Offense: One touchdown against the league's 24th-ranked defense is simply not good enough. It took the Dolphins nine tries before converting a third-down situation, but once they did it sent them on a 72-yard scoring drive that made it 12-0 early in the fourth. The running game averaged just 3.0 yards per carry.
Matt Moore got sacked and lost a fumble that set up the game-ending field goal.
Grade: D
Defense: Karlos Dansby and
Kevin Burnett each dropped possible interceptions, but
Yeremiah Bell recovered a
Willis McGahee fumble at the Broncos 40 to set up a second quarter field goal. That was just the third takeaway this year for the Dolphins defense, which came in tied for the Steelers for last in the league in that area. After holding Tebow (seven sacks) in check most of the day, they gave up two late touchdown drives that forced overtime.
Grade C-minus
Special teams: Marlon Moore couldn't handle the most important onsides kick of his young career. If he does, the Dolphins win.
Dan Carpenter kicked three more field goals to continue his recent surge. The Broncos came in leading the league in punt returns but
Quan Cosby never broke loose.
Brandon Fields killed several punts inside the Denver 10.
Reggie Bush finally got a couple of cracks at returning punts but failed to move the meter.
Grade: B-minus
Coaching: For the second time this season,
Tony Sparano saw his team blow a fourth-quarter lead. With nine straight losses going back to last season, confidence is understandably low across the board.
Grade: D
Turning point: Up 15-0 with 5:50 remaining, the Dolphins ran
Daniel Thomas into the line three straight times and opened the door for a Broncos miracle.
Second guess: Still don't understand why Sparano opted to try a two-point conversion up 12 points with nearly the entire fourth quarter to play. The Broncos ended up with four more possessions in regulation.
Moore Meter: Sparano counted at least five dropped passes among Moore's 11 incompletions. His rating of 92.6 was slightly above Tebow's.
Honorable Mention: Dansby led both teams with 13 tackles, his highest total as a Dolphin.
Overall: Sunday's collapse was the kind of game that gets coaches fired. No matter how strongly the Dolphins defend Sparano's honor with words, their play speaks louder.
Grade: F
