Dolphins News...

[01/29/10] -- Phins.com Interview with Greg Camarillo
Greg Camarillo has been a productive receiver for the Dolphins for 3 years now, but he is most famous for a play called "Scat-Left-Ernie", which saved the 2007 Dolphins from the ignominy of a 0-16 season. That 64 yard touchdown reception from Cleo Lemon elevated Greg Camarillo from "who?" to a household name for Dolphins' fans and will be remembered as one of the famous plays in Dolphins' history. This week, Phins.com columnist Chris Shashaty gives us a close-up look at Camarillo with his latest column, Interview with Greg Camarillo.

[01/12/10] -- Dolphins Fire Defensive Coordinator
The Dolphins announced yesterday that they have terminated the contract of defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni, after the team finished in the bottom half of the league in most of the important defensive categories in 2009. Perhaps more concerning to the Dolphins' staff than the statistical rankings was the inconsistent and lackluster performance of the defense in critical situations at the end of the season. Pasqualoni's successor has not been named, but some of the names being tossed about include Al Groh and Romeo Crennel.

Also today, Phins.com columnist Chris Shashaty had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with Dolphins' GM Jeff Ireland recently and gives us his take on the past, present and future of the Dolphins in his article Q&A with Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland.

[01/04/10] -- Season Ends with Frightening Injury
The Dolphins lost to the Steelers 30-24 yesterday in a repeat performance of the last previous two games, where the defense has been unable to stop or even slow down the opponents' offense. However, the worst part of this game was a head injury suffered by backup QB Pat White that resulted in him being carted off the field on a stretcher. After Chad Henne suffered an eye injury that left him with blurred vision, White took over the quarterback duties in the third quarter. With 2:05 remaining in the third quarter, White had a head-to-head collision with CB Ike Taylor that left him face down on the turf. After Steelers' players motioned frantically for the trainers, White was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. The latest word on him as of Monday morning is that he did have movement in his limbs and that he will recover, which is good news regardless of how you feel about him as a player. Unfortunately, it was the only good news on a day where the Dolphins ended their 2009 season with a losing 7-9 record.

[01/01/10] -- Steelers Arrive for the New Year
The Dolphins will host the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday in the first game of the 2010 calendar year. Ironically enough, this will also probably be the last game of the 2009 season for the Dolphins as the chances of their making the playoffs may generously be considered "slim" at this time. On this New Year's Day, Phins.com has several articles for your consideration, starting with columnist Chris Shashaty's look at his 2000-2009 Dolphins All-Decade Team. Also today, Phins.com presents our Dolphins vs Steelers Game Preview.

[12/28/09] -- Dolphins Continue Losing Streak against Texans
The Dolphins effectively ended their season yesterday when they lost to the Texans 27-20 in Miami. The Dolphins played miserably in the first half, allowing the Texans to jump out to a 27-0 lead before responding with a field goal to end the half. The second half was an entirely different story as the Dolphins shut out the Texans and scored 17 unanswered points, but it was too little, too late for Miami to win. The team couldn't do anything right in the first half, but made several key mistakes in the second half as well. The most crucial mistakes in the game were a tripping penalty on Lousaka Polite on what would have been a 62 yard touchdown bomb to Ted Ginn, a dropped interception by Gibril Wilson and a terrible call by the officials on what should have been a fumble by Houston. Overall, it was a very disappointing effort in a game that could have put the Dolphins back in control of their own destiny this year.

Curt's Comments: This game highlighted what has been Miami's biggest problem all season - inconsistency. In the early part of the year, the Dolphins had trouble finishing games, getting off to strong starts but then folding like a house of cards in the fourth quarter. In the last two games, however, they have done the exact opposite. They have started like they were sleep-walking, only waking up in the second half. Unfortunately, even though they battled back heroically in both games, they couldn't come away with a win.

If the Dolphins had played even a little more consistently this year, they would be in the driver's seat for the playoffs and perhaps even competing for the AFC East Division title. Oddly enough, the vagaries of the NFL playoff system leave the Dolphins alive for a possible playoff spot, but only if 4 other playoff contenders lose next weekend and the Dolphins beat the Steelers. It goes without saying that that is highly unlikely.

[12/26/09] -- Texans Come To Town
The Houston Texans will take on the Dolphins tomorrow afternoon in LandShark stadium as both teams try to stay alive in the playoff hunt. The current playoff standings in the AFC are very close and both Miami and Houston must win to stay alive. That makes this game effectively a playoff game of its own. Houston has a very powerful passing attack with the leading receive rin the league, Andre Johnson, catching passes from QB Matt Schaub. However, the Dolphins are more than capable of beating the Texans for the first time and in this week's Dolphins vs Texans Game Preview, we will tell you exactly how they will do that.

[12/21/09] -- Turnovers Doom Dolphins
The Dolphins lost to the Tennessee Titans 27-24 in overtime yesterday after they had battled back from a 24-6 deficit to tie the game up with 1:38 left. Unfortunately, turnovers killed the Dolphins and unlike last week, they weren't able to overcome them. Chad Henne set a career high mark of 349 yards passing, but ultimately cost the Dolphins dearly with 3 interceptions - one in the endzone during regulation and one in overtime in Miami territory that gave the Titans the field position to kick the winning field goal. Ricky Williams also had a fumble at the Titan's 25 yard line earlier in the game that stopped another Miami drive. Offensively, the Dolphins were able to move the ball on the Titans, but the turnovers stopped 2 drives inside the Titans' 25 and ultimately cost Miami the game.

The defense played well late in the game, shutting out the Titans in the 4th quarter. They also kept Chris Johnson from any big plays and held him to 3.6 yards per carry, although he did manage to pick up 104 yards in the game. Unfortunately - like they have all year - the defense allowed too many big plays to the Titans' passing game. All three of the Titans' touchdowns came on passes of over 20 yards, mostly against Vontae Davis. Davis did have an interception early in the game, but was Miami's weak point on defense.

Curt's Comments: In my preview last week, I wrote that the number one matchup for this game was the Dolphins vs Themselves. Unfortunately, the Dolphins lost this matchup, turning the ball over 4 times and costing themselves the game. As it happens, the Dolphins' playoff chances are not dead yet, although they're much worse than they were. According to the Yahoo! Sports Playoff Scenario Generator, for Miami to win a wildcard spot in the playoffs, they must beat both the Texans and Steelers, while the Jaguars must lose one game and the Ravens must lose to Pittsburgh next week. The Jaguars must face the Patriots next week, so it is very possible that Miami could still slide in, but the odds are against them.

[12/13/09] -- Defense Stops Jaguars
For the second week in a row, the Dolphins came up with big defensive stops in the 4th quarter and that allowed them to hold on and beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 14-10 in Jacksonville today. Miami's offense got off to a good start, scoring 14 points in the first half, but couldn't sustain drives in the 2nd half and ended the game with 5 fumbles (losing 2) and an interception. Fortunately, the defense has perhaps their best performance of the season, limiting Maurice Jones-Drew to 59 yards at 3.3 yards-per-carry and stopping Jacksonville twice late in the 4th quarter to prevent a comeback. They did give up one big pass to Tory Holt, but otherwise did an excellent job keeping the Jaguars offense in check.

Curt's Comments: For the second week in a row, Miami's defense didn't crumble in the 4th quarter. In fact, they rose up and stopped the opposing team at the crucial moments. And it's a good thing, too, because the offense had trouble holding on to the ball today. But good teams win in many ways and when their offense struggles, their defense steps up - and vice versa. Today, the Dolphins' offense struggled and their defense stepped up.

[12/11/09] -- Dolphins Visit Jacksonville
The Dolphins will travel to Jacksonville this weekend to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars in a game rampant with playoff implications. If the Dolphins win this weekend, the Jaguars will be knocked out of the 6th Wildcard spot in the AFC and, depending on how the Ravens play, could take over that spot. The Dolphins and Jaguars are similar in a lot of ways and have traveled a very similar road to get to this point in the season. However, the Dolphins have one significant advantage over the Jaguars in this game and we'll tell you what it is in this week's Phins.com Game Preview - the Dolphins at Jacksonville.