Miami Dolphins

The late season matchups for the Miami Dolphins on the road against the New England Patriots haven’t yielded the best results in their franchise history. In the Brady Era, the Dolphins have travelled to New England six times and have lost all but one game. The one game they did win, was the last game of the 2005 season where Matt Cassel and Doug Flutie had significant playing time because the Patriots had already locked up their playoff seed. With their win in the snow last week in Buffalo, however, the Dolphins could be better prepared for the inclement conditions then they normally are.

For the Patriots, their focus is going to have to outweigh the Dolphins’ pride. Owning the number one playoff seed after everything fell right last week and controlling their own destiny, the Patriots will have to remain focused to beat the Dolphins who have won five of their last seven playing for little more than pride. This week is one of two remaining chances to answer the yet unanswered question: can this defense lead them to playoff victories?

Here are three things to look for in this game:

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A matchup between one team in a free fall and one team playing their first game since their head coach was fired–two teams nursing disappointing seasons. This game promised and delivered little in terms of quality as both sides were guilty of sloppy football in some inclement weather in Buffalo. When the Miami Dolphins established a three-score lead with less than six minutes remaining, this game appeared to be over. The Dolphins came out on the ensuing drive believing that to be the case as well and consequently the game sprung into life as the Bills mounted three scoring drives but came up a touchdown short of halting their losing skid.

On each side, players played hero and villain in the same game, at the same time pulling off great plays and great drives then a few drives later making catastrophic mistakes to nuke their team’s momentum. For Miami, Reggie Bush rebounded well from an early fumble (that came from lax ball handling and gifted the Bills possession for their first scoring drive), by rounding-off his performance with a 76-yard strike to seemingly put the game away before the Dolphins took their foot off of the gas. This marks the Dolphins’ fifth win in seven games, a streak as good as any in the league. Can they maintain this momentum into next season? Can they spoil the party for division rivals New England and New York in the final two weeks and disrupt their playoff preparations? Read the rest of this entry »

This divisional rematch finds two teams who are used to playing for nothing more than pride and a paycheck at this point in the season, once again doing just that.

The 5-8 Buffalo Bills looked like contenders early with QB Ryan Fitzpatrick piling up yards and points while the defense generated plenty of turnovers. Since a Week 8 shutout win over the John Beck-led Washington Redskins they haven’t won a game though, including three divisional losses, the worst being an 8-35 loss in Miami to these Dolphins. Last week’s blowout loss to the San Diego Chargers makes their early-season triumphs look like a distant memory.

The 4-9 Miami Dolphins were once contenders for next year’s first overall pick, starting 0-7, but seemed to right the ship after that, rattling off dominating wins and playing the Dallas Cowboys close on Thanksgiving. Read the rest of this entry »

Who would have thought at the start of this season that this matchup would feature two teams still in search of their fifth victory of the year? Despite being given a two year contract extension in the offseason this would turn out to be the last game for Tony Sparano as a head coach. Even with the victory there is still doubt over the long term security of Andy Reid. It would have seemed improbable, to put it mildly, to envision either scenario but that’s the reality of the situation for the Philadelphia Eagles, the Miami Dolphins and the entire league.

The Eagles rode a hot ten minutes in the second quarter to victory as the Dolphins dropped only their second game in six after an 0-7 start.  The Dolphins had an early edge in this game but after missing a long field goal with a one touchdown lead things started to unravel. By the time they had stopped the bleeding they were facing an insurmountable three score lead. The Dolphins wasted a strong defensive effort holding LeSean McCoy to just 38 yards rushing (1.4 yards per carry) and holding Michael Vick to just 208 yards passing with a 50% completion mark. The missed field goal was where the game turned so let’s take a look at some other key moments and pivotal performances that allowed the Eagles to escape with their fifth victory of the season and keep their hopes for a .500 season alive.

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Remember when the Miami Dolphins were 0-7 and everyone was picking them to draft Andrew Luck? Well, now the Dolphins are arguably one of the hottest teams in the NFL having won four of their last five games – three of which were by over 20 points. The defense is playing at the same level as 2010 and Matt Moore is managing the offense very well.

Their opponent this week is the Philadelphia Eagles. What a mess it’s been so far for a team that was predicted by many to make it to the Super Bowl. Michael Vick has had a big regression from last year and the defense has not come close to living up to the hype. A few players on the team even appear to have all but given up, including DeSean Jackson.

Will the Dolphins keep this hot streak rolling and take down the struggling Eagles? Or will Philadelphia show some life? Here are a few focal points that will help dictate the outcome.

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It wasn’t meant to be like this for the Oakland Raiders who were in the drivers seat for the AFC West. They visited Miami with everything to play for and left battered and bruised after the Dolphins took them to task with a relentless display on both sides of the ball. Oakland was outrushed 209 yards (with a 4.8 yards per carry) to 46 (3.3 per) and this was the fourth time in the last six games they were flagged at least 10 times.

The final score flattered Oakland with two consolation touchdowns which were two more than they deserved. Given how the Raiders found themselves manhandled on both sides of the ball, they have a lot of soul-searching to do. Will they simply get better when players return? Or has the momentum that at one time made them favorites for the AFC West run its course? Read the rest of this entry »

Remember when the Miami Dolphins were locked in a battle with the Indianapolis Colts for the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft? Doesn’t seem so long ago, yet now the Dolphins are left to rue missed opportunities with four games lost by the margin of a field goal or less. Flip those results around and the Dolphins would be 8-4 and talking about the playoffs.

Their opponents this week, the Oakland Raiders, can start to think about the playoffs for the first time in a good few years as they look to be competing with just the Denver Broncos now to win the AFC West. And, while everyone focuses on New England, Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the AFC, Oakland are lying in wait with arguably the best front four in the entire league. Read the rest of this entry »

Another Thanksgiving, another Cowboys victory. For the fifth time in the last six years the Cowboys’ celebrated Thanksgiving with a victory that, in terms of performance, was eerily reminiscent of late season games in seasons past – even if the result didn’t match. The Cowboys can, to an extent, count themselves fortunate to have walked away from this game with the win. The Dolphins had the better of the game and the measure of the Cowboys but some costly errors lost it for them.

In previous seasons’ games like this, where they are on the short end of the stick in terms of performance, the Cowboys have found themselves on the short end of the stick on the scoreboard as well. Not so in this game as they halted the Dolphins’ winning streak at three thanks in large part to some crucial mistakes by the Dolphins and some crucial drives of their own. Read the rest of this entry »

While the Dolphins and Cowboys only play each other every few years, they have a rich Thanksgiving history. In 1973 they were two of the best teams in the NFL and their game that season resulted in a Dolphins 14-7 victory. Troy Aikman won once and lost once in this matchup, and most recently in 2003, the Dolphins dominated in a 40-21 victory although it was Dallas that ended up in the playoffs.

Now in their fifth Thanksgiving matchup, only one team goes into it with a winning record. While Dallas has their sights set on passing the Giants in the division and on a playoff run, Miami is just looking to win for pride. While you might not think pride is good enough, they have dominated their last three opponents. Now we’ll see if Miami is a legitimately good team that has a very long shot at the playoffs, or if they’ve just been feasting on weaker opponents. Read the rest of this entry »

Two teams whose seasons are traveling in polar opposite directions met this week and the result only reinforced that self-evident truth. Miami is as hot a team as there is in the AFC right now while Buffalo is falling to pieces under the combined weight of injuries after their hot start to the season.

This game showed the gulf between the two sides despite Miami remaining two games behind the Bills even after the win. The Dolphins blitzed the Bills in the first half and then set the cruise control on the game for the remainder.

Buffalo could only muster eight points, two of which came after failing to punch in the ball from the Miami 1-yard-line and turning it over on downs. Injuries are proving too much for Buffalo to overcome at the moment, and they continue to mount. Let’s look at some of the consequences. Read the rest of this entry »