Miami Dolphins Lose To Pittsburgh On Terrible Call

Terrible calls like that just make me want to watch baseball.

Late in the fourth quarter when the Miami Dolphins were winning 22-20 Ben Roethlisberger dropped back and then ran the ball towards the end zone one a 3rd and goal. As Roethlisberger dived towards the end zone Chris Clemons tackled him and forced a fumble before Roethlisberger crossed the goal line.

The call on the field was a touchdown, and Tony Sparano threw the challenge flag saying that it was a fumble.

After reviewing the play the referee came out on to the field and said that Roethlisberger did fumble the ball before he crossed the goal line, but he didn't give the Dolphins the ball because apparently you couldn't tell which team recovered the fumble.

The thing is that you could tell who got it. Not only did two different Dolphins players jump on the ball, but Miami's DE Iakika Alama-Francis came up with the ball when the pile was cleared up.

The ref didn't acknowledge that, though. Instead he made it 4th down, and the Steelers were able to kick a field goal to take the lead that they would keep for the win.

What makes me mad is we had a huge chance to beat the Steelers, but that chance was taken away from a bad call.

That's all I have for now, so let me finish this before I break my laptop.

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Statement Time For The Dolphins

This is a huge game for the Miami Dolphins. There are a lot of people who lost a lot of confidence in Miami's abilities after the Jets and Patriots games, and this is the game that will restore that confidence.

With a win today against Pittsburgh the Dolphins would be making a big statement to NFL analysts and fans alike. People know Miami is good, but they don't know how good yet. Pittsburgh is considered a strong Super Bowl contender, and a win for the Dolphins would help people realize how good they really are.

My prediction is 20-17 in favor of the Dolphins. Roethlisberger will not do nearly as well as he did last week because of a lot of pressure from the Dolphins defense.

Now, I want your predictions. What do you think the score will be? Leave a comment with your predictions below.


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Miami Dolphins Keys To The Game: Control The Line

The Dolphins Will Be Relying On Their Offensive Line Against The Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers (with the help of newly returning QB Ben Roethlisberger) are heading into Miami this Sunday to try and keep the Dolphins without a victory at home this season, and if the Dolphins want to avoid being 0-3 at home they will have to control the line on both sides of the ball.

The key to the Miami Dolphins victory last week in Green Bay was their ability to keep pressure away from Chad Henne and to put a lot of pressure on Aaron Rodgers. The combination of those two things helped Miami come out on top, and if they want to have a similar result against the Steelers they will need to make sure they do both successfully again this weekend.

Miami's defense can't allow Ben Roethlisberger to have enough time to get comfortable and throw the ball when he sees an open receiver. They need to force him to either throw the ball earlier than he planned to or take a sack.

The Dolphins (specifically Cameron Wake) were able to rush Aaron Rodgers enough that he was never really able to get comfortable, and we need to hope they can have similar success against a good Steelers offensive line.

On the flip side, Miami needs to keep the Steelers defense from getting to Chad Henne. The Dolphins offensive line was great against the Packers defense last week, but they have a much worse challenge now against a very highly ranked Steelers defense.

The Steelers are among the best in the league at sacking and getting interceptions, which is why it is so important that our offensive line comes ready to play Sunday. If they aren't prepared and they get beaten consistently then they are in for a long game.

Chad Henne is not very good against pressure yet. When the pocket starts closing in on him I have noticed that he ducks his head and just kind of runs forward in the first hole that he sees up the middle. I haven't seen a single successful play when Henne starts running up the middle. He just ends up being sacked by a defensive lineman who puts his hand out and pulls him down.

That is something we want to avoid, and the only way to avoid that is to keep the pressure away and keep the pocket from collapsing on Henne.

Both the Dolphins and Steelers offensive lines have only allowed nine sacks, so it is a toss up as to which side will do better, but the Steelers have a statistical advantage on defense because they have sacked the quarterback 17 times compared to Miami's 14. That is not a huge difference, but every sack matters in a football game.

I am almost certain this game will be decided by whichever offensive line does better. Hopefully Miami's offensive line is the group that prevails because it would be exciting to see our Dolphins at 4-2.

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