Fins at Falcons: the Good, the Bad, and the Worse
Prepare for the Wrath of Sparano
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Happy Chad was Sad Chad in Atlanta.
Apparently, it was Opposite Day, and no one warned the Dolphins.
The Wildcat had no claws, a reliable tight end became a liability, Chad Pennington threw to the Falcons, passes were caught with legs and not hands, cats and dogs lay down together, and Chad Henne was listed inactive against Atlanta, as what was supposed to be a thrilling game between last season's most surprising teams turned into an exercise in offensive futility on the side of aqua and orange.
Virtually everything in Miami's depressing, uninspired 19-7 loss was a disaster.
What went wrong:
Turnovers -- last season, the Dolphins had all of 13 turnovers, a league low. Today, four led to 9 points. Pennington had a fumble and an interception that killed a drive halfway through the 3rd, and tight end Fasano fumbled not once, but twice. The Dolphins simply aren't good enough to win while giving the ball away.
Jake Long -- It's his second year, but Long didn't look like a no. 1 draft pick as he gave up 80% as many sacks today as he did the whole of the season last year. At 6'7", 315 pounds, and truckloads of salary, Long shouldn't be looking as silly as he did when John Abraham tossed him on his bottom to nail Pennington.
The Wildcat -- Pat White ran 3 plays out of the 'cat, and it earned the Fins a whopping 4 yards. The Dolphins believed in it enough to list Chad Henne as no. 3 quarterback for the day, which meant if Pennington had been injured, White, not Henne, would have replaced him. After seeing how badly White overthrew Ted Ginn, Jr. in his one passing play, well, perhaps the Dolphins should be thankful it didn't get any worse for them.
Here's what wasn't an absolute disaster:
Sean Smith -- the Dolphins started a rookie corner for the first time since 1980. While Smith nearly gave up a touchdown to Roddy White early, he rebounded with two breakups of Matt Ryan passes to White, on of which forced Atlanta to try a field goal (they missed). Promise doesn't win games, but it might keep fans from finishing that bottle of scotch.
Run defense -- Miami managed to bottle up Pro Bowler Michael Turner, who was limited to 65 yards on 22 carries. Other Falcons were only able to contribute an additional 3 yards on 2 carries. Considering Atlanta averaged over 152 per game last year, second in the NFL, and Miami is without Matt Roth, that's quite an accomplishment.
Too bad it's just about the only one.
Copyright NBC Owned Television Stations
Posted Sunday, Sep 13, 2009 - 8:11 PM EST
