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Chiefs 16, Dolphins 13 Game Review |
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Written by Dave Blake
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Friday, 08 August 2008 |
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More of the same.
More pass-happy playcalling.
More late game fades by the defense.
More abandoning the run.
More of not enough touches for Ronnie Brown.
More dropped passes.
More big plays allowed by the secondary.
I thought Nick Saban was back in Alabama. Was I mistaken?
No offense to Cam Cameron, he is a new head coach and this was his first game in that position. And his team played hard and kept the game close, which is more than we can say for some of the teams Nick Saban fielded, but this looked like more of the same. I thought Mike Mularkey was demoted to tight ends coach, but it appears he was once again calling plays for the Dolphins against the Redskins. The opening series of the game consisted of 3 passes and a punt. The opening series of the 3rd quarter was the same thing. Were the Dolphins down by 20 points?
No.
They were down by 3 when they decided to unleash their aerial assault. And oh how offensive it was.
Trent Green, God bless his soul, does not deserve any of the blame. He performed admirably. 24 completions on 38 attempts, one touchdown and no interceptions. You cannot ask for anything more from a quarterback. His numbers would have been better if not for drops by his recievers, including a shot in the foot, untimely drop by David Martin, who had the ball hit him right in the chest and fall out of his grasp.
But abandoning the running game when you are down by three points in the 3rd quarter is inexcusable. Yes, the offensive line was not having much success opening holes for Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman. But the Redskins offensive line wasn't exactly tearing it up in the first half for Clinton Portis and Ledell Betts (41 rushing yards in the first half). The difference is that despite losing right tackle Jon Jansen for the rest of the game, the Redskins continued to pound the rock. The result was 191 rushing yards at the end of the game.
The Dolphins?
66 yards rushing. 19 yards by wide receivers.
This is not a recipe for success as we saw in both 2005 and 2006 when the Dolphins offense regularly abandoned the run. Even if you are only get one or two yards a pop, you have to continue running the ball. When it is 2nd and 7, the run should continue to be an option for your team. But the final result was 40 passes to 18 runs (excluding two end arounds).
One more thing. Why did this team seem so non-chalant at the end of the 4th quarter? They had 1 minute on the clock and three timeouts and they seemed content to run out the clock instead of making an attempt to get within field goal range. What happened to the bravery and bravado displayed before the half, when Cam Cameron decided to go for the touchdown instead of the field goal before the half? Why did the Dolphins play scared to end the game? If you are on the road, you try to win it in the fourth quarter. You don't play for overtime. That was certainly a head scratcher.
And the defense...
Let's not even go there. They really let the team down today. Granted this defense has kept this team in games for years now, but today the Dolphins were in the game and the defense couldn't get the job done when it mattered most.
All in all, more of the same. |
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