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[ Individual Performances | Injuries | Comments | Web Links ] The Dolphins went into Foxboro stadium on Sunday looking to challenge the Patriots for first place in the AFC East. By the middle of the first quarter, the Dolphins were behind 14-0 and had lost Dan Marino for the entire game. In the past, this would have been enough of a disaster to guarantee a loss. But this is a different year and a different team - one that is very tough. By the end of the game, backup quarterback Damon Huard had led the Dolphins out of the hole they had dug themselves into and the Dolphins had beaten the Patriots 31-30 in a highly unlikely comeback victory. The result of the game was that the Dolphins now stand alone atop the AFC East - at least for the rest of this week. The game was a 1:00 PM game in Foxboro stadium. The weather was clear and cool and the field was dry. For the Dolphins, Karim Abdul-Jabbar, Anthony Harris, Grey Ruegamer, Kenny Mixon, Yatil Green, Larry Shannon and Mike Sheldon were inactive, while Jim Druckenmiller was the emergency quarterback. And while Richmond Webb and Antoine Simpson dressed for the game, neither was ever on the field. The Dolphins took the opening kickoff to their 31 and from there, Collins, McDuffie and Konrad pushed the ball out to the 50. However, as Marino was staring into the face of a safety blitz, he threw the ball high and short and it floated into the arms of Patriots' linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer, who was able to return it 57 yards up the sideline for a touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead for the Patriots. Almost unnoticed was that, on Marino's first completion to Tony Martin, he surpassed 60,000 passing yards for his career, which no one has ever done before. After a touchback on the kickoff, the Dolphins went 3 and out and punted to the Patriots' 37, but a decent return moved it to the Miami 48. Also, after that offensive series for the Dolphins, Marino told JJ that his arm was weak and that he couldn't throw. He removed himself from the game at this point. On the Patriot's first series, they got one quick first down before Lorenzo Bromell sacked Drew Bledsoe, and the Patriots went 3 and out. The Patriots' punt went out at the Miami 20 and Damon Huard came in to take over the offense for Miami. After a false start penalty on Miami and a short run by Collins, Huard lined up to throw his first pass. Unfortunately for Miami, Huard's sideline pass to Tony Martin was slow and Ty Law managed to dart in front of it and intercept the pass. He returned the ball 27 yards up the sideline for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. And there were still almost 53 minutes to go in the ballgame. On the kickoff, Brock Marion took his time and had a great return, following his blocking all the way to the New England 44. However, the Dolphins quickly went 3 and out and punted back to New England. New England returned the favor by going 3 and out themselves and punted back to Miami. On this punt, Nate Jacquet took the ball at the Miami 37 and, racing right up the middle, squirted between tacklers for a 45 yard return to the New England 18. From the 18, Cecil Collins had 2 decent carries down to the 3, but then the Dolphins stalled and had to settle for a field goal, cutting the lead to 14-3. Following the kickoff, the Patriots started at their 31, but after a short swing pass from Bledsoe, Terry Allen fumbled when hit by Sam Madison and the Dolphins took over at the New England 39 as the first quarter ended. From the 39, the Dolphins drove down to the New England 6, mostly on a pass to Drayton, but a false start penalty and a sack moved the Dolphins back to the 15, where they settled for a field goal and a 14-6 score. After the kickoff resulted in a touchback, the Patriots went 3 and out once more and punted to the Dolphins who started at their 42. After a short run and a sack of Huard, the Dolphins faced 3rd and 21 at their 31. Huard dropped back and was flushed out of the pocket, but scrambled up almost to the line of scrimmage before spotting Tony Martin open deep down the middle. He launched the ball to Martin, who caught it in stride and raced untouched into the endzone for the Dolphins' first touchdown of the day. That score cut the lead to 14-13 for the Patriots. On the kickoff, the Patriots' Kevin Faulk avoided a pile-up at about the 20 and raced outside to the Dolphins' 42, where Olindo Mare' had to knock him out of bounds. After a facemask penalty was added to the return, the Patriots had the ball at the Miami 27, but a short pass was all they could complete and they settled for a field goal and a 17-13 lead. After the kickoff, the Dolphins started from their 36 and Huard moved the team slowly down the field on runs by Collins and Johnson and passes to Drayton and Martin. However, Huard was sacked again and that ended this drive at the New England 27, where Olindo Mare' kicked his 3rd field goal of the game to move the score to 17-16. The Patriots started at their 20 with 1:22 left in the first half, following the kickoff and drove down the field on medium passes to the Miami 29. From there, Tony Simmons of the Patriots was able to get past Sam Madison by grabbing him and pulling him out of the way on the sideline and Bledsoe then hit Simmons in the endzone for the Patriots' only touchdown of the day. At the very least, illegal contact should have been called on Simmons, but the referees didn't see it, so the score now stood at 24-16. The Dolphins took the kickoff out to the 43 and from there, with 23 seconds remaining in the first half, Huard was flushed out of the pocket on 1st down and scrambled 25 yards up the field to the Patriots' 27. From there, Olindo Mare' hit yet another field goal to close the score to 24-19. As the half ended, the Dolphins were leading the Patriots in most statistical categories, but the two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns had put the Dolphins in a big hole. Also, the Patriots' pass rush was very effective against Huard, who was having trouble getting rid of the ball fast enough. The Patriots came out in the 2nd half using their 2 minute offense, with Drew Bledsoe taking every snap of their first series in the shotgun. However, after they drove from their 26 to the Dolphins' 21, they were stopped and forced to kick a field goal that put the lead at 27-19. The Dolphins went 3 and out after a holding penalty negated a decent return by Marion and punted to New England, who took over at their 48. However, after the Patriots were pushed back 6 yards, Patrick Surtain picked off a Bledsoe pass on the right sideline. This was a poorly thrown pass and it went right to Surtain, who was covering Vincent Brisby. The Dolphins, however, gave up 3 sacks in a row on the next series and punted from their own 23 after starting from their 38. Although Kevin Faulk was tackled for no return, a penalty on Nate Jacquet moved the ball out to the 45. From there, the Patriots went 3 and out and punted back to the Dolphins. Miami started the next series on their 20 and moved slowly and methodically down the field on a combination of runs and short passes to the New England 20 yard line as the third quarter ended. Unfortunately, the opened the 4th quarter with a holding penalty that moved them back to the 30 and after a 3rd down pass to Martin fell incomplete, the Dolphins settled for yet another field goal and a score of 27-22. The Patriots started at their 20 after a touchback and moved all the way to the Miami 15, mostly on a 40 yard pass to Brisby. However, they stalled at that point after Terry Glenn fell down in the endzone and settled for a field goal that pushed the score to 30-22. Following a very good return by Marion, the Dolphins started at their 40, but could only get 1 first down before they stalled at the New England 44. From there, they punted to the New England 8, where they managed to down the ball. At that point, the Dolphin defense held the Patriots to no gain on 3 downs and they punted from their own endzone. This gave the Dolphins great field position at the New England 40 with 5:46 remaining in the game. From the 40, Huard moved the team to the Patriot 18 on a pass to Tony Martin and some nifty scrambling, but he was sacked twice in a row and that pushed the Dolphins back to the 35, where Olindo Mare' was asked to kick a 53 yard field goal - which he promptly did to cut the score to 30-25. The kickoff was taken by Faulk in the endzone and downed and the Patriots started at their 20 with 2:45 remaining. However, they quickly went 3 and out after Ben Coates dropped a pass on third down (with a little help from Patrick Surtain). They punted to Miami, who started at their 41 with 2:10 left in the game. At this point, Huard took over and engineered the game winning drive. He moved the team methodically from the Miami 40 to the Patriots' 5. He spiked the ball twice on the drive to kill the clock and took advantage of the Patriots' blitz to hit fullback Stanley Pritchett several times with sideline and middle passes. He converted three critical third down situations with quick passes to avoid the rush. Finally, he had moved the team to the New England 5 and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 31 seconds remaining. On 2nd and goal from the 5, he tried to toss the high pass to Gadsden in the back of the endzone, but the ball was too high and it floated over Gadsden. On third and goal, Huard was in the shotgun and Pritchett came in motion from right to left. At the snap, Pritchett did a short down and out to about the 2 yard line on the left and Huard got the ball right to him. Pritchett was untouched as he ran into the endzone for the touchdown that gave the Dolphins a 31-30 lead. The Dolphins tried a 2 point conversion by throwing the fade pass to Gadsden in the endzone again, but again it was a little too high and Gadsden couldn't come down with the ball. That left the score at 31-30 with 23 seconds remaining. On the kickoff, Kevin Faulk wanted to bring the ball out, but he bobbled the catch in the endzone and had to down it. The Patriots took over at their 20 with 3 timeouts left. They completed one 21 yard pass to Jefferson, but after a false start and offsetting penalties, time was running out. A deep pass down the middle appeared to be intercepted by Zach Thomas, but an illegal contact penalty on Miami negated the interception. However, too much time had run off the clock and the Patriots were still at their 41 with 6 seconds left in the game. Bledsoe tried the Hail Mary pass, but it was knocked down at the 5 and the game ended with the Dolphins staging a most improbably comeback. This was another heart-stopping win for the Dolphins when they needed it most. They made a lot of mistakes in this game, but ultimately, they hung tough and pulled it out at the end. The biggest plus in this game was the tenacity of the entire team. They didn't panic when they got behind early and nothing that went wrong (and a lot did go wrong) took the fire out of them. This team gave all they had from the opening kickoff to the final whistle and that is something that all championship teams need. Offensively, the Dolphins scored 31 points against a tough New England defense. They killed the Patriots with time of possession, holding the ball for just over 40 minutes of the game. They converted 43% of their third down attempts, which is very good and much better than they have been achieving. Although it took most of the game to figure it out, the coaches finally came up with ways to counter the New England blitz that recorded 9 sacks in the game. These changes helped the Dolphins get their final touchdown, which provided the margin of victory. The passing offense was fairly good, especially the use of Tony Martin, who came up with a number of big plays. The Dolphins' defense was excellent, giving up only 1 touchdown and 16 points to the best passing offense in the league and keeping Terry Glenn from catching a single pass. Even after the game, Glenn still leads the NFL in receiving, but the Dolphins shut him down. The defense also shut down the Patriots' running game - what little of it there is - holding Terry Allen to 19 yards on 10 carries. The Dolphins' special teams were outstanding, with the exception of the long run by Kevin Faulk. The punt return unit averaged over 20 yards per punt return, which is outstanding and the kickoff return unit had several long returns of their own. The biggest problem that stood out in this game was blitz pickup on pass protection. Huard was sacked 9 times and while some of the sacks were his own fault for not getting rid of the ball quickly enough, he was under constant pressure, usually as soon as he tried to pass. Some of this is due to a rookie backfield, some of it is due to injuries and some of it is due to the Patriots' schemes, but it must improve or everyone will be blitzing all the time to try and beat the Dolphins. Penalties were also a problem, with the Dolphins getting 13 infractions for 99 yards. Many of those penalties can and must be eliminated. The rushing attack needs to improve if the Dolphins are to be successful in short yardage and in countering the blitz. The best way to do that is to let Dixon and Webb get healthy and give Collins a lot of experience. Turnovers must be cut down. The Dolphins gave up 14 points on interceptions and can't continue to do that and expect to win a lot of games. Dan Marino started the game, but left after discovering he had no strength in his throwing shoulder. However, he tossed one pass for 8 yards that put him over the 60,000 yard mark for his career. Damon Huard took over for Dan, completing 24 of 42 passes for 240 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception that was returned for a touchdown. Huard was frequently confused, didn't get rid of the ball fast enough, and floated a few passes to no one. For all of that, his poise, determination and toughness won the game for Miami. He stood in the pocket and didn't get rattled by the relentless New England blitz. For a quarterback who has never started anywhere in the NFL, he showed the mental toughness of a 10 year veteran. He also rushed for 54 yards, mostly after being flushed out of the pocket. Cecil Collins had a few good runs and demonstrated his natural ability, but he was also hit in the backfield quit a lot. The fact that he ended up with 20 carries for only 59 yards mostly wasn't his fault. Rob Konrad started out the game well, but suffered a minor hip injury in the second quarter and sat out most of the game. He ended up with just 1 carry for 3 yards and 1 catch for 3 yards. Stanley Pritchett filled in for Konrad very well and eventually helped win the game. Pritchett had 3 carries for 8 yards and caught 6 passes for 33 yards. Two of his carries and 2 of his catches were for first downs and he also caught the game winning touchdown. He showed toughness in short yardage situations and good presence of mind by getting out of bounds several times on the final series to stop the clock. JJ Johnson had 2 carries for -2 yards and caught 1 pass for no yards. He looked really bad - until the final series when he caught one more pass for 16 yards that gave the Dolphins a 1st down at the New England 5 yard line. Tony Martin had a great game, catching 7 passes for 118 yards, one of which was the 69 yard touchdown pass. He is proving to be worth every penny the Dolphins spent for him. Troy Drayton caught 4 passes for 49 yards, most of which was made by running over Patriots after he caught the ball. OJ McDuffie did not have a big game, catching 3 passes for 20 yards. Oronde Gadsden did not contribute a lot to this game, either, catching just one pass for 4 yards. Overall, the offensive line did not play well. They didn't do a good job of pass protection or of run blocking. Some of that can be blamed on the fact that Mark Dixon was playing injured and Richmond Webb didn't play at all, but some of it was just sloppy play and inadequate preparation by the coaches. Kevin Donnalley remarked after the game that the offensive line was frequently confused by the Patriots' blitz packages. On defense, Patrick Surtain led all categories this week with 6 tackles, an interception and 2 passes defensed. He was also not beaten for any big plays. He started in place of the injured Terrell Buckley and did an outstanding job. Second on the tackle list was Robert Jones with 6 and a special teams tackle. Brock Marion was third with 4 tackles, but to this untrained eye, he seemed to be out of position on some of the deep passes. However, he made up for that on kickoff returns, averaging over 28 yards per return and giving the Dolphins great field position. Lorenzo Bromell had 3 tackles and the only 2 sacks of Drew Bledsoe in this game. He is relentless as a pass rusher. Ray Hill saw a lot of action as an extra defensive back, making 3 tackles. Derrick Rodgers also had 3 tackles and recovered the fumble by Terry Allen. Jason Taylor and Darryl Gardener each had 3 tackles and provided outstanding run support. Sam Madison had 2 tackles and was credited with forcing the fumble that Derrick Rodgers recovered. However, he was uncharacteristically beaten for a touchdown. Rich Owens had 2 tackles, provided a lot of pressure on Bledsoe and batted down a pass at the line of scrimmage. Tim Bowens had 2 tackles and provided his usual immovable presence in the center of the defensive line. Zach Thomas is credited with a season low 2 tackles, but he also knocked down two passes and broke up a number of plays by knocking down blockers and getting into the Patriots' backfield. He was a force in this game, even if his total number of tackles is low. Calvin Jackson is credited with just 1 tackle and 1 pass defensed, but he helped shut out Terry Glenn with close coverage. OJ Brigance, Dwight Hollier and Larry Izzo all recorded special teams tackles. Nate Jacquet - who was released by the Dolphins before the season and who returned just last week - had a great game. He returned 4 punts for an average of 21.5 yards per return. He continued to be a flyer on coverage teams and had a great tackle on a punt return. He did have an unnecessary penalty on one punt, however. Olindo Mare' was almost as responsible for the win as Damon Huard. He was perfect in his field goal attempts, hitting 6 of 6 for 18 points, including a career long 53 yarder. He also had 3 touchbacks on kickoffs and made a touchdown saving tackle on a kickoff return. Dan Marino has a problem with spasms in the trapezious muscle in his neck and shoulder. However, an MRI conducted Monday showed no serious damage. He will treat the shoulder with rest and therapy and will probably be back after the Eagles game. Rob Konrad had hip contusions and will probably be out for the Eagles game, also. Mark Dixon may have aggravated his groin strain. If he has, he may also miss the Eagles game. The biggest thrill of this game for me was watching Damon Huard come out and display the most sought-after, least-found trait in a quarterback - mental toughness. You can teach a guy to throw better, to read defenses better, to check off and to know when to take a sack. However, you can't teach him how to stand in when he knows he's going to get hammered and throw the ball anyway. You can't teach him to get back up after he's been buried 9 times and continue to play. And you can't teach him to keep his wits about him when the whole world seems to be falling apart. Fortunately, it doesn't look like the Dolphins have to teach that to Damon Huard. He seems to have that confidence, toughness and resiliency that will carry him through the toughest of times. Not to mention the leadership ability to take control of a veteran football team in the middle of a crisis. Having said all that, it's still too soon to tell for sure if Huard is the real deal. One game does not a career make. It's one thing to be able to come off the bench in the middle of a game to take over, but it's another to plan and worry all week long, knowing that you'll be starting on Sunday. Superficially, it may seem easier to know you're the starter than to have to step in with no notice. But in terms of one's ability to handle stress, it's easier in some cases to have it thrust upon you instantly than to have to worry all week about how you're going to do on Sunday. I remember back to the pre-Marino days, when the quarterback was called "WoodStrock". That's because the Dolphins would alternate between David Woodley and Don Strock depending on the situation. And the situation always seemed to be that the starter was playing badly and the backup would come off the bench and win the game. Some guys are born to be permanent backups - like the Dolphins' old nemesis, Frank Reich of the Bills. Or Earl Morrall. Of course, if Huard plays as well as Morrall did in 1972, I'll have no problem with him. Ultimately, only time will tell how good Huard is. But if Sunday's comeback win was any indication, the Dolphins are now in good shape if Marino goes down for a game or two. And they may be in good shape when Dan retires.
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curt@phins.com DOLFAN in New England |
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