There are a few things that we learned about this team, and the first is that our offense works well with a balance of both rushing and passing the ball. The Dolphins ran exactly the same number of running plays as passing plays with 39 apiece. The best part is that our passing game worked just as well as it has during any game so far this season without having to completely eliminate the running game.
Not only did Brandon Marshall have another huge game with 10 receptions for 127 yards, but Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams also had a great game with 137 combined yards off 32 carries.
Chad Henne also did well with 231 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 int. He shook off his early pick and was great in leading the team to the victory. Henne's performance is also a testimony of the Dolphins offensive line who didn't allow a single sack and hardly ever allowed the Packers defenders near him.
Another thing we learned is that Cameron Wake is officially here! Wake had three sacks on Aaron Rodgers, and Rodgers constantly felt his presence throughout the game. We have known that Wake was going to be a beast this season, and today was the day he finally broke out. The man is incredible, and I am glad the Dolphins saw what he was capable of when they signed him from the CFL.
The Miami Dolphins special teams didn't really get in the way this week, which was a relief after the Monday night game. There were a couple of close calls with a tipped punt and a holding call during a made field goal, but Dan Carpenter just made the field goal from 10 yards further and the tipped punt didn't result in anything as bad as the New England game.
Our special teams is still a concern because of their weakness on the left side, so I hope that special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi is able to fix that problem before next weeks matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And, was anyone else surprised that Lousaka Polite didn't get a first down when he ran it on 3rd and 1? He is usually so automatic, but I guess the Packers knew that he would get the ball on such a short run. That play was fine with me, but what really made me mad was Ronnie Brown's run on the next play on 4th down. Brown was almost a yard past the first-down marker and it was obvious that he got the first on the replay, but the refs still didn't overturn their call that Brown was short. I would have been pretty mad about that call if Miami had lost, but I guess I'll let it slide after the victory.
And finally, Brandon Marshall's 10 catches on this game puts him at 37 for the season. That means he needs 63 more catches in the 11 remaining games this season. As long as Marshall can average 6 catches in each game he will be set to reach 100.
That's all for now, and thanks everybody for reading. Now go and celebrate that your team is back above .500!
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