In their biggest game so far this year, the Dolphins shook off another defeat by the New York Jets and overcame the lack of Jay Fiedler and Lamar Smith to beat the Indianapolis Colts 17-14 at the RCA Dome on Sunday. Playing relatively mistake-free football, the Dolphin defense held the Colts to their lowest point total of the year, while the offense scored just enough to lift Miami to their ninth victory of the season.
The game started at 4:15 PM, EST in the 72 degree controlled interior of the RCA Dome. Damon Huard and JJ Johnson started for Miami in place of the injured Jay Fiedler and Lamar Smith, while Zach Thomas returned to the lineup for Miami's defense. Inactive for this game were Lamar Smith, Jason Anderson, Antonio Cesario, Lorenzo Bromell, OJ McDuffie, Earnest Grant and Alonzo Mayes. Mike Quinn was the official number 2 quarterback, but Jay Fiedler did suit up as the emergency quarterback.
The game did not start well for Miami, as Indianapolis got the ball first at their 14 after the kickoff and drove straight down the field for their first touchdown. The Miami defense was fairly tight at this point in the game and the Colts were able to work down the field on medium passes to Marvin Harrison, Ken Dilger and Jerome Pathon, as well as some short runs by Edgerrin James. Finally, Peyton Manning hit Marvin Harrison on a deep route to the post and Patrick Surtain was not able to keep up with Harrison, giving the Colts a 7-0 lead.
Miami's offense did not respond well to the Colts' first touchdown and were only able to gain 9 yards before being forced to punt. However, Miami's game plan of running JJ Johnson and passing to the backs out of the backfield began to show on this first drive. The Colts' defense was very fired up, however, and they didn't allow Miami any room to move.
After Matt Turk's 70 yard punt was downed at the Colts' one yard line, the Colts began what looked like might be another scoring drive. They moved efficiently from their one to their 33 and looked unstoppable, but a saving tackle on 3rd down by Zach Thomas and a false start by the Colts on 4th and inches forced the Colts to punt from their 33.
At the end of the first quarter, the Colts had held the ball for 10:30 and were ahead 7-0. More importantly, they had moved the ball convincingly against Miami's defense and had shown no holes in their defense for Miami to exploit.
The Dolphin offense started the 2nd quarter no better than they had ended the first, going 3 and out on their first possession. But the Miami defense loosened up a bit at this point and began to contain the Colts' offense. On the Colts next offensive series, they had great field position after a 36 yard punt return by Terrence Wilkins. But they went 3 and out after Marvin Harrison couldn't hang on to a diving catch in the endzone.
This play is significant because Harrison had beaten Patrick Surtain to the endzone again. At this point, Dolphins' defensive coordinator Jim Bates switched coverages to allow Sam Madison to line up on Marvin Harrison more often, regardless of where on the line Harrison lined up. At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, Harrison had already caught two passes for 41 yards. For the remaining 3 quarters of the game, Harrison would catch only 2 more passes for 33 yards.
At this point, defense took over for both teams and the Dolphins and Colts each ran two more ineffective offensive series in the 2nd quarter. With 4 minutes remaining in the second quarter, each team had run 3 offensive series for a grand total of one first down - combined.
However, at this point, Miami's offense began to move the football. From the Miami 39, the Dolphins drove up the field on short runs by JJ Johnson and short passes to Tony Martin, Autry Denson and JJ Johnson. Aided by a "roughing the passer" penalty, Miami found itself with a 2nd and 2 at the Colts 11 with 39 seconds remaining until halftime. However, two disappointing runs by JJ Johnson left Miami with a 4th and 1 at the Colts' 10 and Miami was forced to settle for a field goal that cut the Colts' lead to 7-3.
At halftime, the score was probably closer than Miami deserved, because they had been pretty well dominated by the Colts for the entire first quarter, while playing to a draw in the 2nd quarter. But the momentum of the game had shifted towards the Dolphins with their final drive of the first half and Miami came out hard in the 3rd quarter.
The Dolphins opened the 2nd half by starting at their own 26 after a penalty on Trent Gamble negated a 56 yard kickoff return by Autry Denson. From there, they moved down the field on the Colts with a combination of tough running by JJ Johnson and some short passes to Leslie Shepherd across the middle and Oronde Gadsden. The biggest play of the drive was probably a handoff to Autry Denson from the shotgun that picked up 12 yards and a first down at the Indianapolis 16.
From there, Miami ran the ball hard inside and were able to move it down to the Colts' 3, where JJ Johnson plunged across behind Richmond Webb and Mark Dixon for the Dolphins' first touchdown of the game. That not only gave Miami a 10-7 lead halfway through the 3rd quarter, but also kept the Colts' offense off the field for 7:27.
The Colts responded with a short drive that was stopped at their 48 after two incompletions to Ken Dilger, but Miami also stalled on their next drive and punted back to the Colts, who began at their 21.
To end the 3rd quarter, the Colts began to drive from their 21. A 32 yard pass to Terrence Wilkins was the big play on this drive that moved the Colts deep into Miami territory. As a result, the Colts were able to open the 4th quarter with an 18 yard pass to Edgerrin James that moved them to Miami's 8. From there, it was an easy 8 yard pass to Marvin Harrison for a touchdown that put them on top again, 14-10.
The Dolphins did not respond well to this score, going 3 and out on their first two drives of the 4th quarter. Indianapolis did manage a short drive between the two Miami possessions, but pressure from the Miami defensive line ended this Colts' drive with an intentional grounding call on Peyton Manning.
After Miami's 2nd 3-and-out of the 4th quarter, the Colts got the ball back at their 35 with 8:24 remaining in the game. At this point, it began to look as if Miami's defense was tiring out as Edgerrin James began a series of short but effective runs against Miami. They drove from their 35 to Miami's 33 on James' running, but a holding call on the Colts' Steve McKinney pushed them back 10 yards and that would turn out to be the drive-killer.
The Colts got some of that yardage back, but faced with a 3rd and 7 at the Miami 30, with 3:07 remaining, the Colts got greedy. Peyton Manning dropped back to pass, but Miami's pass rush collapsed the pocket and Manning was forced to throw just a little early. He tried to hit Jerome Pathon on a deep slant, but threw behind Pathon into the waiting arms of Brock Marion, who returned the ball to the Miami 30. A penalty on Jason Taylor negated part of the return, but Miami had avoided the Colts' scoring attempt and now had the ball back at their 14 with 2:56 left to play.
At this point, Damon Huard came off the sideline and led the Dolphins' offense on a 9 play, 86 yard drive that was as good as anything he's ever done in a Dolphins' uniform. It started with a screen pass to Autry Denson to the left, who had plenty of room to run as the Colts were playing a prevent defense. Denson took full advantage of that and raced up the left sideline for 28 yards, getting Miami out of their end of the field and giving them a first down at the 42 yard line.
After an incompletion to Denson on the next play, Huard hit Shepherd for 10 yards, followed by a handoff to Denson out of the shotgun for 6 more. Huard then threw to Denson for 7 more yards and another first down at the Indianapolis 35 as the 2 minute warning sounded.
On the first play after the 2 minute warning, Huard hit Bert Emmanuel on a quick outside slant to the right and then handed off to Denson once more from the shotgun for 4 yards and a first down. Denson got his last touch on the ball on a quick pass to the Colts' 17, setting up a 2nd and 3 with 1:17 left to play.
On the next play, Huard and Oronde Gadsden both saw double coverage to the middle of the field, so Gadsden broke off his route early to the outside. Huard saw that also and fired a laser-like dart to his left to Gadsden in the front corner of the endzone. Gadsden gathered the ball in and managed to touch both toes down in the endzone before falling out of bounds. That score gave Miami a 17-14 lead with 1:10 remaining in the game.
The only thing wrong with that drive for the Dolphins is that they left too much time on the clock for the Colts to come back and score. All the Colts needed was a field goal to tie the game and force it into overtime and with Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison, that was more than enough.
The Colts started at their 20 after the kickoff and got a quick pass to Marvin Harrison for 25 yards to their 45. But there, the Dolphin defense stiffened. The Colts did manage to squeak out 13 yards to the Miami 42, but with time running out, Jerome Pathon dropped a pass in his hands at the Miami 30 and the Colts were left with 8 seconds left and little choice but to attempt a 59 yard field goal. The Colts' Mike Vanderjagt was forced to kick low to get the distance and Rich Owens managed to get a hand on the ball that partially blocked it.
The game ended in a stunning fashion with a 17-14 Miami victory. While the stats favored the Colts in most areas, the most significant difference between these two teams on Sunday was their ability to execute and play mistake-free football. The fundamental reason that Miami won this game was not because of talent, but rather because the Dolphins played without mistakes, while the Colts repeatedly made mistakes that killed their chances.
In a league where parity is the name of the game, it's usually the team that makes the fewest mistakes that wins the game. That was the case on Sunday, when Miami committed only 4 penalties, had no turnovers and didn't blow most of their opportunities. The Colts, in contrast, had 10 penalties, one crucial turnover and several dropped passes in key situations.
All in all, it was the biggest win for Miami this year and it came at the best possible time. Miami remains in first place in the AFC East this week with their destiny firmly in their own hands and that's all you can ask for from any team.
As I pointed out above, the lack of mistakes is what really distinguished this effort for the Dolphins. In that regard, this was the most complete effort by Miami this year and it came in front of a hostile crowd on the road against one of the most potent teams in the league.
This performance is a credit to both the maturity of the team and the preparation of the coaches for this game. Dave Wannestedt's steady attitude, along with the game planning of his assistant coaches has created a confident but cautious approach that is paying off well for the Dolphins as they go down the stretch.
Overall, the defense did an excellent job. They had some slip-ups, but they held Peyton Manning to just 209 yards passing and a less than 50% completion rate at his home field, where he normally passes for almost 300 yards a game. The pass rush was not as consistent as it has been, but toward the end of the game, the pressure on Manning increased and contributed to his inability to connect on his last series.
The defense did not do as good a job against Edgerrin James as they might have wanted, but even though he gained his 118 rushing yards, his longest run was only 13 yards and he paid for every yard he gained. Most importantly, he didn't score.
On offense, the best aspect of the Dolphins' attack was the short passes to Autry Denson and JJ Johnson. Denson, in particular, was able to use his speed to get by the Colts' linebackers for some important gains late in the game. That aspect of the Dolphins' attack was unusually potent this time.
The running game was not nearly as powerful as it has been with Lamar Smith, but the Dolphins' first touchdown did come on a 3 yard run by JJ Johnson and the Dolphins didn't abandon the run when they got behind early. This paid dividends on the final drive.
The Dolphins' running game was particularly anemic this week against a team that is only ranked 25th against the run in the league. Even without Lamar Smith, the Dolphins should be able to run the ball better than that.
Also, the special teams had some rough moments. They gave up a 36 yard punt return at one point and had a 56 yard kickoff return nullified because of a penalty to open the second half. While neither of these plays ended up making a big difference in this game, those kinds of mistakes will kill a team like Miami in other circumstances.
Damon Huard has received some unjust criticism for his play in this game. While it's true that he didn't move the team expertly in the first half and that he had some trouble with his deep passes, he stayed calm and cool under fire and didn't make any major mistakes. Most importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.
What he did do was to lead the offense on two touchdown drives in the 2nd half, including the winning drive with less than 3 minutes on the clock. He completed 22 of 33 for 183 yards and one touchdown, which is a very respectable passer rating of 90.8. On the final drive, he completed 6 of 7 for 76 yards and the winning touchdown - which is a passer rating of 151.5.
He was steady, efficient, unspectacular and just what doctor Gailey ordered.
JJ Johnson started his first game this year and while he was steady, he did nothing to dismiss the idea that Lamar Smith is the starter. He carried the ball 21 times for a meager 60 yards (a 2.9 ypc average), but did have one touchdown. He was better as a receiver, catching 5 passes for 29 yards.
Johnson seems to have problems finding the holes and hitting them quickly. He would routinely run right into the pile instead of cutting back and he didn't shrug off tackles the way that Lamar Smith does. Perhaps with experience he'll get better, but right now he's still a backup.
In contrast, Autry Denson had a terrific game, carrying the ball 3 times for 22 yards and catching 6 passes for 63 yards. He also had a 56 yard kickoff return called back on a penalty.
More importantly, Denson picked up 50 of the Dolphins' 86 yards on the final scoring drive, carrying twice for 10 yards and catching 3 passes for 40 yards. Denson's only problem was a fumble, which was recovered by Oronde Gadsden.
Of the other backs who played, neither Rob Konrad nor Deon Dyer touched the football, but both did a pretty good job in run blocking.
Leslie Shepherd led the team in receptions with 7, but most of those were short passes and he gained only 41 total yards. He had some terrific diving catches, but he also dropped a few balls that were right in this hands.
Oronde Gadsden caught just 2 passes for 30 yards, but he was doubled covered for much of the game. One of his catches was the final touchdown, where he did a great job getting both feet down in the endzone.
Tony Martin and Bert Emmanuel each caught one pass, for 11 and 9 yards respectively. For two guys who are supposed to be speedy receivers, neither had any impressive moments, although Emmanuel's catch did come on the final drive. And we don't know how often their numbers were called in the game plan.
The offensive line did a good job for most of the game, allowing Huard to be sacked just twice and generally providing him with plenty of time. It's tough to know how much of the running game's problems were due to the offensive line and how much were due to the lack of Lamar Smith, but overall, they did a credible job in tough circumstances.
On defense, Zach Thomas was back and led the team in tackles with 9. He did look a little bit slow and rusty - for Zach Thomas, that is - but had several important stops and was on top of Edgerrin James for much of the game.
Brock Marion was second with 8 tackles and had 2 passes defensed, plus the interception that stopped the Colts penultimate drive and gave Miami a chance to win. He generally did a good job, but found himself out of position on a couple of deep passes to Marvin Harrison.
Brian Walker also had 8 tackles and knocked down a pass, but dropped what should have been an easy interception. He continues to play far above expectations.
Derrick Rodgers also continues to surprise and had a good day on Sunday, picking up 6 tackles. Since Zach went down with an injury, Rodgers has been improving his play and is playing much better now than he was at the beginning of the year.
Daryl Gardener appears to be back at full strength after his injury, picking up 5 tackles in this game.
Tim Bowens and Jermaine Haley each had 3 tackles and did a good job of stuffing the middle of the Colts' line.
Sam Madison had 3 tackles and knocked down a late pass intended for Marvin Harrison. More importantly, he did an excellent job in pass coverage on Harrison.
Robert Jones had 2 tackles and seems to have slowed down some since getting his big contract. Most of his contribution lately seems to be knocking down fullbacks or any other blockers coming his way, which is important, but it would be nice if he made more plays.
Jason Taylor had 2 tackles, but didn't get any sacks this week, although he did tackle a scrambling Peyton Manning for no gain on the very first play of the game.
Patrick Surtain had 2 tackles and one pass defensed, although he had trouble keeping up with Marvin Harrison early in the game. He did a good job on the other receivers, however.
Trace Armstrong and Kenny Mixon each contributed a solo tackle and helped to chase Manning out of the pocket a couple of times, but didn't register a sack.
Jerry Wilson had some trouble covering Ken Dilger and got away with some pass interference on Dilger during the game. He also had a single tackle and knocked down a pass.
Jeff Ogden had two punt returns for 37 yards and had two fair catches.
Matt Turk averaged 49.6 yards per punt on 7 punts and put 2 down inside the 20. This was one of his better games.
Olindo Mare' put two kickoffs into the endzone and hit his only field goal attempt from 27 yards out.
The only injury of note happened to backup safety Greg Jeffries, who twisted his knee. We'll know more about this injury after he has an MRI this week.
Zach Thomas was sore on Sunday night, but there was no swelling in his ankle on Monday, so he should be in good shape for Sunday's game against the Bills.
You can say what you want about Dave Wannestedt's tenure in Chicago, and you might be right in saying that Wannestedt was a failure there.
But if there's one thing that we Dolphins fans have learned over the last 5 years, it's that a coaches' performance with one team does not necessarily translate into an equal performance with another team.
Certainly, Jimmy Johnson's success in Dallas didn't translate to success in Miami. Without the offensive weapons and coaches he had in Dallas, JJ could never duplicate his success with the Cowboys.
And just as JJ was in the wrong position in Miami, perhaps Dave Wannestedt was in the wrong position in Chicago.
The reason I point this out is because Dave Wannestedt has been just what the doctor ordered for a Miami team that was in chaos less than a year ago. The team that ended last season with the disastrous loss in Jacksonville was fragmented, uncertain of it's future and leaderless with the departure of JJ and Dan Marino.
Dave Wannestedt has done an outstanding job rebuilding the team, hiring new assistant coaches, finding some starters in the NFL scrap heap and creating a winning attitude on this team. He's had a lot of help, to be sure, but he is the catalyst. He is the anchor that has kept this team steady throughout the season, in spite of the problems, the controversies and the media scrutiny.
Dave Wannestedt has shown this year that he can be a successful head coach in the NFL.
And if a head coach bears the ultimate responsibility for a team's failure, as many said after the end of last season, he also gets the ultimate credit for it's success.
Regardless of all the other factors, Dave Wannestedt is the ultimate reason the Dolphins are 9-3 and sitting alone atop the toughest division in football right now.
And he was the most important factor in this victory.
After the game, he decided that every player on the team deserved a game ball for their contribution to the effort to beat Indianapolis on Sunday. His acknowledgement of every individual's contribution to the effort is the mark of an excellent leader.
Thanks to JJ, Wayne Huizenga and the Chicago Bears for Dave Wannestedt.