The game against the Patriots on Sunday was yet another frustrating example of the Dolphins inability to play consistent football this season. They played fairly well in the first half, but lost momentum in the third quarter and completely fell apart by the end of the game. As a result, the Patriots won 34-17.
The bottom line of this game was about fundamentals and discipline. The Patriots, while not as talented a team as the Dolphins, demonstrated superior fundamental football skills on both sides of the ball on Sunday. They blocked, tackled and ran better than the Dolphins and that spelled the real difference in this game.
The game opened with the Dolphins receiving the opening kickoff from Brian Wagner, as Randal Hill took the ball at the Dolphins 5 and ran it out to the 26 yard line. From there, Marino started by immediately hitting Irving Fryar with a 20 yard pass out to the Dolphins' 46 yard line.
On the subsequent 1st down, the Dolphins started by trying to run Parmalee around the right side, but Bernie slipped in the backfield and was covered there for a 2 yard loss. Facing a 2nd and 12 from their own 44, Marino stepped back into the pocket to pass, but the ball appeared to be tipped at the line of scrimmage and it floated into the hands of Patriots' linebacker Vincent Brown at the Patriot 45, who easily caught it for the interception.
It was difficult to tell who Marino was trying to throw to, but it looked as if the ball might have gone over Byars' head. In any case, the Patriots started their first possession with a pass, missing Brisby at the Dolphins' 41. However, JB Brown was called for defensive pass interference and the Patriots began again in Miami territory.
Bledsoe's next pass on 1st and 10 from the Miami 41 went way over Will Moore's head and on 2nd and 10, Bledsoe took a little too long to get the ball off and he was sacked by Jeff Cross coming in from his right. Now with a 3rd and 14 at the Miami 45, Marco Coleman jumped offsides to move the ball to the Miami 40, but on 3rd and 9, Brisby bobbled and dropped Bledsoe's next pass.
It was then 4th and 9 and the Patriots elected to punt and Wagner's kick bounced into the endzone for a touchback.
Bernie Parmalee was given the handoff on 1st and 10 at the Dolphin 20, and he went around right end for 4 yards. Marino then went to Eric Green on 2d down for 14 yards down the right sideline to the Dolphin 38.
Parmalee got another carry on 1st down, but could only gain a yard around the right end. Then, on 2nd and 9 from the Dolphins 39 yard line, Marino hit Irving Fryar going out of bounds at the Dolphins 48 for a 9 yard gain. This was the pass that broke Fran Tarkenton's passing record for most yards gained in a career. It also gave the Dolphins a 1st down.
From there, Parmalee ran left for 3 yards to the Patriot 49 and again ran off right tackle for 2 more to the Patriot 47. Facing a 3rd and 5, Marino stepped back into the shotgun and hit Irving Fryar for 10 yards down to the 37.
A little dump pass from Marino to Parmalee on 1st down got the Dolphins 10 more yards down to the Patriot 27 and, on the next play, Marino hit Parmalee again for 18 yards over the middle and another 1st down at the Patriot 9.
With a 1st and goal at the 9, Bernie Parmalee ran around right end down to the Patriot 2, but on 2nd and goal from the 2, Marino couldn't find anyone open and threw the ball away. A 3rd down run by Terry Kirby only got 1 yard and facing a 4th and goal from the 1, the Dolphins elected to go for the field goal.
The first attempt was good, but Bryan Cox was penalized for holding, so the Dolphins had to try again from the 11 yard line. This attempt sailed wide right and the Dolphins came away from their first deep drive with no points.
The Patriots took over at their 20 and ran Curtis Martin behind the right guard for 2 yards on 1st down. Then Bledsoe hit Brisby for 10 yards out to the 32. The next pass was a sideline throw to Curtis Martin, who made a great catch at the Dolphins' 41 yard line and gave the Patriots a 1st down.
Bledsoe's next pass to Brisby was incomplete and on 2nd down, Chris Singleton stuffed Curtis Martin at the line of scrimmage for no gain. This left the Patriots with a 3rd and 10 at the Dolphins' 41, and Bledsoe appeared to complete a 30 yard pass to Graham in the right flat, but Roberts was penalized for holding and the Patriots were pushed back to a 3rd and 20 at their own 49.
Bledsoe's next pass was overthrown to Brisby down the sideline and the Patriots, faced with a 4th and 20, were forced to punt. Wagner got away a great kick, however, which was downed at the Miami 3 yard line.
Bernie Parmalee carried the ball on 1st down from the Miami 3 out to the 9 for 6 yards behind Richmond Webb. With a 2nd and 4, the Dolphins went to Parmalee again behind Chris Gray, but he could only run for 2 yards out to the 11, leaving the Dolphins with a 3rd and 2. However, on the next play, Marino hit Gary Clark for 13 yards and a 1st down out to the Dolphins 24.
From there, Parmalee apparently gained 16 yards out to the 40 around right end, but Billy Milner was called for holding and the Dolphins were pushed back to their 13, where Marino's 1st and 21 pass to Byars fell incomplete. He went back to Byars on 2nd down for 9 yards, but the first quarter ended with no score and the Dolphins facing a 3rd and 11 from their own 23.
At the end of the 1st quarter, the Dolphins had already been penalized 4 times for 40 yards and had squandered their only scoring opportunity. I had scribbled in my game journal that if they didn't get on the ball, they were going to lose.
The 2nd quarter started with Marino's pass to McDuffie missing the mark and the Dolphins were then forced to punt from their own 23. Kidd's punt was taken by Meggett at the Patriot 32 and returned to their 36, where the Patriots started on offense. On this play, Dolphins center Ethan Albright tore the ligament in his left knee and came out of the game.
The Patriots began their next series by running Curtis Martin up the middle for 4 yards on 1st and behind left guard for 3 yards on 2nd down. Faced with a 3rd and 3, Bledsoe hit Meggett for 13 yards to the Dolphins 44 and a 1st down.
From there, Bledsoe dropped back to pass under pressure from two Dolphins defensive lineman and threw the ball away. Bledsoe was clearly still in the pocket and was obviously avoiding the sack, but intentional grounding was not called. In a similar situation last week against the Chargers, Marino was called for intentional grounding.
On 2nd and 10 from the Dolphins 44, Martin ran up the middle for 18 yards to the Dolphins 26. On the ensuing 1st down, Brisby dropped Bledsoe's pass and on 2nd down, Bledsoe was forced to scramble under pressure and was caught from behind by Trace Armstrong after a 2 yard gain.
However, on 3rd and 8 from the Dolphins 24, Bledsoe hit Brisby with a 12 yard pass down to the Dolphins 12. Starting there with a 1st and 10, Curtis Martin ran for 7 yards on 1st down to the 5 and 3 yards on 2nd down to the Dolphins 2. Then, on 3rd and inches, Bledsoe tried to hit Ben Coates in the back of the endzone, but Gene Atkins had the ball go through his hands and he deflected it past Coates. However, Atkins should have caught that ball for an interception.
Faced with a 4th and inches at the Dolphins 2, the Patriots elected to go for it and ran Curtis Martin behind their left guard for a short diving gain into the endzone for a touchdown. Good blocking on the Patriots' part allowed Martin to make the score and the Patriots took a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, OJ McDuffie took the ball at the 5, but lateraled back to Randal Hill on a reverse. Hill took the ball out to the right sideline and got to the Dolphins 40, but couldn't quite break it. From there, Marino's first pass was thrown away, but after the throw, Chris Slade slammed Marino into the ground and was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer.
This gave the Dolphins a 1st and 10 at the Patriots' 45, but Parmalee's 1st down carry gained no yards because there were no holes at the line of scrimmage. On 2nd down, however, Marino hit Byars for 14 yards down to the Patriot 31. It was on this play, however, that Chris Gray sprained his ankle and was taken out of the game and replaced with Bert Weidner.
From there, on 1st and 10 at the Patriot 31, Marino took the snap, stepped back in the pocket and hit Bernie Parmalee with a bullet right down the middle at about the 15 yard line. Parmalee ran straight up the field towards the endzone and, diving the last 3 yards, scored the Dolphins' first touchdown of the day. Even though the Dolphins first extra-point attempt was nullified by a false start, they scored on the second and had a 7-7 tie.
The kickoff was taken by Meggett at the 6 and returned to the 27, where the Patriots started with a dump pass to Sam Gash for 5 yards to the 32. From there, Bledsoe's pass to Coates on 2nd down was incomplete, but Bledsoe then managed to hit Brisby down the sideline for 28 yards to the Dolphins 40 and a 1st down.
Curtis Martin carried the ball for 2 yards on 1st down and then, on 2nd down, got through a big hole up the middle for 23 yards to the Miami 15. From there, the Patriots ran Martin again for 7 yards around right end to the 8 and for 2 yards up the middle to the 6. But, on 3rd and 1 from the 6, Michael Stewart came up and stopped Martin at the line of scrimmage for no gain.
However, Bryan Cox threw his helmet after the play was over, and was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, which gave the Patriots a 1st and goal at the Dolphins 3. The Dolphins must have been mad, however, becuase on the next play, Chris Singleton got to Martin in the backfield, stuffing him for a 2 yard loss.
On 2nd and goal from the 5, Martin again got the handoff, but could only get 4 yards to the 1 and when the Patriots tried a play action on 3rd and goal from the 1, Jeff Cross got a hand up and deflected the pass intended for Coates.
Faced now with a 4th and goal from the 1, the Patriots decided to attempt a field goal. However, the kick was low and Tim Bowens got his hand on the ball. The resulting deflection caused the ball to bounce off the crossbar and the scored remained tied at 7-7.
With 2:34 remaining in the half, the Dolphins started from their own 20 with a reverse to OJ McDuffie. McDuffie got out to the Dolphins' 31 before he was stopped. A 9 yard dump pass to Parmalee moved the ball to the 40 and the 2 minute timeout was called.
On 2nd and 1, Marino handed off to Byars, who collected 3 yards to the 43. At this point, the Dolphins were in their full hurry-up offense, with Marino in the shotgun on every play. His 1st down pass to McDuffie was overthrown and a 2nd down pass to Fryar was batted away by Johnson, but on 3rd and 10 from their own 43, Marino hit Gary Clark at the Patriot 38 for 19 yards and a 1st down.
Then, on 1st and 10 from the Patriot 38, Willie McGinest came in unblocked and sacked Marino for a 7 yard loss. Then, on 2nd and 17 from their own 45, Marino hit Terry Kirby for 11 yards to the 34. Marino then went back to Gary Clark on 3rd and 6 for 18 more yards on a another sideline routed down to the Patriot 16.
At this point, one of the most bizarre plays of the game occurred. Marino dropped back to pass, but the pocket started to collapse around him. He then scrambled forward to his right and was beyond the pocket, almost at the line of scrimmage, when he attempted to pass. He was looking at Terry Kirby, who was about 5 yards to Marino's right. However, the ball apparently slipped out of his hand as his arm came forward and the pass was ruled incomplete.
However, one of the referees then threw his flag, calling intentional grounding on Marino. Since intentional grounding only applies when the passer is in the pocket and is in danger of being sacked, it seemed like a poor call because Marino was not in the pocket and was in no danger of being sacked. The referees huddled for a minute and then announced that there was no penalty.
The Dolphins went back to the huddle and came back to the line of scrimmage with a 2nd and 10 at the Patriot 16. However, as the Dolphins were lining up to run the play, one of the refs blew his whistle and the refs stopped the play and again huddled up. They then announced that Marino was guilty of intentional grounding after all and penalized the Dolphins 10 yards.
This was a terrible call, not just because there had been no intentional grounding, but because they reversed themselves after coming to a decision.
In any case, The Dolphins now faced a 2nd and 20 at the Patriot 26 and Marino's next pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage by Jones. On 3rd and 20, Marino did manage to complete an 8 yard pass to Kirby, but that left the Dolphins with a 4th and 12 at the Patriot 18 and the Dolphins elected to kick a field goal, which was good and gave the Dolphins a 10-7 lead with :18 seconds remaining.
The Dolphins probably should have let more time run off the clock before attempting a field goal, but Don Shula trusted his special teams to stop Dave Meggett on the kickoff.
However, on the kickoff, Dave Meggett took the ball at the 1 and ran up the middle, then got lose down the right sideline and almost went all the way for a score. Louis Oliver managed to knock him out of bounds at the Dolphins 37, but that was close enough for the Patriots to attempt a 55 yard field goal, which cleared the uprights as time ran out in the half and gave the Patriots a 10-10 tie and a terrific emotional boost.
The second half began with the Patriots' Brown taking the opening kickoff one yard deep in the endzone and returning it out to the Patriots' 23 yard line. From there, Curtis Martin again ran for 6 yards out to the Patriot 29 and on 2nd down, Martin picked up 2 more on a short pass from Bledsoe.
With a 3rd and 2 from their own 31, Bledsoe hit Meggett for 11 yards out to the 41. On 1st down, Martin was stopped at the line of scrimmage by Singleton for no gain, but on 2nd down, Martin got the call again and this time Singleton missed the tackle, allowing Martin to get to the Patriot 47. From there, on 3rd and 4, Bledsoe hit Brisby for 5 yards and a 1st down at the Dolphins 48 yard line.
Meggett got 2 yards on a short run on 1st down and on 2nd down, Bledsoe dropped back to pass and spotted Brisby running ahead of JB Brown on a deep post pattern over the middle. Bledsoe hit Brisby in stride and Brisby had no trouble running straight into the endzone for a touchdown.
For Dolphins fans who have been wondering, it has come out since the game that Gene Atkins was supposed to be providing coverage support in the deep middle on this play and was out of position. This allowed Brisby to get open and make the touchdown. This was the second time in 2 weeks that the Dolphins had gotten burned on a play like this.
Nevertheless, the Patriots now had a 17-10 lead after the first series of the second half. On their kickoff, the ball went out of bounds at the 4 yard line and that is an automatic penalty, so the Dolphins started at their own 40 yard line.
On 1st down, Parmalee took the pitch around right end for 5 yards and on 2nd down, Parmalee again took the ball behind Richmond Webb for 7 yards. This left the Dolphins with a 1st and 10 at the Patriot 48, where Marino hit OJ McDuffie for 11 yards to the Patriot 37.
From there, Parmalee again got the call, making a 4 yard run off left tackle on 1st down to the 33 and a 2 yard run around left end on 2nd down to the Patriot 31. With a 3rd an 4 at the Patriot 31, Marino hit Irving Fryar for 9 yards to the Patriot 22.
This gave the Dolphins a 1st and 10 and on 1st down, the Dolphins again tried to get Parmalee going, running him behind Webb for 2 yards to the 20. However, on 2nd down, Marino dropped back in the pocket and after Parmalee blocked a blitzing linebacker, Marino spotted McDuffie slanting towards the goalline on the right side and rifled him the ball. McDuffie caught it just outside the goalline and easily ran it in for the touchdown.
The extra point moved the Dolphins back into a tie with the Patriots at 17-17, but that would the last points the Dolphins would score all day.
The kickoff was taken by Dave Meggett at the goal line and run out to the 47 as the Dolphins special teams proved, once again, that they weren't so special on this day. From there, the Patriots started with a 1st down and Bledsoe tried to hit Brisby while under pressure. The pass was incomplete to Brisby, but Marco Coleman was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer with a forearm to Bledsoe's head as he was tackling him.
This lead to a Patriot 1st and 10 at the Dolphins 38, where a quick dump pass from Bledsoe to Martin gained 16 yards to the Dolphins 22 before Stewart could stop him. Then, a handoff to Martin on 1st down gained 8 yards to the Miami 14 and on 2nd down, another handoff to Martin up the middle gained 1 more yard, to the Miami 13. However, on 3rd and 1, Martin was stopped short of the first down by Tim Bowens and that left the Patriots with a 4th and inches.
The Patriots elected to go for it and tried the quarterback sneak. But an unusually good surge by the defensive line stopped the Patriots inches short and the ball went over to the Dolphins on downs.
This stop could have been an emotional turning point for the Dolphins with the game tied, but they couldn't take advantage of it. With a 1st and 10 at their own 13, Kirby ran up the middle for 3 yards. Then, on 2nd and 7 from their 16, Marino stepped back to pass. He was blitzed from both sides and after eluding the blitz of Chris Slade, was hit by Willie McGinest from his right and fumbled the ball. The Patriots recovered at the Miami 7.
Marino seemed to be at fault for this play. He was holding the ball in one hand and rather than cover up when McGinest came at him, he tried to dodge McGinest with the ball in one hand. He was almost sure to fumble.
In any case, on 1st down, Blesoe tried to hit Moore, but Troy Vincent broke up the play and almost intercepted the ball. On 2nd down, Michael Stewart caught Martin behind the line of scrimmage after a handoff for a 1 yard loss, which left the Patriots with a 3rd and goal at the 8. On the next play, lady luck intervened for the Patriots. Bledsoe tried to hit Dave Megget with a pass at about the Miami 4, but the ball bounced in and out of his hands. Fortunately for the Patriots, Ben Coates was right Meggett in the endzone and the ball landed in his hands for a touchdown.
The worst thing about this play was that if Meggett had caught the ball, Bryan Cox would have smothered him at the 4 and prevented the touchdown. However, because he couldn't hold on to the ball, the Patriots got the score and a 24-17 lead.
The kickoff sailed to OJ McDuffie at the 6 and he returned it out to the Dolphins 28 yard line. From there, Marino started by hitting Eric Green with a 25 yard pass over the middle down to the Patriot 47 yard line. From there, Terry Kirby ran around left end for 2 yards to the 45 and then Dan Marino hit Green again for 7 yards on 2nd down.
As the 3rd quarter came to an end, the Dolphins were behind 24-17 and had a 3rd and 1 at the Patriot 38 yard line.
To start the 4th quarter, the Dolphins ran Terry Kirby up the middle for 2 yards and a 1st down at the Patriot 36 yard line. Under pressure on 1st down, Marino's pass went incomplete. On 2nd and 10, the Dolphins pitched it to Kirby, who got 4 yards down to the 32. However, on 3rd and 6 at the 32, Marino was under pressure again and was forced to scramble for 4 yards down to the 28.
At this point, the Dolphins decided to go for it on 4th and 2, but a delay getting the play called forced the Dolphins to take a timeout. When they finally did get the play called, Marino dropped back in the pocket and threw to his left. The pass was batted by Chris Slade at the line of scrimmage and bounced back into Marino's hands. By this time, however, Willie McGinest was there and took Marino down for a 7 yard loss.
The Patriots now had the ball at their own 35 after the 4th down failure by the Dolphins and started by running Martin behind their left guard for 23 yards to the Miami 42. Martin fumbled at the end of the play, but covered the ball himself.
With a 1st and 10 at the Miami 42, Meggett took a handoff only a yard to the Miami 41. On 2nd down, Bledsoe hit Ben Coates for 10 yards to the Miami 31, giving the Patriots another 1st down. A 1st down pass to Graham was broken up by Troy Vincent, and a draw by Meggett on 2nd down was stopped by Bryan Cox. However, on 3rd down and 9, the Dolphins brought only 4 pass rushers and generated no pressure at all on Bledsoe, who completed a 16 yard pass to Brisby at the Miami 14.
Starting at the Miami 14, Curtis Martin ran up the middle, but was stopped for no gain by Jeff Cross. However, on 2nd and 10, Bledsoe tried to throw to Brisby in the back of the endzone. The ball was badly underthrown and probably completely uncatchable. However, because JB Brown had gotten caught up with Brisby in the back of the endzone, the refs called pass interference on Brown and gave the Patriots a 1st and goal at the Dolphins one yard line.
On that 1st down, Martin ran behind his left guard for 1 yard and a touchdown, giving the Patriots a 31-17 lead with 8:36 remaining in the ballgame.
The ensuing kickoff was taken at the Dolphins goalline by McDuffie, how got it out to the 24 before he was taken down. From that point on, the Dolphins ran the hurry-up offense for the remainder of the game. Marino started it by tossing a quick 5 yard pass to Kirby out to the 29 and he followed it up with a 10 yard pass to Byars out to the Miami 39.
From there, on 1st down, Marino hit Kirby again with a 5 yard dump pass and followed that with another 9 yard pass to Byars for 9 more yards out to the Patriot 47 yard line. With a 1st down from the 47, Marino hit Byars again for 9 more yards to the Patriots 38 and then, on 2nd and 1, Terry Kirby took a handoff and got 2 yards and a first down at the Patriot 36.
On the next play, Marino hit OJ McDuffie for 15 yards down to the Patriot 21 and another 1st down. On the very next play, however, Marino threw deep over the middle towards his right, straight into the arms of Patriot safety Myron Guyton at the Patriot 3, who took the interception and ran it back along the sidelines to the Patriot 48.
It isn't clear exactly what happened on this play or why Marino threw the ball to that spot on the field. There were no Dolphin players in the area at all. Marino was clearly throwing it to a spot on the field, where he expected someone to be. The announcers speculated that perhaps it was an option route and the receiver (in this case, OJ McDuffie) elected to turn the opposite way that Marino expected him to. In any case, it was an easy interception for Guyton and there were no Dolphins in the area at all.
At this point, I closed my journal and sat back in my chair. There was now 5:14 remaining and the Dolphins weren't doing anything right.
From the Patriot 48, Curtis Martin got 5 carries in a row. He started with 8 yards up the middle to the Dolphins 44, then got 8 more yards, also up the middle to the Dolphins 36. Then, from a 1st down, he got 4 yards up the middle to the Dolphins 32 and then 3 yards up the middle to the 29.
Finally, with a 3rd and 3 from the Dolphins 29, Martin was stopped at the line of scrimmage by Chuck Klingbeil and the Patriots kicked a field goal on 4th and 3 from the Miami 29 to expand their lead to 34-17. After McDuffie returned the kickoff from the goalline to the 22, Bernie Kosar came in to take the helm of the Dolphins. With 2:41 remaining, Kosar started by passing to Kirby for 2 yards out to the 24. On 2nd and 8, Kosar's pass to Wilson was incomplete, as was his 3rd down pass to Kirby.
However, on 4th and 8, Kosar hit Randal Hill to the 43 for a 19 yard gain and a 1st down. At this point, the 2 minute warning occured.
The Dolphins continued with a short passing game, passing twice to Kirby for 7 yards to the 50 and then for 5 yards to the Patriot 45. From there, on 1st down, Richmond Webb was called for a false start and the Dolphins moved back to the 50. On 1st and 15, Kosar hit Parmalee for 14 yards to the 36 and on 2nd and 1, hit Parmalee again for 9 yards to the 27.
With only 21 seconds remaining, the Dolphins passed once more to Terry Kirby, who was stopped for no gain by the Patriots at their 27 and the game ended at the Patriot 27 yard line with a 34-17 Patriot thrashing of the Dolphins.
The reason the Dolphins lost this game is very clear - they didn't execute the fundamentals well. They didn't block well, but they were easily blocked. They didn't tackle well, but they didn't break any tackles. This game wasn't about good game plans or trick plays or doing the unexpected - it was about executing the fundamentals.
The Dolphins didn't block, tackle or hold on to the ball well. They also had 10 penalties. These are all basic things that have to be done to win football games and if the Dolphins are going to have a chance to be more than also-rans this year, they had better get back to the basics of football and get better at blocking, tackling, holding on to the ball and not commiting penalties. If they can't do these things, they will be looking at another disappointing season.