OVERALL SUMMARY:

The Dolphins finally got a much needed victory on Sunday as they hung on to beat the scrappy San Diego Chargers 12-9 in Miami. After having dropped 3 in a row, the Dolphins were in danger of letting the entire season slip away, but a very strong defensive performance combined with just enough offense and a little luck gave Miami the victory and put them back in the playoff race.

The temperature at gametime was about 82 degrees Fahrenheit and it was a sunny day in Miami. Not active for this game were QB Jim Druckenmiller, RB JJ Johnson, RB Cecil Collins, FB Brian Edwwards, LB Anthony Harris, C Grey Ruegamer, and DE Jason Taylor. QB Scott Zolak was on the sidelines as the emergency quarterback.

The Chargers started by receiving the opening kickoff, but did absolutely nothing on their first 3 offensive possessions of the game. On each of those possessions, they went 3 and out and had a net total (for all three drives combined) of minus 6 yards. The Dolphin defense was putting severe pressure on Jim Harbaugh and stuffing the San Diego running game.

The Dolphins, for their part, went 3 and out on their first possession. On their second change, Marino hit Tony Martin and Oronde Gadsden with passes to move up the field until Rob Konrad dropped an easy catch and the Dolphin drive stopped at the San Diego 14. The Dolphins settled for a field goal and a 3-0 lead in the middle of the first quarter.

Unfortunately, the Dolphins went 3 and out on their next possession and San Diego finally was able to get something going. They moved from their 13 to the Miami 5, aided by a deep pass interference call on Patrick Surtain. At the Miami 5, however, the Dolphin defense stiffened and the Chargers were held to a field goal that opened the second quarter and tied the score at 3-3.

The Dolphins responded with a short drive and then punted, to which the Chargers responded by going 3 and out and punting back to Miami. Miami was then able to generate it's biggest offensive play of the day when Oronde Gadsden turned a short pass in the flat into a 55 yard gain by faking out the Charger defender and racing up the sideline. Unfortunately, he was caught from behind at the Charger 20.

Miami moved down to the San Diego 3 yard line, but stalled again after Pritchett was nailed for a 4 yard loss on a running play. The Dolphins kicked the field goal and went up 6-3 with 5:28 remaining in the first half.

Following the kickoff, the Chargers went 3 and out again and punted to Miami, who could only manage 1 first down before punting back to the Chargers. With time running out in the first half, the Chargers could do nothing once again and punted back to Miami as time ran out. The teams ended the first half with Miami leading 6-3.

In the first half, both defenses where playing very well, but neither offense was achieving much. San Diego ran 7 offensive drives in the first half, but only one went for more than 12 yards and that one was aided by a 24 yard pass interference penalty. Jim Harbaugh was under constant pressure from the Dolphins' defensive line, having been sacked 3 times and called for 2 intentional grounding penalties. Their total rushing yardage in the first half was 24 yards.

The Dolphins weren't doing much better, but had managed 157 yards passing and had 2 drives over 40 yards at the half. Neither team had given up any turnovers at this point in the game.

To start the second half, both teams went 3 and out on their first possessions, picking up right where they left off at the end of the first half. In fact, neither team could generate much offense for the entire 3rd quarter. The longest drive either team mustered in the third quarter was 30 yards and that drive ended in disaster.

Starting at their own 9 after a deep punt, the Dolphins moved out to their own 39 before Hunter Goodwin was hit and fumbled after he caught a short pass. The ball was recovered by the Chargers at the Miami 34. They managed to moved down to the Dolphins 4 on a couple of short passes and a couple of offsides penalties on Miami before they were stopped by the Miami defense and had to settle for a field goal and a 6-6 tie.

The field goal was just at the start of the 4th quarter and with the game tied, Miami got the ball back on the kickoff. Unfortunately, the could still do nothing with it and after a quick 3 and out, they punted back to the Chargers. The Chargers returned the favor by going 3 and out on their next series and with 12:10 remaining in the game, they punted deep into Miami territory. OJ McDuffie made a fair catch at the Miami 7 and Miami took over there.

On first down, Stanley Pritchett went up the middle for 3 yards and then, on 2nd and 7 from their 10, Dan Marino dropped back to pass. Unfortunately, defensive tackle John Parrella got around Richmond Webb and batted the ball out of Dan's hands. It was recovered by defensive end Raylee Johnson at the Dolphins' 4, giving the Chargers a first and goal at the Miami 4. With the game tied 6-6 in the 4th quarter, a touchdown would have buried Miami.

Fortunately, the Dolphin defense rose to the occasion. On first down, Zach Thomas stuffed Natrone Means for a 1 yard loss. On 2nd down, Darryl Gardener broke through a double team and sacked Jim Harbaugh for a 7 yard loss. Then, on third down, pressure from the defense and good coverage forced Harbaugh to throw an incompletion. The Chargers went from 1st and goal at the Miami 4 to 4th and goal from the 12. They kicked a field goal and took a 9-6 lead, but the defense had kept them from a big lead.

On the kickoff, Brock Marion had his best kickoff return of the day, returning 31 yards from his 10 to the 41. In addition to the kickoff return, the Chargers were penalized for a late hit out of bounds and that gave the Dolphins excellent field position at the Charger 44. From there, a series of short passes to Gadsden, Yatil Green and Pritchett and a 12 yard run by Pritchett moved the ball to the San Diego 12, but the Dolphins couldn't get any further and had to kick a field goal and settle for a 9-9 tie with 6:06 remaining in the game.

After the kickoff, the Chargers started at their 23, but when Harbaugh dropped back to pass, he was chased out of the pocket by Rich Owens. Owens dragged Harbaugh down from behind and popped the ball loose in the process, which was recovered by Brock Marion. The Chargers challenged the call, using up their last timeout in the process, but the fumble was upheld and that gave the Dolphins a first and 10 at the Charger 20.

Unfortunately, Konrad was penalized 10 yards for holding and Miami could only get down to the Charger 13 before running out of downs. So, facing 4th and 3 at the Charger 13, the Dolphins kicked their last field goal and took a 12-9 lead with 3:22 remaining.

The Chargers started at their 20 with no timeouts left and moved the ball down the field on short passes to nearly everyone on the team as the Dolphins played prevent defense. Finally, with 10 seconds left, the Chargers had moved to the Miami 18 and attempted a field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. Fortunately for the Dolphins, the kick bounced off the left upright and that gave the Dolphins a 12-9 victory.

While the Dolphins did not play all that well in this game on offense, they managed to hang in there and finish the game well. This was something that they had been lacking for several weeks and this game at least put them back into the winners column.

I would be lying if I said that I fully enjoyed this win, but at least it was a win that can be used as a stepping stone to get them ready for their showdown with the Jets next Monday night.

GOOD STUFF:

The defense was excellent this game, particularly the defensive line. They got 5 sacks (all by defensive linemen) of Harbaugh, along with 2 intentional grounding calls (that should have been three). The Dolphin defensive line was able to put pressure on Harbaugh all day with just the 4 down linemen. Rich Owens did a great job in place of Jason Taylor and Kenny Mixon had his best outing so far this season. Darryl Gardener was totally dominating on the inside, as well.

Pass coverage was also excellent, forcing Harbaugh to check off or throw the ball away many times. Only at the very end of the game, when the team went to a loose zone coverage, did the pass coverage slack off a little.

And the run defense was stunning, holding the Charger offense to 26 yards on 21 carries, mostly because the Dolphin defensive line was pushing the Charger offensive line back on every play.

Special teams had a mixed game, but Olindo Mare' hit all 4 field goal attempts and put 3 kickoffs in the endzone for touchbacks. He continues to be the best scoring weapon the Dolphins have.

About the only thing that the offense did very well was to run the clock as the Dolphins controlled time of possession in this game.

THINGS TO WORK ON:

The Dolphin offense was mediocre again in this game. I didn't expect their rushing attack to produce much and they didn't, ending the game with 53 yards on 23 carries. Some of that has to do with the team not having a starting tailback healthy, but mostly it's still just a lack of dominating blocking.

The pass offense was better and generated 231 total yards, but still didn't score any touchdowns. The pass protection was inconsistent at best and Marino didn't have as much time as he should have had. Several passes were dropped after being laid right in the hands of the receivers.

Offense, defense and special teams all suffered from bad penalties. The Dolphins ended the day with 11 penalties for 106 yards. There's no excuse for that many fouls.

And punting needs a lot of work. The Dolphins gave up a lot of field position yesterday because of poor punting.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

Dan Marino ended the day with pretty good stats, but benefited from having San Diego drop two potential interceptions. Dan still seems to be having problems finding open receivers and seeing coverage. He didn't throw any touchdowns, either.

Stanley Pritchett is not a tailback, although he tries hard. He had 15 carries for 38 yards and caught 3 passes for 22 yards.

Autry Denson got 5 carries, but could only generate 13 yards rushing. He caught 1 pass for 2 yards. While he didn't generate any stats, he looked pretty quick and determined when he was in the game.

Tony Martin was not as exciting as he has been, but he did catch 8 passes for 86 yards.

Oronde Gadsden had the single biggest offensive play of the game for the Dolphins when he turned a 5 yard reception into a 55 yard gain by faking out the cornerback and running down the sideline. He ended the day with 4 catches for 83 yards.

Hunter Goodwin caught 2 passes for 17 yards, but fumbled one ball away to the Chargers.

Troy Drayton only caught 2 passes for 14 yards.

OJ McDuffie caught 1 pass for 10 yards and fielded one punt for no return. He didn't get a lot of playing time because of his toe.

Yatil Green caught 1 pass for 7 yards and dropped another.

Rob Konrad ended up with no catches as he dropped two short passes from Dan Marino. Konrad has really turned into a poster child for the rookie "wall", that he seems to have hit hard.

Nate Jacquet ran the "end-around" play for 4 yards at one point and returned 4 punts for 19 yards. He's had better days, but a couple of his punt returns were negated by penalties.

On defense, Zach Thomas led all tacklers with 13 total tackles, including a couple of nice stops for losses. He was the Zach Thomas we all know and love.

Darryl Gardener had perhaps his best game ever, collecting 9 tackles and 2 sacks, one of which was crucial to stopping a Chargers drive deep in the Miami end of the field. Gardener threw Chargers' guard Aaron Taylor around like a rag doll all day.

Calvin Jackson and Brock Marion each had 5 solo tackles, including some nice stops in the backfield. Jackson forced one fumble and Brock Marion recovered one. Marion also returned 4 kickoffs for 98 yards, including a crucial 31 yarder late in the game.

Robert Jones had 5 total tackles, plus 3 tackles on special teams.

Tim Bowens had 4 total tackles and while not as visible as Gardener, he looked very good.

Greg Jeffries got a lot of work as an extra defensive back in the nickel package and did a fine job there, picking up 3 tackles.

Kenny Mixon got a lot of playing time at both defensive ends and had a fine game, including pressure and one tackle for a loss. He also is credited with batting down 2 of Jim Harbaugh's passes.

Rich Owens started at right defensive end in place of Jason Taylor and made everyone forget about Taylor. He ended the game with 3 tackles and 2 sacks from the right side.

Shawn Wooden had 3 assists as a tackler and didn't get beaten deep at all.

Sam Madison had 2 solo tackles, forced a running play to turn upfield into Zach Thomas and almost had another interception. He also provided his usual blanket coverage.

Lorenzo Bromell had 2 tackles and half of a sack, which he split with Trace Armstrong. He was part of the dominating pass rush that got to Harbaugh all day.

Derrick Rodgers had 2 tackles and was credited with batting down a pass.

Terrell Buckley came in in place of the injured Patrick Surtain and ended the day with 3 passes knocked away.

Patrick Surtain did start this game, but got a concussion early on and had to sit down. It appeared that he had an interception early in the game, but he was flagged for pass interference and the interception was nullified.

Olindo Mare' hit 3 kickoffs for touchbacks and made all 4 of his field goal attempts.

Tom Hutton did a poor job as the punter, averaging just 38 yards per punt.

INJURIES:

OJ McDuffie didn't start, but did play some in this game. He may have re-aggravated his toe injury, but as of Monday, he said he felt fine and he wasn't very sore.

Oronde Gadsden re-injured his back with a rib contusion and may miss the Jets game.

Patrick Surtain suffered a mild concussion that kept him out of most of the game, but he should be fine by the Jets game.

Hunter Goodwin suffered a lower back strain, but he also should be OK for the Jets, and Robert Jones strained his right triceps.

My Comments:

This is one of those games that leaves me feeling unsatisfied. Yes, the Dolphins won and I'm happy about that and there was a lot to be positive about if you look at the defensive play. The defense had a terrific game.

But the offense is still not playing anywhere near it's capabilities and it's difficult to know exactly what's wrong with it.

Personally, I believe that it's a lot of little things that are snowballing together and creating a magnified effect for the offense.

First of all, there is sloppy play, as evidenced by the 11 penalties in the last game. Some of that is because of the lingering effects of injuries, some of that is because of rotating players in and out of positions every week (or every series) and some of that is caused by a sense of futility that the offense seems to have gotten embedded in their heads.

And yes, I do think that Dan Marino is part of the problem that the offense is having. He's not the whole problem and removing him wouldn't solve all the problems by a long shot, but he is making some bad decisions when passing the ball and that is having a detrimental effect.

I don't know if enough of the problems can be fixed to get the Dolphins to the SuperBowl, but I don't believe that making Damon Huard the starter will make any difference in the long run. He has no NFL playoff experience and while I hear that the team likes him, most of the players are still pulling for Dan Marino to get his ring - as the starter. Putting Damon Huard in as the starter would cause dissension and fragment the team, even more than it already is.

So, given that Dan Marino is going to be the starter for the rest of the year, I think that the Dolphins need to stop making stupid mistakes before they can expect to go far in the playoffs. If the offense as a whole can stop making stupid mistakes, they still have a chance to salvage this season.

Next Monday against the Jets will tell us whether or not the Dolphins can get it together enough to do well in the playoffs. If they beat the Jets, they'll have exorcized one of their biggest demons and will be in good shape for the Redskins and beyond. If not...

... some things are best not contemplated.

Related Info:

• NFL.com: Gamebook
• Sun-Sentinel: Game 14 wrapup
• Sun-Sentinel: Q&A with JJ