The Dolphins won another squeaker on Sunday beating the Oilers in overtime by the score or 16-13. It was another day for the defense and special teams to bail out the offense, but this time the Dolphins were facing a much tougher opponent and while the running game was even worse than in Week 1, at least the passing game had returned - to a point.
In the first quarter and part of the second, it was all Dolphins as Miami moved up and down the field at will and shut down the Oilers defensively. The only problem was that even though Miami got the ball inside the Oilers' 10 on 2 drives, they could only come away with a field goal.
Towards the end of the second quarter, the Oilers put together their best two series of the day and scored 10 points to take them out to a 10-3 lead at halftime.
The second half was a see-saw battle of defense and missed opportunities by both teams. The Dolphins did put together two decent drives when they went to the no-huddle offense and this time managed to score a touchdown and a field goal. The Oilers couldn't respond as well as they did earlier, only moving down to get a field goal after a Fred Barnett fumble.
The second biggest play of the day occurred with less than a minute left when the Oilers completed their longest pass of the day to set up a potential game-winning field goal. However, Al Del Greco shanked it to send the game into overtime, tied at 13 all.
Then came the biggest play of the day when Irving Spikes returned the ball 48 yards to put Miami in excellent position for Olindo Mare' to kick a field goal and win the game in overtime.
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 did almost nothing with their running game on Sunday, ending the day with less than 60 rushing yards and a 2.2 yard per carry average. They were also unable to convert once on 3rd and 1 and twice on 4th and 1. The blocking was miserable and the running wasn't much better. The only thing that keeps this grade from being a total failure is the fact that the Dolphins scored their only touchdown on a 2 yard run by Irving Spikes. GRADE: D
PASSING: The Dolphins passing game came back on Sunday with a vengeance, which may be a pretty good way of expressing it. Marino was sacked three times, but all were on blitzes and for the most part, was able to find time to throw. Marino himself was on-target for most of the day and his lack of touchdowns passes is due only to his receivers either not being able to get open or not catching the ball when they were.
With over 300 passing yards, this was a good effort, but the receivers didn't contribute very well to it. Charles Jordan, in particular, dropped at least 3 passes that I saw and while I can excuse one, 3 is too many. Fred Barnett was also not very effective and routinely found himself well covered. The tight ends only caught one pass the whole game.
On the other hand, the running backs had a great day catching the ball out of the backfield and OJ McDuffie was spectacular, getting over 130 yards receiving. GRADE: B
RUN DEFENSE: It's hard to grade this out, because the Oilers did wind up with over 180 yards rushing. However, with the exception of one drive in the 2nd quarter, the Dolphins were able to at least contain Eddie George to the point where he was not very effective late in the game. In fact, the Dolphins' run defense improved as the game progressed, with George being held to a 3.9 yard/carry average in the 2nd half. GRADE: C+
PASS DEFENSE: If not for one perfectly executed play-fake at the end of the game, the pass defense would have been just about perfect. Even with the 46 yard reception, the Oilers ended the game with just 109 passing yards and the rush, while not getting any sacks, repeatedly forced McNair to scramble for his life.
Unfortunately, McNair is good on the scramble and the Dolphins didn't contain him very well when he chose to scramble. He ended up with 62 rushing yards on 11 carries, but didn't pass well at all. The late pass was the only poor pass play, but it was a big one. GRADE: B
KICKING GAME: Olindo Mare' missed his first field goal, which was just a chip shot for 26 yards. However, he later came back and kicked 3 other field goals, including the game winner in overtime. His kickoffs were pretty good, with 2 of them sailing for touchbacks and with the Dolphins doing a good job of covering Mel Gray, the Oilers' return man. GRADE: A
KICK RETURN GAME: Both Spikes and Jordan were red-hot as return men and the blocking was there as the return game was devastating to the Oilers. Spikes return in overtime set up the Dolphins for the short winning drive. GRADE: A+
The Dolphins' passing game came alive and Marino was back to normal, standing in the face of a great pass rush and delivering the ball with accuracy and zip. It was good to see him get in sync with McDuffie.
The defense, overall, had a good day. They only gave up one touchdown and were very tough against both the run and the pass.
The special teams were outstanding and once again set up the offense to win the game.
The running game is still miserable and the cure doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight. The passing game improved, but Dan still needs to work on getting the ball around to more of his receivers. OJ can't be the only guy to catch passes.
The secondary must play the positions as assigned and be aware of play-fakes like the one that caught Shawn Wooden on Sunday. That kind of thing will kill the Dolphins next Sunday if they don't fix it.
Marino was back in a big way, throwing 43 times for his first 300+ yard game under JJ. He didn't have any touchdowns, but that was more a function of dropped passes and poorly run routes than anything he did.
Karim Abdul-Jabbar was not there on Sunday as he rushed 19 times for only 33 yards. He did have a couple of nice runs early on, but he also had at least 5 runs for negative yardage. As a receiver, he was better, catching 2 passes for 23 yards.
Irving Spikes had a little better day in relief, gaining 18 yards on 4 carries and catching 3 passes for 39 yards. He also scored the Dolphin's only touchdown on a 2 yard run in the 4th quarter.
Bernie Parmalee played sparsely, but contributed well the few times he touched the ball. He ran once for 5 yards and caught 3 passes for 38 yards, including a crucial 16 yard gain in overtime.
OJ McDuffie was hero number 2 on Sunday, catching 8 passes for 135 yards, including a 50 yard laser from Marino that went right down the middle of zone.
Fred Barnett was respectable, but not noteworthy, as he caught 5 passes for 56 yards and drew the interference penalty that gave the Dolphins a first and goal on the 2.
Charles Jordan was all over the field on Sunday - either screwing up miserably or performing brilliantly. He dropped 2 touchdown passes in the endzone and a crucial pass in the 4th quarter that would have been a first down. Instead, it forced the Dolphins to punt as they were almost in range for a field goal. On the other hand, he averaged almost 22 yards per punt return and had a 38 yarder late in the game.
Troy Drayton was invisible, catching just one pass for 4 yards.
Moving over to defense, Jason Taylor didn't get a sack, but did make a terrific play on the end-around to knock Sanders for a 7 yard loss and was all over the field again. He was tied for 4th on the team with 5 tackles.
Tim Bowens ended the day with just three tackles, but did put pressure on McNair and had a beautiful tackle of Eddie George in the final minute of the game for a 3 yard loss.
Darryl Gardener had 5 tackles on the day and also had a nice stop of George late in the game, although it was not as big as Bowens' stop. Trace Armstrong was pretty invisible most of the day, but did bat a ball at the line of scrimmage and get 2 tackles, including stopping McNair at the line of scrimmage when he tried to scramble.
Buckley had the only interception for the Dolphins and had one solo tackle.
Calvin Jackson had another perfect pass defense this week, where he stripped Chris Sanders of the ball at the catch about 40 yards downfield. That makes 2 weeks in a row that Jackson has prevented a long completion with individual effort.
Shawn Wooden did not repeat his effort of a week ago, but did lead the team in tackles with 8. He did get sucked into the play-fake that nearly cost the Dolphins the game as McNair hit Sanders deep at the end of the game.
Derrick Rodgers was tied with Wooden for the lead in tackles with 8 and added a pass defensed.
Zach Thomas was right behind Rodgers with 7 tackles and he held up well throughout most of the game.
Olindo Mare' made 3 field goals of less than 30 yards, including the game winner in overtime, but missed a chip-shot early in the game. His kickoffs were pretty good as he put two out of the endzone.
Kyle Richardson punted well in relief of John Kidd, averaging 45.7 yards per punt, but didn't control the ball well at the end of the game and couldn't place it inside the 20.
The big news is Stanley Pritchett, who tore some connective tissue in his knee and will be out 2-3 months. However, the Dolphins have no plans to put him on injured reserve.
Shawn Wooden dislocated his thumb and will have a cast placed on it this week, but will play on Sunday against Green Bay. John Kidd is still officially questionable, but the Dolphins released the other punter, so they're confident he'll be back this week.
And George Teague sprained his ankle and is also listed as questionable, but he says that he'll play on Sunday.
Another tough win for the Dolphins at home has brought into focus the nature of the team this year.
First of all, the Dolphin defense is much improved, especially the secondary. They have been covering very well and keeping the passing games of opposing teams in check. At this time, they are 5th in the NFL in pass defense. While it's true that they have not faced any real threats from serious passing teams, anyone can see the improvement in this unit.
The pass rush has also improved with the addition of Jason Taylor and Derrick Rodgers and the improvement of Bowens and Gardener. Opposing pockets are collapsing and opposing quarterbacks are scrambling more.
On offense, the running game has actually taken a step backwards, or so it seems. With the retirement of Ron Heller last year, the right side of the offensive line has been inconsistent at best and the most that JJ has been able to do is to put big guys there.
The left side of the line still pass blocks as well as ever, but they just don't seem to be able to get that push off the line of scrimmage that is needed to establish a decent running game.
The passing game is still shaky, but as Marino gets more in sync with his receivers and perhaps if JJ will let him pass more and run the no-huddle offense more, the offense will come together. It will certainly improve as the season progresses.
Special teams really are special and it looks as if they are going to among the league's best this year.
So where does that leave us? Well, for the first part of the year, it looks like we'll be looking at more close games that will be decided by special teams and/or defense with the offense doing just enough not to lose the game. This is fine when they're playing the Oilers or Colts, but the offense, in particular, will need to get in sync better if they are to beat teams like the Packers, Patriots and, of course, the Bills.
I still think that this team will end the year better than the team last year. But the offense must find a way to come together and do more than just put yards in the stats books.
HeraldLink: Score another for the D
HeraldLink: Dolphins Notebook
HeraldLink: Stepping up for a friend
Sun-Sentinel: McDuffie Plays Staring Role
Sun-Sentinel: Marino Silences Critics
NFL.COM: Game Notebook