The Dolphins won a very important game on Sunday. It assured them of at least a split with the Bills. The Dolphins relied on their defense once again. The defense scored 9 points and esentially the offense allowed the Bills 3 points when it gave the ball
to Buffalo inside Miami's 30 yard line. The defense stuffed Buffalo for 3 quarters and when Buffalo woke up, it was already too late and Sam Madison killed them with the fumble return for a TD. The one thing I didn't like is that Miami went to an all out defense very early in the second half.
They went 3 straight times 3 and out and it seemed that they didn't want to move the ball, they'd rather run 3 plays take 2 minutes off the clock, maybe get a first down and punt. You can do that when you have a 20 point lead but Miami's lead was 9 points. It almost cost them the game because in the 4th quarter
Buffalo was having success on offense while Miami couldn't get nothing on offense. They got lucky when Madison returned the fumble for a TD and esentially sealed the game.
We saw some good things in this game, Armstrong having 3.5 sacks (!) and rookie Jermaine Haley getting involoved in the rotation and getting the safety. The offense is playing better, especially the run offnese, but it should get better because I don't think the defense can play that good forever.
QB - Fiedler played OK. He had a few good throws but as usuall he had some 'what the hell was he thinking' throws. his completion percentage was decent (14 of 24) but that's a result of throwing
mostly short passes. The Dolphins have 15 days to rest and Martin will be back 100% and OJ will start getting some snaps, that could help Fielder, especially OJ that esentially catches everything thrown his way down the middle of the Field.
Fiedler could use those intermidiate throws to OJ. C+
RB - The running game didn't have a great average, but that was expected against Buffalo. They did manage 120 yards but take away 29 on Fiedler scrambles and 91 yards is a more realistic assesment of Miami's running on Sunday. The Bills have a great defense and Smith and co. were decent. The average also goes down when Miami goes to this all out defensive mode and runs running plays that the entire stadium
can anticipate. C+
WR - Martin was back but he caught only one pass. Shepherd had nice TD and Gadsden was quite too. Fiedler didn't throw much to the WRs, and I've already said what I think about the play calling in the second half. C+
OL - They actually played OK. They are playing much better this year than last year and Todd Wade has been a pleasent addition, especially considering he's just a rookie. B-
DL - WaWoo ! They were huge. 6 sacks (Rob Johnson does tend to hold the ball too long) and constant pressure. Despite the rushing TD, they stuffed the run, if you take away the Johnson scrambles and you're left with anemic numbers. Haley was great, getting the safety, I really think he was a pleasent addition to the DL. And last but certainly not least, 35 year old
Trace Armstrong, Wow, he had 3.5 (!!!) sacks, he's got 10 for the year already, he's having a huge year. He recorded his 100th sack of his carrer, he merits an A+ all by himself. Mixon and Taylor got sacks and Owens had 0.5 sack. A+
LB - Zach came back but he wasn't 100%, Gaylon is out for the year which leaves Miami very thin at the LB position, the release of Hollier could hurt Miami. B+
Secondary - For 3 quarters they were brilliant but the 4th quarter became scary with long completions by the Bills but Madison managed to win it for Miami at the end. Moulds was quite which is unusuall when he plays Miami. B+
Special Teams - Mare, well enough said. Gamble had his best game downing a punt on the Bills' 3, Miami also managed to punt out of bounds at the Bills 1 yard line setting up the safety. The return game was nothing special. B
Coaching - I have already said what I think about the play calling. I think Miami got lucky there at the end when it was 15-13 and the Bills had the ball and it seemed that they were moving it OK, a FG looked likely. One day the all out defense and conservative play will get back at the coaching staff. On the other hand, they won a taff game. B-
