take a lot of good stuff from the game. I'm excited about the Dolphins this year. They played really well under HORRIBLE conditions. The crowd was hostile, the NFL praised the Steelers all night, the refs let the Steelers get away with murder, and the Dolphins still fought hard. It was good to see. Since the Dolphins did what they did under those conditions, I think the Dolphins will beat MANY teams this season.
Here are some stats from the game:
Culpepper: 18 of 37 completed for 262 yards, No TDs, 2 INTs
Welker: 4 catches for 67 yards
Booker: 3 catches for 64 yards
Chambers: 5 catches for 59 yards
Brown: 15 carries for 30 yards and 2 TDs
The defense had 3 sacks. Zach Thomas led the team with 12 tackles.
My game ball on offense goes to Wes Welker. My game ball on defense goes to Zach Thomas.
