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Dolphins Game Summary: Preseason vs Jaguars |  | ||||||||
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The Dolphins beat the Jaguars 16-5 on Saturday night in Miami in their first pre-season game of the year. It took me a couple of days, but I finally got to review the game on video and have some observations for those of you who couldn't go or otherwise get the chance to watch the game. The game started with both teams playing their healthy first strings. For the Dolphins, this meant that the starting receivers were JR Tolver and Kendall Newson, the running back was Travis Minor and the quarterback was Jay Fiedler. Greg Jerman started at right guard, while John St.Clair was the starting right tackle. On defense, Jeff Zgonina started for Tim Bowens, while David Bowens was the starting left defensive end. Morlon Greenwood started at MLB, while Eddie Moore started on the outside. Will Poole and Reggie Howard started at cornerback and Arturo Freeman was the free safety. Since this was the first pre-season game, the game plan was very vanilla without a lot of planning for the Jaguars. The Dolphins began rotating players on both offense and defense after the first quarter with the youngsters getting a lot of playing time. The Dolphins offense had a very consistent pattern for nearly the entire game. The passing game worked fairly well, with decent pass protection, good route running and good timing between the quarterbacks and the receivers. Dolphins' quarterbacks completed 22 of 33 passes for 264 yards, with 1 touchdown and 1 interception and the interception was on a batted ball at the line of scrimmage. That works out to a combined quarterback rating of 88.4. The pass protection was pretty good, with the Jaguars only getting one sack the entire game. That was helped by the play calling, which favored high percentage short passes. The Dolphins' running game, on the other hand, was appallingly bad. The stats say the Dolphins ran 24 times for 122 yards at a 5.1 yard per carry average. However, if you forget Fred Russell's 88 yard run on the next-to-last play of the game, the Dolphins had 23 rushes for 34 yards. Sammy Morris and Travis Minor combined for 11 carries for 12 yards. The Dolphins offensive line had a lot of problems opening holes for the running backs and the plays looked to be developing very slowly. As a result, the Dolphins' running game was totally ineffective. So most of the game for the Dolphins' offense consisted of bursts of successful pass plays, interspersed with pointless rushing attempts. The offense would move down the field in fits and starts and eventually stall in the Jaguars' end of the field, where the Dolphins would settle for a field goal. This happened 4 times in the game, with Mare missing 1 of 4 field goal attempts. It was only in the fourth quarter that the Dolphins, with Sage Rosenfels at quarterback, scored a touchdown. Rosenfels hit Ronald Bellamy with a 10 yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter. So the bottom line was that the offense was almost totally one-dimensional, but managed to make it work by avoiding turnovers and working on their strengths. On defense, the Dolphins did an excellent job, providing tight coverage, pressuring the Jaguars' quarterbacks and shutting down the running games. The Jaguars' quarterbacks had a combined rating of 69.5 and no touchdowns. The Dolphins had 3 official sacks, but if you count the times they flushed Jags quarterbacks from the pocket and tackled them for no gain or forced incompletions with pressure, the total would be much higher. The only time the first team defense had a problem was when Jaguars RB Fred Taylor reversed his field because there was no hole at the point of attack and Byron Leftwich shoved Will Poole in the back to clear a running lane. That play went for 42 yards, but was the only significant play the Jaguars first team offense had. Dolphins special teams had a pretty good night, except for the blocked punt. The Dolphins were backed up, trying to punt from their own 1 yardlin and Turk's punt was blocked out of the endzone for a safety. But Mare made 3 out of 4 field goal attempts and put 2 kickoffs in the endzone for touchbacks. The Dolphins didn't allow any punt returns by the Jaguars at all, downing both successful punts and did a fairly good job on kickoff coverage Overall, it was a pretty good first outing for the Dolphins. They passed the ball pretty well considering the lack of starting receivers and managed to move the ball. The lack of running game made them very one-dimensional, however, and that limited their productivity. The defense did a good job and showed a lot of depth from the new players, while not suffering from the lack of Zach Thomas, Wale Ogunleye, Sam Madison or Patrick Surtain. In addition to the things I mentioned above, the Dolphins had only one turnover, which was on a batted pass at the line of scimmage. When Ricky was in the lineup, he was good for a bout 1 turnover per game. The passing game was efficient and while it still needs work, they had a good beginning. The defense didn't allow a touchdown with strong play from both starters and reserves. A lot of unheralded defensive players and rookies made themselves known and showed that the Dolphins have good depth on the defense this year. Special teams did a good job, especially on punt coverage, preventing any punt returns at all. They also showed some promise on returns. Obviously, the running game is the biggest concern. The blocking needs to improve, the plays need to develop quicker and the running backs need to find the holes and seams. The Dolphins can't afford to be a one dimensional team. Penalties were a problem, with the Dolphins getting 8 for 68 yards. Most of the penalties were for stupid things like lining up wrong or illegal motion. One of the penalties - an offensive pass interference penalty on Donald Lee - negated an apparent touchdown in the 2 minute drill at the end of the first half. The mitigating factor in penalties is that it is only the first pre-season game and you expect a lot of them. But it doesn't bode well for reserve players who commit stupid mistakes in their big chance to impress the coaches. Jay Fiedler looked like Jay Fiedler, completing 7 of 11 passes for 89 yards, showing some athleticism but making his share of bad decisions. He threw one pass low into the middle of the field that bounced off a Jaguars' linebacker and missed an open Sam Simmons on a seam route down near the Jaguar's goal line. He also fumbled the ball when scrambling without being touched. AJ Feeley actually had the lowest quarterback rating of the night because of his interception, but was poised and confident in the pocket and showed a quick release on his passes. He hit a couple of nice passes, including an impressive over-the-shoulder throw to Ron Bellamy to set up a field goal at the end of the two-minute drill. Feeley completed 8 of 12 of his passes for 105 yards with 1 interception. However, one pass was a spike and another was a clear drop, while he had a touchdown pass called back on a penalty. Also, his interception was on a batted ball that wasn't his fault. Sage Rosenfels did his usual job of showing up the starters by completing 7 of 10 passes for 70 yards and the Dolphins' only touchdown. The running backs, as a group, did nothing and you have to blame a large part of that on the offensive line. With that in mind, here is how they did: Travis Minor was a marked man from the beginning by the Jaguars defense and was unable to accomplish anything. He had 5 carries for 0 yards rushing and 1 catch, also for no yards. It's hard to tell how much of that was his fault, but he doesn't seem to hit the line as quickly or as hard as Sammy Morris and doesn't seem to see the holes very well. Morris didn't fare much better. He had 6 carries for 12 yards rushing and caught 2 passes for 4 yards. Based on my untutored observations, he seemed to hit the hole quicker and harder than Travis Minor and might be a better choice to be the starter, with Minor keeping his "change of pace" role. Fred Russell showed that he is quick and elusive, but very small. He did have the only rushing highlight of the night with an 88 yard scamper on the next-to-last play of the game against the last string Jaguar defense. Otherwise, he carried 8 times for 13 yards. However, on kickoff returns he did a good job, having a 31 yard return in the 3rd quarter. Renaldo Works picked up 9 yards on 4 carries, but did little else to distinguish himself. WR Ronald Bellamy was the surprise star of the night, catching 4 passes for 72 yards and a TD. He made a couple of nice adjustments to catch some tough passes, especially his one-handed grab on a sideline route from AJ Feeley at the end of the 2nd quarter to set up the Dolphins' field goal just before halftime. Bellamy played well in NFLE this spring and may now get more chances to prove himself. Rob Konrad caught 3 passes for 54 yards, all in the first quarter, including a very nice 31 yard reception on a screen pass and an 7 yard catch on 4th down. It looks like the Konrad supporters may finally get their wish and see Rob Konrad become more involved in the offense. "Snoop" Minnis caught 3 passes for 29 yards, all late in the game. He didn't do enough to move up the depth chart, however. Randy McMichael had two nice catches for 27 yards and will continue to be an important part of the offense. I did see him get beaten badly by a linebacker while attempting to block on a running play, however. JR Tolver had 2 catches for 25 yards, but also had 3 penalties - 2 false starts and 1 for an illegal formation. He also dropped a pass that he should have caught. Sam Simmons caught 1 pass for 18 yards and returned one punt for 5 yards. He did get open on a seam route down the middle, but Jay Fiedler missed him. Donald Lee had 1 catch for 8 yards and 1 catch for 35 yards and a touchdown. Or at least it would have been, had Lee not been called for offensive pass interference. It was a shame, too, because Lee did some nice running after the catch for the touchdown. He needs to mature, but if he does, he'll be a great asset down the stretch. WR Carl Morris caught one pass for 14 yards, FB Ben Moa caught one for no yards and TE John Jones caught one for 9 yards. At right tackle, John St.Clair was praised by Coach Wannstedt for his play, but I saw him get beaten badly at least once and possibly twice. Still, that was better than what I saw from Greg Jerman, who had problems all night long. Seth McKinney also got praise from Wannstedt and I didn't see any major gaffes from him, but I also didn't see anything to write home about. Jeno James had some good moments as a pulling guard, including knocking a linebacker out of the way downfield on Rob Konrad's 31 yard screen pass. And Wade Smith looked a little tentative, but otherwise OK at left tackle. I didn't see much from Vernon Carey or Taylor Whitley that stood out one way or the other, but I did see Billy Yates miss a block that allowed a Jaguar to get into Miami's backfield. On defense, Jason Taylor is not credited with any tackles, sacks or passes defensed, but he was everywhere on the field on every play he was in the game. When David Bowens got a sack, it was Jason Taylor who had broken the pocket down and flushed Byron Leftwich out of the pocket for Bowens to catch. Taylor looked terrifc, getting into the backfield on nearly every play and disrupting the Jaguars continuously. Larry Chester had a good night, too, plugging the middle and dumping Fuamatu-Ma'afala for a 1 yard loss. Next to him, Jeff Zgonina had 2 tackles in one quarter of play and stopped Leftwich on a scramble. I've come to like Zgonina a lot for his outstanding play and relatively humble demeanor. David Bowens had a good night starting at left defensive end, getting a sack and applying good pressure on the Jaguar's quarterbacks. Jay Williams came in later on and had an excellent night himself, subbing on both sides as a reserve defensive end. He was robbed of a sack by the refs, who ruled that Leftwich was in the middle of throwing when Williams grabbed him from behind. However, the replay showed Leftwich not moving his arm forward until after Williams was wrapped all over him. If it was a pass, Leftwich should have been called for intentional grounding. DT Tony Brown had a sack and two tackles, coming up the middle later in the game. DE Ronald Flemons had 2 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. The coaches have been looking closely at Flemons as a possible backup at defensive end and he helped his chances on Saturday. Reserve LB Brendan Ayanbadejo lead the defense in tackles with 5, but rookie LB Tony Bua also had 5 tackles and knocked a pass away on a deep attempt by the Jaguars. Because he played safety in college, Bua can run with most receivers down the field. He looked aggressive and quick, but did get faked out on one play. Corey Jenkins and Derrick Pope also had 5 tackles apiece and I saw Pope around the ball on nearly every play. Pope also added a special teams tackle, which will help him make the team. Antuan Edwards contributed 4 tackles and played well enough to move up the depth chart to starting free safety ahead of Arturo Freeman, who had no tackles, but did knock down a pass. Yeremiah Bell, trying to get a place on the roster, had 3 tackles and a pass defensed, although that pass knockdown might have been called interference by a more conservative referee. Reggie Howard started at cornerback opposite Will Poole and had one regular tackle and one special teams tackle. Will Poole had one tackle and one pass defensed. The pass knockdown was on the first offensive play of the game by the Jaguars, who went right after Poole. Alphonso Roundtree had 2 tackles and knocked down a pass before breaking his leg and losing the season. Sammy Knight had 3 assists. Olindo Mare' put 2 of 5 kickoffs in the endzone and hit on 3 of 4 field goal attempts, although the missed field goal was from just 39 yards. Matt Turk had 2 punts for a 42.5 yard-per-punt average and put both punts down inside the 20 where the Dolphins' flyers downed the ball. He also had one blocked in his own endzone, but that was with only a 10 yard drop because the line of scrimmage was the one. WR Kendall Newson tore his achilles tendon and will out for the year. CB Alphonso Roundtree broke his lower leg and will also miss the season. CB Korey Banks suffered a severe "stinger" in his neck and was taken off the field with his neck immobilized. Considering the Dolphins were without 5 regular season starters, I thought they played fairly well. Obviously, the running game needs lots of work and the Dolphins may need a new running back, but once the offensive line solidifies, things should improve. Until this game, Jay Fiedler was the consensus starter, but AJ Feeley definitely gained ground on Fiedler on Saturday night. He showed that he can run the offense, keep his wits about him and throw well under pressure. It's unlikely this game will decide the battle, but AJ Feeley definitely made a statement about his ability and opened some eyes on the sideline. With a good performance this coming Saturday, Feeley could move ahead on the depth chart. With Jay Williams and David Bowens playing well and the running backs all looking mediocre, the pressure to trade Ogunleye's rights for a running back elsewhere in the league may grow. It will be interesting to see if the negotiations between the Dolphins and Ogunleye heat up this coming week.
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