Dolphins Show What they Can do with Henne at the Helm

Last night looked like it could have been a typical Dolphins-Jets game this decade. Have an opportunity, play great all game, and throw it all away in the end. With the Dolphins at their own 30 yard line, even though the offense played great up to that point, any Dol-fan had to have had some bad memories of meltdowns against the Jets go through their minds. I mean could Chad Henne in his 2nd ever start really drive down the field against the "vaunted" Jets D? That answer as we all know is yes, with a little help from the wildcat and Pat White thrown in for good measure. Ronnie Brown ended up scoring from the wildcat with six seconds left in regulation to get the victory. However Chad Henne made some great throws in that final drive, both to Greg Camarillo, a beautiful over the top touch pass on 3rd and 5 from the 30, and a bullet pass on 3rd and 10 from the 16. All this leading to Ronnie Brown's winning score putting Miami right into the thick of things in the AFC East, now only 1 game back.

There were so many great gutsy calls from this Dolphin coaching staff, like going with the wildcat formation on many 3rd and 6 plays. Also a huge risk was throwing in Pat White in the middle of a war with 5:12 to go in the game after being on the sideline all game. All of these moves could have gone the other way, but luck and those Orange Jerseys were on the Dolphins side last night. Seeing Tony Sparano on the sideline punching, screaming, and making faces like he is one of the guys, is great to see. He is the great coach we have needed for a while.

The run game was pretty good as well, both Ronnie and Ricky combined for 151 yards and 2 tds. The wildcat was in full force and looked great, despite Rex Ryan saying, "I used to see all those gimmicks when I was coaching back in college." Yeah, still can't give us credit, calling Henne "the quarterback" and reluctantly saying that he played well. Rex Ryan you have no class, Sparano would have said how great of a game you guys played if the roles were reversed. Rex Ryan thought he had the wildcat cracked, nope sorry, go back to the drawing board and we will see you in 3 weeks. Steve Young said that the wildcat may be a fad, but for this team [Dolphins] it is their offense because they are committed to it and practice it. While Matt Millen next to him on the post game show, was trying to say that other people use it effectively and as much as us as well. First off, we started the wildcat in the NFL. Secondly, it is a main part of our offense, not just two or three trick plays. Lastly, I can't even listen to his opinion because he was the GM of one of the worst franchises in sports history.

Tedd Ginn Jr. whom I have criticised up until this point, finally showed up to play in the bright lights of Monday Night Football. Two weeks removed from dropping a game winning touchdown on this same stage, he came up big with a 53 yard td reception courtesy of Chad Henne. Perhaps my criticism of Ginn was pre-mature, perhaps Pennington's style didn't really jive with Ginn's style. We all know Pennington doesn't have a great arm. Ginn's style caters to a deep ball type quarterback, if you look back at the tape, a lot of Ginn's missed plays down the field were results of him having to come back for the ball rather than in stride like last night. Now I'm not condoning his drops of 10 yard passes, he still needs to work on his hands, but I believe his big play ability was hindered by Pennington's arm strength.

The one down side to this instant classic of a game was the porous, horrible defense. Braylon Edwards torched the secondary for 64 yards and a td and David Clowney had a great 53 yard catch and ended with 4 catches for 72 yards. However, the huge disappointment was the run defense, they gave up 136 yards, 4.6 yards a carry, and 2 tds. Leon Washington lit the D up, especially loud mouth Channing Crowder on a crack-back block. This defense has a little more work to do, I still believe the corners can develop into solid players, but with time.

In the end, add this game to the list of great Dolphins-Jets games: the fake spike, the Monday Night Miracle. What will this one be named for years to come? Henne, heir to the throne? Ginn lives up to draft pick? Wildcat here to stay? Only time will tell, as we see how the rest of this season unfolds. Hey maybe we should wear those orange jerseys more often, or for a whole season...we could go undefeated again.