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.