QB Fiedler played very well in the 4th quarter and he finished 18 of 31 for 262 yards, 3 TDs and no INTs. He did benefit of 3 occasions where the WRs turned to CB in order to deflect sure INTs. He also had some weird passes trying to force a long pass when you only need a few yards for a first down etc. But, he rallied the team and used the WRs aility to get to jump balls. Great game for Fiedler, probably best of the year. A-
RB Smith was bad. Plain, old fashioned bad. He had 17 rushes for 37 yards (2.2 yards per carry)... On one occasion he had less then 2 yards a carry, and it didn't help running behind 2 new OL. The Dolphins should do something about the running game. D-
WR A mixed result. Chambers was huge (5 catches, 101 yards, 2 TDs) and Gadsden played well (8 catches, 118 yards, 1 fumble) but his fumble was a big mistake. The fumble showed Gadsden's pedestrian speed as the DB just caught up to him instead of the WRs breaking away... McKnight was awful catching 1 pass for 3 yards in a game Miami came from behing throwing is just bad. Ward caught one 16 yard pass on 4th and 14, he always seems to make the important-game-saving catch. Weaver had a TD reception. B
OL Injuries - that was the story. Dixon broke his leg leading to G Troy Andrew's first career game. C Rudy was ruled out just before the game leading to G Heath Irwin first career satrt at center and he hasn't even practiced at center. He snaped the ball very well. Rg Todd Perry was never the good part of the OL and he played hurt. All and all they held OK. Fiedler was sacked twice and that's understandable but there was no running game what so ever. C-
DL The Dolphins did managed to get 4 sacks (Mixon, Taylor and Bromell - 2). But , there was some sloppy tackling and the Bills' rookie RB got to 97 yards. The Bills had 4 70+ yard drives and that's way too much. Outside of the St. Louis game the Dolphins allowed 7 such drives all year. D+
LB Sloppy tackling. Zach had RB Henry for an 8 yard loss and he ended up with 20. No big plays for the LBs either. Greenwood's and Rodgers' name did not come up frequently. D-
Secondary Surtain missed a tackle that resulted in an 80 yard TD by Moulds. Moulds finished with almost 200 yards and 2 TDs. Fletcher gave up a 50+ yard TD but other than that he was OK. The TD was a great catch, Moulds had 8 inches on Fletcher. Marion got an INT. QB Van Pelt had over 300 yards. Walker and Madison will probably come back next week. D-
Special teams Good game. Turk was great and he tied the team record with a career high 77 yard punt. Mare was himself with a cool 39 yard FG against the wind to tie the game. The kickoff coverage team won the game with the turnover at the end. The returns were OK, not more. B+
Coaching Despite what they say I don't think they have much confidence in Fielder. Calling a 3 yard screen on 3rd and 17 ? A draw on a 3rd and 20 ? Throwing deep when they really only need a first down ? How mant shots did they take to the middle of the field ? To be honest they had some luck, but luck also counts and they still won somehow. Managing the replay or preventing it was brilliant. B-
