We beat the Bills. But I'm not happy. We should have won this game 34-3.

1. Marshall's deep drop. Yea, the ball was underthrown, but it hit Marshall in both hands and he was still behind the DBs. That should have been caught and would have put us inside the 10. We could have easily run the ball in from there.

2. Sapps INT. Sapp had a pick six. Dropped.

3. Jason Allen INT. Allen also had a pick six. Dropped.

4. Forth and 11, Bills score a TD. Talk about a missed opportunity. After putting down the Bills only serious threat, and getting the Bills in a 4th and 11 situation, the defensive backfield has a mental breakdown and leave the Bills only decent WR wide open for a TD pass.

By my count, we left 21 points on the table and gave the Bills 7 points they had no business having.

If we miss opportunities like this against better opponents, we will end up a 7-9 team.

IMO "We beat the Bills" and "I'm not happy" don't belong in the same post. Unless you bet on the point spread and the final score didn't cover.

But you're right, we need to convert these opportunities and play better overall, beginning next week.

Happy, but not complacent, was the way the team should have felt on their way home from Barf-a-lo. Judging from Coach Sparano's interview yesterday I'd say he and the team are quite aware that they need to do better and are in the correct mindset in preparing for the next game.

One of the bright sides of making mistakes all over the field, but still winning the game, is that ALL parts of the team need to improve. Special Teams, Offense, Defense, all made some stinkers of mistakes. Although run defense was damn good.

Don't forget about the missed field goal by Carpenter at the end of the half...

JC, I can see not being happy about a win. Many say that the Bills are cream-puffs and we should have dominated them no matter what. I don't think so and I think they are tough and will beat a lot of teams but DolphinMike is right. We left a lot of points on the field and missed a lot of golden opportunities. The reason that you are SORRY about such a winning performance is that it means you will probably get beat the next time by a team of the same or better level.

We did look very rough. The key is for the team as a whole is to start getting better every game.

Henne looked shaky at best, to me. I am also a hug Henne supporter, but, there were open guys he missed, didnt see, underthrew, overthrew and flat out threw it to the wrong guy.

But he should improve. The Bills secondary is actually very solid. Jarius Byrd, Leodis McKelvin, Donte Whitner and Terrence McGee are no slouch and honestly the best unit on their team....by far.

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"When you suck long enough, you get a Hickey"

Let's not forget the fact that only a few years ago, we lost these close games on a regular basis.

Now, even when we don't play well we can find a way to win. That is one of the characteristics of a great team.

GBOFinFan Wrote:
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> Don't forget about the missed field goal by
> Carpenter at the end of the half...


I'm *trying* to forget it, believe me ~

THis is football and a divisional game at that, these games are supposed to be ugly with missed opportunities. and last time I checked whether you win by 1 or by 41 they both count as a win. THis is not college where the bcs counts how much you win by. Be happy that we won. We will look different against the vikings.

Krunk Fu Wrote:
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> Let's not forget the fact that only a few years
> ago, we lost these close games on a regular
> basis.
>
> Now, even when we don't play well we can find a
> way to win. That is one of the characteristics of
> a great team.

Exactly the point I was going to make. We seemed to lose against the teams we should have beat and beat the teams we shouldn't have.

A win is a win and we split with the Bills last year. To get this one on the road where we haven't won in 5 years is HUGE. Makes it all the better to face them at home on December 19th in the Miami heat.

The next three weeks is brutal followed by a bye week and then 4 more week of brutality.

Vikings, Jets, Pats, Bye, Pack, Steelers, Bengals, Ravens! With only the Jets, Pats and Steelers at home.

Talk about some tough, physical teams! We are going to get banged up.

I am predicting 3-1 going into the bye week. If we can stay healthy, we are capable of beating anyone. Henne WILL get in a rhythm. He is only 25 years old and will have his down days. He did not turn the ball over on Sunday and that is a good sign.

.....................................................................................
“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

Yeah it's so easy to go into an inferior divisional rivals house and win, just ask Indy, San Fran, San Diego and Dallas....oh wait, never mind

Sugar coat it anyway you want, the team did not execute when it was given golden opportunities.

It wasn't as if we didn't have the Bills beat on several occasions. The coaching staff called the right formations and plays. The players just didn't execute. One was a long TD, the other were a couple of INTs.

Finally, a breakdown in the secondary.

We were lucky we played the Bills. Had this been a better team, we wold have been in trouble.

Ok the Bills have the best backfield of any team period. Each of the guys mentioned is a straight up solid contributer, and they are hard to beat passing on.


Alot of people dont know that, the problem is the front 7.

On offense they dont have much of a line, however they have one of the best RB systems with three solid runners.

There QB is average, and they have one solid wr, and no exceptional TE, so they are limited in that regard, which is why they dont win alot, but there defense is very underatted.

Expect every single game this year to be very close. If the fins come out and blow somebody out, it will be unexpected. People who whine about a close win are acting a little spoiled. This week the D better catch the int's that brett will throw! He going to throw at least 2 bad balls right to Miami. Catch the damn ball! Allen! Sapp! Clemons!

bradinthecreek Wrote:
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> Expect every single game this year to be very
> close. If the fins come out and blow somebody out,
> it will be unexpected. People who whine about a
> close win are acting a little spoiled. This week
> the D better catch the int's that brett will
> throw! He going to throw at least 2 bad balls
> right to Miami. Catch the damn ball! Allen! Sapp!
> Clemons!


Whining? Spoiled? I'm just asking our WR to catch the damn ball when it hit him in the hands. I'm just asking the DBs to make the INT when they are given a pick 6.

Its not like Buffalo played us close. This game should have been a blow out. But on three separate occasions players failed to make key plays when they had the chance. I don't think that is spoiled. I think that is objective.

That's true that we missed opportunites, but I'm still happy.

We had zero takeways, we were bad at returning kicks, we dropped balls and missed easy picks.... But WE STILL WON.

There will be games vs better oponents where we will have takeways and don't miss opportunities, and with that, we will be abble to be competitive in these games.

Go Dolphins!!!! Go Henne!!!!

DolfanMike Wrote:
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> bradinthecreek Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Expect every single game this year to be very
> > close. If the fins come out and blow somebody
> out,
> > it will be unexpected. People who whine about a
> > close win are acting a little spoiled. This
> week
> > the D better catch the int's that brett will
> > throw! He going to throw at least 2 bad balls
> > right to Miami. Catch the damn ball! Allen!
> Sapp!
> > Clemons!
>
>
> Whining? Spoiled? I'm just asking our WR to
> catch the damn ball when it hit him in the hands.
> I'm just asking the DBs to make the INT when they
> are given a pick 6.
>
> Its not like Buffalo played us close. This game
> should have been a blow out. But on three
> separate occasions players failed to make key
> plays when they had the chance. I don't think
> that is spoiled. I think that is objective.

The old adage is a wins a win. But, in the same respects you should never ever be happy with how good you are as a football team. The moment you do, is the moment you stop striving to become the best at what you do. Lets face facts. Miami should have beaten Buffalo last week. They did. They should have blown them out by 15-20 points. They didn't. I attribute this to the fact that we have huge turnover this year on our squad. We have yet to gel as a unit on either side of the ball, and I expect to see slow and steady improvements as the year progresses. Case in point: That deep ball to Marshall. Had Marshall played during TC and preseason would that ball have been placed in the right spot? Would it have been a 6? I think so, and I think if we can say that all that having Marshall miss time has cost us is that TD then I'll say we get off lucky.

Still, lets be cautiously optimistic. Miami played Buffalo in a way I haven't seen in a very long time. Especially on D. They were quick to the point of attack and extremely physical up front. The secondary needs a little work but we'll see how that progresses as the year goes on. I haven't seen a defense that gets me this excited since the days when ZT was a captain.