There is no doubt that The Marshall Plan was designed to resurrect the passing game which, if successful, will be a great compliment to the skilled running of Ronnie and Ricky. But even great receivers still need a quality QB to get them the ball. Look at former Dolphin Wes Welker. While he showed talent when he lined up in aqua and orange, it was only after he had Tom Brady throwing him the ball that he truly became a star. In 2006, when he was on the receiving end of that great Fins’ QB tandem Joey Harrington and Daunte Culpepper, Welker had 67 receptions for 687 yards and 1 TD. The very next season with the Patriots, where Tom Brady was throwing him the ball, he had 112 receptions for 1175 yards and 8 TDs. That stark increase in his production wasn’t because he suddenly got that much better running routes or catching the ball. It was merely a reflection of what Wes Welker was truly capable of accomplishing with a real NFL quarterback getting him the ball. With the arrival of Marshall, the Fins have the opposite situation. They have a proven superstud receiver who will now be paired with an as-yet unproven QB.

That is why the Fins’ Marshal Plan places all the heat on Chad Henne. If he shines, he will be the toast of the town for the next decade-plus. If he doesn’t, his second round draft pick two years ago will be viewed as the latest failed attempt to find the franchise quarterback, a void that has existed since Number 13 retired.
No doubt Brandon Marshall gives Henne the chance to shine, but Henne needs to prove he can shine. If he doesn’t, no one will think any less of Brandon Marshall; Marshall has proven himself. Now, it’s Henne’s time to prove himself. Here’s hoping he proves himself worth a big-time contract extension, which is what he will get next off-season if he proves himself during this season.

A look at Chad Henne’s history suggests that he will indeed shine. At Michigan, an injury to the starter suddenly thrust him into the Wolverines’ starting job as a true freshman. With Braylon Edwards as his go-to guy that season, Henne proceeded to lead Michigan to a share of the Big 10 title. And Brandon Marshall is no step down from Braylon Edwards. From a size standpoint, he is a little bigger as Marshall checks in at 6’4”/230 lbs. while Edwards is 6’3”/215 lbs. From a production standpoint, Marshall far exceeds Edwards over their last 3 seasons. Marshall has 307 receptions for 3710 yards and 23 touchdowns while Edwards has 180 receptions (127 fewer) for 2842 yards (868 fewer) and, to his credit he also has 23 touchdowns. Chad Henne should be licking his chops at the opportunity to have Marshall as his prime target. Let Mark Sanchez have Braylon Edwards; Henne will gladly take Brandon Marshall over his former Wolverines’ teammate.

And so with training camp fast approaching, the summer heat not only bears down at the Fins’ training facility in Davie, but it squarely falls on the shoulders of Chad Henne. This franchise needs Henne to stand up, withstand the heat and declare that he is the Fins’ QB of the future.

First, the ugly, which is exactly what the Fins’ gave up to the Forty-Niners when they sent Ted Ginn packing.  You may remember the Voice of the Dolfans’ parting words for 2009 were “may the off-season moves be-Ginn with Ted.”  Well, that might not be the way the off-season moves began, but fortunately those moves included getting rid of Ted Ginn who all too often was down right ugly.

Another piece of the ugly came in the form of the Dolphins joining the “thug-a-month” club, seeing 4 of their roster players arrested in the span of the 4 months from February to May.  Rounding out the ugly was the somewhat messy end with Jason Taylor, always a class act, and the public relations nightmare of first banishing Zach Thomas from the Dolphins practice facility, before they graciously let him come back to sign a one-day contract so he could retire as a Dolphin.  Here’s hoping that the Fins not only handle Jason Taylor’s retirement better when his time comes, but that they also announce at that time that Jason and Zach will go into the Ring of Honor together the very next year.    

And now for the good.  Talk about a quinella, the Fins’ did not just get rid of Ted Ginn, they did so because they signed Brandon Marshall, a truly elite receiver.  They said good-bye to Ginn, the king of drops and the queen of running out of bounds before the first down marker, and said hello to a dynamic 100+ reception wide-out who triumphs in getting yards after the catch.  As illegitimate of a receiver as Ginn proved himself to be the past 3 years, Brandon Marshall has proven himself to be as legit of a receiver as there is in the game in that same span of time.  He has been to the Pro Bowl the last 2 years and he has 100+ catches in each of the last 3 seasons.  He is a truly top-echelon receiver who will command a lot of attention from defenses while nevertheless catching a whole lot of passes.  In so doing he will free up Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, Brian Hartline and Anthony Fasano to make their share of crucial catches.  There is no question that Marshall makes the Fins’ offense a lot better.    

And Marshall will make Chad Henne a lot better, too.  Don’t forget the last time Henne had a big-time receiver who could go get the ball downfield.  That receiver was none other than Braylon Edwards, and when the two were together at Michigan, Henne rode Edwards all the way to a conference title.  Who knows how far he can ride Brandon Marshall, who is signed to a long-term contract, in the coming years?

The signing of Brandon Marshall was not the only big off-season signing for the Dolphins, but the magnitude of that signing overshadowed the signing of linebacker Karlos Dansby.  But make no mistake about it Dansby should help fortify a defense that was all too prone to giving up big plays in 2009.  Speaking of which, it was no great surprise the Fins’ kept picking defensive players in the draft; just one of their eight picks who will line up on offense.  The message was clear; the Czarcells’ camp understood the need to get bigger and younger on defense.  They did the same thing on the offensive line, picking up Richie Incognito as a free agent and John Jerry in the draft.  Both pick-ups look good, but Incognito better lose his tendency to pick up personal foul penalties or he will be the first fish in Sparano’s dog house.  For sure, the offensive line will have more depth than in 2009 and it figures to be a tougher group of players who will be opening the holes for Ronnie and Ricky.

Although John Jerry looks like he has some real promise, the reality is that he is an untested rookie.  It is way too difficult to predict how a rookie will perform when the pads come on and he lines up against real NFL talent.  And so only time will tell about John Jerry, Jared Odrick and the rest of this year’s draft crop.

As for this year’s rookie crop, Odrick looks promising, especially if you listen to college coaches, including those against whom he played, who spoke very highly of him as a guy who cannot be stopped.  And don’t be too surprised if he bulks up a bit in the next couple of years and ends up anchoring the nose tackle position.  This may depend on how effectively Randy Starks makes the transition to playing nose tackle full-time.

Second round pick Koa Misi, who played on the D-line for Utah, is undersized for an NFL defensive lineman (6’2”, 251 lbs.) so he was drafted to be an outside linebacker.  He would seem to have both the size and speed for that position.   Third round pick John Jerry, the lone offensive player selected by the Fins in the draft, played both guard and tackle in college, but is surely slotted for the guard position at Miami.  He has good size (6’5”, 328 lbs.) and quickness and, like Odrick and Misi, he was an All-Conference selection in 2009.  Although Misi and Jerry were the 40^th and 73^rd overall selections in the draft, a rookie’s draft slot alone does not guarantee success at the next level (see Ted Ginn, above).  We’ll have to wait and see how they pan out.

In the fourth round the Fins took A.J. Edds (6’3”. 246 lbs.) an inside linebacker out of Iowa.   His 5 interceptions in 2009 were impressive, but not impressive enough for him to be drafted in the first 3 rounds.  Many attribute his success more to his diligent preparation than to his overall skill set, but comparisons to Zach Thomas will have to wait at least for his first 100-tackle season, assuming he ever plays anywhere other than on special teams.  Although he was a back-up long snapper in college, his weight (or relative lack thereof) dictates that he will not fill that role for the Fins. 

Cornerback Nolan Carroll may have been a fifth rounder because of his injuries the last 2 seasons, but his speed (4.38 in the 40) may open a space for him on special teams.  The crowd at cornerback with Will Allen, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith will probably ensure that Carroll doesn’t get much of a chance to get his first NFL interception notwithstanding the fact that he had 9 in his injury-shortened final 2 years at Maryland.  Of course, in this day of multiple receiver sets (not to mention injuries) you can never have too many cornerbacks on your roster, especially ones who can play special teams while they wait for an opportunity to line up on defense.  Safety Rashad Jones (5^th round, 163^rd overall), outside linebacker Chris McCoy (7^th round, 212^th overall) and inside linebacker Austin Spitler (7^th round, 252^nd overall) are others who must make a name for themselves on special teams if they hope to stick around long enough to eventually compete for significant playing time on the Fins’ defense.

One thing is for sure, the Czarcells regime went for a crop of players possessing both talent and leadership skills as most of this year’s draft crop were team captains.  We’ll just have to wait and see how the picks pan out.  Given that the Fins are still rebuilding, they will need a few of the newcomers to emerge as bona fide starters, and most of the rest to upgrade the special teams, for 2010 to be a meaningful success.  Success this coming season won’t be easy, either, with the Patriots always seeming to be the Patriots and the damn Jets having made some key additions to bolster their team that went as far as the AFC Championship game last season.

Before wrapping up the good, mention must be made of the aggressive style of defense Dolfans will see under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.  His attack-style defense is designed to dictate to the offense what happens on the field.  While it is true he needs the horses to make that happen, he will have more horses to work with thanks to the addition of Karlos Dansby and 7 defensive draft picks.

As for the bad, that would primarily be the holes that have yet to be filled.  Safety, tight end and the kick/punt returners remain the big question marks on this team.  With high-priced free agent Gibril Wilson gone after an unsuccessful (and short) stint with the Dolphins, neither last year’s draft pick Chris Clemons nor Tyrone Culver did anything to lock down the free safety position last year.   There is hope that Chris Clemons will step up in his sophomore year and that the presence of Brandon Marshall will allow Anthony Fasano to flourish at tight end.  But even in the optimistic glow of June, these two positions remain significant question marks.  Nothing about their performance to date suggests that either will turn into a bona fide star any time soon.  And as far as returning punts and kickoffs, mediocrity is all that can realistically be expected from those who as of this date are set to be in Dolphins’ training camp come this summer.

But sitting here in the glow of the bright June sun, hope springs eternal for Dolfans.  There is a lot that is good on the Dolphins’ horizon; certainly more than there is bad or ugly.  And as is true for the rookie class, only time will really tell for the 2010 Dolphins.  Here’s hoping that the high hopes of June don’t fade as the upcoming season unfolds.

As deserving as Ted Ginn is of criticism, he does not deserve to be the whipping boy for the entire 2009 season. Injuries were a lot more responsible for this season’s downturn than the play (or lack thereof) of Ted Ginn. With Pennington, Cobbs, Brown, Grove, Allen, and others going down, it was certainly a busy year for the team doctor and training staff. And there were certainly other roster deficiencies that contributed to the Fins’ 7-9 record.

Before looking at the anticipated off-season moves, however, let’s look at some of the statistics behind their 7-9 record. Those statistics seem to confirm the belief that the two major problems the Fins had in 2009 were turnovers and what Coach Tony Sparano calls chunk yardage plays.

Turnovers are easy to understand.   They often lead to points against and always change field position.  In 2009 the Fins were a minus 8 in the turnover dapartment (bad enough for 14th in the AFC), coming only one year removed from when the Fins led the entire NFL in that department.

The chunk yardage problem was significant and can be understood through an analysis of first downs and overall yardage numbers.  The Fins had more first downs than their opponents in 2009 (333 to 297) and they held that advantage in both the rushing (128-88) and passing (188-184) phases of the game. They out-rushed their opponents (2231-1835) and had a higher average per rushing attempt (4.4-4.2). They were more effective than their opponents in converting third downs (49% to 35%), too. They also ran more total plays than the teams they faced (1088-968). However, opponents averaged more yards per play than the Fins (5.8 vs. 5.0). And don’t overlook that the Fins were 13th (out of 16 teams) in pass defense in the AFC.

So what does all this tell us? It tells us rather clearly that although the Fins enjoyed success in terms of grinding out yardage, opponents had more success getting chunks of yards on offense. When you get those chunk plays, it is easier to score than when you have to run 16 plays to do so. Although long scoring drives are good clock killers, short scoring drives are easier to sustain.

Plain and simple, the negative turnover margin and the deficit in chunk yardage plays are why the Fins were outscored by their opponents (390-360) en route to their 7-9 record this season.

Improving the turnover margin in 2010 will start without a roster change for it will start with Chad Henne who will benefit from his first real year of playing time.  Henne’s 2009 experience alone should cut down on his turnovers next season.  Hopefully, the experience gained by rookie cornerbacks, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith will enable them to get more picks in 2010.  Although Vontae held up his end with 4 in his rookie season, Smith should have no problems doing better in 2010 because he was shut out in 2009.  In 2009 the Fins got only 3 picks combined from starting safeties Yeremiah Bell and Gibril Wilson, all of which were made by Bell.  Although he was signed as a free agent before the 2009 season, Gibril Wilson simply didn’t give the Fins any measurable return on their sizeable investment.  More on Gibril later.

The lack of a real number one receiver obviously was a significant factor in their overall deficit of chunk yardage plays. But jettisoning Ginn is only the first step in the upgrade process at the wide out position, because without acquiring a true number one receiver, the Fins will be relegated to the short end of the chunk yardage stick next season. That is why they need to find that true number one receiver to lead the rather credible possession receiver corps of Camarillo, Bess and Hartline. To fill this need they will have to look to the draft or the free agent market.

The other side of the chunk yardage deficit coin is on the defensive side of the ball. Plainly, the Fins need help at safety as the Gibril Wilson experiment was not a 2009 success story. He let far too many receivers make catches (and runs after catches) for chunk yardage. As a result, his job is anything but secure.  Rookie Chris Clemons, who appeared to have been given more snaps in the season finale than he had in any other game this season, may still blossom into the player they hoped when he was drafted, but he is not there yet.  Look for the Fins to acquire another safety this off-season.

Although running back looked like a very strong position before the injury bug hit this season, there is no guaranty that Ronnie Brown can come back as well from his Lisfranc fracture as he did from his knee surgery the year before. And don’t overlook Ronnie’s contract status.  He may be a free agent and thus far no contract extension has been worked out.  That might leave Ricky Williams, who says that 2010 will be his last season, as the number one back. Patrick Cobbs has talent, but he also needs to recover from his season-ending injury and even so, he is not an every-down back along the lines of either Ronnie Brown or Ricky Williams. Lex Hilliard has shown some positive signs, but at this point it would be a stretch to call him a suitable replacement for either Ronnie or Ricky.  So don’t be shocked if the Fins select a running back in the draft.  If a strong back is still on the board when their turn comes this April, the Fins might not be able to resist building for the future.  

And there’s the matter of a back-up to Chad Henne. Pat White still appears to be an undeveloped situational player rather than a true NFL starter and his play in the season finale really showed that he is just not ready to be a QB at the NFL level. The question is will he ever be ready; the answer appears to be no. At this point it looks like he may prove to be the biggest draft-day bust of the Czarcells’ administration. And K.C. cast-off Tyler Thigpen, who was signed as a stop-gap measure after Chad Pennington went down, is still very much a work in progress as evidenced by his 2 killer interceptions following his impressive first 2 drives in the game against the Steelers.

Turning again to the defensive side of the ball, the Fins need help at linebacker. Channing Crowder is, at best, adequate and Joey Porter is not the player he once was. Even if Jason Taylor is extended a contract, he figures to continue to be only a situational player in 2010. And let’s face it, somewhere the Fins need to find someone who can cover a tight end or a back down the middle when it’s third and seven.

Another aged player who might find himself on the outside looking in is Jason Ferguson, but even in the unlikely event that he is brought back in 2010, more help is needed at the defensive tackle position. Paul Soliai simply does not look like the every-down answer going forward. And even if, by default, he is the one who will have to anchor that position next season, more depth is needed as no one can realistically play that position every down for an entire season.

And so it will be interesting to watch the Czarcells’ team navigate through the off-season as it moves to upgrade the roster before the start of the 2010 campaign. The Fins will be drafting in the 12th draft spot and with that kind of draft position they should be able to pick up a real quality player in the first round.

The off-season moves may be dependent upon what happens with the NFL labor negotiations because unless a new labor deal is reached, there will be no salary cap for next season. Without a salary cap it would be easier to jettison unproductive players who previously received a large signing bonus (because the team would not face the consequence of having that signing bonus being accelerated and applied to the 2010 salary cap).

And when it comes to unproductive players, the name of Ted Ginn comes instantly  to mind. The Fins’ have given Ted Ginn the benefit of the doubt for 3 long seasons now. At this point, doubt is all that remains, so let the first off-season move be-Ginn with Ted.   [Maybe the Fins can trade him to No-Cam-Do’s Ravens for 19 drops and a family to be named later!]

A season that began with the Fins ceremoniously unfurling their AFC East Champs flag ended rather unceremoniously on Sunday with a loss to the Steelers that brought them to a sub-.500 finish. The 4 fewer wins than last season was certainly not a good sign, but the difference is probably best explained by the confluence of the evil eye the Fins’ received from both the scheduling gods and the injury gods (rather than by any fall-off in talent on the roster). The tough schedule was a function of their first place finish in 2008; the injury problems were just a matter of bad luck. And that bad luck carried right into the last game of the season when injuries to Chad Henne and Pat White forced emergency quarterback Tyler Thigpen into the game.

The injury to Henne was puzzling; the injury to White was downright frightening. Henne came out of the locker room at the start the second half and no one in the had a clue that anything was wrong, except for the fact that he was wearing a baseball cap rather than a helmet after the Fins received the kickoff. As announced by Coach Sparano during his post-game remarks, Henne had sustained a head injury that resulted in blurred vision. So Pat White came out to start the second half. White appeared to be in over his head and it appeared that it was only a matter of time until he, too, would have to come out of the game. But no one could have predicted what would ultimately force him form the game. Sadly, White received a very scary hit to the head at the Steelers’ sideline that frightened the nearby Steelers who started frantically waiving to the Fins’ sideline for medical help. A group of Steelers players knelt in prayer nearby as the crowd grew silent and the stadium crew brought out a cart. During a lengthy delay, White was strapped onto a gurney, placed onto the cart and then taken to be air-lifted to the hospital. It was truly a horrendous site to observe. Fortunately, the post-game report from Sparano was that he had movement of all his extremities and was doing well.

Funny thing about Thigpen’s first game-action as a Dolphin was that he almost engineered a huge come-from-behind win. After coming into the game deep into the third quarter with the Fins down by 17, he engineered 2 touchdown drives on his first 2 possessions. The defense then proceeded to sack Roethlisberger and force a fumble that the Fins recovered at the Steelers’ 13 yard line. They were in easy field goal range for Dan Carpenter who was 25 of 28 (89.3%) for the season and needed only a short field goal to tie the game. Things were looking quite good for the Fins. But that’s when Thigpen decided to show why he was deemed expendable by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first place who had sent him to the Fins in a trade after Chad Pennington’s season-ending injury in week 3. He threw into double coverage and was intercepted at the 2-yard line. The Steelers then drove the ball almost the length of the field before kicking a short field goal in the last minute that made the score 30-24. On first down, at a time when the Fins needed to go 79 yards with no time outs remaining for a go-ahead touchdown, Thigpen overthrew an open Davone Bess for what became a season-ending interception.

The Fins got into a hole in the first place because their defense could not stop the Steelers who both rushed and threw for over 200 yards each against the Fins’ defense. It was the third consecutive week that the Fins’ defense put them in a hole from which they could not recover, despite valiant second-half attempts each time.

Before he was injured, Chad Henne was 16 of 20 (80%) for 140 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Although he has not yet proven himself to be an elite NFL quarterback, he has made some good progress over the course of the 13 starts he made during his sophomore season.

Meanwhile, Ted Ginn, the Fins’ supposed number one receiver, caught 3 passes for all of 20 yards. Ironically, Ginn failed to get a first down on his longest catch of the day, an 8-yarder, because he backed out of bounds after catching the ball rather than trying to get to the first down marker. Dolfans have seen that lack of heart from Ginn far too many times. He has got to be the poorest receiver in the NFL when it comes to yards after catch. His performance against the Steelers was no exception.

And so the Fins ended their season the way it had begun, with a 3-game losing streak. In between they did manage to go 7-3, but those 7 sandwiched wins were not enough to put them into the post-season. Between the quarterback injuries on Sunday and the season-ending 3-game losing streak, it was a rather painful reversal of fortune for the 2009 Dolphins.

At 7-8, the Fins are staring down at a finish no better than 8-8. But considering that the Steelers, next Sunday’s opponent, have turned things around with a couple of wins, it looks more and more like these Fins are headed to a 7-9 finish. Perhaps the only thing saving the Fins from a first place to last place embarrassment appears to be the woeful (5-10) Bills of Buffalo.

Sunday’s game was a disgrace. The Fins fell behind 27-0 at home to a team that entered the game at 7-7 and could, at best, be described as mediocre. Just how a Fins’ team that had so much on the line could come out so flat is hard to explain. It was the third time in the last month that the Fins lost a crucial game against a no better than middle of the pack team (Buffalo, Tennessee, Houston) that could have almost assured them a playoff spot. Just how a Fins’ team could choke this much this often is difficult to explain. Or is it? Perhaps the explanation is one that Dolfans don’t want to accept. Perhaps the explanation is simply that the only pretty thing about this team is that it is pretty mediocre. Or perhaps it is simply that the team lacks sufficient depth to withstand the fairly significant injury toll of the 2009 season.

Sunday was filled with mostly question marks, especially in the first half which Jason Taylor fittingly labeled “pretty despicable.” Where do you start? Houston scored the first 27 unanswered points before the Fins got a field goal to make the halftime score 27-3. The Fins made third-string running back Arian Foster look like an all-star as he ran 19 times for 97 yards (5.1 average). Matt Schaub, anything but an all-star, was 14 of 18 (77.7%) for 247 yards and 2 TDs in the first half. At one point the Texans had out-gained the Fins 237-37. Houston averaged 8.7 yards per offensive play in the first half and did not punt a single time.

That pretty despicable first half is what forced the Fins to put the ball in Henne’s hands in the second half when he made the final score a more respectable 27-20. After completing only 11 of 23 (47.8%) for a scant 72 yards (3.1 yards per attempt) in the first half, Henne completed 24 of 32 (75%) for 250 yards in the second half. But respectable scores in must win situations don’t get you into the playoffs. This team really needs to find an answer to its maddening inconsistency.

Whatever the answer, those players who don’t want to be deemed expendable parts of the implosion of 2009 must dig in and play hard for next year. At this point you know that jobs are at stake and that the Czarcells’ team will be looking very carefully at which of the current members of the Fins’ roster want next year bad enough. This coming Sunday these Dolphins, or at least those who care about having a job thereafter, will be playing their hearts out for next season.

But the Titan who intercepted the pass was actually down at the Miami 42-yard line, still not exactly field goal range, even for strong-legged Titans kicker Rob Bironas. That’s where the official’s bad call came into play. The interception was made by Michael Griffin who went down at the 42 without ever being touched. Smartly, Greg Camarillo ran towards him to touch him while he was on the ground to officially end the play. Although Camarillo did not hit him with his helmet or even land on top of him, the officials called a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. Camarillo cannot be faulted; he merely ran over to the down player and touched him. There was neither anything unnecessary nor rough about it. The play was still live and Camarillo did exactly what he should have done in that situation. It was the officials who made the mistake; the replay was just that clear.

Although the Titans proceeded to lose a yard on their ensuing 3 downs, Bironas made the 46-yard game winner on fourth down. Had the blatantly wrong penalty not been called, the Titans would not have had the option of basically sitting on the ball until fourth down and kicking the game-winning field goal. With that egregious call, the Titans had the luxury to do so, especially with dependable Rob Bironas on the sideline waiting to end the game with his right foot. With that game-winning kick, Tennessee had “Titan-ed” the noose around the Fins’ playoff hopes. The Fins now are all but mathematically eliminated from the post-season tournament.

This horrible ending was a terrible way to conclude a game that could have been known for one of the greatest comebacks in Fins’ history. The Fins were down 24-6 in the fourth quarter with things looked quite bleak. But somehow they managed to turn the game around. First, they marched 80 yards to bring the score to 24-13 with 7:41 remaining. Then, after stopping the Titans for the 5th straight possession, they drove 90 yards for a touchdown inside the 2-minute warning to make it 24-22.
Chad Henne trotted off the field as Pat White came in for the 2-point attempt. It was as if Coach Sparano was telling the Titans, “we are running the ball and you can’t stop us.” White predictably handed off to Ricky Williams who ran right and got into the end zone for the tie. The Fins had all the momentum, and then proceeded to shut down the Titans once again to send the game into overtime.

Considering the statistics on sudden-death overtime games, it appeared that the momentum was still with the Dolphins when they won the coin toss. However, on third and six from the Miami 27, Henne threw his third pick of the day. If that wasn’t the death knell, then the officials’ bad penalty call against Camarillo was. The game would end as a result and, with it, the hopes for the playoffs went down the drain.

It wasn’t just the interceptions that hurt; Ricky Williams contributed a first-half fumble as well. That fumble, like Henne’s first 2 picks, came as the Fins were driving in Tennessee territory. Those turnovers cost at least 9 points and could have made the difference in the game.

It’s not that Chad Henne didn’t do some good things against Tennessee, he had 349 yards passing on the day, completing 29 of 46 (63%) with a touchdown. However, a 3-1 INT-TD ratio is clearly not good. And the truth is that the tying touchdown would not have occurred at all if Tennessee defensive back Michael Griffin hadn’t missed an interception that was in his hands which enabled Brian Hartline to pick the ball out of the air for a 57-yard completion to the 11-yard line. By all rights, the play should have been a game-ending interception rather than a reception that paved the way for the Fins’ to score and send the game into overtime. Considering that play, perhaps it was fitting that Griffin would again get the opportunity for the Titans’ third interception and thereby effectively end the game in overtime.

The final two home games could have been very interesting had the Fins pulled the game out in Tennessee. But now the playoff chase is over, even if the mathematicians say otherwise. At this point, the Fins’ need too much help to make the playoffs and it just isn’t going to happen. And they really don’t deserve to go to the playoffs either. Not after losing to the Bills 3 weeks ago when that would have set up a battle (which the Fins’ won) against the Patriots the following week for first place. And not after losing to the Titans this week. With the loss to the Bills, the Fins had to win out and still get some help. And now with the loss in Tennessee, the noose has been “Titan-ed” on the Fins’ last real playoff hopes.

For the second week in a row, Coach Tony Sparano unleashed Chad Henne, allowing him to throw the ball frequently. For the second week in a row, the Fins did not run a single Wildcat play and this time, Pat White never even got on the field. The game was left totally in the hands of Chad Penne. And except for his fourth quarter interception, which the defense proceeded to render meaningless, he performed quite well. For the game he was 21 of 29 (72.4%) for 220 yards. At one point, Henne completed 17 consecutive passes, the most ever by a Dolphins’ quarterback in a single game. His favorite target was Greg Camarillo who caught 7 passes for 110 yards. Rookie Brian Hartline had 3 receptions for 34 yards. Ted Ginn managed only one catch for 16 yards. Although Henne led 2 long touchdown drives, he failed to throw a single touchdown pass.

The black mark this week was that the offense seemed to fizzle after coming out so strong. They had two first downs on their opening drive and then had 67 and 74 yard touchdown drives on their next two possessions. Although the halftime score was only 14-7, the halftime statistics were very one-sided. The Fins out-gained the Jaguars 222-82 while holding a time of possession edge of 19:14 to 10:46.

The second half was quite a different story. The Fins ended one drive on a missed 38-yard field goal attempt by Dan Carpenter, only his second miss in 21 tries this season. Two other second half drives ended with turnovers. That’s how the Fins’ offense got shut out in the second half and why the defense had to snatch this game from the jaws of defeat.

Meanwhile, the Patriots ended their 2-game losing streak to remain atop the AFC East. The Patriots’ destiny remains in their own hands as they will be the AFC East Division Champs if they win their last 3 games. On the other hand, the Fins improved their chances at a wildcard spot by beating the Jags, whom they had trailed by a game in the hunt for the final wildcard spot. With that win, the Fins leapfrogged the Jaguars in the wildcard race by virtue of the head-to-head tie-breaker. The Fins now have a good shot at a wildcard spot if they win out their last three games which are on the road at Tennessee (5-7) and then at home against Houston (5-7) and Pittsburgh (6-7), respectively. They can clinch the Division only with the help of a Patriots’ loss against an AFC opponent.

Although the win kept the Fins in line for some post-season play, it was disappointing that they could not put the game away. They certainly had opportunities to do so, but they seem to lack the killer instinct, or perhaps more accurately, they seem to lack the talent to put away even mediocre teams like the Jaguars away when they have the opportunity to do so. Although they came out and played with real focus, the offense seemed to lose a bit of its focus after going up by 2 touchdowns in the first half. Their overall performance gave the Fins a look of a team that might make the playoffs, but won’t survive the first round. This would be all too reminiscent of last season when they were embarrassed by the Ravens after their triumphant first place finish.

Nevertheless, in the modern day NFL, a win is a win, and especially when it’s on the road. And with this road win in Jacksonville the Fins’ can continue to hang on to their playoff dreams.

Tom Brady and Company made it look easy much of the afternoon, but give credit to the Fins’ defense that shut the door in the fourth quarter. This was amazing considering the Fins’ season-long porous fourth-quarter defense which had surrendered an average of 12.2 points per fourth quarter going into the Pats’ game. Some thanks are also due to Bill Belitrick, who gambled and lost (does that sound familiar) when he went for a fourth and one at the Fins’ 6-yard line in the second quarter which the Fins defense promptly stuffed. In the final analysis, that short field goal that Belitrick eschewed late in the first half would have forced the Fins’ to go for a touchdown instead of a field goal in the final two minutes of the game which might have changed the outcome.

The trend away from the Wildcat (and the WildPat) offense continued, with Chad Henne remaining behind center almost the entire afternoon. Considering a 15-yard loss that came during the WildPat offense, it looks as though the Fins won’t be too wild about any formations that don’t put Chad Henne under center at least until Ronnie Brown returns next season.

Sunday’s game plan called for Henne to throw the ball, a welcome change since Henne needs to do just that if he is going to blossom into the successful long-term starter that Sparano and Czarcells would like him to become. Henne ended the day with 52 pass attempts, completing 29 for 335 yards and 2 touchdowns and 1 fairly harmless interception. He was only sacked once, continuing a trend of not taking sacks which had been a problem in his first few starts. On the game winning field goal drive, Henne was 3 of 5 for 40 yards. It was nice to see Henne set up the game winner, especially coming after his horrible fourth quarter against the Bills last week. He had a lot of help from Davone Bess who caught 10 passes for 117 yards (not quite as good as Wes Welker’s 10 catches for 167 yards) as well as from a resurging Anthony Fasano (5 for 67), Brian Hartline (4 for 61) and Greg Camarillo (4 for 41). Both Davone Bess and Brian Hartline had touchdown catches. Although Ted Ginn only contributed 2 receptions for 34 yards, they were each key plays. He also contributed a 51-yard kickoff return in the second half.

The Fins had a good day on third down conversions making 10 of 19. They were also 2 of 3 on fourth down conversions for a combined total of 12 of 22 conversions (54.5%).

What can you say about Dan Carpenter, the cool cat who kicked the 41-yard winner. He has only missed one field goal all season (a 49-yard attempt). He has kicked several field goals of 50 or more without a miss. He is now 19 of 20 (95%) on the year. The only reason he is going to miss out on a trip to Hawaii this year is that the Pro Bowl is being played right here in Miami.

Speaking of kicking, the Fins are really kicking themselves now. Had they only beaten the Bills last week, they would not only have the same season record as the Patriots, but they would be in first place by virtue of a tie-breaking edge over the Patriots. They would control their own destiny. But the reality is they lost to the Bills and now the Fins remain a game behind the Patriots and without the benefit of a tie breaking edge.

The playoffs remain an uphill battle for the Fins. They will not only need to win their last 4 games to have a shot, but they will also still need either 2 more Patriot losses or a lot of help to enable them to leapfrog several other teams for a wildcard spot. But for now at least there remains a glimmer of hope because this Sunday the Fins beat The Brady Bunch.

Going in, this game looked like one that the Fins’ should win. After all, the Bills were at 3-7 and riding a 3-game losing streak while the Fins had won 5 of their last 7 to seemingly resurrect their season following an ugly 0-3 start. However, there was plenty of ugliness in the game on the Fins’ side of the ball and it started rather early. After shutting down the Bills’ opening possession three and out, the Fins drove the ball down to the Bills’ 4-yard line before Ricky Williams, attempting a very rare pass, threw an interception in the end zone. And even though the Fins’ ran the ball with great success against the Bills (157 yards for the day), they still only managed a 7-7 tie at the half.

The second half started strong with the Fins marching down the field on a 13-play drive culminating in a Ricky Williams touchdown run that put the Fins back in the lead, 14-7. But it was all downhill from there as the Fins let the Bills hang around until the dreaded fourth quarter. The Fins went into the game leading the league in most fourth-quarter points surrendered. The Bills would see to it that the Fins’ would remain dead last in that category, scoring 24 unanswered points to pull out the win.

The Fins still had a chance to win after the Bills’ Ryan Lindell kicked his career-long 56 yard field goal to go up 17-14. At that point the Fins had 3:30 left in the game with 2 time outs and the 2-minute warning to work with to try to get either a tying field goal or a go-ahead touchdown. However, Ted Ginn only managed to run back the kickoff to the 21 yard line. On first down, Ginn moved before the snap, ensuring that the Fins would start from a hole. Anthony Fasano, who had his best game of the season (5 catches for 74 yards), then came up with a big 17-yard catch for a first down and it looked like Henne might work a little fourth quarter magic. However, the Fins’ then trotted Pat White onto the field and he ran for a mere 2 yards. Henne came back onto the field to face a second and 8 situation. He went back to pass and was pressured into an underthrow that was intended for Brian Hartline, but was intercepted, essentially ended the game. Unfortunately, although the Fins’ day was now done, Henne wasn’t quite yet done. He proceeded to throw 2 more late picks which enabled the Bills to pad the score to the embarrassing 31-14 final.

With the loss, the Fins’ were not only done for the day, but they were also done for the season. At 5-6, they will be either 2 or 3 games behind the Patriots when they face them next Sunday, depending upon what happens when the Patriots face the Saints on Monday Night Football. Speaking of which, with the Fins’ season in the trash pile, the Fins’ faithful can now feel free to root for the Patriots to end the Saints’ perfect season, knowing that the Fins’ chances of beating the Patriots out for the division title are thinner than Charlie Weis’ chances of retaining his job with the Fighting Irish!

One thing is for sure: Sunday’s game against the Bills was a disaster. And the bottom line about this disaster in upstate New York is that the Fins’ season was truly Buffaloed.

It was the second time in a row that the Fins’ fate wasn’t decided until the final seconds of the game. Call it their squeak of the week. However, this squeak got the Fins to .500 (for the first time this season). To do so the Fins had to win their second game in just 5 days. And they did it behind a good performance by Chad Henne who is now 5-2 as a starter. With the grounding of the Wildcat due to Ronnie’s absence, Henne may have benefited by being behind center for almost the entire game.

Somehow, the Fins have now turned around their ugly 0-3 start to get back to a push. Somehow in the process, Chad Henne is beginning to show some signs that he may be “the one.” Dolfans can only hope and watch for more good signs. This week Henne went 17 of 29 (58.6%) for 172 yards. This week he did not turn the ball over and for the second consecutive week he did not take any sacks. True, the overall yardage wasn’t great, but neither are his receivers. And even though Ted Ginn had no drops and made some good catches, he still only managed 32 yards on 4 receptions. With his speed he should be getting significant yardage after the catch, but he typically gets none. With his speed he should also be getting more than 32 yards in a game. At least he had a couple of nice kick returns, giving the Fins possession on their own 39 and 45 yard lines, respectively. Davone Bess had a good game, catching 6 passes for 63 yards while getting some key first downs.

One season-long bright spot has been the place kicking of Dan Carpenter. By converting his only field goal attempt of the game, he is now 16 of 17 (94.1%). At this rate, he might end up being the answer to a trivia question as to date he has missed as many field goals this season as he has missed extra points (one each).

The Fins’ defense remains a real enigma in many ways. They got slashed by Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams for 122 yards on 13 carries (a whopping 9.4 yard average), which made it rather puzzling why the Panthers got away from the run in the second half. On the other hand, the Fins’ racked up 4 sacks, all of which coming on third down passing situations. Two of the sacks belonged to Joey Porter, who also led the team with 8 tackles, and may have benefited from the involuntary rest he was given last week by Coach Sparano.

After looking fairly porous on the opening drive, the enigmatic defense managed to force the Panthers to settle for a field goal from the red zone. Then, they shut out Carolina for the balance of the first half. They showed signs of weakening in the third quarter, but were bailed out by a bad pass by Jake Delhomme that was picked off by Nate Jones at the Panthers’ 4-yard line. Then came the fourth quarter when they proceeded to surrender 14 points. Good defenses do not surrender points like that in crunch time, but unfortunately Miami’s defense is 31st in the league in fourth quarter points surrendered. Think back at how this tendency hurt the Fins in the losses to the Colts and the Saints earlier this season. In fact, had they won either of those games, the Fins would need only a win against the Bills next week to set up a battle with the Patriots for first place the following week. But the Fins didn’t win either of those games and now their playoff hopes continue to survive by only a bare thread.

The victory against the Panthers was not without its price, however, and the price this week was more pain. On the heels of losing Ronnie Brown last week, the Fins’ offensive and defensive line got really banged up this week. Starting center Jake Grove went down, and not much later, his back-up Joe Berger also went down. This caused the Fins to do some real shuffling on the o-line. Defensive nose tackle Jason Ferguson was another casualty and he had to be carted off the field after sustaining a knee injury. His loss would be particularly devastating to the run defense. Hopefully, the 10-days leading up to the Buffalo game will give the walking wounded time to recuperate.

Speaking of injuries, the loss of Ronnie may have put the Wildcat on its back, but Ricky certainly proved that he’s got the Fins’ back.