Dolphins 21 - Seahawks 19

The Dolphins' win against Seattle was the worst win I have seen in franchise history. Nevertheless, a win is a win; we need to regroup and move on. The Dolphins played pretty poorly in all phases of the game, and though I think they have done an incredible job all year, the coaching staff deserves a lot of the blame in this one. Luckily, the Seahawks were superlatively awful, maybe worse than we were last year, so we escaped with a victory and a winning record.

Coaching:

I thought the main reason the Dolphins played so poorly was because of uncharacteristically bad coaching. Football, with all its complexities, is a very simple sport at its core. As a coach, you need to make sure that your team does two things: you need to run what you do well, and you need to run what is working.

Defensively, we saw a quarterback that we thought we could disrupt and confuse in Seneca Wallace, so we tried zone blitzing him a lot. The plan made sense, even though we've excelled with a lot of man stuff lately, but as the game progressed it became clear that it was not working. We didn't get to the quarterback, confuse him, or stop him. At that point, Sparano should've taken a step back and realized that his game plan neither employed what the defense does well nor was it working against the Seahawks. You have got to try what you do well and/or find something that is working. Simple, right?

Apparently not, as the Dolphins kept blitzing and sitting in their zone until they almost lost the game. Man coverage is what the Dolphins have done well lately and has lead to the resurgence of Goodman and Jason Allen, but we almost never saw any of that. Additionally, when the Dolphins dropped eight on third down against the Seahawks, that too was working. Still, as the game progresses, we saw it less and less. It was a poor job all day by the defensive coaching staff of taking care of the simple things, doing what you do and doing what is working.

On offense, the coaching was even more baffling. The Dolphins came in with a great game plan which emphasized what they do well. We had all kinds of full house backfields and the new look "Spread Wildcat." From the outset, there was nothing the Seahawks could do to stop it, and we quickly went up 14-0. So, not only were we doing what we do, but that was also what was working. It was a perfect storm for a disastrous day for the Seahawks. There was nothing they could do to stop us.

However, for some reason that I cannot comprehend, the offensive coaches completely abandoned the game plan. We started passing way too much, allowing pressure to get to our quarterback, and besides not moving the ball, we gave up a pick six the other way. At halftime, I was sure the coaches would reevaluate things, see that Ricky had 8 carries for 97 yards already, and make a point to get him the ball 20 times in the second half, but he finished with only four more carries, an absolute disgrace on the part of the staff. Unsurprisingly, the only time we did score the rest of the day was went we went back to the Spread Wildcat and scored immediately, but with the exception of that, the Dolphins abandoned their excellent game plan completely and almost lost the easiest game they would play all year.

In a season where the coaches have done an A-plus job, and I still believe that, this was an F-minus coaching performance today.

Quarterbacks:

Pennington never really looked great all day. Even on the flea flicker to Ginn, where he made a perfect throw, he missed that Camarillo was the one who was wide open. Then, as the Dolphins abandoned the run, Pennington began to come under some pressure, and no quarterback fares well when he is pressures. On a first down, I noted that Chad needed to throw the ball away or eat it for a sack, since the Dolphins were up 14-0, but on the ensuing third down he threw a pick six the other way, the ultimate negative play for a quarterback. Ultimately, I blame the coaches for their play calling and the line for poor pass blocking as the catalysts for Chad's bad day, but plays like when he almost fumbled the game away on our last possession are inexcusable.

Running Backs:

I owe Ricky Williams an apology because as of the halfway point in the season I had dismissed him, believing that due to how they've played, Ronnie needed to be our definite main guy over the second half of the season. I was clearly wrong, as Ricky showed another gear against the Seahawks, looking like his old self. Fast and powerful, he was our best back today, and the answer at running back as we move deeper into the season is that we need to try both guys early in every game and ride the hot hand that day.

Moreover, the running game was successful all day (when we used it), and that was thanks in large part to the two main schemes which we employed. The full house backfield gives us a lot of opportunities to do a lot of different things, and the "Spread Wildcat," as I have dubbed the formation with Ronnie in the shotgun flanked by Williams and Cobbs, is much more than just another variation on the Wildcat. The formation is essentially the Spread offense that a lot of college and high school teams run, and it is an entirely different offense to defend than the Wildcat as we know it. The Dolphins can effectively run the triple option in either direction on either play, throw the ball, or do countless other things - it is its own offense! The Spread Wildcat was very effective today, and I believe that as it is a more complex and comprehensive version of the Wildcat, we can expect to see much more of it as the season progresses.

Also of note, there was excellent design on a counter pitch play to Ricky; this type of play becomes very hard to defend when you cannot key on just one running back, so credit our personnel for that. Also, though the play was made by the blocking up front, Ricky was out in a heartbeat on his touchdown. Even Polite looked like he can carry the ball a little bit. My only real issue with the running game today was that we didn't use it enough.

Offensive Line:

The line had a very good day run blocking, but a rough day in pass protection, and unfortunately we did a lot of passing as the game wore on (see how this is becoming a theme?). Justin Smiley had to leave the game, but Matt McChesney filled in serviceably in his absence. The big problem spot in the game was at right guard. Ike Ndukwe was fine when he was in the game, as he was in on our first two touchdowns, but Andy Alleman, who rotated with him today was terrible. He made a poor block pulling on one of his first plays in the game and was the one who allowed the pressure on Chad's pick six. That was enough for me to see of him, but he remained in the rotation all day and consistently was the one being picked on in all of the Seahawks' blitz schemes. In my opinion, Ndukwe should be our man for the rest of the year.

As far as positives in the run game go, credit Vernon Carey for opening up a nice hole on an early Williams run. Also, on Williams' touchdown, besides the excellent design of the Spread Wildcat, the play was made up front. Unsurprisingly, the hole was off left guard. Smiley down blocked, Satele comboed off to the backer, and Long very impressively reached inside to create an alley. You really can't say enough about how superb Long is in run blocking. His steps are always perfect, and a technically sound man of his stature is a scary thing for opposing defenses.

Wide Receivers:

Ginn was excellent throughout the day, bringing energy and life to the Dolphins whenever he had the opportunity to be involved. It was a great catch between two defenders at the back of the end zone on the flea flicker for what should have been his second touchdown of the day. Overall, however, the receivers were quiet, with my only other note being how instinctive and explosive Bess is when the play breaks down.

Tight Ends:

Nothing. A very quiet day from our tight ends who are so important to our offense. These guys, along with Camarillo, have been our bread and butter to keep the chains moving all year. Hopefully we can see more involvement from them next week.

Defensive Line:

Another excellent day of run stopping: the Seahawks didn't go anywhere on the ground. Kendall Langford had his second excellent game in as many weeks. Credit Sparano for sticking with him, even though I believe Randy Starks has been the stronger player all year. With him plugging things up, teams are not going to have much of anywhere to run on the Dolphins. He even strung out a wide run perfectly, a play beyond his years. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Merling, who simply cannot be in the game on first downs at this juncture.

Like Langford, Vonnie Holliday has also been coming on of late and is starting to play some really good football. He had a huge sack in the final minutes, and was a big run stuffer all day. Overall, with the exception of a few Julius Jones runs late in the game, the defensive line played excellent football.

Linebackers:

The linebackers had their ups and downs today. In the middle, Crowder and Ayodele did a very nice job bottling up the run thanks in large part to the work done by the big boys up front. They do have to take the brunt of the blame for those plays when they got beat by Julius Jones late in the day, but overall they did a pretty good job. Unfortunately, in pass defense Channing Crowder still hasn't covered anybody all year, and the linebackers were ineffective blitzing all day. When they did get pressure, the issue returned to the inability to finish sacks, one which has plagued every Dolphin not named Joey Porter all year.

On the outside, it was interesting to see how Roth and Porter were moving. Both played very well again, and I thought the Dolphins did a pretty good job of mixing up who was playing over Walter Jones. Also, the Dolphins did something they haven't done a lot of this year, when the outside linebackers traded places to compensate when the offense moved the tight end. As far as play went, Roth, for his part, forced what should've either been called a sack or intentional grounding in the early third quarter, but he continues to lose time to Charlie Anderson, who has yet to make any really big plays. Of course, Joey Porter played very well again and was active and disruptive as usual.

Defensive Backs:

Early in the game, something very unusual happened. The Seahawks were actually avoiding throwing at Andre Goodman, a credit to how well he has played in the last few weeks. Will Allen and Yeremiah Bell also had very strong first halves, as they have continued to play great all year long.

Unfortunately, as the reader is well aware by now, the Dolphins decided to play a lot of zone to go with their blitzing schemes in the second half, and then the problems began. Goodman continues to struggle in zone coverage, but luckily the Seahawks were so terrible that they dropped half the passes they attempted, including what would have been a third quarter touchdown.

Seattle's receivers were bad, but there was real concern that Miami's secondary was going to prove worse. The play was very poor, and I can't reiterate enough that this secondary needs to mix in man to be effective.

Renaldo Hill fell on the Seahawks' final touchdown, but TGIYB on the two point conversion: Bell made the first of two outstanding deflections to save the game. Of course, he couldn't have done it without the help of those horrendous Seahawks who committed their umpteenth motion penalty of the game and had to try the conversion from the seven.

On Seattle's attempt at a game winning drive, it was deja vu all over again with a couple of twists. This time, it was Will Allen with the second of two outstanding deflections to save the game, and on the final play another dropped pass by Seattle did them in. Terrific work by Bell and Allen to save the game, adding to both of their pro bowl resumes, but ultimately it was the ineptitude of the Seahawks which did them in.

Special Teams:

There were two bright spots on special teams today, and the rest was bad. On the opening kickoff, Ted Ginn made one of the most ridiculous moves I have ever seen to get into the open field and then absolutely exploded down the sideline for a touchdown, but it was called back. Sadly, though Charlie Anderson's hold was at the point of attack, Ginn would have made it around the end anyway. Regardless, you've got to love what he is doing as a returner.

The other bright spot was Patrick Cobbs. The guy is absolutely everywhere on special teams, an animal. He made several special teams tackles and forced just about every other play the Dolphins unit made. Great work.

Beyond those two guys, the news was not so good. Carpenter was again outkicked all day, with the most embarrassing moment coming when Mare put a kick five yards out of the end zone and then Carpenter countered by only reaching the 12 yard line while kicking in the same direction. His kick was at least 25 yards shorter.

Bess returning kicks made one nice decision when he let a ball bounce into the end zone, but he also caught one ball on the two yard line and doesn't instill nearly as much fear as Ginn does when he is back on punts.

There were more missed tackles by the coverage teams and long returns allowed, but I can only talk about that stuff so much before I become physically ill. Jason Allen and Charlie Anderson were culprits on missed tackles, to name a few. Hopefully we get some answers, or we could have a long winter ahead of us.

Last Word:

The Dolphins absolutely didn't deserve this one, but were lucky to be playing the right team on the right week. The in game coaching was to blame for many of the problems, but I have the utmost confidence in Sparano to right the ship before next week. Again, the team needs to take care of business against the Raiders, or else the Patriots game becomes a do or die for the playoff hopes of your Miami Dolphins.