OVERALL SUMMARY:
The Dolphins did not look very good yesterday in losing to the Chicago Bears 24-21 in Chicago. Even though the final score was close, and the Bears won on a field goal on the last play of the game, the Dolphins had no running game to speak of (60 yards total rushing) and the defense didn't play well until the second string entered in the second half.
About the only thing that really impressed me about the Dolphins was the play of Dan Marino. Marino doesn't normally play all that well in the preseason, but he was on fire yesterday, completing nearly 70% of his passes for 159 yards and 2 TDs - in the first half.
His passing also made me feel better about the loss of Fred Barnett. I've said before that Marino made Duper and Clayton great and that the loss of Barnett is the least of the Dolphins' worries this year. Marino's performance yesterday just reinforced that feeling. Otherwise, however, the team looked much like the Dolphins of old yesterday. There was little to be happy about.
During the first quarter, the Dolphins had two drives. The first lasted 4 plays and had two running plays for one total yard and a sack. The second drive lasted 5 plays and did have a 12 yard run by Spikes, but that was all. On defense, during the first quarter, the Dolphins gave up one 15 play drive that ended in a field goal and another 9 play drive that also yielded 3 points.
In the second quarter, the Dolphins had 5 drives. On 3 of them, they went 3 and out. On the other two, the Dolphins scored touchdowns. However, on the two touchdown drives, the Dolphins ran a total of 2 running plays - one on each drive - for a total of 8 yards. The rest was all Marino. On the first TD, he hit Randal Hill down the right sideline with a 34 yard bullet. On the second, he finessed a 4 yard pass to Lamar Thomas on the right side of the endzone.
On defense in the second quarter, the Dolphins gave up two touchdowns by the Bears. The first was on an 83 yard bomb from Kramer to Conway. Conway completely turned JB Brown around and then just ran away from him. According to comments after the game, JJ said that Brown was the one who blew the coverage, since he had Conway man-to-man.
The other Bears touchdown occured after a long punt return to the Dolphins 43 yard line and a 7 play drive.
During the second half, both team inserted their second, third and fourth string players, pretty much in that order. Neither team scored in the third quarter, but early in the 4th quarter, Terrell Buckley had his second interception of the day and made a nice runback to the Bears 33. A penalty added 15 more yards and the Dolphins took just two plays for a pass from Bernie Kosar to find Robert Wilson for a touchdown.
However, after a Bears punt was downed at the Miami two, the Bears stopped Karim Abdul-Jabbar in the endzone for a safety and a tie ballgame. Then, on the last series, Chicago marched down and hit a short field goal for the win.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
Despite the lack of a running game and the sad defensive performance in the first half, this game was still about individual performances. Below is some of the things I noticed:
Dan Marino is still Dan Marino. Age and injury hasn't slowed him.
All the running backs looked about the same. When the holes were there, they made good yardage. When there were no holes, which was most of the time, they got stuffed. Terry Kirby did look very good catching the ball and probably enhanced his trade value. Jerris McPhail looked very good on kickoff returns. And I thought Karim Abdul-Jabbar actually looked pretty good on 3 or 4 plays.
The starting offensive line was pretty bad. They just weren't opening the holes that needed opening.
Stanley Pritchett was very unimpressive and you have to wonder why he is starting. He dropped the only pass thrown his way and was buried when he tried to block.
OJ McDuffie is going to be just fine this year and Randal Hill had a couple of nice plays, including his touchdown catch, where he blew by the cornerback. The big surprise was Lamar Thomas, who looked pretty good, even though he only caught 2 passes.
On the other hand, none of the tight ends caught a pass. They were invisible.
On defense, no one on the defensive line had a really good day. The only play that was really impressive was in the second half, when the entire defensive line collapsed the Chicago offensive line and Stubbs got the lone sack for the Dolphins.
Gardener did have one standout play, where he shed a blocker and stood up the running back for no gain, but he wasn't real impressive most of the game. However, I did notice that even when he was blocked out of the play, he would show up downfield and be in on the play. He looked to be hustling all the time.
Zach Thomas played practically the entire game at middle linebacker. He didn't have any great solo efforts that I saw, but he was near or in on most of tackles. He needs some seasoning, but he'll be fine someday.
The other starting linebackers were not in evidence on most of the plays. I think I saw Hollier more than I saw Singleton, but neither player really impressed me.
Of the second string linebackers, I saw good things out of Anthony Harris and Jeff Kopp.
Terrell Buckley continues to play the best coverage of any of the corners, getting 2 interceptions. Buckley's now had 4 interceptions in 2 games and the scrimmage against the Redskins. JB Brown, on the other hand, was roasted by Curtis Conway on the long touchdown pass.
The other defensive back who impressed me was Calvin Jackson. In the second half, he seemed to be in on every other defensive play.
And one other thing - Mike Buck is history.
INJURIES:
As far as I know, there were no serious injuries during the game. I did have a near heart-attack when Keith Sims went down in the 4th quarter and wasn't moving, but he was back in a couple of plays later.
My Comments:
I miss Ron Heller, Bryan Cox and Troy Vincent. But I don't miss Marco Coleman or irving Fryar.
The Dolphins have a lot of work to do.
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