I'll admit in my season predictions I didn't have the Dolphins beating Minnesota, but believe it or not I actually thought the Dolphins had a legit shot in this game.
The first play from scrimmage got me out of my seat as I laid my eyes upon the 46 yard bomb from Chad Henne to Brandon Marshall. The opening drive was later capped off with a 5 yard touchdown pass from Henne to Brian Hartline, whom finally got things going this week. Unfortunately, other than that there isn't much to say about the Miami offense. Ronnie Brown had a 51 yard run from his own 1 yard line, and if he was a little faster he could have been in the record books with Eric Dickerson as the only players in NFL history with a 99 yard touchdown run. Other than that, Ronnie Brown fumbled late in the game on a crucial drive and Ricky Williams fumbled a play after Miami got a turnover of their own.
The offense looked anemic and I point the finger at Dan Henning. His play calling just isn't cutting it for me. Put this in perspective--Miami threw the ball 15 times. Henne went 9 for 15 with 114 yards and a touchdown. Perhaps Henning has been calling the past two games conservatively due to being on the road in tough environments. If I don't see Miami air it out just a little more this Sunday against the Jets, I will be upset.
This game however was all about the Dolphin defense. Miami forced Brett Favre into three interceptions, one from Vontae Davis and two from Jason Allen (yes I said Jason Allen). Karlos Dansby once again earned his money with 9 total tackles and a monumental stop (with help from Vontae) from the one yard line denying Adrian Peterson the touchdown and the lead with 2:16 left. Jason Allen closed the day with a whopping 11 tackles, Cameron Wake looked amazing off the edge, and Koa Misi recovered his first fumble and scored the first touchdown of his 2 game career. Miami had great pass rush all game and the secondary looked great for once. Even Sean Smith made a cameo appearance in his lock down of Visanthe Shiancoe on the final drive for Minnesota.
Now all wasn't great for the defense, Adrian Peterson had 28 carries for 145 yards with 1 touchdown. Stopping him was very difficult and he ripped a couple of big runs against Miami--the longest being 23 yards.
Another note, Jake Long absolutely dominated Jared Allen in this matchup. Time after time, Allen got bull rushed by big Jake and the only sack Allen got was Henne's fault for running into him.
Like I stated before, I didn't predict Miami to win this game. I figured the Minnesota offense was too powerful, and so did every other ESPN analyst. But the Dolphins proved both me and them wrong. Indeed not having Sidney Rice helped, but still Minnesota made the NFC Championship game last year. The thing that gets me is the ESPN analysts and even the NFL Network analysts just acted like Brett Favre threw the game away and they gave no credit to Miami.
As a fan you just have to accept it. This team uses the doubt as fuel when they go out there on Sunday. Miami is 2-0 for the first time in 8 years and opened the season with two road wins for the first time since 1977. This team believes they are on the cusp of something special, whether the media believes so or not. There is no better way to silence the doubters than in Miami's home opener on Sunday Night Football against the New York Jets.
Great article dude. I agree, they are off to something special. I hope they don't get all the hype just yet, they'll use that as fuel to win games.
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