The Dolphins beat the Colts on Sunday because of a great performance by their defense and a near-great performance by the special teams. Unfortunately, the offense didn't keep up with the rest of the team and despite being given great opportunities by the defense, they couldn't score much.
The defense was awesome last Sunday, sacking Harbaugh 5 times, hurrying him repeatedly and finally tiring him out so much that he pulled him himself from the game. The run defense wasn't quite as spectacular, but did shut down the Colts running game in the second half and contained both Marshall Faulk and Zack Crockett.
The special teams were also outstanding - except for one play. Special credit goes to Olindo Mare' for filling in for John Kidd as a punter and having a great day. Mare' also hit 3 field goals that made the difference in the final score. Also, the bat-and-catch duo of Tim Jacobs and Jerry Wilson showed everyone how to down a ball inside the 5 yard line - not once, but twice.
The problems with the offense were considerable. The passing game was nonexistant for most of the game, despite pretty good pass blocking by the offensive line. The rushing game was inconsistent, with pretty good production in the first half, but nothing happening in the second.
Overall, the Dolphins were outplayed in most statistical categories on Sunday, but managed to come away with a win because their defense played tough and the special teams kept pinning the Colts deep in their own end of the field.
My grading is going to be a little bit different than most. Most folks grade position-by-position, but I don't think that that makes much sense in modern football. I would rather grade by function - in other words, rather than grade the quarterback and the receivers separately, I will grade the passing game.
RUSHING: The Dolphins were inconsistent running the ball against the Colts as the stats show. Karim Abdul-Jabbar had 50 yards rushing in the first half on 9 carries for a 5.6 yard/carry average and a touchdown. This is better that Faulk's numbers in the first half, although if you watched the game, you wouldn't have picked that up.
At the end of the game, Karim had the same 50 yards of rushing, even though he added 4 carries in the second half. The offensive line run blocking still doesn't allow the running backs the room they need. The backs are doing all they can, but it can't compensate for the lack of push at the line of scrimmage. Also, they should improve in the second half, instead of going backwards. GRADE: C
PASSING: The Dolphins' passing attack was miserable and most of the blame must go to Marino. He wasn't waiting for receivers to get open, he was overthrowing people and he was fixating on OJ. The pass blocking was respectable for most of the game - there were no sacks - but Dan was not playing well.
The receivers do get some credit for the poor passing game, with a couple of drops, but for the most part, it was just a bad day for Dan. He also threw the interception that lead to the only Colts' touchdown. The only reason that this isn't a failing grade is that the Dolphins won. GRADE: D-
RUN DEFENSE: Some people will disagree, but I thought that the run defense was pretty good. In the first half, it was definitely inconsistent, but if you look back at the stats, Faulk didn't do as well as Abdul-Jabbar in the first half and the Colts couldn't convert when they really needed to.
Also, despite the fact that Faulk had pretty good numbers, most of those yards were made when he bounced outside. The inside rush was shut down by Miami for most of the game and Faulk consistently had to bounce outside. Once the Dolphins adjusted for this in the second half, Faulk was ineffective. And that doesn't count the forced fumbles... GRADE: B+
PASS DEFENSE: Other than some late heroics against the "prevent-nothing" defense that the Dolphins were running late in the game, the Colts' pass offense was totally neutralized by the Dolphins. The pass rush was so effective at shutting down Harbaugh and chasing him out of the pocket that he was exhausted and pulled himself at the end of the game.
Just look at these numbers - Harbaugh completed only 14 of 29 passes, was intercepted twice and the longest pass he completed was 18 yards. And that was on a catch-and-run by Lamont Warren. Marvin Harrison and Sean Dawkins, the Colts' two starting wide receivers, combined for 6 catches for 43 yards.
I don't want to downplay what happened at the end of the game when Justin completed 100 yards of passing against the prevent defense, but he was pressured consistently, was sacked twice and in the final analysis, was not effective. And this was when he was fresh against a defense that had played a lot more than they should have that day. GRADE: A
KICKING GAME: What more can you ask for? The Colts had a dangerous return game, but it was blanketed. Tim Jacobs and Jerry Wilson make this a great effort by downing two kicks inside the 5 yardline on just outstanding individual effort.
Also, Olindo Mare' hits 3 field goals and (more importantly) misses none. His kickoffs were inconsistent, but I think we can overlook that given the fact that he had to fill in for John Kidd at punter and had a 47 yard average punting the ball. GRADE: A+
KICK RETURN GAME: Despite all the good things that have been said about the Dolphins' special teams this week, I think that the kick return game was poor. Ismail, in his first start, had an excellent return to open the second half, but that was nullified by a penalty.
Also, what could later have been the most important play of the game, the Dolphins failed to recover the onsides kick in the fourth quarter. There was no excuse for this miscue and it could have cost the Dolphins the game. GRADE: C-
Obviously, I think that you have to be pleased with the improvement in the Dolphins pass defense from last year. The defensive backs are faster and more talented, the pass rush is a lot better and the linebackers are also faster and better at coverage.
The running defense was pretty good, especially on the inside where Bowens and Gardener were capable of clogging the middle of the field successfully.
The special teams kick coverage was nothing short of outstanding and the way that Mare' handled pressure is reassuring, especially after last year's inconsistency by Nedney.
Offense, offense, offense. Need I say more?
The run defense needs work at containing the runners who can bounce outside when the middle is clogged. That is just a function of experience for the linebackers, who will need to mature and get to the point where they don't bite quite so fast to the middle, especially when the line is successfully clogging it up.
And the kick return game needs to eliminate mistakes. Does anyone want to try and imagine how often the Dolphins practiced recovering onsides kicks this week?
Dan Marino had one of the worst days of his career, completing just 10 of 26 passes for 105 yards and no touchdowns. He gave the Colts their only touchdown on a poorly thrown pass that was intercepted and run back for a score. He was not himself.
Karim Abdul-Jabbar had a decent first half with 50 yards on 9 carries (5.6 yards per carry) and a 9 yard touchdown run. However, when the game was over he still had 50 yards, but on 13 carries, for a 3.8 yard/carry average. He also caught one pass for 10 yards, but sat out most of the second half after spraining his ankle.
Irving Spikes didn't do as well, rushing 14 times for 43 yards. He also caught one pass for 7 yards, but also dropped one.
OJ McDuffie lead the receivers with just 4 catches for 31 yards. Fred Barnett was right behind him with 3 catches for 28 yards.
The longest catch of the day was by Troy Drayton who caught one over the middle and made it a 29 yarder. Unfortunately, that was Drayton's only catch.
On defense, Derrick Rodgers kind of got lost in all the media after the game, but he lead the team with 10 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, a sack, and one pass defensed.
Right behind him was Jason Taylor, who had 7 total tackles and a sack.
Also getting sacks were Tim Bowens, Daniel Stubbs and Trace Armstrong, who all had good games for the team.
Anthony Harris and Dwight Hollier were not as noticeable at linebacker, getting 5 and 2 tackles respectively.
In the secondary, the star was safety Shawn Wooden, who had 2 interceptions, a fumble recovery, 6 tackles (3rd on the team) and 2 passes defensed. Wooden was rewarded for his efforts by being named AFC defensive player of the week by the NFL.
However, Buckley and Corey Harris each had 5 tackles and 1 pass defensed and Calvin Jackson had 5 tackles and 2 passes defensed.
On special teams, Tim Jacobs and Jerry Wilson combined as the "flyers" on punt returns to down 2 balls inside the 5 yardline.
And last, but certainly not least, Olindo Mare' hit all 3 field goals and filled in for John Kidd as the punter with an outstanding 47 yard per punt average.
Danny Stubbs suffered a severe knee injury and will be out for the rest of the seaon. Also, Karim Abdul-Jabbar sprained his ankle, but is expected to play against the Oilers next week.
This game was certainly a game for mixed emotions. The defense gave the fans a lot to cheer about and were the main force in winning the game. The offense, on the other hand, was inconsistent at best and Dan was not the force that we have all come to depend on and enjoy watching at quarterback.
So far, I have avoided discussing the situation with Dan at quarterback, especially in the wake of JJ's comments about benching Dan following the game.
But let's clear one thing up from the start, shall we? This all came about because a reporter ASKED JJ whether or not he had considered benching Dan Marino during the game and JJ responded honestly by saying yes, he had considered it. This was not a case where JJ announced that he had considered benching Dan - he was asked a question and he answered it.
Also, JJ did not say that he was going to be benching Dan in the future. He said that if necessary, Craig Erickson could win some games for the team and that no player was more important than the team as a whole.
Having said that, JJ doesn't say things to the press unless he has some agenda in mind. He didn't just stumble into saying that he had thought about benching Marino. It the question wasn't asked, it's not clear what would have happened, but JJ is smart enough that he knew some bonehead reporter would ask it.
So what is JJ trying to accomplish? I can only speculate, of course, but I think that he is trying to make Dan mad. That way, he can find out if it's just that Dan was having an off day or if he actually has lost some of his touch.
Sure, JJ says that he doesn't have to motivate Dan Marino, but that's baloney. Every coach's job includes motivating his players and Marino is another player - perhaps the greatest ever at his position - but he's still another player. And if JJ thinks that the problem is in Marino's head, he will look for a solution.
Now, this may work wonders or it may backfire. The last time that Dan was roasted in the media was 1994 and Dan responded by torching the Patriots. Perhaps it will work this time.
Or it could backfire and Dan could decide that he's had enough of JJ and decide to leave the team, one way or another. If that happens, of course, JJ will just plug in Erickson and move along, pleading innocence of the outcome.
Personally, I don't think that JJ has any kind of desire to get rid of Marino, unlike what some have suggested. He knows that a Marino who is playing at the top of his game can do things that no one else can do. And since JJ's primary focus is winning games, he doesn't care whether Marino does it for him or whether Erickson does it.
In any case, the bottom line is this - yes, I think that JJ said what he said in order to motivate Dan to play better. I think that there is just enough honesty there so that Dan can see the truth of it.
What will the outcome be? Well, it's anyone's guess, but this coming Sunday should provide us with a lot of answers.