Plenty of stuff to look at in the Dolphins 20-14 loss to the Jets yesterday. We’ll give you a quick rundown of what we thought of the each portion of the team.
Quarterbacks: B-
Hard to fault Chad Pennington for anything that happened yesterday. He made throws and kept the team in the game despite not having any rushing attack. Or receivers. Or an offensive line capable of blocking. Call me anti-American, but by the time the game ended, I was more convinced by Chad Pennington’s performance than Brett Favre’s.
Pennington: 26/43, 251 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT
Favre: 15/22, 194 yards, 2 TDs
But luck plays a big role in how we perceive players.
Example: Favre’s second touchdown was a ball that should’ve been picked off, or at the very least, batted down. He closed his eyes and threw the ball straight up in the air to avoid getting sacked on a 4th down play. He had no idea where the ball was going when he released it, because his head wasn’t even facing the right way. Luckily, the ball fell somewhere in the vicinity of the endzone, the Dolphins defenders had no clue what they were doing, and a guy named Stuckey found himself in the right place at the right time. Touchdown.
“He’s a miracle worker,” Dolphins fullback Boomer Grigsby said. “He threw that thing in the air and God said, ‘Brett Favre will have a touchdown pass.’ And he did. That’s Brett Favre being Brett Favre.”
Conversely, Chad Pennington tried the same thing at the end of the game and Darelle Revis made a one-handed interception in the back corner of the endzone, while falling down.
If you take those two plays out of the game — because, honestly neither was the result of anything the quarterback did right or wrong –here’s what the stats look like:
Pennington: 26/42, 251 yards, 2 TDs
Favre: 14/21, 172 yards, 1 TD
Pennington, on the whole, had a much more impressive day than anyone else on the field, not named Dwight Lowery.
Running Backs: D
17 attempts for 59 yards. That’s it.
Ronnie Brown made a few mistakes, cost the team a much-needed timeout in the 4th quarter, and almost had the biggest brain fart of the game when, after catching a pass, he cut back inside despite having to get out of bounds in the final 30 seconds. He wound up finding the sideline, but even that was a debatable call by the officials. Ricky made a big catch late in the game to put the team in position to get the final score, but overall, it just didn’t seem like the running backs played a big part in this game.
Receivers: C
To be honest, it was hard to get any kind of reading on the receivers. The offensive line was so bad that Pennington was running for his life for most of the game, dumping off to the nearest white jersey. In moments where he had time to throw, Anthony Fasano was his most sure-handed target. He finished with 8 catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, and was the only thing saving this grade from falling to a D.
Offensive Line: F
Our teacher once told us that we received an F, simply because she wasn’t allowed, by the rules of teaching, to give a lower grade. We suppose she would’ve skipped G, H and I and reached straight for the Q. Now, we understand.
Never has the term “offensive” been so fitting. Penalties? Check. Missed assignments? Check. The only time this group looked even remotely competent was on the final drive, when the Jets lightened up the blitz. Too often, there were multiple green shirts in the backfield before Pennington could even finish his 3-step drop. At one point, an attempted flea flicker saw Ricky Williams get mauled before he could turn around to pass it backward. Not a very inspiring performance by the one group that looked solid in the preseason.
Defensive Line: B-/C+
It’s difficult to give them a higher grade when they allowed Thomas Jones to rush for almost 5 yards a carry. But they got pressure on Favre on a number of occasions, forced him into throws that he didn’t want to make, and even managed to slap a ball out of his hands for a turnover.
Defensive Backs: D
The Dolphins defensive backs were only terrible on two plays. Unfortunately, both plays led to touchdowns.
The first touchdown, a 56-yard bomb to Jerricho Cotchery, caught the safety sleeping after a Favre play-fake. We’re still not sure what the hell happened on the second touchdown, but any time a ball floats in the air for more than 35 seconds and only goes 20 yards, we’d like to think that it shouldn’t be caught for a touchdown. Favre’s lame-duck touchdown pass was an obvious indication that this secondary still has some glaring holes in it.
Special Teams: C-/D+
The kicking game included a 9-yard punt and a kickoff that sailed out of bounds. In a game where the other team’s offense isn’t that impressive, it’s hard to stomach the idea of constantly giving them the ball at midfield to start drives.
The biggest return threat the Dolphins have produced 3 punt returns for a total of 9 yards, and drew the ire of fans for not attempting to return a punt late in the game, with the Dolphins needing good field position to get themselves in a spot to tie the game.
Coaching: C
There wasn’t enough there to suggest that Sparano and his staff did a poor job. They also didn’t do enough to justify giving them anything better than a mediocre grade. There’s no reason for some of the miscues and penalties from the offensive line, but that’s something Sparano and company can’t neccessarily control. If it continues throughout the season, then the blame can be placed on the coaching staff. For now, it was simply a young team making young mistakes.
Overall, they did ok with the team that took the field. This is a grade that would seem to need a long-term look, rather than a one game snapshot.
Hey, it could be worse. They could be the Patriots right now…
Oh, sure Mike. Recovering. More like fucking cheating!
