Dolphins Lose Lead To Packers On Final Play

With 59:54 ticked away, and a Dolphin lead of 24 to 20 achievements in the books. Ryan Tannehill's Miami Dolphins had outscored the Green Bay Packers and the NFL elite league leader in touchdowns thrown Aaron Rodgers.

The Miami quarterback led his team on two of eighty, and one of seventy nine yard touchdown drives while the Packers had three eighty yard touchdown possessions. Green Bay gathered another eighty yards on two Field Goals for six points.

On Miami's first touch of the ball Jarvis Landry had a 54 yard kick return to the Packer 49 yard line. The Dolphins gained 20 yards on five plays to kick a mid first quarter forty eight yard three pointer and pull within 3 - 7 after the Packers marched their opening possession for a touchdown.

Green Bay gained fifteen yards to their own 25 on the following six play series and Miami's (Jonathan Freeney) blocked the punt for a (Chris McCain) recovery at the Packers 16 yard line. After six plays the Dolphins had a fourth and goal from the one yard line decision to consider. Kick a three point field goal for a one point late first quarter deficit, or go for the touchdown and a three point lead? Miami chose the latter with a rush attempt and was stuffed. Unfortunately. The score remained the same at 3 - 7 Packers.

Following a Packer six and out Miami took possession at their own 27. A rush attempt for minus nine yards took place on first down. On third and twelve Tannehill threw a 20 yard pass that was intercepted and returned to the Miami 36 yard line. Green Bay covered 11 yards on six plays and kicked a 43 yard field goal for a 10 - 3 lead.

The Dolphins went 3 & out which was followed by a Packer 6 & out for eleven yards. From Miami's 32 yard line on their next possession, and on their second first and ten play of the series, Tannehill threw a second interception to the Packers thirty two yard line. Green Bay went six and out for twenty yards. Miami followed with a six and out for 37 yards and the Packers ran one play to end the first half with a 10 - 3 lead.


To open the third quarter Miami went eighty yards in five plays for a 10 - 10 tie, and first Ryan Tannehill to Jarvis Landry TOUCHDOWN! The touchdown was of eleven yards, forty yards and half of the drives eighty came from a single Ryan Tannehill sprint.

Green Bay returned the favor of eighty yards on 13 plays and seven points to retake a 17 - 10 lead.

With 3:44 remaining in the third quarter Miami again responded with another eighty yard, ten play, five minute touchdown drive to tie it at 17 - 17 early in the fourth quarter. In this series Tannehill completed passes of 25 yards to Mike Wallace, and 14 yards to newly re-acquired receiver Damian Williams while Lamar Miller ran for forty three yards on six carries including a five yard TOUCHDOWN!

After another Packer three and out it's the Dolphins ball at their own 21 with 12:34 remaining. This drive included first down pass plays of 25 yards to Wallace, and 21 yards to Jarvis Landry as well as a third and two 20 yard pass play to Lamar Miller. Six plays, and seventy nine yards later Ryan Tannehill throws a five yard TOUCHDOWN to Mike Wallace, and the Miami Dolphins lead the Green Bay Packers by a score of 24 - 17.

The Packers pulled within 24 - 20 after gaining 68 yards for a 30 yard field goal with four minutes and nine seconds remaining.

Miami ball at the Dolphin twenty. Second and ten, Tannehill to Landry for eleven yards and a first down. Second and eleven (illegal hands to the face) and "another Miami Dolphins first down" at the 36. A one yard run on first down, and a second down incompletion leads to a Dolphin third and nine yards for a first down.

With zero Packer timeouts remaining. The Dolphins elected to conservatively run the ball from their own 36 on a third and nine at the three minute mark of the fourth quarter. The rush attempt went for one yard and Miami punted possession of the ball away to Aaron Rodgers from his own forty yard line with two minutes and four seconds remaining. Need more be said? Though several Miami Dolphin defensive drive halting, and/or the running out of the clock opportunities were there for the taking. The Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers attained victory over Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins with three seconds remaining by a score of 27 - 24.

Green Bay won the turnover battle (3-0), had a 14 plus minute time of possession advantage, ran 24 more plays, and accrued a total of just 20 more yards (split via the run/pass) than Miami's total of 349 offensive yards gained (112 rush and 237 pass).


Thank You for an Open Minded read, and we look forward to your angle of view!


Beat Da'Bears, GOFINS!!!

One Man's Defense of Three (likely soon to be four) "never-to-be" Regimes

A walkabout that's had our Miami Dolphins going in circles for the last eight years like a dying man lost in the desert in dire need of finding a water source!!

Ricky Williams' Untimely July 2004 decision to walkabout cost the Miami Dolphins their one legitimate shot (since Danny Marino) at an Elite NFL Quarterback in Aaron Rodgers entering the 2005 draft, while also destroying the integrity, charisma, and stability of a once proud franchise!!

Summarized; The regimes of Nick Saban, Cam Cameron, and Bill Parcells should have never crossed our path!! Not to suggest that the majority of fault to today's status is any of those mentioned regimes doing or undoing..
(Well, maybe Saban, Cameron, BP and Ireland)?? But, Tony Sparano is trying his butt off, and would never turn his back on us just because things haven't gone as planned,(ie; R Williams, Jimmy Johnson, Saban, and BP)!!

I summarized above because a map might be required before entering the maze below :)!
Had #34 not walked we'd of had our super-star game breaking tailback with Ricky Williams in his prime and not been in need of selecting Ronnie Brown (nor would we of even considered him) in the 2005 draft with Ricky already on board.. Had he not walked (seeing that we were coming off of an extremely productive 10-6 2003) we'd of likely had a decent 2004 resulting in a 2005 pick somewhere between our actual number two pick and the late teens to mid twenty's with only the missing piece of an Elite Quarterback needed for the 2005 draft, season, and beyond..

In that particular 2005 draft where we picked Ronnie at number two, the second ranked quarterback in that draft behind the number one pick of Alex Smith happened to be the one who's become "super elite" Aaron Rodgers picked by the (who didn't even need a QB) Green Bay Packers with the twenty-forth pick.. Rodgers was projected to be picked around number ten while agonizing in the green room until GB's "fateful" selection of him.. Had Williams not walked, and we picked somewhere around GB at 24 in 2005 (which would have meant we went to the 2004 playoffs if not divisional rounds) after not qualifying at 10-6 for the 2003 playoffs.. Aaron Rodgers would have been the one missing piece to get our consistently winning team at the time over the top in 2005,or o6, or o7 and so on which would have carried over to this current date at least to some strong extent, especially with A Rodgers!! While, if Ricky had stayed and we actually did (as projected) proceed to the 2004 divisional rounds (rather than 4-12) and not had a shot ahead of GB to pick Rodgers in o5, that 2004 winning season would have carried over toward today to some extent also!! Sooo Ricky screwed us every which way including loose in eliminating our more than likely opportunity at the 2004 playoffs, and in an opportunity at A Rodgers,(either of which that would have been prosperous to today's team), while both could have happened together, neither took place because of Ricky Williams!!

In the same Ricky Williams instance the historic stability the franchise had exhibited during it's first thirty-eight years had been instantly lost due to Ricky's departure and disregard to the organizations city, owner, Head coach, staff, leaders, players, and fans, resulting in the downfall of Dave Wannstedt as well as consistent charismatic integrity throughout the organization and winning seasons combined with playoff appearances on a pre-determined basis!!

In the 2004 draft just before RW's adventure we (Wanny) traded-up for Vernon Carey, and picked-up a FA O-lineman or two in the preceding Free agency period to sure-up the OLine for the sake of the face of our franchise Ricky Williams!! JP Losman was the only QB available to us near the pick of Vernon Carey!!

Because of Ricky's farr from scheduled retirement!! Wanny in trying every option to somehow, someway, replace the loss of Williams' production was instantaneously forced to spend 2005's third round pick on the likes of Running back LaMar Gordon in hopes of keeping his pre-season favored team in the conversation as the 2004 AFC Super Bowl representative!! Lamar Gordon was an up and coming star at St.Louis but he didn't last an entire season with us due to a career ending injury..
Had Ricky not walked, that third round pick could have been used as ammo to secure the acquisition of A Rodgers and/or to strengthen the surrounding offensive cast of what could have been Aaron Rodgers at QB, and Ricky Williams in his prime at Tailback as the core, while the Defense was already top notch!!

However, because of Ricky's last second selfishness Wanny was forced to resign at 1-8 mid-way through the 2004 season resulting in runnig back-less NCAA specialist Nick Sabans forced selection of an SEC (who'd a thunk-it) tailback named Ronnie Brown, while not being of the understanding of how much Miami Dolphin fans as well as an NFL team needed the likes of an Aaron Rodgers type to fill the void of our beloved number 13!!(An "understanding" that Wanny couldn't possibly have helped but become aware of)!! Dave Wannstedt(who the fans chased ouuta town due to the cost of Ricky's absenteeism) with Jay Fiedler at QB had a higher winning percentage than Jimmy Johnson with Danny Marino!!

IMHO, had RW not walked Dave Wannstedt would have kept his job, couldn't have possibly passed on Aaron Rodgers in 2005, and would today be our multiple Super Bowl winning head coach along with more than deserving players such as Zach Thomas, JT, etc, etc, owner Wayne Huizenga, and we the adoring fans!!

Because of Ricky Williams (including the demise of Wanny) we've been through "three (soon likely to be four) what never should have been regimes" in the last seven years!! You can't develop a consistent winning mindset when the rules/schemes/personnel get changed every 2 to 3 years on average!!
It's said that when an NFL team misses on a first round QB it'll cost'em at least five years to recover without changing regimes, It's also suggested that with every regime change you're looking at five plus years until each new regime can get their mentality and personnel in place!! Who knows the recovery time included under new ownership, but I'd suggest that wouldn't have taken place either if not for Ricky's stroll!! So with a humorous look at it, Ricky put us some 20yrs in the hole because he IS the reason Wannstedt's regime failed, we've changed ownership, been through 3 additional regimes since, and still haven't landed an elite QB!! Because of Ricky Williams we (Saban) missed on an opportunity at Aaron Rodgers with a stable regime(of which should have remained Wannstedt)around him!! A regime that should likely be on this day the longest tenured regime in the league, while at the same time until present day we would have remained the winning est most stable team in the league and likely multiple Super Bowl Champions to boot!!

Scratch A Rodgers.. Just with the contracted Williams in his prime at tailback for the 2004,05,06,07 seasons would have been enough to propel those seasons to an exciting level due to probable playoff appearences (where anything can happen), while never ever allowing the team to reach a low of becoming the butt of late night television host!!

The day Danny rightfully so retired I said "it's the beginning of the end", then we momentarily recovered in replacing his star power with Ricky Williams, things were lookin good and then that super-nova exploded casting our world into an undesirable dimension that can't be navigated away from without a new star being born to light the way!!

I realize it's all irrelevant at this point but felt it necessary for the true leading culprit of our eight year demise and organizational instability to be unveiled, and I'm as blind as everybody else in still lovin the guy!! OHHHH what could have been??

Thanx for an open-minded reading, GOFINS!!

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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The Miami Dolphins Are Fun To Watch On The Goal Line

The Dolphins Were Able To Shut This Man Down For A Big Win In Week 2

I love watching the Miami Dolphins when they are on the goal line, and no, I don't mean they are fun to watch when they are on offense on the goal line.

I mean when they are on defense.

Miami is very good at goal line stands, and because of that opposing offenses who have the ball with a first and goal at the 1-yard line aren't always automatically going to score a touchdown.

Not against the Miami Dolphins defense, at least.

The Dolphins defense made their first statement in Week 2 against Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings offense when they stuffed Peterson on the goal line. Not only was that stop incredible because it was Adrian Peterson who normally breaks a million tackles running the ball. It was also incredible because they were able to do it late in the game when they were tired, and being tired just makes things worse when you are playing somebody like AP.

Peterson had been running well all night, and almost everyone watching thought he would be able to easily score, but the Dolphins defense had other plans for him.

The next statement by the Dolphins defense, and the one that really lets us know they are seriously good at stopping offenses at the goal line is the one they made last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

You may not even remember the Dolphins stand, and that is because Aaron Rodgers was able to score on a dive up the middle on 4th down, but trust me, even though Green Bay scored the Dolphins defense still did an incredible job stopping them until that down.

The Packers had the ball with a first down on the 1-yard line, and most people assumed that they would score pretty easily, but once again the Dolphins had other plans.

Green Bay tried to run the ball in three different times with Brandon Jackson and John Kuhn, but every time they were stuffed before they gained anything.

The only reason the Packers were able to score on 4th down was that they lined up in a spread offense and tricked Miami into thinking they were going to pass it because running wasn't working. Aaron Rodgers fooled me when he ran it instead, and I am pretty sure he fooled the rest of the Dolphins defense.

But other than that play Miami was able to really shut the packers down, and that should be very encouraging for Dolphins fans.

So next time you see the Dolphins on defense at the goal line you can remember that Miami's opponent won't automatically score. It is very possible that the Dolphins will be able to hold them to a field goal or a turnover on downs.

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Miami Dolphins Keys To The Game: Find Balance On Offense

We Need To See More Of These Two Sunday

The problem with the Miami Dolphins this year is they don't have any type of identity. We don't know whether they are a passing or running team. They probably don't even know what they are, and that is a problem.

What we need to beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday is for our offense to find a balance between both running and passing and not rely too heavily on either.

When the Dolphins rely too much on running or passing the ball they become one-dimensional and really struggle to score. Miami needs to be able to do both without overloading on one or the other.

If the Dolphins throw the ball too much they risk Chad Henne throwing interceptions, and interceptions can really swing the momentum away. When they run the ball too much they struggle to get first downs, and then they have to punt the ball away.

Basically, leaning too much on either is bad for the Dolphins and doesn't put points on the board. If we want the Miami Dolphins to score a lot of points, then we need them to find a good balance between the two. Balancing will help keep the ball in Dolphins hands and not the Packers, which is important when you are facing a quarterback like Aaron Rodgers with two receivers like Donald Driver and Greg Jennings.

The Packers are the 8th best team in the NFL in points allowed, and that means problems for Miami if they are unable to balance the offense out enough to score.

Green Bay is also the 8th best in the NFL in points scored. So, if the Dolphins want to be able to win this game they will need to score a lot to match the Packers offense, which is something they have not seemed capable of doing thus far.

Miami's passing game has been pretty good in the last two weeks, but it has come at the sacrifice of the running game, and that is a problem. I believe that we can do just as well with the passing game while running the ball more. Running will keep the defense on their toes, which will help open up the passing game more.

Sure, it is fun to see a successful passing offense, but the passing offense can only do so much without a running game to accompany it. If we want to see the offense reach its full potential we need to use Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams more, and Sunday's game against the Packers would be a great time to start because Green Bay will probably be without LB Clay Matthews, who is a big threat to backs.

I will admit that I wanted the Dolphins to be a pass-heavy team, and discussion in the commenting section of one of my articles has swayed my opinion a little bit. I still believe they need to pass more than they run, but I agree that it is necessary to run the ball consistently in order to keep the defense guessing. Passing the ball is no good when other teams know that the pass is coming and not a hand-off.

So, let's hope that the Dolphins can find a balance to the offense by running the ball more or they may end up continuing their losing skid and drop to under .500 for the season.

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think the Miami Dolphins will need to do to win on Sunday.

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Aaron Rodgers Appears Ready To Play Against The Miami Dolphins, And That Is A Good Thing

Rodgers Will Most Likely Play

Some of you may remember my post before the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets game where I said I wanted Darelle Revis to be healthy for the game because I didn't want to hear excuses from Jets fans as to why they lost.

Admittedly, the Jets still won without Revis, but that is beside my point.

My point is that I want teams to play the Dolphins when they are at their best. The Packers will still have to play without TE Jermichael Finley, but he is not as important as Aaron Rodgers.

Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback, and it is always exciting to watch how Miami's defense is able to do against great quarterbacks.

We can use this game to prove to others (and ourselves) that the Dolphins defense is capable of stopping some of the best offenses. I do believe in our defense and their abilities, but 2-2 doesn't really instill much faith in the team to this point.

I like winning games against teams at full power. It just isn't as satisfying to beat a team without their best player(s), and the Dolphins are very capable of beating the Green Bay Packers.

The Packers are getting Rodgers, but the Dolphins are also likely getting key players on defense back in Channing Crowder and Jared Odrick.

Getting both Odrick and Crowder back helps put the defense in a much better position, and they will no longer have to move players around to fill in holes.

Yes, getting Odrick and Crowder back may not be as huge as the Packers getting Rodgers back, but them returning will still be huge for our defense and should be a big factor in how the defense performs.

Thanks everyone for reading. I know it seems kind of slow right now in terms of news on the Miami Dolphins, but things will pick up I promise. Let me know what you think about Rodgers returning, though.

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The Miami Dolphins Are Growing Stronger As The Green Bay Packers Are Growing Weaker

All I can say is if we don't win this game I will be severely disappointed.



It's Good To See Odrick Back



The Miami Dolphins head to Green Bay this weekend to play the Packers, and the odds are definitely in their favor.

Not only are the Dolphins possibly getting back LB Channing Crowder, DE Jared Odrick, and G John Jerry, but it is also possible that the Packers will lose QB Aaron Rodgers along with TE Jermichael Finley who is already out.

So assuming that Aaron Rodgers is out, not only will the Dolphins be better than they have so far this season, but the Packers will be a whole lot worse.

Getting Odrick back is probably the best of all the players possibly returning this week because his absence forced the defensive line to shift a bit. Randy Starks, who was supposed to be moved to Nose Tackle, had to be moved to defensive end because Odrick was out.

Now, Odrick can come back in at the end and let Starks work his magic at tackle.

On top of that the Dolphins will gain extra experience with Channing Crowder back at LB. Crowder is an important player on this team, and with him and Karlos Dansby leading the way this defense should do much better.


And, everything mentioned above is just the best returning players for the Miami Dolphins without even talking about who the Packers are losing.

Green Bay's biggest loss is obviously Aaron Rodgers due to a concussion. I understand that he has not been officially ruled out of Sunday's game yet, but it is highly unlikely that he will play because of the rules and regulations set by the NFL on how to handle concussions.

With Rodgers gone the Packers will turn to 3rd year QB Matt Flynn, who has never started an NFL game before and has only thrown 17 total passes in NFL games. Call me crazy, but I'm excited to see how our defense will do against such an inexperienced QB.

And while having Rodgers gone is a huge blow to the Packers, that blow is doubled because Jermichael Finley is also gone. Yes, Flynn will have Greg Jennings and Donald Driver to throw to, but Finley is the most important target.

And, I don't mean that because of Finley's statistics so far, either. A lot of times when a young quarterback drops back to throw and his receivers are covered he will have his tight end to throw to as a safety blanket. Without a talented safety blanket like Jermichael Finley Flynn might try and force the ball somewhere else and throw an interception.

Things look great for the Dolphins this week. Let's just hope they can actually win and not lose off of ridiculous special teams play.

Thanks everyone for reading, and please feel free to leave a comment. I apologize for leaving this weekend and only getting one post up. I am back now, though, and I will go back to my normal pattern of writing every day.

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