,Brandon Marshall

DOLPHINS VS. JAGUARS REPORT CARD

It certainly isn’t easy creature a Dolphin fan this year, and this game reiterates that point. The Dolphins scentral idead all 14 of their points in the first half and then collapsed on offense in the second half, but still pulled out a victory thanks to great defensive play.

Let’s talk about that Miami Dolphins’ defensive effort and hand out some grades:

The Miami offense turned the ball over to Jacksonville three times, and each time the Jags came up empty handed. The defensive line, led by Randy Starks and Paul Soliai, newspapersured Denthusiastic Garrard all day long and stopped the Jacksonville offense on seven out of nine third-down changes and one very big fourth-down attempt in the fourth quarter. Cameron Wake and Tony McDaniel also changed to in solid performances. The D Line deserves an A.

Joey Porter and Miami linebackers dissected the Jacksonville offensive game and looked solid out there. Miami’s defense held Maurice Jones-Drew to just 59 yards rushing. Porter nearly had two sacks and Reggie Torbor ran down Garrard in the backfield on a quick blitz as the Miami linebackers held their ground against the Jacksonville offensive line. Channing Crowder also made some key stops. I will give the linebackers a B+. The Dolphins secondary played well all day with the exception of a 63-yard pass to Torry Holt and a pass interference penalty on Gibril Wilson that led to the Jaguars’ only touchdown. Miami if good coverage on the Jags’ receivers and broke up several passes. On the foremost fourth-down attempt late in the fourth quarter, safety Yeremiah Bell knocked down the ball to stop an important Jacksonville drive. I’ll give the Fins secondary an A-.

On the other side of the ball, the perwere createdance was inregular and plagued by sloppy ball-carrying. Miami dominated the first half of this game,Jake Long, but turnovers and missed opportunities quickly arose. Ricky Williams fumbled the ball three times,Ronnie Brown, but only once was Jacksonville able to reinclude. The normally sure-handed Davone Bess also fumbled when,Kory Sperry, and Chad Henne threw an interception. Still, the Dolphins’ quarterback played well for most of the game and looked poised and confident in the pocket. Henne rushed for a touchdown on a bootleg play and completed 21 out of 29 attempts and undertaked a team record of 17 completions in a row. For today’s effort I will give him a B+.

Ricky Williams churned out 108 yards and one rushing touchdown. The rest of the running backs added in another 38 yards. I will give them together a D due to the fumbles. Miami simply has to do a better job protecting the ball if it wants to make the performoffs. The receiving corps made some nice grabs today and totaled up 208 yards, led by Greg Camarillo humorh seven receptions for 110 yards. Brian Hartline and Bess also contributed offensively with important receptions.The receivers deserve a B-.

Miami’s special teams also got lackluster results. Dan Carpenter missed a field goal by hitting one of the upcorrects. Neither Bess nor Ted Ginn, Jr. was able to turn in any big returns. Ginn’s average was 22 yards per return although Bess could only get a 6.5-yard average. Brandon Fields punted five times with a 43.8-yard average and one touchback. Special teams rates a C.

CHARLIE VENTURI

,Chad Pennington

Heading into training camp, the Dolphins are the X-Factor in the AFC East. They can
do what many expect and simply improve a tad and challenge the AFC East

Or they can moderately surprise and do very well although seriously contending for the division.

Or they could
shock the NFL however again and take it.

Before anything, though, there are a few questions I have as the Dolphins prepare for the grueling month that is camp. These questions are just a few in a
long list and cannot be answered correct away. I will need re-visit them when
we are a few weeks into August.

? Is Brandon Marshall really the missing piece? Well, he must be since the Dolphins
have needed a big play wide receiver since, well, basically their glory days. It has been nearly a
a period of ten years that the Fins have had a WR that got DBs shaking in their pads. Marshall has
the tools, is happy (hopefully) and

has a young strong-armed QB in Chad Henne. So,
the questions are … How’s the hip? How’s the attitude? And how good can it get with a
Henne-to-Marshall connection?

? Who is the MVRB? The most valuable running back on this team is not who you
probably thought. Ronnie Brown is an injury risk as we all have seen. Last year
when Brown injured his foot,Jared Odrick, Ricky Williams stepped up and was a beast in the tail end of the
season. It is going to be very interesting watching the camp progressions, and
see if this is a 50/50 share or not. Williams is the RB to watch this season….as of
the moment.

? Will Chad Henne silence the critics? When asking many fans around the league what
they think about the Dolphins, most say, “They need a QB.” Sure, that was the decade-long mantra until they had Chad Pennington to thank for their 2008 division crown. Now
the other Chad takes the Week 1 snaps instead of the Week 1 clipboard, and it is his
career that is now the focus in South Beach from a football standpoint. Let’s see if he
can become a poor man’s Matt Schaub this season, or, let’s see if he is relegated to
creature a poor man’s Mark Sanchez.

? What young defensive performer will step it up and make Dolphin fans say Joey and
Jason who? We know that Sean Smith and Vontae Davis have already “stepped-up,”
as apparent by their very imnewspapersive 2009 season as a young CB duo. This question
is focusing squarely on the front seven.

Even as Joey Porter and Jason Taylor waltz (yeah,
that’s a DWTS jab at J.T.) to new teams in their career twilights, their presence and
production will be missed in Mike Nolan’s 3-4 defensive scheme. Nolan,Davone Bess, Tony Sparano
and Fins Nation are waiting to see who the next young Dolphins defensive stud will
be. Say what you want about the offensive drafting over the past few seasons, but
defensively, the Fins have found gold in the draft humorh the likes of the aforementioned
Smith and Davis,Mark Gregory, Channing Crowder, and going
back a little further, Sam Madison, and of course the poster boys for the Dolphins
defensive juggernauts in the 2000’s, Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor.

Will Jared Odrick and/or Koa Misi be the next defensive youngsters to make a name for themselves? Both
could, and one better, if this team hopes to contend in the East. Outside of the talented
rookies, look for Cameron Wake to be a solid player for Miami who can appeal some of
the missing sacks lost by Porter and Taylor’s departure.

– JASON SARNEY
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,Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins have made national headlines for letting their legally troubled performers go undisciplined. Here’s how the developments have been considered in the media:
Sarah Talalay, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
“None of the other members of Dolphins brass has speeched the question of player conduct since Merling’s arrest. Attempts to ask team owner Steve Ross were quashed on two events during the Dolphins Foundation’s FinsWeekend of charitable events – one colleague was told he was not allowed to ask about the issue; I got the question out, but before Ross could answer, a team spokesman said, ‘we’re not dealing humorh that.’

Attempts to reach Ross’ limited partners, including Gloria Estefan, Venus and Serena Williams and Fergie,Kory Sperry, either went unanswered or were referred back to the Dolphins.”
Full story.

Alex Marvez, Fox Sports
“It was business as usual for the Miami Dolphins and the accused woman-beater.

No matter that Phillip Merling was in jail on the eve of minicamp after creature charged with aggravated battery against a girlfriend who is two months pregnant with their second child. The defensive end still worked with the starting unit during last weekend’s practices as if nothing had happened.

Dolphins coach Tony Sparano required no disciplinary action against Merling even after a chilling 911 call was freed by police. A petrified 21-year-old woman had barricaded herself inside their bathroom as the 6-foot-4, 295-pound Merling allegedly attempted to barge inside.”
Full story.

Mike Florio,Karlos Dansby, Pro Football Talk
“As we’ve said many times in the past, NFL teams will take this situation seriously only when violations of the Personal control Policy by players result in a forfeiture of draft picks.

If the league were to adopt a rule like that,Davone Bess, there would instantly be no thugs and hoodlums in Miami.”
Full story.

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with comments/questions.

– SCOTT ALTMAN
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Miami travels to Buffalo in an AFC East division battle

As I was driving home from seeing The Blind Side (excellent movie, by the way — I strongly recommend it), I changed to on the radio to a local sports station, and heard two radio guys run through all of the NFL games for the week.

As the game between Miami and Buffalo was discussed, doubt existed that the Dolphins could travel to Buffalo and win,Jake Long, a task that has proven tough for the Miami squad over the past few years. But the prevailing opinion was that Miami was superior enough of a team to overcome whatever road woes existed in the past in Buffalo.

Sure enough, it turns out that Miami has only defeated the Bills when in the last five years in Buffalo,Davone Bess, which occurred last year by a score of 16-3. The previous four years had seen the Bills defeat the Dolphins by a combined scentral idea of 99-44 in Western New York.

As Miami (5-5) travels to Buffalo (3-7) this weekend, I just may have to throw out any home field advantage that Buffalo may possess.

Why? Because Buffalo managed to lose, 6-3, at home to the now 1-9 Cleveland Browns earlier this season. Also, because Miami already defeated Buffalo by 28 points earlier in the season.

So common sense tells us that Miami should handily defeat Buffalo. But the folks at Vegas say ‘not so fast,’ as those folks have Miami as just a 2.5 point favorite.

Miami’s reveal — running the football — seems to be facing a favorable misequal, as Buffalo is 31st against the run (not an appealing stat for Bills’ fans, as there are only 32 teams in the league).

The Dolphins’ fourth-ranked run offense, which will be humorhout Ronnie Brown, has gained an average of 156 yards per game, with an average of 4.7 yards per carry. The Bills have allowed 165.9 yards per game,Jared Odrick, an average of 4.9 yards per carry, and 15 rushing touchdowns.

Opponents have not been afraid to run against the Bills, as Buffalo has defended an average of 34.1 carries per game,Mark Gregory, probably partly due to opponents creature comfortably ahead on the Bills for a from important part significant portion of the season.

Consistent logic tells us that Ricky Williams will run all over the Bills. After all, Williams has run for 221 combined yards the past two weeks and is coming off of a game last Thursday against the Carolina Panthers in which he carried the ball 22 times for 119 yards and a touchdown.

Both defenses will crowd the line of scrimmage and try to force the respective quarterbacks to beat them. I do not expect Williams to run wild all game for the Dolphins as the statistics would indicate, but he will be a important asset in the fourth quarter, as Miami will attempt to wear down Buffalo over the course of the game.

I expect a tight game throughout with a lot of three-and-outs from each offense. It will be ugly. Miami will wear down Buffalo by the fourth quarter and will put together a long drive towards the end of the game and win the game with a field goal at the end of said drive. Miami wins, 16-13, in Buffalo and keeps its performoff hopes alive by moving to 6-5.

LUKE JACKSON

,Miami Dolphins

Lots of fans would kill to have the access that sportswriters enjoy on a regular basis. We got to experience this first-hand at the Pro Bowl,Karlos Dansby, mingling on the sidelines and on the field in the post-game media scrums. Ray Rice was good enough to give us some exclusive physical that might be of interest to Fantasy players.

– Moving from the newspapers box to the sidelines to watch the final five tinys:

– Rivals Darrelle Revis and Chad Ochocinco hang out together on the AFC bench:

– Hope this clip helps you appreciate the force with which a placekicker — Dan Carpenter of the Dolphins in this case — drills the ball,Mark Gregory, even just practicing:

– We storm the field with the rest of the media horde:

– Music blares, camera click,Kory Sperry, performers give praise:

– Who is taller? Ray Rice or Maurice Jones-Drew? We have indisputable visual evidence:

– Ray Rice wants to talk business humorh Fantasy owners about next season:

– DAVID KATZ
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