Week Eight: Buffalo at Miami Recap

By now I'm sure you have seen or read about the Miami Dolphins big 25-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills. it was a great second half turnaround that led Miami to an upset victory and another divisional win. Here is what caught my attention.

Three Up

Of course the first shout out is going to the namesake of this blog, Ted Ginn. He had his best game as a pro with seven receptions for 175 yards. He and the offense set the tone from the first play, a play action deep route. Then the Dolphins kept picking on corner Terrence McGee, who was either not 100% healthy, or not good enough to cover Ginn. On this day we saw Ted do things that wide receivers are supposed to do. Coming out of college he was an athlete who happened to play receiver. Now he is transitioning into becoming a receiver who is also a great athlete. He was able to use his speed effectively and find the open spots in coverage. Also he took a hit when needed and held on to the ball. You just can't say enough about his performance yesterday, and hopefully it is just a sign of whats to come with him.

It feels like every week Joey Porter belongs in this section. He is having himself a season. Yesterday he had two sacks, the second of which was the huge fourth quarter game changer, where he also caused a fumble that resulted in a safety. On that play he beat pro bowler Jason Peters with a swim move inside and fought of a double team from the left guard. He was unstoppable on that play. He also made probably the second biggest play of the game when Trent Edward inexplicably extended the ball on a quarterback sneak and Porter just ripped it away for the turnover. Also in case you haven't heard, his 10.5 sacks thus far has already tied his career high and he's on pace to finish with 24, which would be an NFL record.

I don't dish out a lot of special teams love here but Brandon Fields deserves mention. He downed two of his four punts inside the five yard line, one of which resulted in the big fourth quarter safety. The other was at the end of the first quarter which switched the field position and set up the Dolphins next drive at the Bills-37 yard line. Also of note, zero of the four punts were returned by special teams ace Roscoe Parrish, who surely would've wanted to please his hometown with his return ability. If you need proof to see how much Fields has improved then here it is. Last year he finished with 10 punts inside the 20 yard line and 6 touchbacks. So far this year he has 11 punts inside the 20 and only 3 touchbacks. With our special teams coverage still needing improvement his performance was key to Miami winning this phase of the game.

Three Down

There won't be much to complain about but in the first half especially there were missed tackles. The defense had a bend but don't break in the first half as they allowed three field goals, but the Bills were able to move the ball effectively and got help from Miami on numerous missed tackles by the linebackers and secondary.

Speaking of getting help, the Dolphins had five defensive penalties in the first half. Philip Merling was offsides on consecutive plays and Jason Ferguson also gave Buffalo a free five yards. Andre Goodman was called for a pass interference but the replays showed that the play probably should have been a no-call. They were able to overcome mistakes and turn things around but you can't make a habit of that.

The Dolphins running game was actually not so hot yesterday. They finished with just 52 yards rushing on 27 attempts. The wildcat formation was able to produce a couple of nice runs and Ricky Williams came through with a great touchdown run near the goal line, but again, we can't make a habit of this. Our offense will need to be more balanced to have continued success.

Look Ahead

Next week the Dolphins will travel to Denver to face the struggling Broncos. They had a nice 3-0 start but have lost three of their last four. They are coming off a bye week and should be well rested but there are some injury concerns. The Dolphins are trying to move to 4-4 before a crucial stretch of three straight home games.