Making a Mid-Season Splash

Another ugly win, but a win none-the-less. Run Ricky Run was back with a 100-yard game, Ted Ginn had an incredible TD catch and 100-yard kick off return (though it was negated for a holding call), and Sparano's coaching skills continue to shine like a seasoned vet.

Being a Dolfan, it's always been tough. With the exception of the past four years, the Dolphins have won fewer than eight games only three times since I've been alive (one of those years was the strike-shortened season where they went 7-2). That means they've always been in contention. The only downside to that is that it means you never get a high draft pick--but that never mattered. At least not until Dave Wanstache starting picking people, which is where the four years of frustration first took root and left us in misery last year. Given that, with a new GM, coach, QB and a ton of other question marks, at the half-way point of this season, I never expected:

1) To have this many Dolphin-related posts. Five wins, one game above .500. Who would've thunk? Not this Dolfan, I can tell you that much.

2) Chad Pennington would be an MVP candidate. He's not putting up spectacular stats, but he's consistently putting up good numbers and manages the game like a coach on the field. He's got to be the best off-season signing in the league.

3) To hear serious playoff talk. They've got a pretty soft schedule remaining. It's possible they could win 10 games. No, really. I'm serious.

4) To see a college formation succeed so well in the pros--with the Dolphins working it to perfection thanks to one new wrinkle after another. Cam Cam was supposed to be an offensive creative genius. Sparano's contribution have made Cam Cam just look plain offensive.

5) Nearly everything would go right this year. Last year, the 'Phins lost six games by three points or less--because of poor coaching and so many intangibles. This year, it's been the other way around. In fact, they could easily be 7-3 had it not been for last season-like flukes not going their way against the Nasty Jets and the Texans.

Half-way there to redemption. We'll see if Parcells & Co. can avoid the annual December swoon and finish it out in style.

Yeah... But...

In any season where you weren't following a 1-15 disaster, you'd probably look at a win like this and say, "Eh... it wasn't pretty, but at least we got the win. I hope we play better next time." But this is the Dolphins we're talking about, so we should be ecstatic, right? Well... with a fan base and a media market where high expectations border on ludicrousness (heck, after the Dolphins had won two games there was a plethora of buzz about making the playoffs), it's still one of those "yeah... but" scenarios, because yeah, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year... but they are starting to look like a legitimate contender.

So, the general tone here will be one of optimism with a good dose over-zealous criticism, because the thinking here with these five thoughts is screw what happened last season... we should win the Super Bowl this year:

1) Yeah, the Dolphin D amazingly held the Broncos to team-record 14 yards rushing... but, gave up more than 300 yards in the air.

2) Yeah, they gave up more than 300 yards in the air... but, the 'Phin D picked off three Jay Cutler passes and ran one back for TD.

3) Yeah, Ronnie and Ricky had another sub-par day... but Ronnie had one long run of 30+ yards and scored a TD on the ground.

4) Yeah, Chad Pennington had a lower completion percentage, an interception and no TD passes... but he threw for 280 yards and controlled the clock with more than a 13-minute advantage over the Bronco offense.

5) Yeah, Ted Ginn went back to looking like a 4th round draft pick... but he did have a 41-yard kick return and the undrafted Greg Camarillo continues playing like an All-Pro receiver.

Yeah, I had doubts about this game, and this season... but I've been pleasantly surprised.

The Cam Cameron Redemption Tour Continues…

After handing it to his old team (our team) last week, the dearly thankfully departed Cam Cameron continues to influence the play of the Dolphins this season in his absence ... though finally, in a good way. His big signing last off-season, Joey Porter, who was a no-show through his first 15 games, continued to be a beast on the playing field this year, and Ted Ginn actually had a game where he looked like a first round draft pick—his biggest game by far. Just look at what happens when you play to the strengths of your players! Why couldn't you ever figure that out Cam????

But enough about Cam—nice guy, good offensive coordinator, horrible head coach. We’re so much better off without him. While the Dolphins were in so many games late last year, they couldn’t pull out a win. Or beat any of the three arch rivals. This year’s been a different story. Especially today, with a come-from-behind win against Buffalo. In fact, two of our three wins have come against the Nasty Pats and those Sorry Bills, and had Brett Favre not sprinkled his fairy dust on the football, we would’ve beaten the New York JV team as well.

This was just a sweet win against a team that has caused so much frustration over the years (I still have nightmares of screen passes to Thurman Thomas going for forty-yard gains)--and no one expected it. I’d like to see the R&R express get back on track with the running game, but Ginn’s big day makes up for it, and Ricky had good stats catching the ball.

With Ronnie’s production slacking a bit these last couple of games, it’s a toss up between who the team MVP has been so far—Chad Pennington, who’s been more accurate than Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin, or Joey Porter, who’s treated every quarterback he’s faced like they’re Levi Jones at the Texas Hold ‘Em table. Both guys, and Ginn, had huge days. Kudos also to rookie Dan Carpenter, who had another solid day and is making no one miss last year’s team MVP, the kicker.

I'm telling you, we've come a long way: tripling our win total from last year, MVPs who do more than kick the ball and a coach whose name avoids redundancy.

I Could Really Get Used to This...

Really, I could. When looking at the schedule at the beginning of the season, this upcoming week against Houston was where I really thought the 'Phins would have their best first shot to get win number one. And here we are sitting at 2-2. It's week five, and we've already got double the amount of wins as last year (OK, that's both pathetic and encouraging). But enough of last year--it's a whole new era. Proof:

1) The Dolphins actually found some toughness, and played some serious D. They kept the all-around offensive juggernaut LT to 35 yards, and the entire Chargers team to 200 total offense. AND a game-saving fourth-and-goal stuff (of LT no less)! Is this defense for real?

2) They only made one mistake. Granted it was a fumble on a kick-off and nearly cost them the game, but unlike last year, they didn't let that happen this time.

3) They've beaten the two teams (soundly against those Nasty Pats!) who were in the AFC Championship game last year. You could say one was a fluke, but two? Belief is sinking in.

4) We've had a couple of draft picks from years' past sightings again... Ted Ginn continues to have a handfull of catches per game, and Matt Roth is playing like... well, he's playing! And even had a sack and a few tackles for losses. And Vernon Carey's finally anchoring like the lineman he was in college.

5) The emergence of consistsency: Greg Camarillo (the hero of last year's only win) keeps reminding me of the dearly departed Chris Chambers (who had his own good game for San Diego), the balancing acts of Chad's arm and Ronnie's legs, and Joey Porter's play at linebacker--he's finally backing up his talk with his play and earning his big pay... it's actually bringing back mostly good memories of Bryan Cox with the loud mouth and sacks (minus the "salutes" of the Buffalo faithful).

So there you go... five 'Phin facts to say they're maybe not quite ready to sing this song, but hey, they're competing. And actually living up to this season's marketing slogan: A New Beginning.

It Came in Week 3, Not Week 15 This Time!!!

For the first time this season, I can finally say, “It’s a beautiful day!”

Not just because the Dolphins had their first win of the season, but because they did so in incredible fashion against one of the teams I’ve despised for their un-sportsmen like conduct dating back to 1982. Ironically, the massive beatdown of these Nasty Patriots also included breaking their regular-season win streak previously held by the Dolphins (though only the Dolphins went undefeated AND won the Super Bowl).

Prior to Tom Brady’s season-ending knee injury, the chances of the Dolphins winning this game were about as good as, I don’t know, me ever willingly accompanying my wife to see this movie (she saw it with her girlfriends). But honestly, even with Brady on the sidelines, my hopes weren’t real high—especially after the heart-breaking Jets loss and the Pats two first wins. I’ll start believing now. (Side note: Regarding Brady, I don’t believe in karma, and while it’s tempting to entertain thoughts of AFC East rivals’ star players going on the disable list every time they play the ‘Phins I certainly don’t wish a career-threatening injury on anyone, but you just knew all that cheating on New England’s part was come going to come back to haunt them in a devastating fashion at some point.)

But back to Ronnie Brown… Mr. Ronnie-War-Eagle-Who-Was-About-To-Live-Up-To-That-Top 3-Draft-Pick-Status-Until-Those-Nasty-Dirty-Playing-Patriots-Destroyed-His-Knee-For-The-Season-In-Last-Year’s-Game-Brown had the game of his life: 100+ yards with four touchdown runs (pretty much all on the same play each time) and a nice rollout pass to Anthony Fasano for another score. It was so nice to see the Run-Ronnie-Run-Ricky-Run show finally take off, with Ricky having a worthy game of his own after all we’ve experienced with him the last four years. But it was Ronnie who put on the finest performance any Dolphin back has had in recent memory. It brought back shades of Ricky’s back-to-back 200+ games in 2002, Lamar Smith’s 220 yards against the Colts in the 2000 playoffs (has it really been that long since they’ve been there?), and the nice productive showings from Bobby Humphrey, Mark Higgs, Cecil Collins, Troy Stradford, Sammie Smith, Bernie Parmalee, Irving Spikes, Terry Kirby, Karim Abdul Jabar, Lawrence Philips, John Avery, J.J. Johnson… Nope, that’s about it.

And to think that the secondary and offensive line showed up as well. Heck, even Tedd Ginn Jr. (I think I’ll stop referring to him with the junior because there’s little doubt it’s his dad out there playing) had a little flair with 50 yards worth of catches. Who would’ve imagined?

Like I said, it was a beautiful day. Questions as the bye week approaches:

1) Are there any more questions about whether there are enough snaps for Ronnie and Ricky to share?
2) Are Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford going to make us soon forget the pain of Jason Taylor leaving with their outstanding play these first three games?
3) Will Chad Pennington continue his consistent play? (It sure is nice to have that at QB—haven’t seen it with the past 10 play-callers, not since Jay Fiedler succeeded Dan Marino... yeah, a very long time… sad…)
4) Why didn’t we see Chad Henne get any action? (Not that I’m complaining about keeping the other Chad in to run up the score on Belichick).
5) What’s the most awkward pairing of Dolphin legends on recent TV commercials? Danny-Boy’s “I lost 22 pounds” Nutrisystem spot with Larry the Cable Guy? Or Don Shula’s bizarre, futuristic virtual football challenge with Jay-Z in a Budweiser ad? (Honestly, is there any plausibility to Shu losing to the man with the hard-knock life in that one? I mean, come on—if Beyonce’s beau cashed in all his bling to buy all the football strategy know-how he possibly could, Shula’s protruding chin alone could out-coach him… Though Jay-Z might not have drafted Eric Kumerow in the first round…

Let’s hope this is the beginning of the redemption tour of the only undefeated and almost-completely-defeated team in NFL history. It’s nice to feel good as a ‘Phin-philiac again.

Miami Dolphins

Turning the Page (Hopefully)

Parcells makes his mark. I wanted the franchise QB, and maybe Beck or the newly-drafted Henne will finally end the search for the messiah quarterback after the greatest passer in NFL history’s ascent to Canton, but I don’t know that Matt Ryan was that guy. What I do know is that Chris Long was a safe pick. Not a lot of splash, and absolutely no drama since he was signed days before Saturday’s draft began, but this definitely set the tone for a new era that will hopefully make us forget all about the Wannstache, Nick Satan and 1-15 regimes.


Howie Long’s kid probably would’ve been a good pick too, but I think Parcells & Co. adequately addressed the defensive end positions as Jason Taylor sadly dances his way from South Florida to a new Hollywood career (hopefully better than ex-NFLers Jim Brown’s and O.J.’s). Let’s just hope Chris can protect whoever’s taking snaps and open big holes for Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good draft and I didn’t scream in agony over passing on a Brady Quinn, so that’s an improvement over last year’s right there ("Ted Ginn Jr.?? WHO??? [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE] [EXPLETIVE]!!!" OK, it wasn't quite that bad...). They addressed a lot of their needs, which, being the Dolphins is pretty much everything… save for Jay Feely. Yep, the one solid area for Miami is their kicking game. Oh, and their mascot. T.D.'s a great mascot (isn't that sad?).