Dolphins 38, Patriots 13.
Punctuated by Ronnie Brown's 2 yard touchdown run, Ronnie Brown's 15 yard touchdown scramble, Ronnie Brown's 5 yard touchdown run, Ronnie Brown's 19 yard touchdown pass, and Ronnie Brown's 62 yard touchdown burst, the Dolphins bent the Patriots over on Sunday in Foxborough.
Tom Brady didn't play. Laurence Maroney was out with a shoulder injury. That's all well and good, but the Patriots defense was healthy, and they got completely abused for 60 minutes.
After looking like a little league team against the Cardinals last week, the Dolphins went into Gilette Stadium as laughable underdogs and played a perfect game of football, flat-out embarrassing the Patriots and handing them their first regular season defeat in 22 games.
The way the Dolphins won was just as unexpected as the final score. Using the 'Wildcat' offense, developed by quarterbacks coach David Lee while at Arkansas, the Dolphins repeatedly flummoxed the Patriots defense by lining Chad Pennington up at receiver and direct snapping it to Ronnie Brown. After it worked the first time, resulting in Miami's first score, fans on Dolphins message boards were reluctant to celebrate, believing that New England would adjust and that the Dolphins would have to find a way to score without relying on gimmick plays.
The gimmick play worked, over and over and over, resulting in 3 touchdowns in the first half alone, and alleged football genius Bill Belichick, mastermind of the vaunted Patriots defense, could do nothing to stop it.
Players of the game: Ronnie Brown (5 touchdowns), Joey Porter (3 sacks, backed up his trash talk), and Jake Long (dominated the Patriots defensive line all day, pictured below at the combine)
Are we seeing the start of something legitimate?
After last week, everyone (myself included) gave the Dolphins up for dead, expecting another season similar to last year's 1-15 nightmare. Things are looking a little bit different now. If the Dolphins can produce anything close to the level of play they displayed yesterday, they will be in the mix for the AFC East crown.
I'm not going to be foolish enough to predict a playoff berth now, but at the very least, this team has serious potential, and with Bill Parcells continuing to tinker with the roster, and Tony Sparano seemingly coming into his own as an NFL head coach, the sky is the limit for the Dolphins in the years to come. We are finally on the right track.
Having suffered through the last half decade as a Dolphins fan, it brings me immense relief to be able to honestly make that statement.
3 comments:
The difference is Parcells. Where did that game from Ronnie Brown come from? Wasn't Ricky Williams the starter last week? Is he going to be a fantasy stud?
We've been hearing rumors about Ronnie Brown all summer. Chris Mortensen was saying that Parcells was shopping him around, and then he injured his thumb in right before the season and everyone was hyping Ricky's comeback. It looks like Ronnie has recovered fully from his ACL tear last year.
The ESPN fantasy guys are saying that Ronnie is the ultimate trade high player right now, but let's not forget that last year, when healthy, he was the best back in football. The Dolphins have a much better offensive line, a better OC, a better QB, and a better coach. If he stays healthy there is no reason he can't duplicate last year's fantasy performance.
This game is a big time anomaly. The Dolphins suck, they just had 1 stupid gimmick play that worked. What this game shows is that the Pats are old on D and their offense sucks without Brady. This is the worst division in football and you can count on Ronnie being an at best sporadic fantasy player.
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