Grading the Dolphins

QB Damon Huard had a very good game. He went 15 of 25 for 210 yards 2 TDs and no INTs. He was sharp on most of his throws.
He did take too many sacks and it looked like he was holding on to the ball forever (one sack made an easy 37 yarde FG into a difficult 46 yarder but Mare connected anyway). JJ told him to take the sack and not to throw into coverage at any cost. He was a little lucky with the Gadsden reception and with his fumble that he picked up and manage to throw to OJ. He had a 43 yard TD catching Martin in full stride. Very goo game. B+

WR Martin had a big TD catch, The pass wasn't very long but Martin managed to gain a lot of yards after the catch overpowering the defenders. He finished with 5 receptions for 95 yards. OJ had 4 catches, Gadsden 2 but one of them was a great long catch adjusting to a ball that really wasn't thrown his way at all, he caught it between defenders. Pritchett had another TD reception. Green was inactive. Drayton didn't catch a pass. No drops. Good game B+

RB The worst game of the year for the running game. Collins didn't get anywhere. JJJ was even worse. Miami just couldn't run the ball very effectivly yesterday. The defense and passing game really bailed them out. Collins was hit in the backfield once by a defensive lineman that wasn't even touched. Collins does manage to minimize bad plays, getting back to the line in plays that would have ended with minus 5 or 6 yards in the Jabbar days. D

OL Huard was sacked too many times but really it is not their fault, he holds on to the ball way too much, in some cases it looked to me that he held on to the ball for ages. On the other hand, unblocked defensive linemen on Collins or getting pushed around by the D-line is another thing... Webb had a great play on Kearse on pass blocking showing the rookie DE who is the 7 time pro bowler... C

DL In the 3 Huard starts this defense has given up 5 FGs, really you don't need to do too much on offense in order to win with this D.
It starts with the line. They had a few sacks (team finished with 4), they were in the backfield a few times. They did play against a very mobile QB. Armstrong and Owens got a sack each. Gardener and Bowens shared one between them. Mixon was back, but Owens is playing very well and if he continues playing like that Mixon is headed to the bench, joining the rotation from there. George did manage to run very well at the begining but after a few runs Miami closed the right side of the line making the remainder of the game very bad for George. Miami stayed in their rushing lanes and a part from a 14 yard scramble at the end Miami did a perfect job containing Mcnair. Very good game ! A

LB Another day at the office for this group, they were quite but solid. Zach was as usuall everywhere, Jones and Rogers were fine also. A

Secondary Wilson got a sack, but sometimes, a grade of the entire position is just the grade of one individual, who had a dominating game.
T-Buck, Surtain, Wooden, Marion and Jackson (got hurt) wre all solid but Madison was so good that Mcnair will remember this game for years. Madison had 3 (!) INT they were all thrown his way, but he did a perfect job seeing the ball and making a play on the ball when it counted.
Madison had 4 pass defended as well, he was just unpassable. A+

Special teams Not the best game ever... Twice a penalty on Jaquet's returns and a blocked FG is not a good day at the office. Mare managed to hit a 46 yard FG. Mare also had some nice kickoffs well into the endzone. The wind was a factor in the game.D

Coaching This grade goes to George Hill. The defense was huge, Tennessee really did not get anything going, Miami kept coming at Mcnair, presuuring him and keeping him from running and a part from a few plays at the begining George had nowhere to run. A