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Dolphins vs Colts Game Summary |  | ||||||||
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WEATHER AND FIELD CONDITIONS: At gametime, the temperature was 84 F, with 67% Humidity and winds from the east at 10 mph. The grass surface at Land Shark Stadium was in good shape, but the baseball diamond was still in place. DOLPHINS STARTING LINEUP: Offense: Defense: QB - 10 Chad Pennington LE - 70 Kendall Langford RB - 23 Ronnie Brown NT - 95 Jason Ferguson FB - 36 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks WR - 19 Ted Ginn,Jr SLB - 99 Jason Taylor WR - 83 Greg Camarillo ILB - 51 Akin Ayodele TE - 80 Anthony Fasano ILB - 52 Channing Crowder LT - 77 Jake Long WLB - 55 Joey Porter LG - 65 Justin Smiley LCB - 25 Will Allen C - 64 Jake Grove RCB - 31 Sean Smith RG - 66 Donald Thomas SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 28 Gibril Wilson K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields PR - 15 Davone Bess KR - 38 Patrick CobbsNOTES: Pat White was the second quarterback on the depth chart and Chad Henne was the third "emergency" quarterback. COLTS STARTING LINEUP: Offense: Defense: QB - 18 Peyton Manning LE - 98 Robert Mathis RB - 29 Joseph Addai DT - 99 Antonio Johnson FB - 47 Gijon Robinson DT - 90 Daniel Muir WR - 85 Pierre Garcon RE - 93 Dwight Freeney WR - 87 Reggie Wayne LLB - 56 Tyjuan Hagler TE - 44 Dallas Clark MLB - 58 Gary Brackett LT - 74 Charlie Johnson RLB - 55 Clint Session LG - 65 Ryan Lilja LCB - 26 Kelvin Hayden C - 63 Jeff Saturday RCB - 28 Marlin Jackson RG - 78 Mike Pollack SS - 33 Melvin Bullitt RT - 71 Ryan Diem FS - 41 Antoine Bethea K - 4 Adam Vinatieri P - 1 Pat McAfee PR - 20 T.J. Rushing KR - 35 Chad SimpsonGAME SUMMARY: The Dolphins started this game about like they finished it, with the defense giving up a big play for a touchdown. On the first play of the game, the defense did what they would do at crucial times all night - they let a Colts' player get open, make a big play and missed a tackle to allow a score. Peyton Manning hit TE Dallas Clark, who had beaten the coverage of Akin Ayodele on a deep slant and Clark broke a would-be tackle by S Gibril Wilson to score from 80 yards. On the second series, the Dolphins pounded the ball down the Colts' throats with a 9 play, 75 yard drive based mainly on the running of Ronnie Brown. That drive ended with Ronnie Brown scoring on a 14 yard run from the Wildcat. If you repeat each of the above drives, you have the story of the game. Miami repeatedly made long drives down the length of the field, based on the running of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams from the Wildcat, which just dominated the Colts' defense. When the Colts had the ball, they would put together very short drives of 3,4 or 5 plays and either score or punt. All of their touchdowns came on big plays - two passes of 80 and 48 yards and one run up the middle of 15 yards. The Colts saved their best drives for first and last. Their first drive was the one-play 80 yard touchdown and their last two drives where 79 and 80 yards that ended in 2 touchdowns. The Colts' longest drive of the night was 9 plays. In contrast, the Dolphins' shortest drive of the night was 8 plays and the rest were 9 plays or longer, mostly based on the run. However, on the final drive of the game, the Dolphins - while they were driving the length of the field - essentially let the clock run out on them with very poor clock management, that put them in the position of having to throw a hail Mary pass at the end of the game. Ultimately, the Dolphins did everything they should have done to win the game on offense, but the defense could not make a single important play at the end of the game to hold the Colts. The gameplan was exactly the one you draw up to beat the Colts, but Miami stumbled at the end on defense and with poor clock management and a missed play on offense and that was why they lost this game. Unlike last week against the Falcons, this week the Dolphins' offense dominated as they are designed to dominate. They 2 and a half times as many plays as the Colts' offense and controlled the clock for 45:07 of the game. The rushing attack - based on Ronnie and Ricky and featuring the Wildcat 16 times - gained 239 yards at 4.9 yards per carry. The passing attack was not as effective, but still put up 164 yards with a 67% completion percentage, allowing 2 sacks. The offensive line did an outstanding job run blocking with both guards and the center pulling, while the tackles did an excellent job both run blocking and keeping the edge rushers off of Chad Pennington. In the stats department, the offense converted an astonishing 71% on third down and had just one turnover - and that was an interception on the "Hail Mary" pass at the end of the game. The offense was also 2 for 2 in the Red Zone, which had been an area of concern. Add in the 4 penalties and the team as a whole had very few negative plays this week. And they punted just once in this game. All other drives ended in either touchdowns, field goal attempts (they missed one) or the end of the game. On defense, the picture was not so pretty. While the defense did manage to put some significant pressure on Peyton Manning, they only managed one sack and could not cover TE Dallas Clark with any combination of defenders. They were pretty good in the middle of the game, but completely choked down the stretch, allowing the Colts to do pretty much anything they wanted to at the end of the game. On the Colts' 15 yard touchdown run between Philip Merling and Randy Starks, the Colts' rookie running back broke 4 or 5 tackles running right up the middle of Miami's defense. For defensive stats, the Dolphins' defense gave up 356 yards of offense in less that 15 minutes of game time. The Colts averaged 12.3 yards per pass attempt and ran the ball at 5.5 yards per carry. Despite being well rested, Miami's defense looked bad when it counted the most. Miami's special teams improved this week, although their punt and kickoff returns are still poor. They averaged 22.5 yards per kickoff return and had one punt return for 8 yards. Dan Carpenter did kick 3 field goals, but missed one that might have made a big difference later in the game. On coverage, the Dolphins were much better, limiting the Colts to just 18 yards per kickoff return and 1 punt return for 2 yards. Overall, Miami executed a gameplan that should have beaten the Colts if not for the Dolphins' inability to come up with a big play when needed. Chad Pennington played better this week, completing 22 of 33 for 183 yards, was sacked twice and threw one interception, although that interception was on the Hail Mary pass at the end of the game. His quarterback rating was 68.1 and he had a sad 5.5 yards per attempt. However, his biggest failure was not running the hurry-up offense at the end of the game. With 3:13 left on the clock and 2 timeouts left, Pennington did not hurry the team and wound up having to throw a Hail Mary from the Colts' 30 to try and win the game. Pat White played two Wildcat plays, taking the snap on both of them. He scrambled on both and gained no yards. Ronnie Brown ran 24 times for 136 yards at 5.7 ypc, had 2 touchdowns and directed 12 plays from the Wildcat. He was nearly unstoppable for most of the night. Ricky Williams had 19 carries for 69 yards (3.6 ypc) and was effective. Patrick Cobbs caught 1 pass for 8 yards, had two runs for 23 yards and returned 4 kickoffs for 91 yards. He was used sparingly, but produced well when he was used. Lousaka Polite picked up 7 yards on three runs and picked up 2 first downs. Ted Ginn,Jr lead all receivers with 11 catches for 108 yards and some crucial grabs on the final two drives. He started to look like a number 1 wide receiver - until he failed to catch two touchdown passes. The first one was overthrown slightly and would have been a super-human catch. However, on the second one - which was in the endzone and would have won the game for Miami - Ginn got both hands on the ball and couldn't come down with it. He was closely covered by a rookie cornerback from the Colts, but it was basically a jump ball and Ginn had the height and the reach, but didn't make the play. Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo both had 3 catches for a combined 30 yards and did not contribute much. Bess also had one punt return for 8 yards. Camarillo, in particular, looks like he has not recovered fully from his injury as he just isn't getting open like he did last year. Brian Hartline got on the field and made 2 nice catches for 23 yards. He also did not pick up any penalties this week. Anthony Fasano caught just one pass for one yard, but did a good job assisting with the blocking. Jake Long was did a much better job this week and while Dwight Freeney was credited with one sack, that was a coverage sack as Pennington held the ball much longer that he should have. On defense, none of the players really made any big plays. Yeremiah Bell, Gibril Wilson, Channing Crowder and Akin Ayodele were all asked to cover Dallas Clark and all failed at one time or another. Yeremiah Bell lead the team in tackles with 5, but was toasted by Clark several times. Gibril Wilson was next with 2 tackles, but bounced off of Dallas Clark on Clarks' 80 yard touchdown catch, bounced off of rookie running back Donald Brown and got himself blocked out of Garcon's touchdown catch, although he was credited with one pass defensed. Nathan Jones had two tackles and one very nice pass knockdown. Jones is becoming a very effective nickel back. Will Allen had 2 tackles, but was also blocked out of the play on Garcon's touchdown. Sean Smith had 2 tackles and 1 pass defensed. He also did an excellent job defending Reggie Wayne, as Wayne was matched up with Smith most of the night and Wayne had just 3 receptions, the longest of which was 16 yards. Phillip Merling, Channing Crowder, Randy Starks and Akin Ayodele all had 1 tackle each, although Merling was also credited with 1 quarterback hurry. Joey Porter had the only sack of the game for the Dolphins, but was also credited with 2 quarterback hurries. Jason Taylor got nothing. Jason Ferguson was credited with two tackles. On special teams, Lex Hilliard was a tackling demon, getting 3 tackles on kickoffs and proving himself very valuable in that role. Dan Carpenter was 3 of 4 in field goals, his only miss being from 48 yards. Several things became readily apparent from the game on Monday night. Most of these have been pointed out by others, but they bear repeating. Most apparent was the lack of a true playmaker on both sides of the ball. No defensive or offensive player really stood out at the end when the game was on the line. Joey Porter did get the only sack and had 2 quarterback pressures in the game. However, when a big play was needed most, he didn't make a difference. Jason Taylor seems to be limited by being forced to play the strongside linebacker position. Since he has to defend the run, he can't be as free to rush the passer. The defense, as a whole, played very poorly at the end. I have to wonder if keeping them off the field for so long was actually bad for them. While it's important to keep the ball out of Peyton Manning's hands, it's also important that the defense keep in the flow of the game. At the end, they looked totally confused. I have been a supporter and defender of Ted Ginn ever since he came to Miami and I still think his detractors are too harsh on him. But I have finally come around to the view that he will never be a truely dominant wide receiver, mainly because of his hands and his size. He doesn't catch the ball all that well. He's fine when he's in the open and he does do a good job with the over-the-shoulder catch, but he doesn't do well when he has to fight for the ball. His size is also an issue - not because of his height, but because of his weight. At 5-11 and 178 pounds, he is easily bumped aside by cornerbacks. With his speed, he can run by almost any other player in the league, but he can't go up in the endzone and take the ball away from a defender. After Ginn failed to come down with the ball in the endzone at the end of the game, I wondered if Brian Hartline - at 6-2 and 195 pounds - would have made that catch. Ginn can play the role that Mark Duper played in the 80s - the speedster who can run away from the defense - but to have him be successful in that role, the team needs a player who can be a real threat on the other side. It seems apparent that Greg Camarillo is still suffering from the aftereffects of his knee injury. Last year, he was the go-to man in tough situations. This year, he has vanished. While I agree with those who say that Chad Pennington did a very poor job of managing the clock at the end of the game, I disagree with those who think that his lack of arm strength was the reason the Dolphins couldn't score. Pennington did move the team down the field, converted a 4th down play and put the ball in the perfect position for Ginn to have the winning touchdown. The fact that Ginn couldn't come down with the ball is the reason that pass failed. The Dolphin defense needs to figure out a way to cover tight ends. But to end this on a more upbeat note, it really looks like Sean Smith could be the steal of the draft. Yes, it's only been two games and yes, he will continue to make rookie mistakes, but his physical skills, his brains and his instincts made Reggie Wayne look positively ordinary this past weekend.
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