But Wait. It's a team game and the Dolphin defense had to come onto the field at some point. Chicago went three & out for 9 yards on their first possession, and gained just forty four yards on eighteen plays with zero points over the entirety of the first half. Miami defensive lineman Derrick Shelby had a sack of the Bear gunslinger Jay Cutler on 3rd and 15 during Chicago's second possession of six plays for 7 yards. Dolphin safety duo Louis Delmas had a sack, and Rashad Jones returned an interception 50 yards which ended the Bears third series of 23 yards on six plays. Da'Bears went 3 & out for five yards on their final first half possession.
The Miami Dolphin Offense kept their own defense off of the field for 19 plus minutes of the 30 minute first half. For a second time in the last three games, the too often maligned Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill completed fourteen consecutive pass attempts. On this day he started hot with his first 14 attempts being completed, (the best start of any NFL quarterback for the 2014 season)! A good for a first down and 15th successive completion was called back due to penalty.
Following the initial three and out possessions of each team the Dolphins offense went to work toward their second series which totaled eighty one yards, and seven points in eight plays. The drive started with two consecutive key to the game plan quarterback keeper read options of fourteen and one yards, Tannehill followed up with passes to Clay (25 yards), Wallace (4), and Jarvis Landry for 13 yards. Lamar Miller rushed for eleven yards on the next two plays and gave the Dolphins a first and ten at the Chicago thirteen yard line. Charles Clay got wide open and caught his first TOUCHDOWN of the 2014 season for a 7 - 0 Miami Dolphin lead.
On Miami's third possession Tannehill tossed the ball for 50 total yards on four of four to three different receivers (Landry for fifteen on first and ten), Daniel Thomas (8, 15), and Clay for twelve yards. The Dolphins rushed the ball five times for ten yards and Tannehill was sacked twice which forced a missed field goal attempt of 50 yards. The possession garnered only 52 net yards on twelve plays but ran 7:20 off the clock.
The Dolphins fourth series started at Chicago's twenty three yard line after the previously mentioned Rashad Jones 50 yard interception return. A first and ten 15 yard pass to Brian Hartline and a Lamar Miller 3 yard run followed by a false start penalty put Miami at the Bears ten on second down. Hutt Huttt Hike, Ryan Tanne-Thrill scanned through his first three pass options, threw the ball previous to his fourth reads final cut and perfectly placed the ball into the hands of Mike Wallace for a Miami Dolphins TOUCHDOWN and 14 - 0 lead.
Ryan Tannehill completed his first four passes of Miami's final first half drive of (25 yards on 8 plays) prior to his first incompletion of the game. His fifth of five attempts on the drive was completed to Lamar Miller for 22 yards to the Bears 12 but was called back due to a penalty, and (out of reasonable field goal range considering the situation). Tannehill finished the half with completions on fourteen of fifteen pass attempts for 176 yards, two touchdowns, and a Miami Dolphin lead of 14 - 0 in Chicago.
Chicago took the third quarter kickoff 81 yards on 12 plays in 7 minutes to climb within 7 - 14 on a Cutler to running back Matt Forte touchdown, and the cry's of ""game over mann we're up crap creek without a paddle"" were once again billowing through the airwaves.
Miami wasn't listening as their quarterback led offense responded with a march of eighty three yards on 13 plays in 7 plus minutes. Tannehill went five of six for 32 yards to five different receivers, (Miller, Sims, Hartline, Wallace, and Clay). The quarterback also executed a 30 yard run on a 4th and one read/option play from the Bears 39 yard line, Ryans 20 MPH of momentum carried two defenders over the last 10 yards. Lamar Miller rushed the ball six times for 21 yards including the drives final two plays of one carry for seven yards from the nine as well as one for a two yard Miami Dolphin TOUCHDOWN and 21 - 7 scoreboard advantage with 31 third quarter seconds remaining.
Upon the Bears third play of the following series on second and twenty from Chicago's 24 yard line, Miami's star defensive end Cam Wake executed the hat trick of a sack, forced fumble, and recovery at Derr'Bears 16 yard line. The Dolphins in protecting a 14 point lead with less than a quarter of football left chose the conservative route at this point and kicked a 33 yard field goal for a 24 - 7 lead.
Miami kicks off to Chicago. The Dolphin defense again rewards their offensive team mates (for keeping them off the field and fresh) with a Courtland Finnegan forced fumble upon the Bears second play which was a completion for a first down. The fumble was recovered by Miami's Randy Starks at the Chicago 35 yard line with 13:13 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Miami threw the ball on their first 3 plays for 12 yards and a first down with Ryan connecting to running back Damien Williams on the first two of three pass attempts. On the next play Daniel Thomas ran for eleven yards and "another Miami Dolphin first down". Thomas carried the ball two more times for 3 net yards followed by a Tannehill incompletion/intentional grounding penalty under duress, and the Dolphins settled for a 37 yard field goal attempt that was blocked which kept the score at 24 - 7 Miami.
Aided with a 39 yard pass interference call on an uncatchable ball, Chicago drove 73 yards on six plays in two minutes for a touchdown on their next possession to pull within ten points at 24 - 14.
With 7:38 remaining the Dolphins ran 5:25 off the clock to go 65 yards on 12 plays for a 19 yard field goal and 27 - 14 advantage. Ryan Tannehill completed four of five for 57 yards to 3 different receivers (Wallace for 8 & 12, Dion Sims for 26, and Landry for eleven). Lamar Miller had five attempts for 16 yards which doesn't include a four yard touchdown run that was called back due to penalty.
Da'Bears possessed the ball for one of the final two minutes with 10 plays for 35 yards, including two fourth down plays with the second failing, and turned the ball over on downs to The Miami Dolphins for a Victory formation final score of 27 - 14.
The Dolphins had a time of possession advantage of 37:22 to 22:38.
Miami accrued a net number of 393 total yards (137 rushing & 256 through the air) via 69 plays to Chicago's 224 (52 & 172) on 51 plays.
Tannehill went 25 of 32 for 277 yards with two touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 93.9, and an overall grade of 123.6 along with six carries for 48 yards.
Jay Cutler went 21 of 34 for 190 yards with one touchdown, one interception, a QBR of 19.3, and an overall 74.4.
Lamar Miller had 18 carries for 61 yards and one logged touchdown.
Matt Forte carried the ball 12 times for 49 yards and one touchdown.
Charles Clay led the Dolphins in receiving yards with 58 on four catches and a touchdown while Mike Wallace led the team in receptions with five for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Matt Forte (Chicago's running back) was also the Bears receiving leader with six catches for sixty yards and a touchdown while two of the leagues elite receivers in Brandon Marshall and Ashlon Jeffery combined for a total of only 57 yards on eight catches.
Miami sacked Cutler three times (Delmas, Shelby, Wake), forced four fumbles (3 via Da'Bears quarterback) while recovering two overall, and had a Rashad Jones interception of the locked and loaded with heavy artillery gunslinger.
Chicago sacked Tannehill four times, and forced zero Miami Dolphin turnovers.
Thank You for an Open Minded read, and we look forward to your angle of view!!
Beat Da'Jags!!
GOFINS!!!
Logging you in...
OrFinFan (Tony) · 546 weeks ago
The manner in which we just seemed as though we would not be denied, during this game. We overcame 4 sacks and still moved the ball through the air and on the ground with relative ease. And the Bears are no slouch at stopping the run.
All game long ,you just got the sense that we were cool, calm and in control. For the most part, it was a two possession game but it seemed a lot further apart than that. Even when they drew within 10 points, we just methodically marched down the field and scored a final field goal, (and it could have been more points if we did not have them so handily throttled., anyway) just to put the icing on the cake, so to speak. There was at least another 3 to 10 points that we left on the field.
I still can't get over how poised and confident we looked throughout this contest. This was a character evolving, team defining game for us. Especially on the heels of that last second, heart breaking loss to Green Bay. Even with all the yardage we lost due to penalties, we kept moving the ball like a well oiled juggernaut. (Not generally typical of this Dolphin team).
If this is a sampling of what we can expect in the weeks to come. we definitely stand a good chance of reaching the post season.
The Bears go to New England next week, and after this beating, they might give the Patriots all they can handle.
Buffalo goes to the New York to play the Jets who almost beat New England the other night. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to see the Patriots and Bills lose one and bring us closer to contention in the division.
I just hope Philbin can keep us focused and humble enough not to take the Jaguars for granted when we go there to play next Sunday.
Like I said on the Dolphin Nation site in the video I shared there. If the Dolphins can win over a cat then why can't we get one over the Bears? Well, I want to see us win over the Jaguars, come this weekend.
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
Miami Jules · 546 weeks ago
Tannehill's number this week was 14, as in 14 straight completions and 2 TD's in the first half, even throwing a better than just decent lobe over the shoulder, and may I add, on target, TD pass... just a glimpse at how life changes when a QB doesn't have a pass rushing lineman in his face all day, which brings us to the interesting issue of just how the Phins managed to keep the top 10 ranked Bears' sack attack at bay all day and the answer is simple... Bill Lazor. Bill Lazor who brought with him and implemented the read option, kept the Bear rushers home all day by getting Tannehiil out of the DARN POCKET... hello, hello, Tannehill read the Bears defense as if it was a Hans Christian Anderson child story, and executed the read option better than most. I like Philbin but if I hear of another instance when Philbin takes over the play calling, I will be mad... what else can I do? This week, I will celebrate. and stick to my season final record prediction of 9-7.
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
I noted the KC game to be critical due to being an AFC foe (as well as being another likely 9- 7 finisher) !! We somewhat neutralized that loss (to some extent) with the W vs Chicago at least in the W vs L column !!
GOFINS!!!
Patrick · 546 weeks ago
SO, they used the zone read to add another player to the running scheme, Tannehill!
Effectively they mitigated the 8th man by adding an extra running back, Tannehill. I have to be thinking they are doing a lot of work on the longer throws but not introducing it yet... At some point, teams will force the long ball.
The other thing I noticed for several weeks is that Tannehill wakes up when he gets knocked around a little. If that's the case then he needs to run the football and takes some shots to get some momentum going. I don't know if I like this because of the injury potential, but it gets him going so I think it's better that he is running and delivering the blow instead of getting sacked.
They seemed to have hit upon a formula that brings out the best in Tannehill, now we need to see it consistently... The Dolphins are 14-1 when Tannehill has a +90 quarterback rating. The Dolphins live and die by how well Tannehill plays. I'll have no problem jumping on the Tanny Train if the guy just shows up consistently! Lazor seems to have figured him out, it should be interesting to watch.
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
First i'd like to give props to Tannehill. He had probably the best game of his short NFL career. I think it was 1 minute left before half when he threw his first incomplete pass. I believe the score should of been alot higher if not for the offensive pass interference by Hartline. Going into this game i didn't give our team much of chance, but i guess i didn't realize the Bears locker room was in such a mess. After the game Marshall was throwing his QB under the bus, so it was nice knowing that his negativity isn't running threw our locker room. Anyways we got Jacksonville next week so hopefully the Dolphins won't take there one win record as showing weakness.
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
I'm loving rookie Chris McCain, dudes making plays everytime he gets on the field !!
Proof that the Dolphins played for one another with intensity for 60 minutes against the Bears came upon the finality of the Bears last offensive play in the EZ with 57 seconds remaining..
Finnegan had discouraged BMarshall ALLL-DAYYY, Bowel Movement lost his cool and shoved Finnegan.. Chris McCain came to Finnegans aid shoved Marshall in the chest which buckled his knees, McCain angrily charged forward toward a cowering Marshall and was detoured by the reff !!
The 6-4, 230 pound Marshall was playin tough guy to the 5-10, 190 Finnegan, but wanted no part of Chris McCain and ran with his tail between his legs to his own sidelines to yell at his own team mates whom he knows wouldn't stand up to him !!
When he was with Miami, he'd ALWAYS blame someone other than himself for losses, even though he'd blatantly drop at least one TD per game in one score losses !!! Upon his one pro bowl appearance as a Dolphin (which included several TD's by him), he said after the game that he can catch TD's from a good QB ( a blatant attack of Dolphin QB's ) and a great reason to get him out of Miami's locker room !! He's still the same ole disfunctional Brandon Marshall !! We shut him and Cutler down in the same manner when they were both with the Bronco's, and on that day both schizophrenics Marshall and Cutler had melt downs !!
Previous to yesterdays game, Marshall was still talkiin smack about the Dolphins/QB's of his Miami tenure, and was also disrespecting the Dolphins DB's of today !! When the game was over, he attacked his own team and threw them all under the bus !!
Not too long ago, he was playing ambassador to the chemically imbalanced via the media..
Good riddance BM you piece'a'chit (in summary is what I tweeted to him about a month ago) while demanding an apology for the 20 plus blatant TD drops and losses that he caused as a Dolphin!!!
GOFINS!!!
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
Polly Ann Murray · 546 weeks ago
Mater · 546 weeks ago
However, I still don't get Philbin on throwing the red flag on the one run. Maybe he was calling it because if the challenge failed he still would have gotten a time out. Honestly, I think the performance of the team certainly allowed for his decision making on the challenge not have to be questioned.
So what was the key to the win. I think it comes down to what Kenny wrote near the end of his post:
The Dolphins had a time of possession advantage of 37:22 to 22:38.Miami accrued a net number of 393 total yards (137 rushing & 256 through the air) via 69 plays to Chicago's 224 (52 & 172) on 51 plays.
How many times have we read the opposite for Miami where they only had the ball for 22 minutes, run 51 plays, and compiled just 200 total yards. I think this just illustrates a complete team effort. These are the type of stats this team needs to do week-in and week-out to challenge and beat out NE for the Divsion. Not just during a week 1, week 4, or week 7 game.
The question I have is this something that we will see this team start to do every week, or is this just a one week thing every now and them. However, I do believe the last 6 quarters have been some of the best Dolphin play in a very long time.
Great job, Dolphins!
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
Great win. Now lets see what we have for The Jaguars. DON"T discount this team because there is a new shiny penny called Blake Bortles running the show. Henne is history. Rookie Bortles is really on a learning curve that can produce wins for the Jags. Huge raw talent.
I think we can win it - but lets go there to win the game and finish strong like yesterday. Go Dolphins.
Polly Ann Murray · 546 weeks ago
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
Miami Dolphins' Joe Philbin Lacks Fire After Win
by Dale-Paul Jordan 3h ago
One of the best things I love about the Miami Dolphins victory is the post-game locker room speech that the NFL shares on their website. It allows you to see Joe Philbin’s speech to the Miami Dolphins players. One key thing that I have noticed is the lack of fire or energy from the coach, basically the message is lacking any enthusiasm.
Don`t get me wrong, yesterday victory over the Chicago Bears was huge! Great win for our entire team in all phases of the game. The players showed up and more importantly we left Chicago with the win. This was an important victory for the Miami Dolphins as it erased that ugly feeling we saw from last weeks 4th quarter collapse against the Green Bay Packers. Watching the video of Philbin, I was hoping for a passionate, aggressive and enthusiastic speech to his players. A speech, that would show his players how important this victory was.
Now, the video was edited so us the fans did not have the opportunity to see the entire speech, however, what was shown lacked any fire. There was no liveliness with Philbin speech, rather a laid back approach tailored around thanking the organization from the top to the bottom. Philbin speech talked about having the right personnel that led to this victory. This wasn’t the message that I was hoping to hear. I wanted him to show some sort of emotions, signalling out players that made this victory possible.
Ryan Tannehill best game of his career
or
Cortland Finnegan redemption
or
Cameron Wake dominance on the line of scrimmage.
What was seen from the short video was a grade 3 science project applause from the players. After a redemption game like this, the coach needs to have the ability to fire up his players and them fight for him. Fight for that extra yard or catch or break. I am not sure how this speech would motivate his players for next week battle against Jacksonville.
Football is a high energy sport. As a coach you need to encourage and influence your players so that they can believe in you. A coach is responsible for maintaining confidence in their players, based on the speech that we saw on Sunday afternoon, I wouldn`t want to move a chair out of his way.
I understand that Philbin might not be the motivational speaker nor a coach that shows the type of fire Pete Carroll demonstrates every week, but he needs to understand sometimes players need to see that type of passion from their coach as it get the players and his team fired up…After all they are the ones that are fighting for him.
Here is the link for the speech:
http://www.miamidolphins.com/multimedia/videos/Do...
I concurr with this assesment. BUT Maybe Philbin is misunderstood and is just a laid back guy and not a mouse.
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
JP's not comfortable in front of the camera, but his players (at all stops) have had great respect for him and have always held him in high regard for whatever it is that he does behind closed doors!! As long as the players respect him for whatever he does when the cameras aren't on, he doesn't need to impress me with his post game locker room speeches, (even if I find them to be extremely boring) !!
But hey it worked out pretty well for the mellow Tony Dungy, JP is similar to Dungy as far as the lack of exuberant charisma goes !!
Just win JP, and I don't care if you do your post games wearing a pink ballerina Tutu, and talk like Stephen Hawking !!!!!!!
GOFINS!!!
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
Polly Ann Murray · 546 weeks ago
Football is a high energy sport. As a coach you need to encourage and influence your players so that they can believe in you. A coach is responsible for maintaining confidence in their players, based on the speech that we saw on Sunday afternoon, I wouldn`t want to move a chair out of his way. Quote from Beach. This is exactly why Philbin sucks as a HC. These players need someone with some get up an fight I do not think Philbin could fight himself out of a wet bag.
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
Polly Ann Murray · 546 weeks ago
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
Most 6 year olds have more fight than us old geezers, GIGGGITTTYY ; )) !!
I got some comfort today on JP's interview when he said
""we made some plays when we had to, even when we were up by 13, the D stepped up and kept them out of the EZ, preventing a 6 point game and onsides kick, and god knows what could happen at that point """
Suggest that he does indeed realize that no lead is safe at any point of the game !!!
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
On this particular THill play (Dilfer has a cone of vision that rotates with THills helmet and line of site), it shows THill scanning the field from receiver to receiver from one side of the field to the other and back in certain instances...
"""Hutt Huttt Hike, Ryan Tanne-Thrill scanned through his first three pass options, threw the ball previous to his fourth reads final cut and perfectly placed the ball into the hands of Mike Wallace for a Miami Dolphins TOUCHDOWN and 14 - 0 lead.""
Dilfer said for THill to be able to ""throw open"" his 3rd or fourth option ""is ridiculously talented"" !!
Throw open is passing the ball to the right spot prior to the receivers final break, Wallace was the final option and his final break was a 180 in the opposite direction he was goin upon THills release of the ball... Dilfer said and the video showed that the ball was half way to Wallace before Wallace started his 180 move (he turned around took one or two steps and the ball was between his eyes (right where receivers like the it)...
GOOD-STUFFF !!
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
My game ball goes to Finnigan. He played like an all pro. Wow.
Patrick · 546 weeks ago
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
Tony Sparano was a Rah Rah guy, highly charged fist pumper. = Loser
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
Wheres the fine line to be drawn ?? Long Term W's vs L's !!
GOFINS!!!
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
George.
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
We both grewup in Miami (or thereabouts for G-Man), and my step father was his barber when he & Randy/Mater were teens...
RiverdoG and I met via Dolphin blogs probably ten or so years ago, I realized that we were in the same town about 5 years ago, and we had a few face to face talks !!
I gave him some deep water fish that I caught on my 53rd Birthday, and we talked about goin fishin together but his health started declining and we never got to do it..
GOOD GUY, better man than me, wish I had spent more face to face time with him !!!!!
thorny · 546 weeks ago
I am not going to take away last weekends game. I do want to say , however, Tannehill is a lot better than he is credited for. I still question the coaches but if they can get the team to produce like last weekend, I could live with that.
KV my man great read...
Patrick · 546 weeks ago
Defenses are watching the film and they will creep up even further seeing Tannehill threw only 3 passes over 25 yards last week. Soon they will force him to throw longer by crowding the LOS, if he can overcome his one weakness, Miami would be unstoppable...
I think Sherman saw those open deep receivers and could not help himself from calling deep passes. Lazor sees them but knows deep throws are not Tannehill's strength so he avoids the urge to go for it and plays to the strengths. That's good coaching so I have to give Lazor some credit and Philbin for understanding and going with the plan.
Beach potato · 546 weeks ago
I see Coach Lazor huddled up with Thill after each series. He and Wallace were clicking.
I sure would like to see a real beat down of the Jags this weekend. Lots of points running and passing......Go Dolphins.
Patrick · 546 weeks ago
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
This current Fin vs Bears piece needs a header photo scrolling across the top...
THill to Wallace TD would be a good one, or a picture of the final scoreboard...
Am I able to do so from where I publish (blogger dashboard) ??
If so can you teach me how for future pieces...
thorny · 546 weeks ago
I hope teams creep up, then man coverage opens lanes for longer passes. It will come. Tannehill is getting stronger.
Patrick · 546 weeks ago
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
Over the last 3 games..
"""Tannehill has completed 72 percent of his passes for 799 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions."""
Comp % is better than Peyton Manning (over the last 3 games)!!
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000415806/ar...
17kvFINS 103p · 546 weeks ago
THANX Thorny : )) !!
newengfinfan · 546 weeks ago
17kvFINS 103p · 545 weeks ago
Too true !! Teams with nothing to lose are extremely dangerous, INDEED !!
Jax has one of the leagues top RZ defenses !!
Thinkin that THill will need to get a 50 plus yarder this week...
GOFINS!!!
17kvFINS 103p · 545 weeks ago
He's only 14 years behind PManning status, and Thrills actually ahead of PM's 2.5 year pace !!
"""I've got a problem with our scoreboard operator," Manning said. "I'm gonna have a little talk with him. I'm not sure what he's doing.
"He was playing music, showing people -- showing players dancing, getting the crowd fired up while we had the ball. I don't think we should be doing that. I don't think we should be showing their quarterback on the sideline. I thought that was kind of disrespectful. So the scoreboard operators ... it wasn't his best night.""""
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000416435/ar...