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Dolphins Beat Packers 28-20 |  | ||||||||
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The Dolphins responded to their Monday night loss in New York by coming out flat against the Packers on Sunday, almost like they were suffering from a bad hangover. But after spotting the visitors from Green Bay a 17 point lead, the Dolphins sprang to life and scored 28 unanswered points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters to come away with an important and much-needed 28-20 victory in Miami yesterday. The game was another study in contrasts similar to the debacle on Monday night - a story of two games, with the Dolphins staging the comeback and the Packers the victims of surprise plays that helped to turn the tide. The game was played in Miami on a seasonably warm Sunday afternoon, with the temperature at gametime in the low 80s and the humidity over 90%. Zach Thomas, Earnest Grant, Tony Martin, Lorenzo Bromell, Bert Emmanuel, Antonio Cesario and Alonzo Mayes were inactive for the Dolphins, while Mike Quinn was the emergency quarterback. An interesting subplot of this game was that Jay Fiedler was taken to the hospital Sunday morning for X-rays on his ribs due to pain left over from Monday night's game, while Damon Huard was sick with the flu, requiring IV fluids on Saturday night. At one point, Coaches Wannestedt and Gailey were talking to Mike Quinn about the possibility that he might have to start. However, as we now know, Fiedler's X-rays were negative and he started for Miami. The Packers actually started with the football after an excellent kickoff return and drove from their 39 to the Miami 32 before getting stopped. They used a pattern they would use most of the game, mixing runs with short passes to the backs and tight ends underneath the deep coverage. By the end of the day, Antonio Freeman would have just 2 receptions for 10 yards and Bill Schroeder would catch 4 passes for 48 yards, as Miami's cornerbacks shut down their wide receivers. But the Miami 32 was close enough for a field goal, giving the Packers the early lead. On Miami's first possession, Thurman Thomas had the ball ripped from his hands at the Miami 43 and the Packers recovered. They drove down the field, again on short passes, to the Miami 11, where a terrible pass interference penalty on Terrence Shaw gave them a 1st down at the Miami 1. From there, they punched it over for a 10-0 lead. Following the kickoff, the Dolphins went 3 and out and punted. The Packers, starting at their own 31 and aided by another highly questionable pass interference penalty, drove to the Miami 7, where Dorsey Levens ran over to push the score to 17-0 in favor of the Packers. At this point, I was composing my game comments in my head, starting with words like "Miami's season ended today, as they...". Fortunately, there were still 2 and a half quarters of football to play and the Dolphins were just getting started. Each team has two short, ineffective offensive series after the Packers' last touchdown and then Miami started to move when Jay Fiedler started finding Oronde Gadsden with 15-20 yard passes. The Dolphins moved down to the Packers' 1 yard line and then Fiedler dove over the goalline on 2nd and goal to give the Dolphins their first score. This occurred with 1:18 remaining in the first half and helped swing the momentum back in Miami's favor just before halftime. Green Bay had a decent drive to close the first half, but a 53 yard field goal attempt went wide right and the teams headed for the locker rooms with Green Bay holding a 17-7 lead. Throughout the first half, Green Bay was effective running the ball with Dorsey Levens and Ahman Green and completing short passes to their tight ends and running backs. But Levens was injured at the end of the first half and did not return, while the Miami offense was just starting to find their rhythm. The Miami defense looked pretty lethargic throughout most of the first half, although those two horrible pass interference calls made them look worse than they actually played. But clearly, Zach was missing in the middle and while neither of Green Bays wide receivers had a catch in the first half, the Packers were patiently wearing down the Miami defense with short passes to the backs and tight ends. The Dolphins came out for the second half, boosted by the late touchdown in the 2nd quarter and after receiving the second half kickoff, moved straight down the field to the Packers' 15, mostly on passes to Leslie Shepherd. Shepherd had another big play this week, catching a 37 yard pass down the sideline to put Miami in striking distance. From the Green Bay 15, Fiedler floated a high pass into the endzone to Oronde Gadsden, who outjumped the defender for Miami's second touchdown. The score was now 17-14, but Miami clearly had the momentum. The Packers went 3 and out on the next series and punted back to Miami, who looked like they were also going to go three and out. On 4th and 2 from their own 45, the Dolphins lined up to punt, but the ball was snapped directly to Larry Izzo, who first dropped the snap but then picked it up and ran 41 yards to the Packer 14, where he was hit hard and dropped the ball. Fortunately for the Dolphins, Robert Jones was there to fall on it and recover his fumble. A penalty on the fake punt moved the ball back to the Packers' 31, but then there was a pass interference penalty on Green Bay and the Dolphins moved down to the Green Bay 14. Lamar Smith picked up 10 yards to the 4 and then bulled his way over the goal from the 4 for a touchdown that gave Miami its first lead of the game, 21-17. The Packers took the kickoff and tried to move, but were halted by Miami at the 44 and punted. On the punt, Jeff Ogden took the ball running straight ahead between two defenders and cut to his right. The running catch and cut put him ahead of the first line of cover men and he picked up a wall of blockers to his left that allowed him to race untouched to the endzone for an 81 yard touchdown. This was the first punt return for a touchdown by Miami since OJ McDuffie did it back in 1993. The score was now 28-17 and Miami was in control. Each team ran two ineffective series at this point, but with 10:58 left in the game, Green Bay managed to drive to the Miami 30 and kick their final field goal of the game, cutting the lead to 28-20. The Dolphins got the ball at this point and while they didn't score on this possession, they at least ran 5 minutes off the clock and converted a couple of first downs to keep the ball. Green Bay got the ball back with 5:50 remaining at their 18 and it began to look as though Favre might bring his team back. The Packers drove to the Miami 47, until Favre threw the ball a little too high and Bill Schroeder was unable to get both hands on the ball. It bounced off of Schroeder's hand and into the hands of Brock Marion, who returned it 25 yards for Miami's only interception of the day. The offense sputtered at this point, going 3 and out and punting back to Green Bay, who started at their 20 after a touchback. Favre started with 2:22 remaining in the game, but without any timeouts remaining and moved the Packers to their 34. However, on 1st down, Armstrong rushed outside but came back inside his block and hit Favre square, causing a fumble, which was recovered by Kenny Mixon. The Packers had no timeouts left at this point and Miami just ran the clock out, sealing their 28-20 win. The best thing about this game was the comeback staged by the Dolphins after getting behind 17-0. It's still too early to tell if this is the last word on the Jets' loss on Monday night, but it was an impressive come-from-behind victory in adverse circumstances. Also, this was the most complete team victory that the Dolphins have had this year. The offense, defense and special teams all made big contributions to this effort and each unit may be proud of the part they played in getting this win. The Dolphins were not a one dimensional team this week. The passing game looks to be settling in nicely, with big plays from Fiedler to Gadsden and Shepherd, made possible by good protection from the offensive line. I was particularly impressed with the blitz pickups as all the blockers on the field did a good job reading and reacting to the Packers' defense. The running game, while not as impressive as it has been, was steady and reliable for most of the game. Certainly, Lamar Smith still seems to be grinding down opposing defenses and running very hard. The pass defense was excellent this week, limiting big play wide receiver Antonio Freeman to 2 catches for 10 yards. And while they only sacked Brett Favre twice, they put enough pressure on him to keep him from having a lot of time to throw. Special teams had their biggest game of the year, with Larry Izzo's run keeping a touchdown drive alive and Jeff Ogden's return scoring all on it's own. And last, but not least, Dave Wannestedt's laid back approach to last week's loss paid off. Even after getting behind 17-0, the team hung in there and worked their way back into the game. They never quit and didn't let last week's loss prey on their minds or their confidence. All in all, it was an excellent win for the team and puts them on the right track heading into the second half of the season. The run defense without Zach Thomas is just not the same. Ahman Green and Dorsey Levens did a fair amount of damage to the Miami defense, including 2 touchdown runs. Its hard not to like Larry Izzo and his approach to the game, but Zach is definitely missed. Zach's absence also showed up in pass defense, especially with the backs and tight ends. Zach would have been much better at covering those receivers out of the backfield and Green Bay wouldn't have been able to work it's way down the field nearly as easily. I don't know what the solution might be, but the Dolphins need to figure out a way to either disguise or mix up their coverages a little bit more to compensate for the loss of Zach. Jay Fiedler has improved nearly every week that he's played and this week was no exception. Unlike past weeks, I didn't see any truly boneheaded throws this week. While he missed a few, none of them were awful and he committed no turnovers, completing 16 of 25 for 158 yards and 1 touchdown. His sideline throw to Leslie Shepherd for 37 yards and his lob pass to Gadsden in the endzone were just right. Lamar Smith continues to work hard for every yard, gaining 71 yards on 20 carries. That's just under 3.6 yards per carry, which isn't great, but he made many of those yards by himself. He scored his 1 touchdown on a 4 yard bulldozer run through several defenders. He also caught 2 passes, but only gained 1 yard on both receptions. Thurman Thomas did not contribute much to this game, running 3 times for 10 yards and catching 2 passes for 11 yards. He did commit Miami's only turnover on a fumble that eventually became the first Packer touchdown. Overall, he did not play a significant role in this game. Rob Konrad did some excellent blocking during the game for Lamar Smith, but of the two passes he had thrown his way, he only caught one and it went for negative yardage. Leslie Shepherd continues to be Miami's deep threat with Tony Martin on the sideline and he caught a 37 yard pass on one of Miami's touchdown drives. He ended the day with 3 catches for 60 yards and a reverse for 14 yards in the final quarter. Oronde Gadsden continues to be Fiedler's favorite target and he and Fiedler are getting better with their timing. He caught 5 passes for 70 yards in the game and made an excellent leaping grab for his touchdown. OJ McDuffie returned to the field and caught 3 passes for 17 yards. While its clear that he and Fiedler aren't comfortable with each other at this point, the fact that McDuffie is back and catching passes is a good omen for the offense. None of the tight ends caught any passes, but some good blocking by Hunter Goodwin and Jed Weaver did help keep the Packers off of Jay Fiedler. The offensive line had a pretty good game, limiting the Packers to 1 sack and opening some holes for Lamar Smith. They did not dominate as much as they have in some other games, but they played well and were consistent. On defense, Brock Marion led all tacklers with 7 stops and he intercepted a tipped pass in the 4th quarter to help stop the Packers' comeback bid. He also helped keep the coverage on Antonio Freeman and Bill Schroeder. Derrick Rodgers also had 7 tackles and is credited with 2 passes defensed and 2 tackles on special teams. He was very active all day, although is pass coverage was a little weak. Robert Jones was right behind Rodgers with 6 tackles and his heads-up play on special teams gave the Dolphins the ball deep in Packer territory after Larry Izzo fumbled. But he also seemed to be a step behind in coverage. The much-maligned Jerry Wilson was moved to dime back this week and responded with 5 tackles of his own and improved pass coverage. Patrick Surtain had 4 tackles and is officially credited with 2 passes defensed, although that number seems very low. The TV announcers credited him with 7 or 8 passes knocked down and with his coverage as tight as it was, that seems to be a more reasonable number to me. He had excellent coverage for most of the game on opposing receivers. Terrence Shaw got 4 tackles as the nickel back this week. Unfortunately, he was flagged twice for pass interference and each time the penalty put the Packers deep into Miami territory. However, neither of the penalties was a good call. On the first one, in particular, Shaw had perfect position to make an interception when Bill Schroeder of the Packers climbed up and over his back to knock the ball away. However, the interference was called on Shaw instead of on Schroeder. The bottom line is that Shaw played an excellent game and did a much better job as the nickel back than Wilson did last week. Jason Taylor had another good game, picking up 4 tackles and a sack where he ran Favre to the sideline and dragged him down from behind. However, it may have been his stop of Ahman Green in the backfield in the 2nd quarter that motivated the team the most. Larry Izzo had his work cut out for him, subbing for Zach Thomas. Izzo had only 2 tackles and did not do a whole lot on the defense, but he made up for that with his 39 yard run on the fake punt to set Miami up for another score. Sam Madison had 2 tackles also, and is credited with only one pass defensed, although I think that he also had more. He provided his usual terrific coverage, but dropped an easy interception at one point. Trace Armstrong had only 2 tackles in this game, but he saved his best for last, recording his only sack on the Packers' last drive that also forced a fumble that ended the game. Kenny Mixon and Tim Bowens also had 2 tackles each and Mixon recovered the final fumble that put the game away. Bowens did not play much after the first half because of an injury to his foot, however. Daryl Gardener returned to play on Sunday, but didn't contribute any big plays, coming up with just one tackle. He did a good job in the middle, but he appeared a little rusty. Jermaine Haley played extensively, rotating in with Gardener and subbing for Tim Bowens when Bowens left the field. He had 1 tackle. Rich Owens also got 1 tackle and knocked down a Brett Favre pass at the line of scrimmage. And Brian Walker had 1 tackle in this game and continued to provide some big hits, but didn't make any big plays. Autry Denson saw some action on kickoffs, returning one kickoff 35 yards and making a tackle on another. Greg Jeffries had 2 special teams tackles. But the big man of the day on special teams was Jeff Ogden, who used some guts and some speed to return a punt 81 yards for a touchdown at the end of the third quarter. I believe we'll be seeing more of Mr. Ogden in the future. Leslie Shepherd and Brock Marion returned punts and kickoffs, respectively, but didn't make any big returns in either case. Matt Turk continued to punt well, averaging 39.6 yards per kick and putting 2 down inside the 20 yard line. And Olindo Mare' did a better job on kickoffs yesterday, while also making a special teams tackle. Tim Bowens injured his foot in the first half and sat out for much of the second half. He will be examined today, but initial reports seem to indicate that the injury is minor. There were no other injuries of significance. First of all, let's get the ugly stuff out of the way. I'm talking about the officiating - specifically, the pass interference calls. During the game, Miami had 2 crucial calls against them, while the Packers had 3. Not coincidentally, they all came on the same side of the field, the defense's left side, and only involved two defenders, Terrence Shaw of the Dolphins and Mike McKenzie of the Packers. The problem seems to be with the officials taking the rulebook way too literally, when they should be concentrating on the reasons for those rules. All 5 of the pass interference calls were questionable and at least 2 were downright ridiculous. Ultimately, it probably didn't make any difference in the outcome of the game, but it certainly did make a difference in the way the teams played. And too many of the games around the league this year have turned on bad calls. In a day and age where games are getting closer and parity is becoming the reality, it's more important than ever that the NFL get its act together and fix the problems with the officiating. The officials need to be better trained and spend more time working on their skills. The NFL can afford full time referees - it's about time they hired some and trained them well. OK, enough of that. This game started out looking like a disaster of biblical proportions. As I said above, when Miami got behind 17-0, I started thinking about writing some "the season is over" comments, because that's what it would have meant in years past. But perhaps this team is different. Of course, it's still too early to tell, but now that Zach Thomas is out, the offense has had to step up - and it has. It didn't look as though it was going to be capable of doing that in the beginning of the season, but they have shown some remarkable improvement over the last few weeks. Consider this - during the first 4 games, Miami scored a total of 59 points - 14.75 points per game. Over their last 4 games, they've scored 118 points - 29.5 points per game. In other words, their scoring output has doubled from games 1-4 to games 5-8. Even if you take away the special teams and defensive scores, Miami's offensive output has increased from 14.75 points per game in the first 4 to 24.25 points per game in games 5-8. That's a pretty healthy change. And that is without Tony Martin or a healthy OJ McDuffie in the lineup. Martin, in particular, should be able to help stretch opposing defenses. One other thing worth noting - the biggest offensive scoring outputs has been on the road. As to the final judgment on this game, the biggest win that the Dolphins had on Sunday was not against the Packers. Their biggest win was against their own history and the demons of doubt that must have begun to plague the team when they fell behind early. Having defeated those demons, the Dolphins can go into the second half of the season in good shape. Now, all they need to do is to get Zach Thomas back....
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