The Dolphins managed to win Sunday night at home against the rising Ravens. It was a big win for Miami, if the Dolphins are to compete this year they will have to win the division games
and it starts next week at home against New England, the Bengals are next so a 4-1 start is not out of the question. The schedule after that becomes very hard, starting with one of the best teams in the NFL, the Bills.
Miami mangaed to overcome on Sunday with great defense and an effective offense. Although I'm not sold on the offense yet, it's hard to judge them because the Ravens are in the top 4-5 defenses in the league.
QB - Fielder did a decent job, especially in the 2nd half. He didn't do anything fancy and didn't go downfield. His biggest completion was 41 yards but that was to his TE that gained a lot of yards after the catch. He played better than last week and managed to release the ball earlier. He hit his RBs often and the better running game helped. Fiedler generally looked in control. C+
RB - Lamar Smith gained 63 yards on 22 carries and Thurman Thomas had 25 on 3 carries (draw plays). Smith had a rushing TD (7 yards) and he added a nice 8 yard recieving TD. Konrad was hurt and rookie FB Dyer replaced him. Smith's numbers are not very impressive but he ran well when it counted. JJ Johnson saw his first action of the season rushing for 10 yards on 5 carries.
The Dolphins finished the game with 106 yards, it doesn't sound very impressive, but against the Ravens that gave up 76 yards in their first 2 games, 106 yards is very good. B-
WR - A very quiet day. Shepherd was OK in his first start for the injured Martin. Gadsden had only 1 catch, while Emanuel didn't have any catches. TE Jed Weaver had a very nice 41 (!) yard reception. C
OL - The OL did a decent job in blocking for the run and giving Fiedler decent time to throw the ball. LT Richmond Webb was injured in the first quarter and didn't return. Brent Smith took his place and did a fine job in Webb's absence. C
DL - The Dolphins managed to overcome the loss of DT Gardener. Mixon shifted to the inside and played well. He had a half sack. The line had a few sacks. The question now is can they keep it up while Gardener recovers ? (6-9 weeks) Owens and Armstrong were solid and Taylor had 2.5 (!) sacks. They also stopped the Ravens near the goal line. A-
LB - Zach Thomas lost one of its shields in Darryl Gardener. It didn't stop him on Sunday. Rogers and Jones were solid although their name wasn't called often. Raven rookie RB Jamal Lewis did get 74 yards on long carries. B+
Secondary - The secondary did a solid job. Surtain got an INT, his second of the year. Walker made a huge play, sacking Banks on first and goal from Miami's 1 yards line. I have to take this opportunity to give Marion a good word he always seems to save things when someone gets beaten and he is the last guy there, he usually tackles very well and he also has 2 INTs this year. Madison was pretty quiet all day. Sharp was stopped and Raven
WRs were non existent. A-
Special teams - A pretty good game under the circumstances, Mare connected twice (41,42). Ogden had a very good 31 yard return on a punt and Marion also had a good return on a kickoff. Mixon managed to block a Raven FG. After 3 games we can honestly say Matt Turk is the real deal, he punted very well again.
The special teams didn't manage to down the ball inside the Ravens 20 although they had a few chances. One bad thing was a missed extra point. In other circumstances it could have had an effect. B
Coaching - The Dolphins were ready against a team that came into this game riding a wave of compliments from all over the league. They are probably rethinking that now. The Ravens are a solid team and Miami managed to win without their best 3 WRs. B+
