The Miami Dolphins miraculous turnaround continued Sunday as they won a wild game in Kansas City 38-31. The Dolphins’ defense, stout as of late, was uncharacteristically sloppy in the first half. The Dolphins’ offense however finally arrived, saving the day and salvaging Miami’s playoff dreams.

The first half was an offensive shoot out with the two teams exchanging blows. After a mild 1^st quarter ended with Miami up 10-7, both teams came out firing in the 2^nd quarter. The teams would score a combined 35 points in the 2^nd and Kansas City would go into halftime with a 28-24 lead.

After a first half that saw the Dolphins’ defense gashed from left to right by Kansas City’s offense, the Dolphins’ D showed up and shut down Kansas City in the 2^nd half. The Fins’ D would allow only a FG in the 3^rd quarter and Miami’s offense would score a TD in the 3^rd and 4^th quarters to win the game 38-31.

Chad Pennington lead Miami’s balanced attack on 26/34 passing for 235yds and 3TDs. Patrick Cobbs would rush for 44yds, Ricky Williams 34yds and a TD, Ronnie Brown 32yds, and Ted Ginn Jr added a 31yd TD rush to carry the rushing load for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins now find themselves in complete control of their own destiny. New England won to keep pace with the Dolphins, and the New York Jets lost in Seattle to put Miami in front in the AFC East. With a victory next week over the Jets, the Dolphins will be headed for the playoffs.

 

The NFL announced the AFC and NFC Pro Bowl teams today and the Miami Dolphins will be sending two players to Hawaii this year to partake in the festivities. RB Ronnie Brown and OLB Joey Porter are heading to the Pro Bowl as representatives of the resurgent Dolphins.

Ronnie Browns joins Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans and Thomas Jones of the New York Jets in the trio of AFC running backs at the Pro Bowl. Ronnie Brown is a somewhat curious choice from a statistical standpoint as he has 827yds and a 4.2yds/carry average and 10 TDs while rookie Steve Slaton of the Houston Texans has 1,124yds and a 4.9yds/carry average with 8 TDs. Brown however has meant more to his team over the course of the season than Slaton has to the Texans. At times Brown has literally willed the Dolphins to victory. Odd choice or not, Brown is certainly deserving.

Joey Porter would have had every right to cry wolf had he been ignored as he has been the heart and soul of the Miami defense this season, playing a critical role in the turn around of the Dolphins this season. Porter has 35 solo tackles with 11 assists, but leads the AFC in sacks with 17.5. Porter has seen his career revived this season with Miami and is the leader of the Dolphins defense this season.

Both players are deserving of their selection to this season’s Pro Bowl. Congratulations to Ronnie Brown on his 1st appearance, and congrats to Porter on his 4th appearance. It will be Porters 4th Pro Bowl, 1st as a Dolphin.

The Miami Dolphins kept themselves in the hunt for the playoffs Sunday with a 14-9 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers. The Dolphins used two first half TD passes from Chad Pennington to his TEs to build a lead and relied on their defense to seal the victory and boy did they ever.

For the 3rd straight game the Dolphins’ defense was relentless, displaying a bend but don’t break attitude to make their team’s 2 TDs hold up. The win was Miami’s 7th in their last 8 games and it kept them in a tie for 1st place in the AFC East with the New York Jets and New England Patriots.

Miami’s offense wasn’t particularly potent this week. The Dolphins were outgained 318 – 248yds while gaining only 11 first downs and converting only 1 third down all game, in comparison to 24 first downs and 8 third down conversions for San Fran. Chad Pennington connected on a 61yd TD pass to TE David Martin in the 1st qtr and on a 19yd TD pass to TE Joey Haynos in the 2nd qtr to provide all the offense Miami would need.

Miami’s defense on the other hand was red hot today and wasn’t going to allow San Francisco to steal this game from them. Slowly the 49ers chipped away at the Dolphins lead in the 2nd half and with 2:36 to go in the game San Fran had a 10 play drive going to try and steal the game. The defense would stand tall and stop the 49ers on 4th down deep in Miami territory to preserve the victory.

In allowing no TDs again this week, Miami has now gone 3 games without allowing an opponent to score a touchdown, the first such stretch the Dolphins have had since 1973. Miami’s offense sputtered today and was not particularly effective, but they did just enough and protected the ball, never turning it over. The Dolphins are on pace to set an NFL record for the fewest turnovers in a season.

With the win, Miami remains in a tie for 1st place in the AFC East with the New York Jets and New England Patriots. The Jets, playing at the same time, ran a fumble back for a TD late to survive their game with the Buffalo Bills, and at the moment New England is cruising against the Oakland Raiders, up 42-20 in the 3rd quarter. Miami’s destiny remains in its own hands, win out and you’re in the playoffs. Now it becomes important for Miami to focus on Kansas City next week and not look ahead to the Jets in the season finale.

Dolphins are clicking against a terrible 49ers team. Up 14-3 in the 2nd and playing as a complete team.

Nice special teams tackle right there…

The Miami Dolphins continue to exceed (by far) the expectations of everyone around the NFL as they defeated the Buffalo Bills yesterday, improving to 8-5 on the season and moving into a 3 way tie with New York and New England for 1st place in the AFC East.

The Dolphins squared off with the ice cold Buffalo Bills in Toronto yesterday and walked away 16-3 winners. A 20 yd TD pass from Chad Pennington to TE Anthony Fasano was all Miami would need as the defense absolutely shut down the Buffalo offense. Dan Carpenter would add 3 FGs, and Buffalo would muster 1 FG in the 1st quarter, but in the end Miami’s defense would keep Buffalo in check.

Miami’s defense was absolutely stifling allowing Buffalo a total net yardage of 163 (79 passing and 84 rushing) getting 4 sacks and 1 INT. Joey Porter continued his strong play this season with 2 sacks and a forced fumble to lead the defense on Sunday.

It is worth noting Buffalo fans were critical of the game being played in Toronto. Buffalo’s hold on their franchise is tenuous as it is literally the mental will of their owner Ralph Wilson keeping them in Buffalo, a small market. Buffalo has played pre season games in the past in Toronto, but this was the first time a regular season game was played there, and it may not be the last. Buffalo fans felt not only robbed of a home game, but robbed of the advantage they would have had with the bitter temperatures and conditions outdoors in Buffalo. Yesterday’s game was played indoors in Toronto. Buffalo was also without their offensive catalyst, QB Trent Edwards.

Backup QB or not, indoors or out, Miami again just got it done on offense and was dominating on defense. Miami’s win, combined with New York’s loss, throws the Dolphins, Patriots, and Jets into a 3 way tie for 1st place in the AFC East. Miami however currently sits at the bottom of this tie as New England has the tie breaker over them, as does New York via their opening week victory in Miami.

The Dolphins have as good a chance as New York or New England to get into the playoffs as the division champ. New England has the easier 3 game remaining schedule with games against Oakland, Arizona, and Buffalo. The Jets have games agaisnt Buffalo, Seattle, and the Dolphins. Miami has San Francisco, Kansas City, and the Jets left to play.

If the Dolphins can get the job done against San Francisco and Kansas City, their playoff destiny can be in their own hands with just a little outside help required. For the Dolphins to get in they need to A) Beat San Fran and KC, B) New England to lose at least once, and C) defeat the Jets the last week of the season. There are many teams out there with more complicated routes to the playoffs, for the Dolphins it’s simple. If they beat their opponents and get help just once in a New England defeat, then the Dolphins are playoff bound!

The return of RB Stephen Jackson was not enough for the woeful St. Louis Rams to beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. The Dolphins rebounded for a tough rout last week at the hands of the Patriots with a stingy defensive effort and just enough on offense to pick up the win. The win was Miami’s 5th in 6 games and their 7th of the season.

Miami got a touchdown from Ronnie Brown in the 2nd quarter followed by 3 FGs from Dan Carpenter to get their 16pts. The Miami defense would be the story of the day though as they held the Rams to nothing but FGs on the day, never allowing them into the endzone. Stephen Jackson returned for the Rams and rushed for 94 yards, but the Dolphins would shut down the Rams’ passing game.

The Dolphins’ defense held the Rams to 149 yards passing and had 3 interceptions on the day to keep the St. Louis offense in check and out of the endzone. It was a less than impressive game from the Dolphins, especially considering the quality of opponent the team faced. The Dolphins have struggled this year in games against mediocre teams while making an impressive display of themselves against tough opposition.

The victory was important for the Dolphins. Combined with the Patriots’ loss to Pittsburgh this weekend, the Dolphins’ win moves them into 2nd place in the AFC East, one game behind the Jets with a game remaining against the Jets. More importantly, the victory keeps the Dolphins in the hunt for a Wild Card spot in the AFC as well. With 4 games remaining in the season, the Dolphins find themselves still in the playoff race and each game will be critical to their playoff hunt.

Nobody would have guessed ahead of Sunday’s game that the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots would be involved in a shoot out, if anything perhaps a close, low scoring game. Instead, Dolphin fans were treated to a back and forth shoot out Sunday that eventually saw the Dolphins fall short on fire power, losing to the Patriots 48-28.

The first 3 1/2 quarters of Sunday’s game were perhaps the most exciting quarters of football witnessed in Miami in recent memory. The game saw 6 lead changes by the middle of the 3rd quarter as the teams traded blows in an offensive onslaught. New England scored first on a 30 yd field goal in the 1st quarter to make it 3-0 and from there it was one lead change after another. Miami would go ahead 7-3 on a Chad Pennington TD pass to Greg Camarillo, but the Patriots would answer later with an 8 yd TD run from Matt Cassel to go ahead 10-7.

Pennington would answer with a TD scramble of his own to put Miami back in front 14-10, but just before the half Randy Moss caught a 25 yd TD pass from Cassel to take the lead at halftime 17-14. The back and forth would continue though as Miami answered right away in the 2nd half with another Pennington TD pass, this time to Casey Cramer to go up 21-17. Back to back New England touchdowns in the 3rd quarter though would bring an end to the lead changes, as the Patriots went up 31-21.

Miami would make one more run at the Patriots early in the 4th quarter when Pennington threw his 3rd TD pass of the day, this time to Ricky Williams, to close the gap to 31-28. From there however it was all Patriots as they would go on to score a TD, FG, and TD to win by a final score of 48-28.

The loss hurts the Dolphins playoff chances as they fall to 3rd in the AFC East. Barring a collapse of the New York Jets, the Dolphins have little to no chance of winning the division and it is even difficult to see how the Dolphins could climb into the Wild Card race at this point. That being said, the Dolphins have nothing to be ashamed of. The Patriots, like it or not Dolphin fans, are simply more talented than the Dolphins. Too much has changed since the last time these two teams have met. Matt Cassel almost has Patriot fans saying “Tom who?” and their defense is resurgent.

The Dolphins made a good showing of themselves and no matter how the team finishes the rest of the season, they should see nothing but positives out of the 2008 campaign. They went from 1 win last season, to 6 already this season and still have a chance to finish with a winning record. Given the lack of talent at some key positions on this team (WR!), they are proving they can compete nonetheless. Hold your heads high Dolphins, you’re doing just fine.

The Miami Dolphins are rolling as of late, and if they want to continue their winning streak they are going to need to find a way to defeat the resurgent New England Patriots on Sunday. A lot will be riding on Sunday’s game in Miami, and a lot will be different about this encounter.

Miami will enter Sunday tied with New England at 6-4 and 2nd in the AFC East division, one game behind the division leading New York Jets (7-3). If the Dolphins defeat the Patriots on Sunday, they will be keeping pace with the Jets and improving their division record to 3-1 (7-4 overall). A victory puts them that much closer to a possible playoff berth. A win keeps them close in the divisional race and keeps them in the mix for a Wild Card spot at worst. A loss however, and the Dolphins will drop to 3rd in the division and will drop them lower into the mix of possible Wild Card teams.

Circumstances will also be different this time around, much different than when the two teams met in Foxboro back in September. Back then, Miami was 0-2 and given NO chance of winning, while New England was still trying to find its new offensive identity in the post-Tom Brady era. The Dolphins rolled out the Wildcat formation and thoroughly confused and beat down the Patriots. This time though, New England is more comfortable with backup Matt Cassel, and in addition to taking the Dolphins more seriously, they will be looking for the Wildcat formation this time around. Miami also must be prepared for New England to come out firing on all cylinders in an attempt to avenge their embarassing defeat in September.

If ever there was a game Miami could not overlook, this is it. This may arguably be the most important game the Dolphins have played in 2-3 seasons, hopefully the players can use their head coach’s enthusiasm to pull off another crucial victory and keep their streak alive.

Nobody said the victories had to be pretty, but for a franchise recovering from a 1-15 season, they will take the wins however they can get them. Yesterday the Miami Dolphins beat the Oakland Raiders in a 17-15 snooze-fest that is best described as forgettable.

Miami took the early lead on a 40 yard TD run from Ted Ginn Jr and led 7-3 at halftime. Chad Pennington would be sacked for a safety in the 3rd quarter to make it 7-5, but late in the quarter a Patrick Cobbs rushing TD would put the Dolphins safely ahead (seemingly) at 14-5. The 4th quarter would see the Raiders put a scare into the Dolphins. The Raiders would get a FG to make it 14-8 and then returned a punt 92 yards for a TD to take the lead 15-14. Miami would get one last shot at the ball and make the most of it. With 4:20 to go, Miami started at their own 20 and would drive 10 plays and 61 yards to set up Dan Carpenter for a possible game winning field goal. With 38 seconds left Carpenter would nail a 38 yard field goal to give Miami the 17-15 win.

There are no rules about how you are suppose to win in the NFL, and that is good for the Dolphins. In the two games this season that they were actually considered the favorite, Miami has not been impressive. The past two weeks Miami has been considered the favorite over Seattle and Oakland and have come away with 2pt, hard fought victories.

On the plus side, Miami is winning these close games against bad teams, and that is all that counts in the end. Chad Pennington is proving more and more potent and efficient each week, the running game behind Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams is stronger each week, and Ted Ginn Jr is beginning to show the promise that got him drafted in the 1st round. Best of all though, the Dolphins are on a 4 game win streak, have a 6-4 record, and the Fins are 1 game out of 1st in the AFC East.

Nobody said that every football game has to be won in perfect fashion, victories don’t count for more if they are pretty, a ”W” is a “W.” A “W” is exactly what the Dolphins got Sunday afternoon when they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 21-19 in Miami. Sunday’s victory was the Dolphins 3rd in a row and improved the Dolphins’ record to 5-4.

The Dolphins jumped out to an early 14-0 lead with a flea flicker pass to Ted Ginn Jr for a 39 yard TD. In the 2nd quarter Ricky Williams burst up the middle for a 51 yard TD run out of the wildcat formation. Seattle spent the next quarter and a half nibbling away at the Dolphins lead until they found themselves down 14-13 in the middle of the 4th quarter. Ronnie Brown’s 16 yard TD run late in the 4th would prove critical as the Seahawks would again challenge the Dolphins’ lead.

Late in the 4th quarter the Dolphins looked to their defense to preserve the win. Seattle scored a TD with 2:57 to go in the game and went for the 2pt conversion to tie the game and force overtime, but the defense batted down the 2pt pass attempt. The Dolphins would make one final stand and force an incompletion on 4th down in the final seconds to win the game 21-19.

Chad Pennington was 22/36 for 209yds and 1TD, 1INT. Ginn Jr caught 4 balls for 67yds and a TD. Williams had 12rushes for 105yds and a TD while Brown had 10rushes for 39yds and the game winning TD. The Dolphins’ defense meanwhile had 3 sacks and knocked down 6 passes.

The factors that led to today’s victory were the same that have propelled Miami to 3 straight victories. The Dolphins enjoyed greater possession of the ball, played solid defense (especially when it mattered most), and were efficient enough on offense to win.

Miami’s win gives them a winning record this season at 5-4. In addition to extending their win streak, today’s victory also puts the Dolphins one game out of first place in the AFC East. It certainly seemed silly before the season to mention playoffs in the same sentence as the Dolphins, it also seemed silly 3 weeks ago when the Dolphins were 2-4. Now however, it is worth wondering at the chances of seeing Miami in the playoffs this season.

Miami’s remaining games against non-divisional foes include Oakland, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Kansas City who are a combined 7-28 this season. Miami’s other 3 remaining games are againts New England, @ Buffalo, and they finish the season @ the New York Jets. One thing is certain, the Dolphins’ chances of making the playoffs are real, and entirely in their own hands.