Miami took on the Baltimore Ravens on a rain-soaked field in Miami last night and in front of a national TV audience, out-muscled and out-hustled the Ravens on their way to 19-6 victory. As a team, the Dolphins clearly outplayed the Ravens, particularly on the line of scrimmage. While the score was not overwhelming, the Dolphins had control of this game from the start to the finish.
The game started at 8:30 PM, EDT in Miami in the midst of a series of heavy rainshowers left over from the passing of the tropical storm. Temperature at gametime was a steamy 88 degrees on the field and the baseball infield was well soaked and muddy by the opening kickoff.
Inactive for the Dolphins in this game were RB Autrey Denson, S Arturo Freeman, DT Ernest Grant, DB Ray Hill, DB Ben Kelly, WR Tony Martin and DT Daryl Gardener. QB Mike Quinn was designated the emergency quarterback.
During the first half, the Ravens got the ball first but were largely ineffective on offense. They could manage only 88 total yards in the first half and 45 of those yards were on one run by Jamal Lewis. The rest of the time, the Miami defense contained the running of Priest Holmes and Jamal Lewis, covered the Ravens' receivers like blankets and harassed and sacked Tony Banks, forcing two fumbles, picking off one pass and generally making life miserable for Banks.
The longest Baltimore drive of the first half in terms of plays was their first drive. It lasted 8 plays, covered only 24 yards, was assisted by two defensive penalties on Miami and ended in a sack of Tony Banks at midfield by Jason Taylor. Their longest drive in terms of yards was the last one of the half, with started with a 45 yard run by Jamal Lewis and ended at the Miami 12 with a blocked field goal by Kenny Mixon.
Much as I would like to give Mixon credit for a great play on this block, the truth is that Ravens' kicker Matt Stover slipped on the muddy infield and kicked a very low ball that might have missed anyway.
The 45 yard run by Lewis was easily the best Ravens' offensive play of the night and began with an uncharacteristic missed tackle by Zach Thomas, who just sort of bounced off Lewis right in the middle of the line. I don't know if he slipped on the wet grass or if Lewis is really that strong, but Zach just kind of bounced off Lewis and Lewis turned it on for a quick dash to the outside and a run up the sideline. If Zach had made the tackle, it would have about a 4 yard gain.
Miami's offense in the first half came out and declared their intention to run immediately by handing off to Lamar Smith and Thurman Thomas 7 times in their first 9 plays. Miami picked up 35 yards in 7 carries for their efforts and even though they ended the drive in a field goal, they showed that they could run the ball on the number 1 ranked rushing defense in the NFL.
On a personal note, I was stunned by Chan Gailey's decision and even more stunned by the success. As a Dolphins fan, I'm not used to having a power running game that actually works against good running defenses.
Unfortunately, Miami's offense committed several errors in the first half that ended their bids to get touchdowns and limited them to 2 field goals. On a third and 3 at the Ravens' 24, Leslie Shepherd dropped a perfect pass from Jay Fiedler with plenty of room to run.
On a 3rd and 22, Thurman Thomas let a pass go through his hands into the hands of a Ravens' defensive back for the only Miami turnover of the night. Fortunately for the Dolphins, they got the ball back two plays later on a Patrick Surtain interception.
Overall, Miami's offensive performance in the first half was decent, but limited by their own mistakes. However, the successful running in the first half allowed Miami to set up play action passes in the second half that proved to be the key to Miami's two touchdowns.
At the end of the first half, Miami led 6-0. While they had dominated during the first half, they had not taken a commanding lead in points and were well within striking distance at the start of the second half.
The rain abated somewhat by halftime and while the field was still messy in the second half, the rain has tapered off. Miami got the ball first in the third quarter and drove down the field 61 yards for their first touchdown of the night.
Following the running success of the first half, Miami used play action passes on this drive to move the ball down to the Ravens' 7 yard line, where Lamar Smith took the ball, cut back to his left and dove over for a touchdown. On this play, Jay Fiedler got out in front of Smith and attempted to block Ray Lewis. While it wasn't much of a block, it may have been just enough to keep Lewis from pushing Smith out at the 1.
The key play on this drive occurred on 1st and 10 at the Baltimore 35, where Jay Fiedler was flushed from the pocket, but showed excellent presence of mind to dump the ball off to Lamar Smith. Smith made the most of this play by picking up 28 yards to the 7 to set up his own touchdown.
The Ravens responded to this Dolphins drive by conducting a drive of their own that took them to a first and goal at the Miami one. Their drive was based on their running game and Jamal Lewis, who looked much more effective than Priest Holmes. I thought that the lack of Daryl Gardener showed on this series as the Ravens ran effectively.
However, on first down at the Miami 1, the Ravens decided to try and cross up the Dolphins by calling a pass play. What they didn't count on was a blitzing Brain Walker, who sacked Tony Banks for an 8 yard loss that pushed the Ravens back to their 9. After a short run on 2nd down, Jason Taylor got around Jonathan Ogden to sack Banks on third down and force the Ravens to settle for a field goal. This series was the deciding point of the game.
The Dolphins came right back and mounted another drive of their own, featuring a picture perfect 41 yard pass from Fiedler to tight end Jed Weaver, who made the most of his chance, taking the ball down to the Raven 11. After a short gain, Fiedler dropped back to pass and was again flushed from the pocket. And again, he made the Ravens pay by tossing a short pass to Lamar Smith, who dove over the goal for Miami's second touchdown.
At this point, it was all over but the shouting. There were still 13 minutes left in the game, but with too many points to make up, the Ravens abandoned their running game and their most effective weapon - Jamal Lewis. The rest of the game was Miami trying to run time off the clock and Baltimore trying (unsuccessfully) to pass the ball down the field.
The Dolphin defense had another smothering showing on Sunday night and even without Daryl Gardener, put the brakes on the Ravens. Their pass rush was especially effective, sacking Tony Banks 6 times and harassing him constantly. Jason Taylor led the charge with 2.5 sacks, but Kenny Mixon, Trace Armstrong, Jermaine Haley all contributed to the sack total.
The pass coverage was also outstanding, limiting Ravens' wide receivers to 4 catches for 32 yards. Shannon Sharpe had the best day of any Ravens' receiver, catching 5 passes for 56 yards, but he had little effect on the outcome of the game.
The offense rebounded well from their showing in Minnesota, controlling the line of scrimmage and managing to pound out 108 rushing yards on 31 carries. While that is not a stunning average (3.1 ypc), it was against one of the best run defenses in the NFL and it succeeded in setting up the play action pass in the second half. The Ravens were forced to respect the run and that opened up some passing lanes that Fiedler was able to take advantage of.
The passing game, while very unspectacular, was efficient and effective. The Dolphins averaged 10 yards per pass attempt, which is an outstanding average. Also, the offensive line managed to keep the Ravens blitz off of Jay Fiedler this week, giving up only one sack and allowing him time to throw.
On special teams, Miami did an excellent job in kicking, returning and coverage. The only black mark on that report card was the missed point after that happened when Olindo Mare' slipped in the mud after the second touchdown.
The coaching staff gets credit for making the right changes to the offense and defense to counter the problems they had last week. On offense, Chan Gailey developed a number of ways to get Thurman Thomas more involved in the game without sacrificing the ability to pick up the blitz. This included lining him up in the slot and snapping the ball directly to him in the backfield.
The inclusion of Thurman more in the offense this week paid big dividends as he converted 4 third downs into first downs for the Dolphins. Thurman's play reminded me of Jim "Crash" Jenson in the 80s.
On defense, Jim Bates did a fine job of correcting for the loss of Daryl Gardener by moving Kenny Mixon inside and rotating him frequently with Jermaine Haley to keep them both fresh.
And overall, Dave Wannestedt did an outstanding job in keeping the team focused on winning the football game despite the distraction of Dan Marino's "Ring of Honor" celebration. The Dolphins were clearly ready to play and had just the right attitude to take on the Ravens.
The biggest single drawback of the game for Miami was the run defense. Miami gave up 116 yards rushing on 18 carries for a 6.4 yard per carry average. Even if you take away the 45 yard run of Jamal Lewis where Zach Thomas uncharacteristically missed a tackle, the Ravens averaged 4.2 yards per carry.
Only the fact that the Ravens didn't have confidence in their running game saved Miami from having the ball pounded at them from their 1 yard line. If the Ravens had gotten a touchdown there, the whole tenor of the game would have changed.
Some of the problem was due to the lack of Daryl Gardener in the middle. That allowed the Ravens to double team Tim Bowens, put one man on Kenny Mixon or Jermaine Haley and allow their center to get to Zach Thomas. That allowed Lewis to get 4-8 yards up the middle on many of his carries.
And some of the problem was due to Miami dropping the safeties back into deep coverage. Fortunately for the Dolphins, the strategy worked, but sooner or later, they're going to have to bring up the safeties to help out in run support, at least until Gardener returns.
The only other gripe I have is about dropped passes. Leslie Shepherd stopped Miami's first drive of the game by dropping a pass that hit him in the hands. Thurman Thomas also dropped a pass in his hands that ended up being an interception. The easy drops must stop if Miami's offense is going to continue to be successful with a conservative philosophy.
Jay Fiedler had his best game so far, completing 11 of 16 passes for 160 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The lone interception he had was not his fault. While those stats don't exactly catch your eye, a 68.8% completion rate and 10 yards per attempt do stand out as excellent numbers.
Fiedler was at his best in the 2nd half, completing 7 passes in a row for 121 yards and a touchdown. He showed poise and confidence in the pocket and made the most of every opportunity. His two short passes to Lamar Smith on the run were just right and his 41 yard completion to Jed Weaver couldn't have been thrown any better.
Lamar Smith also had stats that were much less impressive than his actual contribution to the victory. He carried 22 times for 63 yards at 2.9 yards per carry. However, his continued pounding forced the Ravens to respect Miami's running attack and opened up the short passing game.
Lamar also caught 3 passes for 47 yards, including one reception that set up his touchdown run and another catch that was a touchdown. In the second half, it almost seemed as if Jay Fiedler and Lamar Smith were reading each other's minds, they were in such good sync.
Thurman Thomas caught 3 passes for 31 yards and ran 3 times for 25 yards. He converted 4 3rd down attempts to first downs. His only real mistake was the dropped pass that ended in an interception. He has become Miami's third down specialist and he is going to be very effective in that role. He did everything to the Ravens that he has been doing to Miami for so many years.
Rob Konrad did some fine blocking until he was taken from the game with a concussion. Deon Dyer filled in for him and there was little or no drop off in effectiveness. Neither fullback touched the ball, however.
JJ Johnson finally got some playing time in relief of Lamar Smith and ended the game with 5 carries for 10 yards. He did convert the Dolphins' final third down, ensuring that they would run out the clock. He looked just as he's always looked - like a tough, but very straight-ahead runner.
Tight end Hunter Goodwin did some fine blocking, but the only pass thrown his way was knocked down. However, his counterpart Jed Weaver had the 41 yard catch and run down the sidelines that set up Miami's final touchdown. It looks like Weaver will be an excellent target in small doses this year.
Leslie Shepherd caught 3 passes for 30 yards, but dropped at least one easy catch and should probably be credited with at least one other drop.
Oronde Gadsden only caught 1 pass for 11 yards.
Bert Emmanuel was supposedly in the game, but you couldn't tell that by what he accomplished - which was nothing.
The offensive line did an outstanding job against one of the best front 7 defensive groups in the league. Tim Ruddy, in particular, was awarded a game ball for the job he did in blocking Sam Adams and Tony Siragusa.
But all the offensive linemen had an excellent game, sealing off the running lanes, protecting Fiedler and dominating the line of scrimmage.
On defense, guess who led the team in tackles? Zach Thomas had a pretty good night, including a couple of Zach-attack tackles behind the line of scrimmage. However, he did miss the tackle on Jamal Lewis on that 45 yard run in the first half.
Greg Jeffries had 5 tackles at the backup safety position, mainly because he was assigned the unenviable task of covering Shannon Sharpe for much of the game. He doesn't get credit for it on the official stats, but he did knock down at least one pass to Sharpe.
Jason Taylor had his best game of the year so far, making 7 tackles, including 2.5 sacks and forcing a fumble. And he did all this while lining up across for Johnathan Ogden for much of the game.
Brian Walker had 7 tackles and a sack, which was an excellent play in a crucial situation. One thing that doesn't appear in the stats is Brian Walker's block on Patrick Surtain's interception. If Walker doesn't block Patrick Johnson, Surtain would probably be tackled around the Miami 5. However, because of Walker's block, Surtain had a 43 yard return.
Brock Marion had 3 tackles and returned 2 kickoffs for 42 yards. His biggest play was probably when he brought down Tony Banks at the Miami 3 to save a touchdown.
Derrick Rodgers had 5 tackles and seemed to be doing an unusually good job in pass coverage against some pretty tough tight ends. He seems to have matured a lot this year.
Tim Bowens is only credited with 2 tackles, but he spent much of the game beating the Ravens' double team and pushing into the backfield. At one point, he got so deep into the backfield that he almost nailed Jamal Lewis for a 7 yard loss. He couldn't catch Lewis, but Zach did, for a 2 yard loss.
Robert Jones was his usual steady self, ending up with 5 tackles.
Trace Armstrong was only credited with 1 sack, but that was also a forced fumble and he spent a lot of the game pressuring Tony Banks.
Trent Gamble got some playing time with the regular defense and ended up with 2 tackles.
Jermaine Haley got his first official NFL sack when he came in to give Kenny Mixon a rest. He spent much of the game rotating in to keep Mixon fresh and played very well.
Speaking of Kenny Mixon, he did a great job filling in for Daryl Gardener, getting 3 tackles and half a sack. In spite of his smaller stature, he was not dominated or pushed out of the way for the most part.
Rich Owens did get the nod as a starter on the left side, but didn't record any tackles.
Patrick Surtain is credited with 2 tackles and Miami's only interception of the game. He had perfect position on the Ravens' Patrick Johnson and with a little help from Brian Walker, made a nice return of 43 yards.
Sam Madison wasn't credited with any tackles and didn't have any interceptions, although he came close a couple of times. But he and Surtain shut down the Ravens' wide receivers, limiting them to 4 catches for 36 yards for the entire game.
On special teams, Olindo Mare' hit two 40+ yard field goals, but had trouble on one extra point, trying to get it out of the dirt. His kickoffs were shorter than usual, typically coming down around the 10 yard line. I expect the wet ball and slick footing had something to do with that.
Leslie Shepherd and Johnathan Ogden returned punts and while Shepherd was nothing special, returning 2 for 14 yards, Ogden had one very nice return for 31 yards. He should probably be the starting returner.
Matt Turk continues to punt well, bouncing the ball between the 5 and the goal line, but the coverage guys were having trouble downing the balls.
Richmond Webb twisted both is right ankle and knee on one play. The initial report was a strained ankle and a strained knee. Reports from Monday, however, say that the injuries were less serious than first feared and that he may even make it back for the Patriots game.
Rob Konrad suffered a concussion early in the game and was replaced by Deon Dyer. Konrad should be back for New England, however.
Jerry Wilson sprained his thumb during the game and Twan Russell also suffered a concussion. Both players should be back for the New England game.
When the Dolphins came out running the ball on their first series, I was stunned. I didn't think that Chan Gailey would attempt to run against the stout Baltimore defense.
I was even more stunned when the running game worked.
After the defeat in Minnesota, I had gone back to the old way of thinking about the Dolphins' offense. Since they couldn't run against a fair defense, I reasoned, they would just abandon the run against the outstanding defense of the Ravens.
Sometimes it's ok to be wrong.
I was right about one part of their offense, however. Chan Gailey did figure out a way to get Thurman Thomas more involved in the game and he did it without sacrificing the blitz protection that they had to have against a team like the Ravens.
A number of fans wrote to me after the Vikings game, complaining about the offensive game plan. I was pretty disappointed, too, but I am more than pleased with the adjustments that Chan Gailey made to fix the problems this week.
How someone reacts to failure is normally a better test of a person's abilities than how they react to success. In this case, I would say that Chan Gailey and his offense passed their first test of failure very well. Gailey went back and made the changes necessary to make the offense more effective and get his best players back in the game. And that is what an excellent coach does.
I think it's pretty apparent now how the Dolphins are going to approach their season and what we can expect on offense. Hopefully, the passing game will improve with the coming weeks, but whether it does or not, we're going to see a lot of Lamar Smith, both as a runner and as a receiver from now until January.
I just hope he can hold up to is.
And whatever the coaches are doing for the offensive line, I hope they keep doing it because it appears to be working. When Tim Ruddy wins a game ball, you know that something has changed on the offensive line - for the better.
So, with the team's character becoming more established, the Dolphins get to face their first divisional foe at home when the Patriots come to town on Sunday.
Divisional games are never a pushover and the Patriots are going to be dangerous. Still, the best way to start off the division race will be to take on the least dangerous of our division rivals at home.