From the beginning, the Dolphins' secondary felt it was a tired narrative.
Before the game, all the talk was about how 5-foot-10 cornerbacks Cortland Finnegan and Brent Grimes would fare against the taller Chicago Bears receivers. To them, facing Alshon Jeffrey (6-3) and Brandon Marshall (6-4) was no different than any other week.
So there was no need to brag after they shut down Jeffery and Marshall in the Dolphins 27-14 victory Sunday at Soldier Field.
Dolphins coach Philbin on disrupting the Bears offense
Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks about how his defense disrupted Jay Cutler and the Bears' offensive rhythm.
"You guys made a story of it," Finnegan said, referring to the media. "… We go against receivers that are always bigger than us. It's just one of those things."
The Bears' "big" receivers came up short in a game that may have saved the Dolphins' season. They combined to catch just eight passes for 57 yards. It silenced the doubters who felt Finnegan and Grimes were overmatched.
It was the exact opposite.
The smaller defenders did what they have done over the years and that's cover taller receivers.
"It's football," Grimes said. "We're obviously never going to be the biggest people on the field. But on the same token, we've made a lot of plays in this league. I believe that was a little overblown. I mean, they're good players. They can make plays but we're good players, too, and we can make plays."
The Dolphins were surprised so much was made about size entering the game. They have seen similar matchups throughout their career. This week, it felt as if the storyline was mentioned too much.
"It's overblown because receivers are big in this league," Grimes said. "That's just what it is. Every week, you could talk about the size."
In the end, it was the smaller players coming out looking like giants. Finnegan had a career-high four pass break-ups. It served as a bounce-back game after he struggled last week against the Green Bay Packers.
"I had to support my team and my coaches," Finnegan said. "That's big. You've got these young guys and you've got Brent as an example who comes to work every week. You can't have any letdowns
