Last Sunday our Dolphins to a big step back against Arizona, as once again Miami had a very difficult time getting an type of running game going and as a whole the offense was stuck in nuetral the whole game.  The same disturbing trend of the WR being a non factor was evident again and teams are focusing on the TE and they were a non factor last week as well.  To make matters worse, losing Donald Thomas stunts the growth of the OL and now you are trying to find a suitable replacement for Thomas.

Defensively, Miami did a good job agains the run as Arizona had less than 80 yards rushing for the game.  The bad part of this equation, and it was very bad is that the secondary got absolutely torched by the tandem of Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald, as the tandem combined for over 300 yards and 3 touchdowns passes.  The pass rush also struggled to generate pass rush in this game as well and that has to improve.

Next up is New England, a team that is a shell of the team it was last year with NFL MVP Tom Brady out for the year, but still a very good and proud football team.  Judging from the game plan against the Jets, the Patriots are going to be a team that counts on the run game with conservative passing from Matt Cassel to keep the chains moving and rely on there veteran defense to win games and that proved successful last week agains the Jets.  Against Miami, you can expect the Patriots to deviate from that game plan somewhat and test a secondary that has shown a tendacy to give up the big play with one Randy Moss, as he presents the same problems for the Miami secondary that Boldin and Fitzgerald presented last week.  A big WR with great speed that has a big advantage on any type of jump ball situation.

What will we see from Miami this Sunday, that remains to be seen.  This is a team without and identity, an unknown commodity for the most part with a new staff that are learning on the job and a young team that is still learning how to play the game.  I hope we see a team that has learned a little more about themselves and show the signs of improvment that we all want to see.  Will this add up to a win today against the Patriots, I don't think it will, but I certainly want to see a team that can show me something that will give me reason for hope in the future.

That is the knee-jerk reaction among some of the fans. Really, it is hard to backhand the fans for that attitude as they have had to endure an inferior passion on the field this decade. Still, when Sparano issues a "must win" game after just one game, you would expect the team to jump out of their jock straps and put on a gutsy performance.

That gutsy performance never materialized as most of the members of the team came out with no urgency whatsoever. Their flat performance contributed to a loss that was very reminiscent of the loss that Dan the Man had to endure to the Jaguars for his last memory in the NFL. Do not let the 31-10 score give you the illusion that this was not a severe blow out. If not for the class of Cardinals head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, it could have been an easy 50 point game for the Cardinals. 

Does the "must win" command from Sparano mean that the season is lost? Between you and I, I believe that Sparano was not expecting a playoff appearance from this team. They are young and are rebuilding. If you did not notice a lot of middle tier free agents were added. That is a band aid folks. This team will have to be rebuilt throught the draft and hopefully some of these band aids will develop into the players that Parcells hopes will rebuild this team back into a team worthy of being a part of the Shula Dynasty. 

I believe this team was tested by Sparano and they failed the test. It is on them. Sparano may bark a lot in practice but he is Parcells' choice to lead this team. Parcells did not make Sparano our head coach on a "knee jerk" decision but on his observance over many years of loyal coaching.  Sparano was doing what Coach Saban did a few years ago and telling the team that if they want to be a part of the Dolphins future success then they'd better put it out on the field. The players are not only playing for the 2008 season, but for the future success of this franchise. Whoever does not get aboard the Parcells/Sparano bus will be left behind. If Parcells cannot use a player on possibly another 1-15 team, what good will he be to another team next year once he is let go?

That is something to think about. Keep in mind that Sparano will be the head coach next year. He will make mistakes this year, but he has Big Brother watching over him at every practice and game. Parcells is still coaching, but his largest focus is his friend Tony Sparano. So, that being said, Sparano has not lost the team. If anything, some of the players have lost the support of Sparano on Judgement Day.

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