The Dolphin Report

The 5-6 Dolphins found themselves being badly beaten on both sides of the ball and down 14-0 a mere four seconds into the second quarter as fear swept through the half of the fans in the stands not wearing Patriot colors, all collectively dreading just how much worse things could get for their Fins. But then something happened, the Fins started to play football. From that point on they outscored New England 22-7. When they took a 22-21 lead on a 41-yard Dan Carpenter field goal with 1:02 left, the only question that remained was could they hold off The Brady Bunch who had already amassed over 300 yards in the air. The answer would come on a second and ten when Cameron Wake forced Tom Brady into a bad pass which fell into the hands of Channing Crowder, which was the Fins’ second interception of the fourth quarter (the other was a game saving pick in the end zone by Vontae Davis). With that one last big play the Fins had beaten The Brady Bunch.

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.