The Miami Dolphins and Chad Pennington had a lot to prove on Sunday when they welcomed the Buffalo Bills to town, and with the Dolphins’ season on the line and perhaps Pennington’s job as well, the Dolphins beat the AFC East division leading Buffalo Bills 25-16.

Pennington was effective, as usual, with his game management and took care of the ball as he led Miami to the win. Pennington was 22 of 30 for 314 yds and 1 TD pass, with no INTs. Ted Ginn Jr had arguably his best game as a pro catching 7 passes for 175 yards, though it is worth noting the majority of his yards came on two catches for 64 and 46 yards. Ginn Jr has a long way to go, but perhaps today was a glimpse of what he CAN do given the right opportunities. Pennington, in completing those deep shots to Ginn Jr also showed doubters he can still make deep passes, something he was (rightly) criticized for in the past week. Pennington’s performance combined with the victory over Buffalo may quiet, for now, the calls for Chad Henne to be given a chance. Ronnie Brown had a workman like 14 carries for 43 yds marking the 2nd game in a row in which he has cooled off from his early season success.

Most importantly though, the win breathes new life into the Dolphins season. Buffalo came into the game leading the AFC East with a record of 5-1. The loss drops Buffalo into a tie with New England for the lead at 5-2, the New York Jets won today keeping themselves in 3rd at 4-3, and though they sit in last place at 3-4, the Dolphins aren’t canned yet. Working in the Dolphins favor, they have faced everyone in the division once and have the best record againts divisional opponents at 2-1. Working against the Dolphins however, they play all 3 divisional opponents one more time, 2 of the 3 games are on the road in New York and Buffalo in December.

I’m not crazy enough to predict a playoff appearance this year for the Dolphins. However, this team is showing that it is more talented and has more grit and determination than last years. It would have been easy for this group to suffer a let down after the mediocre losses to Houston and Baltimore, but they tightened up and got the job done in an important game. For the Dolphins though, everything is one week at a time. The victory over Buffalo was good, but it has to be out of mind and they need to prepare for Denver next week, there is more work to be done.

The Dolphins, now 2-4, face a critical two game stretch of their season in which a lot of decisions must be made. Perhaps none more important than what will happen at quarterback after these two games. The Dolphins had shocked the world 2 weeks in a row dominating New England on the road and then beating San Diego at home. However, the last two weeks have seen the Dolphins come crashing back to Earth after losses to the borderline pathetic Houston Texans and the mediocre Baltimore Ravens.

Gone are the whispers and murmurs about the playoffs and a winning season that were prevelant after the team’s victory over San Diego gave it a 2-2 record. Replacing those whispers and murmurs are questions about what can be done to right the ship and avoid finishing the season with a similar record to last season. The task won’t be easy as the Dolphins next two opponents are the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, teams the Dolphins will surely be underdogs against.

If the Dolphins lose these two games and are sitting at 2-6 the coaching staff needs to strongly consider replacing Chad Pennington with Chad Henne. Everyone, including the Chads, is aware that Pennington’s position is to guard the throne until the future starter (Henne) is ready to ascend to the starting position. It was obvious this past week just what Pennington’s limitations are and what they mean to the success of the team.

Pennington was a good pick up because he was more than capable of coming in and providing leadership on an offense that had none. He is an efficient passer, good leader, and he manages the game well, minimizing mistakes and giving the team chances to win. Pennington does not however bring the big play ability that every team needs to get  them over the hump. Pennington missed opportunities on Sunday to hit deep passes to Ginn Jr and Camarillo on several plays when they were open deep. Pennington’s inability to throw the deep ball is going to hurt this team’s ability to stretch opposing defenses and open up the run game, which is crucial to their success. While Pennington does have an impressive 8.12 yards per pass completion, the number is deceiving when you consider a majority of that is due to an 80 yard screen pass and the 53 yard pass to Patrick Cobbs against Houston, which was an under thrown ball.

Pennington was, and still is, the right man for the job now. But if the Dolphins fall in their next 2 games and find themselves at 2-6 their season is over. Henne is going to be the starting QB for this team whether it is this week, mid season, or next season. If the Dolphins find themselves out of the playoff picture it becomes necessary to give Henne reps and time in games to get himself accustomed to the game speed of the NFL. Even if Henne gets knocked around, he is gaining valuable experience so he is ready at the start of next season. There is no sense in keeping him shelved and having him go through his growing pains next season, effectively wasting two seasons.

Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens was hopefully a wake up call to Tony Sparano and his offensive coaches, it is time for the Miami Dolphins to change their scheme and find an offensive style that fits this team and can be implemented game after game.

Since defeating the New England Patriots in week 3, the Dolphins have become very fond of using their single wing (wild cat) offense. Unconventional and possesing many wrinkles, it kept Miami’s opponents off balance and gave the Dolphins a chance to win each week. But what would happen when the Dolphins welcomed the leagues best defense to town on Sunday in the form of the Baltimore Ravens? The results were not good and the Dolphins slugged through for a 27-13 loss to the Ravens.

The Dolphins used the single wing 5 times and gained 4 yards. Ronnie Brown, who promised to show the Ravens and former coach Cam Cameron what he could do, ran for 27 yards on 13 carries and had NO TDs. Chad Pennington was effective as usual going 24-35 for 295 yards, tossing 1 TD and 1 INT. That 1 INT however would prove costly in the end. The game was tied at 3 and as the pocket collapsed around Pennington instead of going down and taking the sack, Pennington desperately tried to unload the ball to a short man, the result however was an INT that was returned 44 yards for a TD by Terrell Suggs. The score put the Ravens ahead for good.

The Dolphins’ defense was also thrown for a loop on Sunday as the Ravens often employed the no huddle offense which allowed rookie QB Joe Flacco to go pressure free for the majority of the game and move his team downfield for two FGs and two TDs, including a TD drive with 30 seconds left before halftime.

The Dolphins have been more impressive than most would have anticipated this season, but lately have been living on borrowed time, so to speak. The offense has been relying a little too heavily on the gimmicks, the wildcat offense in particular, to spark scoring drives and win or stay in games. If the Dolphins want to win more games this season they are still going to have to address their deficiencies. The passing game is impotent, Ginn Jr, Camarillo, and Hagan are terrible and without a passing game Brown and Ricky Williams are going to be useless. The more the offense struggles, the less time they spend on the field and the more time the defense spends on the field. The coaching staff needs to come up with a new scheme because teams have clearly caught onto the wildcat, meaning its effective days are numbered.

Baltimore Raven’s head coach John Harbaugh is new to the NFL head coaching gig, so maybe a pass is warranted on this occassion. In an attempt to defend his offensive coordinator, former Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron, Harbaugh told a local radio reporter that Cameron “was an effective coach down in Miami last year, even though the results weren’t what people were hoping for. He did a great job there with what he had to work with.” Is he serious? Do you really consider 1-15 a good job?!

Miami Dolphins’ players have been told by team management to refrain from making any negative comments regarding this statement and/or former coach Cam Cameron. That doesn’t extend to anyone else though and retaliation is warranted in this case. Every player left on that team (who was with the team last year) should be personally offended and I hope they read this quote, or better yet listen to it, multiple times before Sunday’s game. Cam Cameron may not have had an established QB like Chad Pennington last year, but he had an offense that included Ronnie Brown (albeit for half the season) and Chris Chambers. Cameron had plenty of tools to win more than 1 game. This year’s Dolphins have no better offensive attack than last years, but Sparano is able to get the most out of the players he has.

I for one believe the blame should lay with Cam Cameron, he was not only less than effective as a head coach during games but was also terrible at controlling his team off the field. The Dolphins’ locker room last season was a mess and Cameron was never able to establish himself as the leader of MEN. Perhaps like USC coach Pete Carroll, Cameron is not capable of leading men. Maybe the next time Cameron wants to be a head coach in charge of an organization on the field, he should go with work kids in the NCAA ranks.

Make no mistake, Cam Cameron did NOT do a good job last year. He was unable to control his players and establish himself as the head of the team as coach. True, Cameron didn’t have a whole ton of help. No real QB existed last season, Ronnie Brown went down injured, Chris Chambers was traded, and the OL was a mess, but he only won 1 game. Cameron was incapable of adjusting his schemes to the players he had. The Dolphins welcome Baltimore to Miami this weekend and new coach Tony Sparano and his players should show the Ravens just what they are capable of doing to opponents.

The Miami Dolphins’ losses this year can be attributed to two major deficiencies on defense, defending the big plays and taking on big, physical receivers. In each of Miami’s 3 losses this season we can see evidence of these things working against them.

In Miami’s losses to the Jets, Cardinals, and Texans it was big plays and physical receivers that doomed the defense in those games. Against the Jets it was two big pass plays that doomed the Dolphins, the bomb to Cotchery in the 1st quarter and the 4th down hail mary to Chansi Stuckey in the endzone near the end of the half. If you take away those two touchdowns on big plays, the Dolphins otherwise locked down the Jets offense.

The Cardinals game was a case of too much of both their problems. Arizona’s big WRs Anquan Bolding and Larry Fitzgerald had monster days, but also had monster plays. One play in particular provides a perfect case in point. A long pass to Larry Fitzgerald resulted in Fitzgerald out jumping both Miami defenders, breaking their tackles, and romping another 20yds before being brought down.

Then last week against Houston. Big plays obviously played a role in this game, especially the two 4th down conversions on the final drive that allowed Houston to stay alive and eventually win. The Dolphins DBs struggled to deal with Andre Johnson as well.

By comparison, Miami’s defense was able to lock down the more finesse and speedy receivers of New England and San Diego in their two victories this season.

It is clear, the Miami Dolphins are making great strides in their quest to turn the franchise around. At the same time, the time to rest has not come yet. The Dolphins need to keep improving and need to find a way to deal with big, physical WRs and prevent the opposition from getting big plays (particularly late in games) that hurt the Dolphins’ chances.

This time last year, the Dolphins were sellers when the NFL Trade Deadline came around. WR Chris Chambers was sent packing in what proved to be just the start of a purge that would see several veteran faces in Miami depart. This year however, the Dolphins could be buyers at the trade deadline, but who could they be trading for?

The Kansas City Chiefs are openly shopping Tony Gonzalez and the Detroit Lions are shopping several players. The Dolphins should quickly get involved in talks with both teams to try and get a new face in Miami. Tony Gonzalez has asked to be traded to a contender, and though the Dolphins had the longest odds at the start of the season to make the playoffs (not to mention the Super Bowl), the Dolphins aren’t out of anything yet. Lets not get carried away, I’m not guaranteeing any playoff run. That being said, the AFC East is wide open and it is not impossible the Dolphins could make the playoffs. Tony Gonzalez would be a priceless addition and would provide another option in that crazy single wing attack the Dolphins are becoming fond of.

Then there are the Detroit Lions, who are shopping several players. The Lions are done already this season sitting at 0-5. Roy Williams has commented to Detroit media he might like to leave and though the Lions have said he isn’t on the trading block, they would probably part with him given the right offer. Williams too would be a fantastic addition. Whether or not Tony Sparano and Bill Parcells admit to it, the WR corps for the Dolphins stinks, STINKS. Roy Williams is a big body, fast receiver that would immediately legitimize the Dolphins pass offense. Williams would not only be another option for the crazy single wing, but would allow the Dolphins to be much more effective with a standard offensive set as well.

At 2-3 I’m not going to call the Dolphins a playoff lock, but they do stand a chance to make the playoffs. What is the harm in making a trade for one of these guys to see if you can make waves the rest of the season. At worst, you have these quality players coming back next year to form an offense with. This should be a no brainer, DO IT!

It must have been an unfamiliar feeling for these Miami Dolphins, being a favorite in a game. But undoubtedly they were the favorites to win on Sunday against the 0-4 Houston Texans. The Texans have exhibited little offense this season and have had off field issues. Hurricane Gustav uprooted them from their homes for a week, their stadium sustained significant damage, and last week they blew a large 4th quarter lead to the Indianapolis Colts, at home.

The Dolphins on the other hand had all the momentum in their favor. 3 weeks ago they picked up win #1 on the season at New England, had their bye 2 weeks ago, and last week their defense stymied arguably the leagues best offense against San Diego. Surely they could handle the hapless Texans right?

Despite seemingly controlling the flow of the game early on, the Dolphins were unable to hold it together down the stretch. The Dolphins lead through the whole 1st half, employing the single wing formation again this week and displaying some new wrinkles in the formation with a reverse to Pennington who shot an 80yard TD pass to RB Patrick Cobbs. The 2nd half was more evenly played, but as the game wound to a close the Dolphins were clinging to a 28-23 lead. The Texans were driving and the Dolphins seemingly had them stopped twice in the 4th quarter but allowed two 4th down conversions.

Texans WR Andre Johnson made an acrobatic catch on a 23 yard reception on a 4th and 10 to keep the drive alive. The Texans eventually got down to the Dolphins goalline. After two passes were batted down in the endzone by Dolphins defenders, the Texans were left with a 4th and goal and 3 seconds left. The Dolphins defense made a critical error leaving no linebackers in the middle of the field, and Texans QB Matt Schaub successfully ran into the endzone from 3 yards out with 3 seconds to go in the game, snatching victory from the Dolphins, 29-28.

All in all, the Dolphins should stay focused on that which went well. The offense was efficient again, though have yet to find a consistent spark matching their production against New England 3 weeks ago. The defense was again strong, but a crucial error and some luck did them in as the Texans put together a successful final drive to finish off the game and steal victory from the Dolphins.

The Dolphins need to look past this week’s game, mistakes happen and the Dolphins are improving. It would be a waste to allow this game to linger in their minds. Put it behind you and move on, next week the Dolphins are home to face the sinking Baltimore Ravens, losers of 3 in a row.

Early Friday Miami Dolphins’ RB Ronnie Brown and offensive linemen Vernon Carey and Ikechuku Ndukwe were fined $10,000 each for a celebration in the endzone last Sunday after a touchdown against the San Diego Chargers. Welcome to the return of the No Fun League.

As a sports fan in general, and a Dolphins’ fan, this aggrevates me. This is America and people are allowed by our laws the freedom of expression. Taking a step back from the political pulpit though, lets just look at this logically from a sports standpoint. First off, the NFL has seen much worse celebrations in the endzone than 3 guys dancing for 10 seconds. We’ve seen Chad Johnson commandeer television cameras and don a gold “Hall of Fame” like sport coat on the sideline with the words “Hall of Fame 20??”. Three guys dancing in the endzone for 10 seconds isn’t offensive to me, and I would doubt it is to many. How in fact is it any different than a group of teammates celebrating with a hug or high fives in the endzone?

To me, the act of fining these players is an attempt to squash the joy of a team scoring a touchdown. The NFL (No Fun League) handed down the fine because in their written rules they have stated that “coreographed celebrations by 2 or more players” are inappropriate. Considering the endzone was rare territory last season for the Dolphins, these players have every right to get excited with each touchdown they score this season as they try to prove to themselves and the league that they are a team deserving of respect. After all, these guys were 1-15 last year, are they not allowed a little joy in their game? This was not an overly coreographed event, it was three guys dancing for 10 seconds in the endzone.

Perhaps the NFL should spend more time concentrating on what it will do (if anything) to repeat offender Adam Jones, and less time fining guys for a small touchdown celebration. One final note, one of the NFL’s very own referees was right there and walked passed the players as they celebrated, there was NO flag on the play for excessive celebration.

Lets not mix words, for the better part of this decade the Miami Dolphins have been a bungling team searching for a new identity in their post Dan Marino years. To lose a player of his caliber, at arguably the most important position on the field, is tough to adjust to. It is even tougher to try and replace a player like Marino. The Dolphins are not the only team that was once prominent, riding the arm of a legendary quarterback, only to fall on hardship for years. The Dallas Cowboys were a different team for several years after Troy Aikman retired, the Denver Broncos lost their mystique when John Elway retired. For those franchises, their quarterback was the shining example of what their team stood for, he was their identity in human form.

The departure of Marino, and Don Shula a few years before, left the Dolphins without an identity. For so long under Shula they had been a no nonsense, mistake free, responsible football franchise. They new exactly what they were, and so did other teams. Early on (pre-Marino) they would grind the game out on the ground, and when Marino arrived the team shifted gears to an aerial assault. But in the time since, the franchise had become a bungling flock of loveable losers who just couldn’t seem to all get on the same page. Mistake free, solid football had been replaced with laughable quarterbacks, poor head coaches, dropped passes, and few playoff chances to speak of.

Much like everything in life though, football is cyclical. Sure, it is hard to imagine some franchises as ever having been bad. It doesn’t stick out in the memory of most that the Dallas Cowboys not too long ago were awful, the Green Bay Packers had their stretches of poor play as well, but those franchises have also come out of those stretches. So to it appears, will the Miami Dolphins. It is beginning to appear as though all the moves of Bill Parcells may be paying off. The team is beginning to play as one cohesive unit, on offense and defense.

More than anything, the Dolphins want to be considered tough. They are tired of being that team that is circled on the opponents calendar as an “easy win” before the season even starts. With the recent improvement on defense and the fact that the offense is now clicking, perhaps a few more teams will think twice before they face the Dolphins. The days of them being a lock to beat might be coming to end. The road to redemption is a long one, but it would appear as though the Dolphins are headed in the right direction.

Well, if people weren’t impressed enough with the Dolphins last victory over the Patriots, they certainly will be now. The Patriots were missing Tom Brady, but the Chargers weren’t missing anyone and the Dolphins quite easily shut down a very potent offense. The defense held arguably the league’s best running back to 35 yards and 0 TDs, and held one of the top passers in the league to a mere 159 yards and 1 TD.

The Dolphins offense on the other hand again was firing on all cylinders, and the single wing was in effect again this week. Ronnie Brown had another stellar performance rushing 24 times for 125 yards and 1 TD. The Dolphins’ offense employed the single wing or direct snap formations 11 times netting 49 yards and the games winning TD. Other formations were successful too. Chad Pennington was 22-29 for 228 yards and 1 TD. Greg Camarillo and Ted Ginn Jr showed improvement, catching 6 balls for 68 yards and 7 balls for 55 yards respectively.

The Dolphins 2nd victory this season, which doubles their total from last season, was their 2nd straight. This is the first time since November of 2006 that the Dolphins have won back to back games. After a shaky start to the season, the Dolphins appear to be gelling as a team and discovering that which works for them and that which does not. Most importantly, the offense and defense are playing good football at the same time.

The name of the game for the Dolphins this season may be ball control. The Dolphins had control of the ball for 13 1/2 more minutes on Sunday than the Chargers. In the post-Dan Marino era of Dolphin football, defense has never been the problem, the problem has always been lackluster offenses hanging their defense out to dry and leaving them on the field TOO long. The defense may have looked bad to start the season, perhaps hitting an early rock bottom in Arizona, but they have bounced back two games in a row now holding powerful offenses under 13 pts each. The offense, for its part, is holding the ball and keeping opposing offenses off the field and giving their defense time to rest.

The Dolphins once again should keep in mind lessons learned from this game and apply them going forward. They appear to have a winning formula together, control the clock and control the game. Its an old fashioned approach to football often overlooked by the teams blessed with superstars and high powered offenses. In the absence of those things, the Dolphins can succeed if they continue to employ their own brand of football.