QB Chad Henne played a below average game, and that's being polite. He finished 12 of 30 for 170 yards, a TD and an INT with an awful QB rating of 56.3. There were drops by his WR but also siome bad throws and decisions in critical situations. 12 completions is just unacceptable. D
RB Welcome to the NFL Daniel Thomas. The second round rookie played in his first NFL game. He did fumble once but overall it was a good performance by the rookie. He finished with 107 yards on 18 carries (5.9 average). Bush was nowhere to be found. B-
WR Somehow the Dolphins did NOT throw to Marshall on every down considering Jason Allen was (trying) covering him most of the day. He was targeted 11 times, he caught 6 of them for 79 yards. All the others were invisible. Hartline and Bess had 4 catches combined and the TEs did not have a single reception all day. That's just bad. D
OL Even Jake Long gave up a sack and a penalty. Colombo is just not very good and Henne was pressured many many times. The run blocking was OK, It helps that Thomas is not a dancing type RB like Ronnie Brown. He's a one cut runner, going for the hole quickly. No matter how you look at it, 13 points is just not good enough at home. D
LB So much for that good front 7. They just could not stop the run or cover TEs. Owen Daniels became the latest TE to score on the Dolphins. There wasn't any pass rush from Wake (although he did register a sack) or Taylor. Taylor got a sack when he wasn't covered and appeared to jump offside... The Texans had 136 yards rushing by their 2 RBs. D-
DL The Dolphins may be deep at the position but the so called strength of the team is not playing very well, including 12 million dollar man Soliai. The Texans ran for 140 yards and rthere was no pressure on the QB. Houston closed out the game by running on every down and converting first downs. Im being generous with the grade. D-
Secondary Nolan Carool on Andre Johnson, really ?? that's almost like putting Jason Allen on Marshall. Johnson finished with 7 catches for 93 yards and a TD. Which is actually OK for Johnson but again no big plays, no INTs and no stopping Houston in the first half. Schaub had 170 yards by halftime. D
Special teams Carpenter still has a job, but but that's just luck. He missed a FG from unedr 40 and a 20 yarder was blocked. The Dolphins are not good enough to have those kinds of miscues. Clyde Gates returned a kickoff to the Dolphins 8, really ?? F
Coaching The play calling was at times agressive but sometimes over aggressiveness is just a bad idea. Needing a TD late they run Bush on 2nd and 8 deep in their end, really ? 1st and 10 from the 16. You need a TD. I understand throwing to the endzone when Allen is on Marshall (I understand throwing to the endzone when Allen is on anybody) but doing it twice on 2nd and 3rd down and on 3rd down when Marshall is doubled. Why not run the ball (Thomas was great at that point) or better yet try to complete a pass to the 7-9 yard range when Houston is afraid of a TD and give the team a decent shot at having 1st and goal inside the 5 ? 13 points at home will not win any game this year, not a single one, including the Bengals game. F
