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[ Individual Performances | Injuries | Comments | Web Links ] The Dolphins closed out a 4-0 preseason on Friday night with a pretty impressive 21-7 win over the Green Bay Packers in Miami. While the game was essentially meaningless to both teams, and the Packers were coming off a Monday night game in Denver (who schedules these things, anyway?), it was still a nice way to finish up the overture to the 1998 season. While the game was marred by injuries to Lorenzo Bromell and Jason Taylor, the Dolphins' first string offense and defense performed almost exactly as you would hope they would perform against a class team like the Packers. The Dolphins' offense took the opening kickoff, drove straight down the field and scored a touchdown on a one yard run by Karim Abdul-Jabbar to give the Dolphins the early lead. The Dolphins' defense smothered the Packers' running game and did well enough against the pass to hold the Packers to less than 100 yards passing in the first half and no scores. The game started with John Avery returning the opening kickoff for 41 yards to the Dolphins' 45. From there, Dan Marino and Karim took 12 plays and 7:11 to carry the team down to the Packers' 1 yard line, where Karim punched it in for a touchdown. On the opening drive, Karim had 8 carries and Stanley Pritchett had one for a total of 28 yards. While that isn't a good yard-per-carry average overall, the only time they were stopped from running was down near the goalline, where it took 3 attempts from the 1 to punch it in. On the first drive, they converted two third and short situations by running the ball. Also, from the Dolphins' 45 to the Packer 1 yard line, they ran 6 times for 27 yards, which is a 4.5 ypc average. The resulting kickoff was well returned by Green Bay to the Dolphins' 50 where Olindo Mare' made the touchdown saving tackle. On the tackle, however, Mare' was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness, because he tackled Green Bay kick returner Roell Preston by grabbing him on the collar and flinging him to the ground. I doubt that JJ was disappointed, however. The Packers completed one pass to Chmura and had one short run on this series before Favre and Packers' running back Travis Jervey fumbled the handoff and Tim Bowens recovered, ending the Packers' first drive. On the next drive, the Dolphins tried a couple of times to hit the big play to Oronde Gadsden and even though Gadsden did get open a couple of times, Marino and he were not on the same page and the ball never quite got to Gadsden. Dan overthrew him down the sideline once when he was open deep. Dan and Oronde need to work to get in sync. Once that happens, however, Gadsden should be a formidable threat. The rest of the half was pretty much a see-saw game, with neither team really threatening and no big plays, with the expect-ion of a Jason Taylor interception, which I'll get to in a paragraph or two. The Dolphins ran one more series with Marino in there (for 3 total) and then Damon Huard took over. Craig Erickson sat out the game complaining of a sore elbow, so Huard played 3 quarters and did a respectable, if not spectacular job. The Packers also let Brett Favre sit down after the first quarter and Doug Pederson, who played in Miami for a while, took over. Neither Favre nor Pederson really got anything going and the Packers were scoreless at the end of the first half. Their closest penetration was when John Avery fumbled at the Dolphins' 10 yard line and the Packers recovered. However, the Packers couldn't gain any yardage from the Dolphins' 10 and their kicker shanked the field goal attempt wide right. Towards the end of the first half, on a 3rd and 12 from the Dolphins' 41, Pederson tried to hit Bill Schroeder across the middle, but Jason Taylor, who had dropped back into coverage on a zone blitz by Zach Thomas, used his size to pick off the Pederson pass and then put on a nice 38 yard return to the Packer 26 yard line. From there, it took Karim Abdul-Jabbar 5 carries to put the ball into the endzone for a touchdown and a Dolphin 14-0 lead. The second half was pretty similar to the second quarter, with both teams playing backups and not looking too sharp. Damon Huard stayed in for Miami, but Matt Hasselbeck came in to play for the Packers. The Dolphins did put together one halfway decent drive in the third quarter that ended in a touchdown, that was fueled by a 31 yard pass from Huard to Gadsden and a 4th and 1 run by John Avery that netted 2 yards. The touchdown on this drive was scored on 4th down and goal from the Packer 4 yard line when Huard dropped back in the pocket and waited patiently for newcomer Hendrick Lusk to work his way open. Huard then hit Lusk with a low pass that gave the Dolphins a 21-0 lead. The rest of the game was pretty sloppy for both teams, although there were some decent plays on both sides. The Packers finally got on the board in the 4th quarter on a 31 yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Ron Anderson, which completed the game's scoring. And the Dolphins' Ray Nealy had a 35 yard run from scrimmage, but couldn't complete that series and the Dolphins stalled on the Packers' 4 yard line. Overall, the game was a clear victory for the Dolphins and their first string in particular. The offense looked powerful and did a good job running the ball. The defense did a much better job against the pass than they did against the 49ers and the pass rush and the coverage were a lot better. Of course, the worst part of the game for the Dolphins was when Lorenzo Bromell and Jason Taylor both went down with injuries. In the 2nd quarter, Bromell sprained a knee and in the 4th quarter, Jason Taylor tore a tendon in his leg. The good news about both of these injuries is that they'll keep each player out for only a week each. The running game produced 154 yards rushing on 47 carries. They also converted 11 first downs by running the ball and the first string converted 3 third and short situations by running the ball. Using the running game, the Dolphins controlled the time of possession, 35:48 to 24:12 for the Packers. The passing game was not as effective, only racking up 105 yards on 20 attempts, but Marino was not pressured and if he had managed to work out the timing with Oronde Gadsden, he would have had at least one and possible two big plays to Gadsden. The defense again smothered the rushing attack of the opponent, holding the Packers to 39 yards on 20 carries and limiting Travis Jervey, the Packers starting running back, to 10 yards on 9 carries. In contrast, by the way, Travis Jervey ran 5 times for 76 yards against the Dolphins last summer in the preseason. The passing defense was improved from last week, getting 3 sacks, 2 interceptions and holding the Packers to a completion rate of 41%. On special teams, the Dolphins only returned one kickoff, but that went for 41 yards. The kickoff coverage was poor again and that has to be an area of concern for Mike Westhoff and the special teams. Kick coverage has not been as good as it might have been this summer and the Dolphins can't afford to have a breakdown in this area in the regular season. Marino and Gadsden need to work on their timing for the future. As Gadsden improves, using his hands and size to become a better receiver, Marino must get him the ball when he gets open. That's just a matter of timing, but it must be worked out. Dan did not have that great a night, although he has had worse. He completed just 3 of 7 for 27 yards, with no interceptions and no touchdowns. He did have Gadsden open a couple of times and overthrew him, but whether this was Dan's fault or Gadsden's route running, we don't know. Karim Abdul-Jabbar showed why he is still the starter. He rushed 16 times for 56 yards and got a 3.5 ypc average with 2 touchdowns. He also converted the 3 third and short situations the Dolphins found themselves in in the first half. Stanley Pritchett, while having had a quiet preseason, caught a pass for 6 yards and had a 5 yard run. John Avery had a great kickoff return for 41 yards, but otherwise had a mediocre night. He had 14 carries for 33 yards and fumbled the handoff from Damon Huard in the 2nd quarter. He showed flashes, but never broke one. He did have one 4th down and short run that gained a first down. Ray Nealy broke a 35 yard run in the 3rd quarter that was impressive and ended the night with 10 carries for 49 yards. However, he wasn't able to punch the ball into the endzone on 4 tries inside the 10, although to be fair, he did get down to the one. With Charles Jordan out, Gadsden started opposite OJ McDuffie. He led all receivers with 4 catches for 67 yards, including a 31 yard catch and a 26 yard catch, both from Damon Huard. He caught just one pass from Marino for 5 yards, but was very open on a couple of others as the ball never quite got to him On his 26 yard reception, he caught the ball about 6 yards downfield and broke a tackle to gain the next 20. OJ McDuffie was quiet, catching 1 pass for 16 yards. Brian Manning caught 2 for 15 yards, which was 2 more than Lamar Thomas, who didn't catch a pass all night. No tight ends had any catches, except for Hendrick Lusk, who was claimed off waivers on Wednesday. He had one catch for 4 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line kept doing their jobs, keeping Dan from being sacked and opening holes for the running backs to get through. Damon Huard was sacked twice, but the running game was still powerful in the second half behind the backups. On defense, Robert Jones led the team in tackles for the second week in a row, getting a total of 5 (2 solo and 3 assists). The biggest gain on any of these plays was 3 yards. Clearly, Jones is playing very well. Behind Jones, Jason Taylor, Shawn Wooden and Dwight Hollier all had 4 tackles each. Jason Taylor, while not getting a sack this week, did pick off a pass and return it 38 yards. One of those tackles by Taylor was for a 4 yard loss. Elsewhere on the defensive line, Tim Bowens didn't have a tackle and neither did Darryl Gardener, but Bowens did recover the fumble that stopped the Packers' first drive. Kenny Mixon had 3 tackles on the night, including a tackle of Raymont Harris for a 1 yard loss. Trace Armstrong had a single tackle - fortunately, it was a sack for the Dolphins, one of three on the night. Lorenzo Bromell had 3 assisted tackles and shared a sack of Doug Pederson with Shane Burton in the 2nd quarter. And speaking of Burton, he led the team in sacks, getting 1.5 for the game. He also had a batted pass that fell incomplete. Danny Stubbs had 2 total tackles and Barron Tanner had one tackle and he also knocked down a pass. OJ Brigance and Zach Thomas each had 3 tackles and Derrick Rodgers had one on the night. Terrell Buckley had 1 interception and 4 passes knocked down on the night, but did draw a bogus pass interference call for a 31 yard gain. He also returned 1 punt for 16 yards and called for a fair catch on 2 others. On the other side, Sam Madison was credited with 2 tackles, but no passes defensed. Patrick Surtain played again and again had some problems, but did knock one pass away. Safety Shawn Wooden had a good night, getting 4 tackles and knocking a pass away. His counterpart Brock Marion was credited with only one assisted tackle. Calvin Jackson, playing backup strong safety this week and nickel back, recorded 2 solo tackles. On special teams, Nate Jacquet returned two punts for 14 total yards, T-Buck returned one punt for 16 yards and John Avery had 1 kickoff return for 41 yards. Also, Kirby Dar Dar led all special teams tacklers with 2. Klaus Wilmsmeyer handled the punting duties, averaging 40.9 yards per punt. And Olindo Mare' kicked off 4 times, putting all 4 in the endzone, 2 of which were returned. He also drew what may be the first ever unnecessary roughness penalty on a kicker, when he tackled Roell Preston by grabbing him by the collar and flinging him down. There were two injuries of note. First of all, Lorenzo Bromell sprained knee ligaments in the 2nd quarter and will probably be out for the first game against the Colts. Also, Jason Taylor suffered a slight tear in a tendon behind his knee in the 4th quarter. He, too, will probably miss the first game against the Colts, but shouldn't be out more than one game. This game was a very scary affair. Oh, it was not because of the way the Dolphins played. What made it scary was the injuries to the two best pass rushers that the Dolphins have, Jason Taylor and Lorenzo Bromell. It's unusual for 2 players at the same position to get hurt in the same game, but's what's ironic about these injuries is that if Bromell hadn't gotten hurt in the first half, then Taylor would probably not have even been on the field in the second half and wouldn't have gotten hurt then. With JJ's defensive line rotation, Bromell and Stubbs would have played the second half at right defensive end and Jason Taylor would have been sitting it out. Life is funny that way. Still, I'm just thankful that the injuries weren't worse. They could have been a lot worse and the prognosis of only one missed game is just fine with me. In their place, Danny Stubbs will get a lot of playing time and, of course, Shane Burton has experience on the right end in an emergency. Burton is not the preferred player there by any means, but he has played there and even started several games there last year. As to this last game, well, it's really hard to read much into it, except that I think it's clear that the Dolphins are ready to start the regular season. The team looks significantly improved from this point last year and I think that we're looking at a much better, much deeper team.
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curt@phins.com DOLFAN in New England |
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