All you really need to know about this game happened in the first 7 minutes, when Miami came out and used a little trickery, a little misdirection and some good old fashioned blocking to jump out to a 14-0 lead that not only gave them enough points to win, but also took the heart right out of the Lions in a way that almost guaranteed there would be no comeback against Miami this week.
The game was played in the Pontiac Silverdome, where the indoor temperature was a balmy 68 degrees with a loud and rowdy crowd in attendance. The Dolphins declared Zach Thomas, Tim Bowens, Lorenzo Bromell, Alonzo Mayes, Antonio Cesario, Arturo Freeman and Tony Martin as inactive before the game, while Mike Quinn was the emergency quarterback.
The game started with the Dolphins receiving the opening kickoff with a slight change in receiving lineup. This week, Brock Marion did not return any kicks. I don't know if this is a permanent change or not, but after Autrey Denson's performance on Sunday, it may be. Autry Denson and JJ Johnson were the two deep men for Miami during kickoffs on Sunday.
In any case, Denson took the opening kickoff and ran almost straight ahead behind a wall of blockers to his right. He split the defenders and raced up the right sideline, only being forced out of bounds at the Detroit 46 by their kicker after a 56 yard gain. This was an impressive way to start the game, but it was nothing compared to what was to come.
On first and 10 from the Detroit 46, the Dolphins ran a fake reverse, handing off to Lamar Smith while Leslie Shepherd ran from right to left behind the Dolphins' backfield. Kevin Donnalley and Todd Wade shoved their men out of the way, while Rob Konrad hammered the linebacker to the outside.
Through this hole in the line, Smith accelerated into the secondary, where safety Kurt Shulz had been faked out of position by Leslie Shepherd in the backfield. This left no one between Lamar Smith and the goalline and Smith galloped in virtually untouched for a quick touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
The Dolphins lined up for a normal kickoff, but Olindo Mare hit one of his special onsides kicks just perfectly and as the ball bounced high in the air, most of the Detroit players were already running back to set up a return. Only one Detroit player was anywhere near the ball and he was wiped out by two Dolphins. All that was left for Terrence Shaw to do was to make sure he caught the ball at the Miami 41, giving Miami possession again.
Using a combination of short runs by Lamar Smith, short passes to Gadsden and Shepherd and designed runs by Jay Fiedler, the Dolphins moved down to the Detroit 8 yard line. With 1st and goal from the 8, Lamar Smith took Fiedler's handoff and bulled his way right up the middle for an 8 yard touchdown run that gave Miami a 14-0 lead.
At this point, with 8:36 seconds remaining in the first quarter, the Dolphins were up by 14 and Detroit's offense had yet to touch the ball.
The rest of the game was a see-saw battle of field position, mistakes and special teams, with Miami getting the better of all three contests.
After a couple of uninspired drives by both teams that followed the initial scoring, the Dolphins started a drive at their 14 after a Detroit punt. Fiedler then hit 3 passes in a row - 2 to Gadsden and a 33 yard pass to Jed Weaver - to move Miami to the Detroit 24. But after a couple of ineffective running plays, Fiedler overthrew McDuffie in the endzone and Miami elected to take a field goal, boosting their leading to 17-0.
The Lions responded by starting a decent drive of their own at their 22. Some good running by Stewart, a pass to tight end David Sloan and a pass to Larry Foster moved the Lions to Miami's 19. The Lions then ran a reverse to Larry Foster who ran to the Miami 5 before Sam Madison stripped the ball out of Foster's hands. The ball bounced into the endzone where Patrick Surtain jumped on it for the recovery that ended the Lion's most serious scoring threat of the first half.
Two more offensive possessions by Miami and one more by the Lions yielded only short gains and at the end of the first half, the score was 17-0 in favor of the Dolphins.
In the first half, Miami's offensive line had dominated the line of scrimmage and Miami had controlled the football through running and passing conservatively. On defense, Miami's defense did a pretty good job making up for the lack of Zach Thomas and Tim Bowens and made it hard for the Lions to run, while the pass coverage kept the Lions from going deep.
The second half opened with Miami kicking off to the Lions. On the runback, Deon Dyer hit Detroit return man Terry Fair very hard as he was going down and the ball popped loose. Twan Russell recovered the fumble at the Detroit 28 and even though Miami couldn't gain any yardage and had to settle for a 38 yard Olindo Mare' field goal and a 20-0 lead. That turnover took a lot of motivation out of the Lions at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.
And if that wasn't bad enough, once the Lions got the ball back on the next series, Charlie Batch was sacked 3 times in a row by Daryl Gardener (2) and Jason Taylor (1). That forced another punt by Detroit.
The Dolphins and Lions each went 3 and out on the next two series, but on the Lions' punt from their 27, Brock Marion came around the corner and got both hands on the ball, partially blocking the punt. The ball still went forward to the Detroit 41, but that set Miami up for a short drive. Even though that drive stalled rather quickly, Miami was once again in field goal range and Miami started the 4th quarter with a 23-0 lead.
On the next-to-last play of Detroit's preceding offensive series, Charlie Batch had suffered a mild concussion after being slammed to the turf by Jason Taylor and Kenny Mixon. As a result, the Lions opened the 4th quarter by putting in Stoney Case at quarterback.
Case drove his team the length of the field on a series of passes to Herman Moore and David Sloan, punctuated by short, powerful runs by James Stewart. With a little over 11 minutes remaining, James Stewart punched the ball over from the Miami 3, cutting Miami's lead to 23-6.
The Lions elected to try for 2 points and a controversial pass to Johnny Morton at the goalline was called a score, putting the score at 23-8 with 11 minutes remaining in the game.
On this pass, Miami challenged the call because it looked as if Morton (who had to come back to the ball to catch it), might have been out of the endzone on the catch. However, when Miami challenged it, it was not overturned by the referees, and Miami was charged a timeout.
I believe that the refs made the correct call in this case, since it looked to me as if the ball was at least over the goalline when Morton caught it. Certainly, there was not enough evidence on the replay to overturn the call.
On the kickoff, JJ Johnson fielded the ball for Miami at the 14, but dropped the kick. However, he was smart enough to fall on the ball at the 14 rather than risk losing possession, so Miami kept the ball, but had to start at their 14 with 11 minutes left in the game.
The Dolphins ran a drive that did pick up 2 first downs and ran almost 5 minutes off the clock before it was stopped, but once again were not able to run consistently when it was expected and ended up punting to the Lions.
I'm sure the Lions had visions of a comeback at this point, but a Jason Taylor sack of Stoney Case on 2nd down killed the Lion's chances and the Lions punted after 3 and out.
The Dolphins offense started at their 28 with 5 minutes remaining, but two penalties ended any chances they had of getting a first down and they were forced to punt. On the punt, Miami committed their worse mistake of the game as Matt Turk shanked the ball and it went out of bounds at the Miami 39.
This gave Detroit a 1st and 10 at the Miami 39 with over 4 minutes left in the game. However, after one first down, Stoney Case overthrew Herman Moore at the Miami 11 and the ball was picked off by Brock Marion, who now leads all Miami defensive backs with 4 interceptions.
With 3:31 remaining, Miami ran Lamar Smith 3 times in a row, which gave them one first down - enough to allow them to run the clock out as Detroit ran out of timeouts.
The Dolphins began this game by taking a few chances and jumping out to a solid lead that took the Detroit crowd out of the game and the wind out of the Lion's sails. Once the first 7 minutes were over, the game was not in doubt, even though Miami allowed Detroit a little hope at the end.
It was a solid, convincing win for Miami and with losses by the Colts and Jets on Sunday, left Miami alone in 1st place in the AFC East.
The Dolphins won the biggest battle of the afternoon by getting 3 turnovers from the Lions while giving up none of their own. The Lions had been the best team in the league at creating turnovers and had a +12 turnover ratio before the team. The Dolphins forced two fumbles and Brock Marion was in the right place at the right time.
The Dolphins' running game piled up over 190 yards on the ground, courtesy of Lamar Smith, some outstanding blocking at the point of attack by the offensive line and Rob Konrad and some well-timed quarterback draws by Jay Fiedler.
The Dolphins' offense continues to improve a little each week, limiting mistakes, improving the running game and working on the passing attack. While this team will never be the pass-happy bunch that previous Miami teams were, they are becoming very efficient and very poised in their execution and they are a very tough group of players.
The run defense played about as well as could be expected without Tim Bowens and Zach Thomas in the lineup, limiting James Stewart to 71 yards on 18 carries. I did notice a distinct improvement in the play of Larry Izzo and Derrick Rodgers this week, and the youngsters on the defensive line did a fine job in the middle, with Earnest Grant and Jermaine Haley taking turns at defensive tackle.
The pass defense still needs some work on the short crossing routes and tight end coverage, but there was noticeable improvement this week. In particular, Derrick Rodgers seemed to be much more aggressive and comfortable in pass coverage and made several nice plays from his linebacker position.
Of course, Patrick Surtain and Sam Madison continue to be the big playmakers on defense, but Terrence Shaw has improved the coverage on the slot receivers, taking the outside men while allowing Surtain to slide over and pick up whoever lines up in the slot. Shaw finally looks healthy and is covering the outside men very well.
The pass rush was intermittent and Trace Armstrong was getting more than his share of attention this week. But pressure was placed on Batch regularly and the Dolphins picked up 4 sacks. The best thing about those sacks was that two of them were from Daryl Gardener, who looked fully healthy again.
Special teams play was outstanding in this game and should be credited with doing everything necessary to put the team in position to win. The coverage, kicking and return groups all did an outstanding job with no less than 4 big plays - Denson's 56 yard kickoff return, Mare's onsides kick, the blocked punt and the forced fumble on the 2nd half kickoff. The entire special teams unit deserves a game ball.
The coaching for this game was at least as good as it's been all season, if not a little better. The play calling and timing really blew the Lions away very early in the game and Miami's staff out-guessed and out-thought the opposition for most of the game.
Despite the outstanding performance of most of the team, there were a few things that could be worked on following this game.
First of all, penalties are still a problem. The Dolphins were penalized 7 times for 62 yards, with the worst penalties coming in the 4th quarter where a series of 2 penalties (false start and holding) ruined the Dolphins' first chance to run out the clock late in the game.
Also, despite the improvement in pass coverage by the linebackers on backs and tight ends, Lions' tight end David Sloan caught 3 passes for 64 yards - and he dropped at least 2 others. The Dolphins must improve their ability to cover tight ends and backs over the middle, especially before they face Ken Dilger and Edgerrin James of the Colts and Jay Riemersma of the Bills.
If the Dolphins can't do a better job covering the tight ends and backs out of the backfield, the Bills and Colts could carve up the Dolphins with underneath passes.
Jay Fiedler continues to play efficiently and intelligently and most importantly, to not make any big mistakes. He completed 13 of 18 for 112 yards yesterday, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran 8 times for 42 yards with many of those runs coming on designed runs or quarterback draws.
Lamar Smith was the big offensive weapon for Miami yesterday, gaining 125 yards on 24 carries (a 5.2 ypc average) and rushing for 2 touchdowns. If that wasn't enough, he also caught 4 passes for 17 yards. He continues to run very smartly and very powerfully, knocking over or avoiding tacklers and bulling for extra yardage. So far, he shows no signs of slowing down.
Rob Konrad touched the ball more than he normally does, rushing 3 times for 9 yards and catching 2 passes for 10 yards. But his most important contribution continues to be in blocking for Lamar Smith, cutting off linebackers and opening holes for him.
Thurman Thomas is still not producing the way he did earlier in the year. He ran once for 12 yards and caught 1 pass for 4 yards, dropping another that landed right in his hands.
Deon Dyer did not touch the ball this week, but he sure knocked it out of Terry Fair's hands on the kickoff to open the second half.
Oronde Gadsden caught the most passes this week, grabbing 4 for 41 yards. However, with Miami not throw much, he didn't have many chances to shine.
Jed Weaver caught just one pass for 33 yards, but it was a big one, setting up a Miami field goal.
Leslie Shepherd caught only one pass this week for 7 yards and ran a reverse, which only gained 1 yard.
The offensive line did an excellent job this week, particularly in the first two series, where they opened some big holes for Lamar Smith to run through. They also allowed only one sack of Jay Fiedler and controlled the line of scrimmage.
Brock Marion led the defense with 8 tackles this week, picked off a pass late in the game and blocked a punt on special teams. The only thing he didn't do this week was to return kickoffs.
Brian Walker also had 8 tackles this week, and was credited with a special teams tackle. He and Marion did a good job in run support in the absence of Zach Thomas.
Derrick Rodgers was the leading tackler among the linebackers, making 5 tackles, including a couple of bone-jarring hits at the line of scrimmage. He also knocked down a pass in pass coverage. Rodgers had obviously picked up his game this week in response to coach Wannestedt's challenge and finally looked like the player we thought he might be. It was Rodgers' best game this year.
Daryl Gardener also announced that he had returned to pre-injury form with 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks on Sunday. And this was without Tim Bowens next to him. He looked much better this week than he did against the Packers.
Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain continue to play as perhaps the best pair of coverage cornerbacks in the league. Both players had 4 tackles each, while blanketing the Lions' wide receivers. Madison forced a fumble at the Miami 5 that Surtain recovered in the endzone. Madison also prevented a touchdown by knocking a pass out of the hands of a Lions' receiver in the endzone.
Jason Taylor also continues his superior play, picking up 4 tackles and 2 sacks. At one point, he knocked 360 pound Stockar McDougle on his back with a shove.
Robert Jones had 4 tackles, also, but did not step up and play as well as I had hoped in the wake of Coach Wannestedt's challenge this week. He had a hard time covering David Sloan off the line of scrimmage, letting him get by a couple of times.
Kenny Mixon quietly picked up 4 tackles of his own, starting at left defensive end and rotating along the defensive line.
Larry Izzo is only credited with 2 tackles, but he seemed to be playing much better this week in place of Zach Thomas. He was very active and around the ball on a lot of plays and did make one very nice tackle in the middle, stuffing Stewart at the line of scrimmage.
Jermaine Haley started in place of the injured Tim Bowens and he and Earnest Grant did a good job stuffing the line in the middle. Grant was credited with 1 tackle.
Trace Armstrong was given credit with 1 tackle and half a sack, but teams are giving him more attention lately and that's cutting his effectiveness. Autrey Denson is credited with an interception in the "official" gamebook, but obviously that's wrong - it was Brock Marion who picked off the late pass. But Denson did return the opening kickoff 56 yards to help set up Lamar Smith's first touchdown.
Michael Hamilton, the latest addition to the Dolphins' roster at backup linebacker, had 2 special teams tackles and seemed to be down in kick coverage on every special teams play. Terrence Shaw, Greg Jeffries and Twan Russell each had one tackle on special teams, with Shaw recovering the onsides kick and Russell recovering the fumble by Terry Fair.
Olindo Mare hit all three of his field goal attempts, while getting his kickoffs pretty deep this week. Still, he only put one in the endzone and that one was run out. But he did hit that onsides kickoff perfectly.
Matt Turk continues to punt well most of the time. At one point, he hit a 59 yard punt that pulled the Dolphins out of a hole. However, his last punt was an 18 yard shank that could have been disastrous if the game had been closer. He needs to eliminate those short punts he sometimes kicks.
Richmond Webb suffered a bruised elbow during the game, but it didn't keep him from returned to the game with a brace and it's not considered serious.
Overall, this was a very satisfying win for the Dolphins. It was much easier that I had anticipated it would be, mostly because the Lions are not as good a football team as I thought they were.
Still, it was a good win for Miami, proving that they could beat a good team on the road and showing that the team is still improving as they head into the home stretch.
The Dolphins have one "easy" game left on their schedule next week and from then on, they'll be playing a series of very tough opponents both at home and on the road.
And as much as I appreciate the 7-2 start of the Dolphins, it will be the final 6 games that will determine whether or not this year can truly be called a success.
But whether or not Miami does well in the remainder of the season, I think it's safe to say that some things have really changed in Miami this season.
And the biggest thing that has really is that the Dolphins are genuinely committed to running the football this year. We've heard a lot about running the football over the last few years, but this year is the first year in a long, long time where the team has actually lived up to the commitment.
You can thank Chan Gailey and Dave Wannestedt for that.
And it's paying off. While the Dolphins may be 23rd in total offense (in yards gained), they are 11th in points scored in the league and 6th in rushing yardage per game.
And they're 7-2 and getting better instead of worse.
So if you ask me whether or not the Dolphins will finish well this year, I can't answer that question. But I can say that the signs are good. In fact, they're better than they've been in a while.