OVERALL SUMMARY:
The Dolphins lost to the Colts 10-6 on Monday night football after Dan Marino went down in the first quarter with a broken ankle. Marino's loss allowed the Colts to shut down the Dolphins offense and limit them to 2 field goals and 28 yards rushing in the game.
The game started with the Dolphins kicking off and the Colts going 3 and out on their first series. The Dolphins then took the ball and marched down the field with a 13 play drive that included 4 runs for about 3 yards. However, Marino was Marino until the about the 10th play of the drive, when he hit OJ McDuffie with a 34 yard pass down to the Colt 7. After that pass, Dan was noticeably limping, but stayed in the game.
However, the Dolphins couldn't get the ball into the endzone from the Colts' 7 and had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead. And Dan Marino was on the sideline at this point having his foot examined and taped.
The Dolphins kickoff was taken by the Colts out to their 18, but after 5 plays and 13 yards, they were forced to punt again. The Dolphins, now with Bernie Kosar at the helm, didn't move much better and ran 5 plays for 18 total yards before punting. On the punt, Robert Bailey downed the ball at the Colts' 3 yard line.
The Colts, however, started at their own 3 and put together a 16 play, 97 yard drive that featured mostly short passes, but also showed some nice running and a roughing the passer penalty on Daniel Stubbs that was questionable. The drive ended halfway into the second quarter when Harbaugh hit a wide open Ken Dilger in the back of the endzone on a perfectly executed play fake. This was the game's only touchdown and it gave the Colts a 7-3 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Dolphins took the ball after the kickoff and Kosar drove them down the field to the Colts 11, mostly with short passes and one or two runs by Irving Spikes. But at the Colts 11, the drive stalled and Joe Nedney hit his second field goal of the night to narrow the game to 7-6.
The Colts would end the half after the next kickoff with possession of the ball, having gained only 14 yards on 5 plays and Harbaugh having been sacked twice.
The second half started with the Dolphins receiving the Colts' kickoff and they managed to move down the field from their own 36 to the Colts' 35 on a combination of short passes to backs and wide receivers, but Nedney couldn't quite get the distance and missed a 53 yard field goal to leave the score 7-6.
On the very next play from scrimmage, the Colts' Zach Crockett fumbled and Steve Emtman recovered at the 50, but after a sack of Kosar, a couple of little dump passes, two terrible incompletions by Kosar, a delay of game penalty and another sack, the Dolphins had only managed to move to the Colts 46, where they punted.
The Colts started at their own 10 and moved down the field with a series of well designed running plays that were designed to take Zach Thomas out of the picture and did exactly that. The Colts used draws and sweeps to good effect and moved the ball effectively down to the Dolphins' one, but a fine goal line stand by the Dolphins forced the Colts' to kick a field goal and move into the fourth quarter with a 10-6 lead.
After McPhail made a nice kickoff return to the Dolphins 37, the Dolphins went 3 and out and punted to the Colts. On the next series, the Colts started at their own 14 and moved out to the their 41, but were stopped when the Dolphins forced a fumble that was recovered by the Colts.
A word about that fumble - Chris Singleton clearly had possession of the ball, even though Harbaugh managed to get one hand on it. It was a major blunder by the officials to award the ball to the Colts. I rather doubt that it would have made any difference in the outcome of the game, but it was clearly a mistake by the refs.
Following the Colts' punt, the Dolphins began at their 14, but went 3 and out as Kosar was sacked again on third down. The Colts started at their 27 after a great punt and fine coverage by the Dolphins, but could only manage 19 yards to their 46, before they were forced to punt. But a good job by the Colts' special teams downed the ball at the Dolphin 3.
With just 4:25 remaining in the game, the Dolphins' last hopes died when Karim Abdul-Jabbar dropped an easy pass on third down at the Dolphins 11 and after the Dolphins punted to the Colts, the Colts got the 2 first downs they needed to run out the clock and win the game.
Overall, it was a very disappointing outing for the Dolphins, who didn't play with enough aggressiveness on offense to score the points needed to win this game. The defense and special teams did manage to keep the game close, but neither could win it and the lack of offensive power without Dan Marino doomed the Dolphins to just 6 points.
GOOD STUFF:
The special teams really were special in this game. In the kicking game, John Kidd averaged 49 yards per punt, hit a 63 yarder from deep in his own end of the field and placed 3 of his 5 punts inside the 20. Nedney put all of his kickoffs in the endzone and hit 2 of 3 field goals. The only one he missed was from 53 yards out.
The kick coverage was also good. The Colts' Marvin Harrison was limited to 7.1 yards per punt return and the only kickoff that was returned at all was held to 22 yards.
On the other side of the ball, the average kickoff return for the Dolphins was 36 yards, with Spikes having a 35 yarder and McPhail getting 2 for 34 and 36 yards, respectively.
As a result of the special teams' work, the average Dolphins drive started at the Dolphins' 28 and the average start after a kickoff was at the Dolphins' 36. The Colts, on the other hand, began 6 of their 9 drives at or inside their own 20.
Also, even though some may argue with this assessment, the defense did their job well. Even though they gave up a lot of rushing yardage, the held the Colts to their lowest point total of the season and only allowed 2 drives longer than 25 yards.
The defense also had a fine goal line stand, forced two fumbles, and held Harbaugh to 106 net yards passing with a 3.7 yard per pass average gain. That's very, very low. The longest Colts' completion of the game was 14 yards and the Colts' best receiver had only 4 catches for 40 yards.
THINGS TO WORK ON:
Obviously, the biggest failure of the game was the offensive lines' inability to control the line of scrimmage. The Dolphins only gained 28 yards rushing on 15 carries and Kosar was sacked 5 times. The offensive line got manhandled and didn't play like they had for the past 3 weeks.
Also, the defense's ability to stop the run was poor, especially in the second half, where the Colts built up most of their rushing yardage. Especially effective were the draws by Zach Crockett. The Colts used the draw and their center to neutralize Zach Thomas and that eliminated the Dolphins' run defense.
The last thing that the Dolphins need to work on is their game planning. They had no answers to either the draw or the blitz, even when everyone watching the game knew that these plays were coming. The Dolphins should have been trying more different things than they did.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
Bernie Kosar was forced to take Marino's place and completed 15 of 22 for 122 yards, but was sacked 5 times. He had no mobility and failed to get off passes several times when he had time to throw.
Karim Adbul-Jabbar ran 9 times for 18 yards and had 3 catches for 27 yards, but dropped a key third down pass late in the game.
OJ McDuffie lead the receivers with 4 catches for 62 yards.
Stanley Pritchett also caught 4 passes for just 20 yards.
Irving Spikes had 5 carries for just 4 yards, but did return one kickoff for 35 yards.
Jerris McPhail had 2 kickoff returns for 34 and 36 yards and caught one pass for 15 yards.
On defense, Louis Oliver lead the team in tackles with 11 total and saved a touchdown when he knocked a ball away from Dilger. On the other hand, he lost coverage on Dilger on the play-fake that resulted in the only touchdown of the game.
Singleton was second with 7 tackles and an assist and really had a fumble recovery, although it will never count.
Zach Thomas and Steve Emtman each had 5 tackles and an assist and Emtman was credited with a sack.
Trace Armstrong and Danny Stubbs each had one sack.
Joe Nedney made 2 of 3 field goals and put all his kickoffs in the endzone.
And last, but certainly not least, John Kidd averaged 49 yards per punt and put 3 of 5 punts inside the Colts' 20 yard line.
INJURIES:
Obviously, Dan Marino has turned up with a broken ankle and will be out 4-6 weeks. However, there were some other injuries.
The worst injury, other than Marino, was to Sean Hill, who suffered a severely strained hamstring. Right now, he is considered doubtful for the game against Seattle.
Calvin Jackson had an MRI on his back on Monday, but it was negative and he will practice this week. Charles Jordan has some swelling in his knee and Shawn Wooden has a slight ankle sprain, but both will be practicing and should be available for the Seattle game.
My Comments:
This game is more notable for what it wasn't than for what it was. It wasn't a shootout like the two games last year.
It was a defensive battle that was won by the Colts.
I was pretty sure, before this game began, that the battle between the Colts defense and the Dolphins offense would determine the outcome of the game. Unfortunately, without Marino, it was no contest. The Colts defense completely shut down the Dolphins offense and the Colts offense only had to score 10 points to win this game.
Now, I know that some may argue that the Colts would have won even if Marino had played the entire game. However, I just don't believe that. Marino would have found a way to win this game. His quick release would have helped to negate the Colts' pass rush and his skills would have found the open receiver. He would have made a huge difference.
It was an important game, but it was not the end of the season. What we'll find out now is how good this team really is....
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