OVERALL SUMMARY:

The Dolphins went without a touchdown for the first time since September of last year and lost to the Buffalo Bills by the baseball-like score of 9-6 in Orchard Park, NY last Sunday. It was the second game in a row which the Dolphins lost by a field goal and the first loss this year against a divisional opponent.

It came at a bad time for the Dolphins, because they were coming off the embarrassing loss against the Bears and are in the beginning of a 4 game streak against divisional opponents. The Dolphins had plenty of chances to turn this game around and take control but squandered opportunity after opportunity that the Bills kept giving them. Consider this - the Bills fumbled 6 times and the Dolphins only recovered one of those fumbles. And Dolphins' defensive backs dropped 3 interceptions that they had in their hands.

The game was played in poor weather, in wind and rain with a temperature of about 45 degrees Fahrenheit ( 7 degrees Celsius) at game time. For those who don't know, 45 degrees is cold enough to be downright miserable, if you have rain. The rain did stop in the second half, but the ball was slick and hard to hold on to and there was standing water on the field.

During the course of the game, Dan Marino was hit by Bruce Smith at the end of the first half and Smith rolled up on Marino's ankle. This sprained Marino's ankle and while Marino came back in for one series in the 2nd half, Erickson replace him for most of the game.

Overall, it was another poor game for the Dolphins when they should have been pulling themselves together and regrouping. They didn't block particularly well, didn't catch well and didn't take advantage of opportunities on defense. It was almost like the team had gone back to the beginning of the season and started over.

GRADES:

RUSHING: This was, in some ways, the worst rushing output of the season. Despite claims to the contrary, the Dolphins didn't seem to ever figure out the Bills' 4-3 defense adequately. On running plays, the Dolphins would routinely fail to account for either Bruce Smith or a linebacker in their blocking schemes and once again, a large percentage of running plays were for 0 or negative yardage. Final stats - 23 carries for 54 yards and no scores. GRADE: F

PASSING: The passing offense was also poor and while it worked a little better than the rushing offense, it was ineffective when it was most needed. Marino had a career worst 33% completion percentage and didn't complete his first 7 passes. Some of that was not his fault, but he didn't look sharp. Erickson was a little better, but again completed less than 50% of his passes and threw an interception on the Dolphins last possession that was an underthrown pass.

The pass blocking was adequate for most of the game, but unfortunately broke down some towards the end of the game. The receivers, for their part, played fairly well, but Jerris McPhail dropped at least 3 passes that I counted. GRADE: D-

RUN DEFENSE: The run defense gave up a lot of yardage, but no touchdowns and were successful in keeping Antowain Smith in check for most of the game. Smith came in averaging 5.4 yards per carry and the Dolphins held him to less than 3 yards per carry. Unfortunately, the Dolphins couldn't contain Thurman Thomas well and he averaged 6.2 yards per carry and got an important 1st down on 3rd and five at the end of the game when the Dolphins still had an outside shot. GRADE: C-

PASS DEFENSE: The pass defense played pretty well, with the exception of the dropped interceptions and lack of a consistent pass rush. The Dolphins did get 1 sack and a little pressure on Van Pelt with some blitzes and Dolphins' defensive backs were credited with 5 passes defensed. The Bills were held to 89 passing yards and a 3.7 yard per pass play average and their longest completion was just 15 yards. GRADE: B-

KICKING GAME: Olindo Mare' missed a 32 yard field goal that might have made a difference in the game. He did make 2 other short field goals, but he only had one kickoff go for a touchback. John Kidd faired better, averaging 42.6 yards per punt and put 2 inside the 20 yard line. The coverage was also decent, with the longest punt return being 15 yards and the longest kickoff return being 22 yards. GRADE: C-

KICK RETURN GAME: McPhail and Spikes both did a good job returning kickoffs, averaging over 30 yards per return with McPhail getting a 39 yard return, along with a 37 yarder. Charles Jordan didn't do nearly as well in the punt return department, getting just 14 yards on 2 returns. GRADE: B-

COACHING: It appeared that the preparation for this game was inadequate and the coaches didn't adjust well to Buffalo's use of the 4-3. Also, the blocking schemes that didn't account for Bruce Smith coming from the backside were bad. The defensive gameplan was better than the offensive one. GRADE: D

GOOD STUFF:

There wasn't much good stuff in the game, but there was a little to be pleased with. The pass defense improved dramatically from the Bears' game and the new nickel alignment with Sam Madison playing at cornerback and Jerry Wilson coming in as the dime back succeeded very well in holding down the Bills' passing game. If they had gotten two of the three interceptions that they dropped, it might have been a very different ball game.

THINGS TO WORK ON:

Two areas that were glaring in their weakness showed up in the game on Sunday. Whether or not these two areas are going to be problems the rest of the year remains to be seen, but they must be addressed.

The first is the turnover problem. Hopefully, the Dolphins will return to their mastery of the turnover, but if they don't, they will have problems the rest of the year. In this game, the Dolphins were in position for 3 interceptions and got none. That shows a mixture of good positional play by the defensive backs and lousy execution. Maybe JJ can have them catch wet footballs all week.

The second problem is the lack of a consistent pass rush. What little pass rush the Dolphins had disappeared when Jason Taylor was injured. Hopefully, he will make a difference when he returns, rested and ready to go. The combination of blitzes that the Dolphins employed against the Bills had limited effectiveness and the Dolphins need a couple of strong pass rushers to make their defensive schemes work.

I didn't mention the running game as something to work on because I don't think that it's salvageable with the personnel that the Dolphins have on the offensive line. The coaches should work on a more varied gameplan, however and get the ball to Troy Drayton more.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

Marino had an awful day, ending up with just 5 completions on 15 attempts for 76 yards and 1 interception on a batted pass. Part of the problem was the rain and cold, but that doesn't explain it all. Perhaps if he hadn't been injured, he could have pulled the game out, but we'll never know.

Craig Erickson was only marginally more effective, completing 8 of 18 for 121 yards and 1 interception. However, the interception was crucial to the game as he underthrew an open Lamar Thomas in the last minute and a half of the game. He was also sacked twice and fumbled 2 snaps.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar had another awful day, but wasn't helped at all by his offensive line. He ended up with 16 carries for 39 yards and caught one pass for 9 yards.

Irving Spikes was even worse, running just twice for minus one yard. He did have two kickoff returns for 19 and 28 yards.

Jerris McPhail continued to show potential, but didn't capitalize on it this game. He had one carry on a draw play for 8 yards and caught 3 passes for 34 yards, but also dropped at least 2 and maybe 3 passes. He did have 2 nice kickoff returns for 37 and 39 yards respectively.

OJ McDuffie was not as effective this game, probably because Marino was out half of the game and Erickson wasn't looking his way. He did have 3 catches for 42 yards.

Bernie Parmalee caught 2 passes for 21 yards, but didn't do much else. He may not see as much playing time this week because JJ was apparently a little disappointed with his blocking in this game. He's not really big enough to be a blocking fullback.

Troy Drayton caught 2 passes for 23 and 27 yards respectively. He continues to impress when he gets the ball.

Charles Jordan had one catch for 25 yards, and 2 punt returns for just 14 yards.

Brett Perriman, while playing more, got less attention this game, catching just one pass for 16 yards.

On defense, the defensive backs lead tacklers, which is not really what you want to see when you're defending the run and goes a long way towards explaining why the Bills got 179 rushing yards.

Calvin Jackson lead all tacklers with 8 solo tackles and 2 assists, as well as a pass defensed. However, on that pass defensed, he dropped what should have been an interception. He was also unfairly called for pass interference when he leaped and batted a ball away from Andre Reed.

Terrell Buckley was the 2nd leading tackler with 6 tackles and 1 assist and had 2 passes defensed, but also dropped an interception on a deep pass to Andre Reed.

Shane Burton also had 6 tackles and 1 assist and the only sack by the Dolphins. He lead all of the front 7 in tackles and also had a forced fumble when he knocked the ball loose from Antowain Smith.

Tim Bowens had 4 tackles and 2 assists and he and Gardener did a pretty good job of clogging the middle of the line and holding Antowain Smith in check.

Gardener, for his part, had 3 tackles and 2 assists.

Trace Armstrong had 2 tackles and 1 assist and forced a fumble. For the most part, however, his performance was a pale shadow of the way he played against the Bills last year.

Shawn Wooden and George Teague each had 3 tackles and 1 assist and Wooden recovered an Antowain Smith fumble for the Dolphins' only turnover.

Sam Madison, playing as the nickel back for the first time, only had one assist as far as tackles are concerned, but did have 2 passes defensed and played well in his most extensive playing time to date. The only downside to his performance was that he dropped a possible interception.

Anthony Harris had 1 tackle and 3 assists, while Dwight Hollier had 2 tackles and 1 assist.

Zach Thomas lead all linebackers with 5 tackles and 1 assist, and got some decent pressure on a couple of blitzes.

Derrick Thomas was quiet this game, getting only 2 solo tackles and not making much of an impact while pass rushing.

John Kidd punted well, with a 42.6 yard average and putting 2 punts down inside the Bills' 20.

Olindo Mare', on the other hand, did not play that well, putting only one kickoff into the endzone for a touchback and missing a 32 yard field goal.

INJURIES:

Marino sprained his ankle at the end of the 2nd quarter and even though he played one series in the 3rd quarter, he couldn't move well and sat out most of the 2nd half. It is not believed to be serious and he will miss, at most, one game.

Calvin Jackson was taken off the field at the end of the game with a contusion on his leg, but is listed as probable for the next game.

My Comments:

Crisp and disciplined execution, capitalizing on opportunities and limiting mental mistakes are the hallmarks of a championship team.

Unfortunately, the Dolphins did not demonstrate any of those qualities in the game against Buffalo on Sunday. They did not come out sharp after their game against the Bears and as the game progressed, did not improve their play. In fact, towards the end of the game when 3 successive mistakes set them back 33 yards in 3 plays, they looked about as confused and unsettled as they have at any time this year.

I do have one comment to make about the general game plan of the Dolphins for this game and in the future. JJ has said that Troy Drayton will only be seeing 3 to 5 passes per game at most. As productive as Drayton has been and as good a pass catcher as he's become, why not throw him the ball 8 to 10 time in a game if it can be accomplished? After all, he's averaging 16.7 yards per catch and hasn't dropped one in what - 4 or 5 games?

The weird thing about this game - and about the whole season, when you come to think of it - was (and is) that the Dolphins can be this inept and still be right in the game (and in the hunt for the AFC East championship).

Despite their missed opportunities and mistakes, they had a chance to win this game up until the very end. And despite their losses against the Bears and the Bills, they have a chance to vault right back into a tie for 1st place in the AFC East when they play the Jets on Sunday.

You can see the potential of this team on some plays. You can see the speed of Jerris McPhail or the pass catching ability of OJ McDuffie. When Zach Thomas comes through the middle of the line or Shane Burton sheds a blocker and knocks the ball lose, it gives you hope for this team.

Unfortunately, it doesn't take much to mess up a whole bunch of great plays. And the Dolphins have been making those kinds of mistakes at the worst moments. Part of this is youth, of course, and will change.

What's the other part? That's the intangible part that can't be measured. It's made up of confidence and courage and can be build up and torn down. I don't think that the Dolphins showed much of this on Sunday, but they need to find it in themselves for the future.

Related Info:

• NFL.COM: Dolphins vs Bills Gamebook
• Dolphins Endzone: Post Game Report
• Sun-Sentinel: Q&A; With JJ