Brandon Marshall Defends Chad Henne And The Miami Dolphins, Proving He Is Worth Every Penny Of His Contract

This is why I am glad the Miami Dolphins were willing to give up so much to bring Brandon Marshall in.

Not only did Brandon Marshall strongly support Chad Henne, he also supported the entire Dolphins team saying:

"We have a Dolphins team that will be in the playoffs and will contend in the championship game. This is not a Tim Tebow moment. We have what we need to be a championship team. Guaranteed, from here on out we will compete, we won’t lay down and we’ll make the plays necessary to win the game."

I love hearing that from Marshall who was, for the most part, shut down last Sunday. Marshall realizes the amount of talent this team has, and these quotes could not have come at a better time.

Everyone seemed to be down on the Dolphins, and everyone was especially down on Chad Henne after he threw three interceptions without a touchdown against Baltimore.

I also like his playoff guarantee. He is putting himself out there for the team, and now it is their turn to start performing better. He recognizes that talent and potential on this team so he is trying to bring it out.

The most important thing Marshall did, though, was that he attempted to calm a lot of the Henne doubters with the following comments, and I think what he said will have a huge impact for Miami fans, as well as Henne. Here is what he said about Henne and the criticism's surrounding his recent performance:

Those criticisms are probably coming from people who don’t watch the game. Chad Henne is a guy who’s more than capable of being an All-Pro quarterback. Again, it’s not just him. His destiny is in the hands of others: wide receivers, offensive line, offensive coordinator, the organization. It’s not just one guy. He relies on everyone doing their job.

Brandon knows what he is talking about, and hearing his confidence in Henne is very reassuring.

Normally you would expect Marshall to be the first person who is critical of Henne because his production has dropped, so hearing him really does give me new hope for Henne. I hadn't fully given up on him yet, but I was starting to have my own doubts.

Marshall then went on to talk about the incredible amount of coverage he is receiving from defenders. He talked about how he was being double and triple teamed on every down. The fact that he was able to get any statistical production with two and three people covering him was a testament to his supreme ability.

I have been afraid that Marshall would act out negatively because of his lack of touchdowns, but I now know I don't have anything to worry about. He may have been considered a diva in Denver, but I am confident that we don't have to worry at all about him now.

So hang in there Dolphins fans, we are only getting better from here. It has also come to my attention that Jason Allen has been released and CB Al Harris has been signed, so be ready for some form of analysis of the move in the near future.

Thanks for reading.

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I Believe It Is Finally Time For The Miami Dolphins To Partially Bench Jason Allen

I'd Like To See More Of Sean Smith

At first, when Jason Allen was named a starting cornerback for the Miami Dolphins he played really well, and he was a big reason Miami beat the Vikings in Week 2. Now, he is constantly being beat by receivers, and he gives up huge plays against opposing teams.

Yes, Allen is a talented corner, and he should by no means ride the bench completely, but he should not be out there covering the opposing team's top receiver for the majority of the game like he has been.

That honor should go to Sean Smith.

First, let me say that I would prefer Vontae Davis covering the top receivers, but he always seems to cover the same side on defense, and opposing offenses will put their best receiver on the opposite side so Davis won't be covering him. I am really not quite sure why he sticks with one side. Maybe he is just more comfortable there, I don't know. All I do know is that the Dolphins have to deal with it, and Sean Smith seems more suited to me than Jason Allen to man up on the best receivers in the NFL.

This week's game against the Ravens will be the perfect chance to put Smith in. Anquan Boldin is the most talented receiver on the Ravens, and he is three inches shorter than Sean Smith at 6'1". Smith should be able to use that height to his advantage, and he would be especially good at stopping a jump ball in the end zone.

I believe that it is finally time to allow Smith to retain his starting spot that he had last year. You know he is ready for it. The man has an incredible amount of self-confidence, and I am pretty sure he won't be intimidated too easily by Boldin or any other receiver.

The Miami Dolphins allow an average of 207.9 passing yards a game to enemy offenses, and I am willing to bet that Allen gave up the majority of those yards. I have no statistics to back that assumption up, but I am pretty confident about it.

So, my plea to the Miami Dolphins defense, which has been very impressive so far this season, is that they allow Sean Smith to play a lot more instead of Jason Allen.

That's all for now, and thanks everyone for reading.

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Sean Smith Will Finally Get A Chance Again Starting For The Miami Dolphins

Much to my delight, the Miami Dolphins will apparently be starting Sean Smith against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.

Sean Smith

Smith said that he would be starting during a radio interview Thursday Morning, and it makes sense to me.

He was replaced by Jason Allen as a starting CB at the beginning of the season, and he hasn't started since then. If you don't remember Sean started every game last season as a rookie, so it was a little weird that he hadn't started at all this year.

Allen did start out the season playing well. He had 2 interceptions against Brett Favre, and he leads the team in interceptions this season with 3. That statistic is not a good indicator of his performance, though. The reason he has more interceptions than Vontae Davis is because quarterbacks are much more reluctant to throw the ball in Vonate's direction.

They know Davis is capable of batting down the ball or intercepting it so they don't throw it at him. They do, however, throw it at Jason Allen a lot, and the fact that he has only gotten three interceptions so far is a little disappointing. This was supposed to be his comeback year after not playing too well since the Dolphins drafted him 16th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft, but he is almost always the defender beat by opposing receivers.

I have not completely given up on Allen, because he hasn't been playing terrible, but he hasn't been good enough to match up one-on-one with the top receivers in the league.

My hope is that Sean Smith will be able to match up better than Allen. He has the size, and I am confident he will be able to handle "enemy" receivers.

He is my favorite player on the Dolphins defense, so he better.

What I like so much about him is his confidence. To be the best you have to think you are the best, and Sean Smith does. His mindset is his strength, and any athlete who wants to be successful needs to have a confident mindset, in my opinion.

We will see how Smith does. From what I can tell Smith and Allen will be rotating in and out, so watch and see who does better because it will mean they will probably get the starting nod.

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Monday Night's Game Is The First Elite Test For The Miami Dolphins Secondary This Season

Say what you want to in support of Brett Favre, but he is nowhere near where he was last year. Nobody can argue against that point with any accuracy.

Jason Allen Has A History Against Randy Moss

He just isn't what he used to be, and his poor performance so far means that the Miami Dolphins secondary has yet to face an extremely dangerous QB yet this season.

That is about to change when Tom Brady and the Patriots come in to town Monday night.

Tom Brady is an elite quarterback.

Whether or not you hate him doesn't matter. He is elite, and he knows how to win, which is why it will be such a challenge for the Dolphins secondary this week to try and stop him.

So far we are not quite sure how good this Dolphins defense really is. They have shown an ability to make big plays, but they have also given up just as many big plays.

It will be a toss-up when predicting how the Miami D will do. They could do really well and hold Brady to average or even bad numbers, or they could do not so well and give up big plays that put the team in a hole.

I want to think that we will be able to hold him, but I am not really sure. I believe the deciding factor for how the Miami Dolphins secondary does this week is Jason Allen.

Jason Allen is the wildcard in this game. The game will most likely depend on how well he does.

No pressure big fella, but the game is riding on your shoulders.

When Allen plays well like he did against Brett Favre the Dolphins are much more likely to win than if he plays poorly like he did against the Jets. Those things will happen when you haven't been starting for very long, so I am not at all concerned about Allen.

Allen has been beat by Randy Moss before, so it will be interesting to watch the matchup between the two if Allen does end up covering Moss. Randy Moss (6'4") is three inches taller than Jason Allen (6'1"), so that puts the Dolphins at an immediate disadvantage.

What Dolphins defensive coordinator Mike Nolan should do is put Vontae Davis on Moss. Davis is even smaller than Jason Allen at 5'11", but he is an incredible defender. It would make sense to have him cover Moss, but you never know with these Dolphins coaches.


I do hope that Sean Smith plays well this week. It would great to see him covering Moss successfully. He sure has the height to do it. That is just what I want as a huge fan of Smith, though. I don't know how much he will actually be used Monday night.

We'll see. Let's hope that Miami is able to contain Brady enough for a win. I like winning, and I want the Dolphins to do a little bit more of it.

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2-0 Baby! The Miami Dolphins Pull Out A Great Win Against The Minnesota Vikings

2-0!

What a game!

Even though Adrian Peterson was able to run everywhere in the second half we should still be really encouraged by the Miami Dolphins defensive showing. There is only so much you can do against a guy like Peterson, so performances like that will happen to the best of them.

What really saved the Dolphins was our ability to turn the ball over. Miami's secondary had three interceptions, and all three were crucial. The biggest surprise today was CB Jason Allen's impressive showing. Allen had 11 tackles and two interceptions. I apologize to Jason for ever doubting him, and I am extremely glad that he was in and able to make the big plays he did.

Another huge contributor was CB Vontae Davis. Without Davis we would have lost this game. Simple as that. He had a crucial interception on the goal line and he put the finishing hit on Adrian Peterson on the hugely important goal line stand in the 4th quarter. Yes, Karlos Dansby was the first player to wrap Peterson up and he was also crucial in saving the game, but without Davis there Peterson would have been able to reach for the endzone.

The pressure the Dolphins were able to put on Favre was incredible, too. Not only did they sack him three times, but they were able to bat the ball down on a big 4th down play early in the game. The best part about the pressure, though, was the fumble they forced on Favre that Koa Misi was able to recover for a touchdown.

Not only was it the first career touchdown (of hopefully many more) for Koa Misi, but it was also the touchdown that gave the Dolphins the points they needed to pull the game out in the end.

Moving along to the offense now.

Who loved the play call for Chad Henne to immediately throw the ball long to Brandon Marshall to start off the game? I know I did, and it helped the Dolphins to start their momentum and get in position for their first score.

It was great seeing the Dolphins start off with a statement like that game even though they didn't throw many more long balls afterwards.

And, did anyone else notice how well Jake Long covered Vikings DE Jared Allen? Allen was held to basically nothing. The only time he did do anything was when Henne scrambled and all he had to do was move in the other direction to tackle him. One of those tackles was considered a sack, but don't let that statistic fool you. Jake Long had him on lock all game.


I am so glad that the Miami Dolphins hired Mike Nolan as the defensive coordinator. Even with a young defensive corps that made a few mistakes (i.e. 12 men on the field call twice in the same drive) he was able to help lead the Dolphins to a victory.

Let me know what you guys thought about the game with your comment. If you would like to leave a comment you can just click here and it will take you to the commenting.

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Tony Sparano Announces That Sean Smith Will Join The Miami Dolphins Surging Defense

Jason Allen Did Very Good Sunday

Just over a day ago the Miami Dolphins completed a great defensive performance on the way to a win over the Buffalo Bills.

But, the Dolphins are already going to make a change. While I am not sure how significant the move will be to the defense, but it is significant to me. Head Coach Tony Sparano announced that CB Sean Smith would be playing next Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

Smith did not play at all against Buffalo, and - in his usual fashion - Sparano said only a little bit using a lot of words.


"Sean is going to get out there, he's going to play. It's not a confidence thing it's not any of those things. I just keep trying to tell you guys that this guy is playing pretty good. (Jason Allen) did play good yesterday, so I just didn't feel like moving him. It wouldn't be any different if Sean was in there. I wouldn’t have played Jason if that was the case."


Basically, Sparano said that the reason he didn't play Smith wasn't that he was not confident in him. It was just that Jason Allen was playing well enough that he didn't need to put Smith in.

Sounds like a good problem to have to me. It will be interesting to see how Smith plays Sunday.

That is it for now, but is it just me, or does anybody else notice how Sparano interviews? He just doesn't say much even though he is talking a lot. Just a thought.

Thanks for reading.

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Jason Allen Has Been Named Starter For Miami Dolphins

Meet Our New Starting CB

You know we are in trouble when Jason Allen is starting over Sean Smith.

Maybe Jason Allen has finally developed into a good corner, and maybe he will be a big contributor to the Miami Dolphins. That's not likely, though.

The move of benching Sean Smith in favor of Jason Allen is a big concern to me. It is a bad thing for two reasons. One, Smith must be really struggling, and two, we have to resort to putting Allen in there.

This move also comes at a terrible time because veteran CB Will Allen has just been put on IR, so he can't step in.

There are three good scenarios that we can only hope for:
1. The Dolphins pick up another very talented CB off waivers or free agent, but that is unlikely because there probably isn't too much talent available.

2. Jason Allen ends up being a very successful corner. He hasn't done too much in his 5 year career, but maybe he has really started developing. One can only hope.

3. Sean Smith comes back and better than ever. This would be my preferred outcome. Smith is my favorite player on the Miami Dolphins. I'm not positive, but it is possible he has just gotten a little bit lazy this off-season. I honestly do not know for sure, but I don't know why else he would have lost his spot to Allen.


Hopefully we end up with one of those outcomes, but I am not really sure that we will. This team looked so good in the off-season and coming into the preseason. Injuries and poor exhibition play has really dampened my spirits.

What is even worse is the fact that my two favorite players on the Dolphins have been traded away and benched in the last month. Smith has been benched and Greg Camarillo was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for CB Benny Sapp.

With the way our luck is, Sapp may end up being the starter because Allen isn't doing well, either.

Oh well, I am still excited about this year. Hopefully Brandon Marshall is all he was in Denver and more, because we definitely need him now.

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