The Dolphins showed nothing new tonight even though they defeated the Chicago Bears 21-14 at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. It was a game similar to the other two games that they've played in the preseason, with the same stars and pretty much the same outcome.

The game opened with the Dolphins capitalizing on a Chicago turnover when Calvin Jackson intercepted a Rick Mirer pass on the third play of the game, followed two plays later by Dan Marino connecting with Lamar Thomas on a 10 yard touchdown strike to give the Dolphins a 7-0 lead.

The rest of the first half the Dolphins didn't score as we saw the same team we've seen for the past 2 weeks. The Dolphins' offensive line couldn't run the ball effectively and had to pass to move down the field. Marino was fairly effective passing the ball, but didn't get the Dolphins in position to score.

The Bears, for their part, were fairly successful in moving the football against the Dolphins' defense early, especially when they attacked the middle of the field where rookie Mike Crawford was subbing for the injured Zach Thomas. Most of the major plays were right over the middle where Zach would have been playing and while Crawford had a decent effort, he couldn't quite keep up with the tempo of the game.

The Bears also got a gift from the officials in the first half when it was ruled that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fumbled the ball while stretching for a first down. The ball was picked up by the Bears and returned from about mid-field to the Dolphins 1 yard line, where the Bears punched it in.

However, replay clearly showed that the ball didn't come lose until Kareem had hit the ground, so the Bears ended the first half with a 14-7 lead.

The Dolphins came out in the second half with most of their first team still playing, except for Marino and Abdul-Jabbar. Craig Erickson guided the team to two third quarter touchdowns, one on a 2 yard run by Irving Spikes and the other on a 6 yard pass to a wide open Troy Drayton in the endzone. Those two scores gave the Dolphins a 21-14 lead, which would turn out to be the final score.

Overall, I'd have to say that the same problems persist on the team. The offensive line looked a little better blocking for the run with Everett McIver starting in place of Chris Gray, but not enough to really make a difference, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished the night with 11 carries for 32 yards, which is a small improvement, but there were still too many times when the opposing defense got their linebackers into the Dolphins' backfield and disrupted the play.

Marino looked sharp and more mobile than I've seen him in a long time. Lamar Thomas looked pretty good, as did Charles Jordan. I don't think that OJ McDuffie caught a pass all night and surprisingly, Jerris McPhail contributed very little.

The defense really missed Zach Thomas and it showed every time the Bears would attack Crawfords' area. Too many runs up the middle were allowed and too many crossing patterns produced decent results.

Brian Manning and Jason Taylor continue to look like the real deal, even though they weren't as much of a factor as they had been in th previous two games. I'm not sure, but I don't believe that Taylor had a sack and Manning didn't have a touchdown, but both showed their abilities and played very well.

Derrick Rodgers also began to be more visible and hopefully will continue to improve.

The much maligned Clayton Holmes had some decent kickoff returns and broke up a deep pass in one-on-one coverage that probably saved a touchdown.

In the kicking duel between Nedney and Mare, there was no progress made in determining who will stay, since both made their extra points, and both kicked off very deeply, but neither had the opporunity to kick a field goal.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible effort by the Dolphins, but the offensive line still needs to work on their run blocking or Kareem will have a tough time equaling his 1000 yard season last year.

I doubt very much if any positions will change tomorrow as a result of this game, although JJ looked decidedly unhappy towards the middle fo the second quarter. Other than the running game, however, I thought that the team looked pretty good.