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OVERALL SUMMARY:
The Dolphins lost their last game of the season today, when
they were defeated by the New England Patriots 17-3 in Foxboro
stadium. The story of the game was very simple, really. The
Dolphins' offense had no answer to the Patriots' blitzes once again
and that spelled doom for the team.
The Dolphins' offense once again tried to get a running game
going, but failed at that, as they have for most of the season. Once
that failed, the Patriots' blitzes were not successfully picked up by
the offensive line and running backs and Gary Stevens did nothing to
adjust to the pressure. This resulted in 4 sacks on Marino and
constant pressures, hits, hurrys and batted passes.
The Dolphins' defense did a better job than the offense,
generally containing Bledsoe and the Patriots well enough. There was
a breakdown in coverage on one play where the Patriots scored their
only offensive touchdown, but generally speaking the Dolphin defense
was up to the challenge. They even managed to get 3 sacks on Bledsoe
in an unusual display of pressure on the passer.
It was cold and sunny at Foxboro today, but the cold didn't
really have much effect on the game. The wind, however, carried a
number of passes away from receivers' hands and that did have an
effect on both teams' passing games.
The Dolphins started Lamar Thomas at wide receiver and Bernie
Parmalee in place of Karim Abdul-Jabbar at running back, officially
because Parmalee was better at picking up the blitzes by the Patriots.
The game started with the Patriots receiving the opening
kickoff, but after just one first down, the Patriots sputtered and
were forced to punt. The Dolphins took the ball at their own 28 and
managed to move down to the Patriots' 48 before OJ McDuffie dropped a
3rd down pass and the Dolphins were forced to punt, but did a nice job
downing the ball at the Patriots' 3 yard line.
The Patriots' second drive was much the same as their first,
with Anthony Harris making a nice read on a screen pass to stop
Meggett and then Madison covering Glenn deep on 3rd down to force the
Patriots to punt again. The Dolphins started the next series at their
37 and Abdul-Jabbar had 2 nice runs for 19 yards, but the Dolphins
couldn't get one yard on 2 attempts at the Patriots' 39 yard line and
turned the ball over on downs.
I believe that this was the turning point of the game, as
early as it was. The Dolphins couldn't convert on 2 chances at 3rd
and 1 and 4th and 1. They tried to run it twice to the same place and
twice failed. This was a serious offensive mistake and really got the
Patriots' defense motivated.
Following this failure, the Patriots put together their first
good drive of the game, driving from their 39 to the Dolphins' 32,
mostly on short passes. They then missed a 49 yard field goal
attempt, giving the Dolphins good field position at their 39.
However, after 2 incompletions left the Dolphins with 3rd and 10,
Marino tried to force it to McDuffie and he was tripled covered. As
he reached up to catch the ball, a Patriots' defensive back knocked
the ball into the air and it was caught by Chris Slade, who returned
it to the Dolphins' 29.
The Patriots then took 3 plays to score, when Bledsoe found
Troy Brown deep down the sideline behind Buckley and Wooden. This 25
yard touchdown pass gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead. It would be the
only offensive touchdown of the game by either team.
The Dolphins took the kickoff and after a poor return to their
19, they did manage to move to their 41, but after 3 successive
incompletions, they punted. The Patriots went 3 and out on their next
2 series, punting back to the Dolphins twice, who returned the favor
by going 3 and out on both of their next 2 series.
With time running out in the first half, the Patriots put
together a drive from their 40, mostly on the strength of one 25 yard
pass to Terry Glenn, down to the Dolphins' 30, but again they missed a
field goal and even though the Dolphins got one more play off in the
half, the first half ended with the score 7-0 in favor of the
Patriots.
The Dolphins started the 2nd half at their 33 after getting a
good kickoff return from Corey Harris. After a short run by Parmalee
on 1st down, Marino tried to throw the slant to his left on 2nd and 5,
but didn't see Todd Collins and Collins picked off the ball and
rambled 40 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Following the kickoff, the Dolphins started at their 20 and
moved only to their 38 following a pass to Lamar Thomas before they
were forced to punt. The Patriots then put together a 14 play, time
consuming drive, starting at their 28 and based mostly on the run. It
was really the only time during the day that the Patriots were
effective running the ball and they moved down to the Dolphins' 4 yard
line before the Dolphins' defense stiffened and forced the Patriots to
take a field goal instead of a touchdown and improve their lead to
17-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, Corey Harris made a great return that
he nearly broke for a touchdown, but the Patriots' kicker got to him
at the last second. After he overran the play, the Patriots' kicker
tripped Harris at the Dolphins' 44 yard line. He was penalized for
tripping, but he probably saved the touchdown for the Patriots.
The Dolphins started at the Patriots' 43 yard line and went to
the no-huddle at this point in the game. Two passes to Jordan and one
to McPhail moved them down to the Patriots' 20, but the Dolphins also
had 3 batted passes and when the Patriots blitzed their safeties on
3rd and 4, the Dolphins didn't pick them up and that forced a bad
throw.
It was now early in the 4th quarter and Mare' kicked a field
goal on 4th and 4 from the Patriots' 28, taking the score up to 17-3.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Dolphins faked a normal kickoff and
executed a perfect onsides kick, recovering at the Dolphins' 44 yard
line. However, on the next play, Jeff Buckey missed a blitz pickup
and the Patriots' sacked Marino from his blindside, forcing a fumble
that the Patriots recovered.
The Patriots went 3 and out after Bledsoe was sacked by the
Dolphins on 3rd down, but the Dolphins also went 3 and out on their
next series after 2 incomplete passes under pressure.
With time now winding down, the Patriots again went 3 and out,
giving the Dolphins the ball back at their 42. Marino then put
together a drive that moved the ball down to the Patriots' 45, but on
4th down and 7 from the Patriots' 45, Lamar Thomas dropped a Marino
pass that was right in his arms and the Dolphins turned the ball over
on downs.
The Patriots were unsuccessful running the ball on the next
series, but got one first down on a pass to Coates. However, the
Dolphins held again and the Patriots punted to McDuffie at the
Dolphins 13. With less than 6 minutes remaining, Miami put together
one more drive that moved to the Patriots' 43, mostly on the strength
of one 42 yard reception by Lamar Thomas down the sideline. However,
3 successive incompletions and a juggling catch by McDuffie for minus
yardage turned the ball over to the Patriots and with less than 3
minutes remaining, the Patriots got 1 first down and then ran the
clock out.
GRADES:
RUSHING OFFENSE:
The entire Dolphins' offense was pitiful
today, and the rushing attack was no exception. The Dolphins gained
42 yards on 17 carries and had no touchdowns. GRADE: F
PASS OFFENSE:
No blitz pickups and no protection for Marino,
plus the usual dropped passes by Lamar Thomas, OJ McDuffie and Jerris
McPhail. The offense line and running backs made poor decisions
during the blitzes. Also the receivers were not making good blitz
reads and breakoffs. Total receiving yardage was 142, with 4 sacks
and 2 interceptions. GRADE: F
RUN DEFENSE:
With the exception of one series in the 3rd
quarter, the Dolphins shut down the Patriots' running game. The
Patriots did end up with 31 carries for 108 yards, but that is just
3.5 yards per carry and no touchdowns. GRADE: C
PASS DEFENSE:
The Dolphins got some pressure on Bledsoe, had 3
sacks and overall, had good coverage on the receivers. The Patriots
had 139 net yards passing and if it wasn't for the touchdown, this
would have been a truly outstanding effort. GRADE: B
KICKING GAME:
Overall, very good. Mare' made his only field
goal and the onsides kick was perfect. Also, coverage on Meggett was
good and if it wasn't for Kidd's short kicks on the punting team, this
would have been a great effort. GRADE: B
RETURN GAME:
Most of the returns were pretty average, but
Corey Harris had 2 very good returns and almost had a touchdown.
GRADE: A-
COACHING:
Abysmal, especially on offense. No adjustments were
made to the Patriots' blitzes and nothing new was tried to combat
them. GRADE: F-
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
Dan Marino was sacked 4 times and constantly under pressure. He never
really had time to throw for the whole game. Considering all that, he
played pretty well, but did make a crucial error on the interception
that went for a touchdown for the Patriots. He ended the day 17 of 43
for 141 yards, no touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Karim Abdul-Jabbar did not start, but did get some playing time. He
ended with 5 carries for 16 yards and had a nice 15 yard run. He is
clearly the best Dolphins' runner right now. Of course, that isn't
saying much.
Bernie Parmalee started in place of Abdul-Jabbar to help pick up the
blitz and carried 9 times for just 22 yards. He also caught 3 passes
for 13 yards.
Jerris McPhail ran once for 4 yards and actually led all receivers
with 5 catches for 28 yards. He did drop a couple, of course.
Stanley Pritchett was pretty invisible, running the ball once for -2
yards.
The offensive line was, as a whole, pathetic. There were several
false starts on Web and Brown, Buckey missed at least 2 obvious blitz
pickups - one that resulted in a fumble - and the rest of the line was
inconsistent at best. Of course, they were not helped in their
blocking by the running backs or the tight ends.
Troy Drayton was again ignored for most of the game. He caught 1 pass
for 8 yards and didn't appear to have any others thrown his way.
Ed Perry had one pass thrown his way, but was heavily covered and
couldn't hold on.
Lamar Thomas led all wide receivers with 3 catches for 62 yards,
including a big 42 yard play, but dropped a crucial 3rd down pass that
was right in his arms.
Brett Perriman also caught 3 passes, but just for 13 yards.
OJ McDuffie caught 3 passes, but only got 6 yards. He was double and
triple covered all day long.
Charles Jordan returned and caught 1 pass for 11 yards, but was
clearly not at full speed.
On defense, Jason Taylor had an average day, getting 3 tackles, but no
sacks this week.
Darryl Gardener, however, came on strong, getting 7 total tackles and
a sack of Bledsoe.
Tim Bowens was unusually quiet, getting 4 total tackles, but no sacks
this week.
Trace Armstrong had only 1 tackle, but it was a sack and was really
the only sack that wasn't a coverage sack.
Barron Tanner played a lot in this game, but only got 1 tackle.
Zach Thomas led all tacklers with 10 total tackles and a pass
defensed. As usual, he was everywhere on the field.
Anthony Harris also seemed to have an usually good game, getting 8
tackles and a couple of nice stops, including a perfect read on a
screen pass that cost the Patriots 4 yards.
Derrick Rodgers had 6 tackles and a couple of nice stops, including
one for a big loss.
OJ Brigance got a lot of time in pass rushing situations and came up
with a sack today, but that was his only tackle.
Dwight Hollier was in on 4 tackles.
Terrell Buckley generally had a pretty good game, but was beaten on
the one touchdown pass. He had 3 tackles and a pass defensed.
Sam Madison also looked good today, getting 2 tackles, but also
batting a pass away from Terry Glenn.
Calvin Jackson had 6 tackles and forced a fumble.
Shawn Wooden had 8 total tackles and 1 special teams tackle, but was
also in coverage on the touchdown pass.
George Teague saw a fair amount of playing time, and had 2 tackles.
On special teams, John Kidd did not have a great day, but did manage
to pin the Patriots inside their 5 yard line on one occasion. His
final average was 37.4 yards per punt.
Olindo Mare hit one short field goal and had 3 kickoffs, but his
onsides kick was perfect.
Corey Harris returned 3 kickoffs, with one going 40 yards and it
almost went all the way.
GOOD STUFF:
Overall, I thought that the defense played well. Obviously,
they need some seasoning and a monster pass rusher would help
immensely, but they did a good job.
The special teams were also very good, for the most part. It
will be nice to have Charles Jordan back as the punt return man.
THINGS TO WORK ON:
The whole offense is going to be overhauled during the
off-season. During the pre-game show, JJ as much as announced to the
world that he was sacking Gary Stevens and that he was going to change
the whole offense.
My Comments:
This was a pretty sad, if not entirely unexpected, way to end
the season. I said in my preview that if the Dolphins didn't find a
way to protect Marino from the Patriots' blitz that they would not win
this game. Unfortunately, Gary Stevens did not find that way and the
Dolphins lost.
For the third time this year, the Dolphins' defense held the
Patriots to under 2 touchdowns and once again the offense couldn't
score. That is really the story of all three Patriots' games this
year.
At least the referees didn't decide this one.
I will be writing a post season wrap up in the next few days,
but there are a couple of things that I'd like to mention before I
close this game up.
First and most importantly, I believe that Dan Marino will be
staying in Miami next year and will be playing for the Dolphins.
Despite the supposed "inside" information that the sportscasters have
been spouting all season, JJ has said nothing that makes me believe
that he wants to get rid of Marino.
In an interview before the game, JJ said that he expects that
Dan will be back with the Dolphins next year and more importantly,
that he wants Dan to be back with Miami in 1998. There was no
equivocation in his voice when he said these words and he said them so
that there would be no doubt as to his meaning.
Secondly, in response to a question about Gary Stevens, JJ
said that the Dolphins need to make some changes on offense. While he
didn't say outright that he would fire Stevens, he did say that he
thinks that the Dolphins have good personnel on offense, but that the
system need to be changed. I think that you can expect that Stevens
will be gone next year.
Joe Gibbs speculated that JJ might go after Ernie Zampesi
(sp?) of the Dallas Cowboys as his offensive coordinator. And, of
course, Lindy Infante is also available.
Overall, this was a disappointing end to a somewhat
disappointing season. Of course, the Dolphins went 9-7 and made the
playoffs, so it really wasn't a disaster. I know that some fans will
disagree with this assessment, but I think that the Dolphins are on
the road to being a much better team.
Related Info:
Curt Fennell
curt@phins.com
DOLFAN in New Rochelle
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