Let me begin by saying that the short time period between now and Thursday is going to be an incredibly eventful and interesting one.
In that time we will find out who will be starting at QB, and I honestly don't know who they will pick. I can only say what I think
Chad Pennington gives the Dolphins a lot of experience, but he would be my last preference at starter. Chad Henne gives them a strong arm and is the youngest option, but he isn't even my first preference. No, my first preference would by Tyler Thigpen.
I know that Henne is supposed to be the future of the Miami Dolphins, and he may still be. The Dolphins may still choose to run with him and keep him as the starter, but I couldn't help but feel the added energy on offense when Thigpen was playing.
Thigpen was able to elude defenders that Henne and Pennington would have never been able to elude, and his elusiveness was very evident with his big scrambling pass to Anthony Fasano late in the game.
I don't know if you guys noticed it, but when Thigpen threw his only completion to Brandon Marshall he threw the ball with incredible accuracy. The ball was placed just above the Titans defender's hands, but not too far above to where it sailed past Marshall's, too.
I really think Thigpen would be a great player to jump in as the starter, and why not? He is only one year older than Henne at 26. He could be the franchise quarterback we have been looking for.
I would really hate it for Henne if he lost the job to Thigpen because I think he has been coming along pretty well, but Thigpen is just the more explosive quarterback with the ability to make things happen.
We will have to see how it plays out, so stay tuned, but now to other aspects of the game:
Brian Hartline had a game that we all knew he was capable of and RB Patrick Cobbs had a surprisingly good receiving game, but the best receiving performance came from TE Anthony Fasano. Fasano had 107 yards and a touchdown, and he showed us that he might have finally returned to producing the same numbers that he was able to put up two years ago.
Fasano is another reason that I want Thigpen in. Henne never really used Fasano to his full ability, but it appears to me that Thigpen will be able to.
Rookie FS Reshad Jones also did really well late in the game. He was filling in for the injured Chris Clemons, and he did really well with 1 sack, 1 interception, and 3 tackles. I remember at the beginning of the season we were worried about the free safety position, but it appears now that we are set at FS with two talented players competing for the same spot.
Now, to a touchy situation: Brandon Marshall. He was visibly frustrated multiple times during the game, and I have a feeling the combination of a few poorly thrown passes by Henne with the extra coverage he was receiving caused him to be so mad. He is used to putting up big numbers, and 3 receptions for only 34 yards is not what he wants to put up. If he wants to reach 100 receptions for this year he will need 6.4 receptions a game, so hopefully the resurgence of a bunch of other receivers on the Dolphins will help take away some of the coverage on Brandon.
That is all of my analysis for today. Thank you for reading, and enjoy the short week we have before Thursday's game. I haven't felt this great after a Dolphins game in a while.
Update: I have just found out that Chad Pennington is likely out for the season, so it looks like the battle will be between just Henne and Thigpen. Let us hope Pennington's shoulder is able to fully heal.
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