The Dolphins finally put together the complete game they talked about since the begining of the year. The Dolphins won their second game in December a rarety in the past. The tough part of the schedule is coming up right now. The road game at 9-3 San Francisco and then a game that could decide the division leader at New England. The Patriots are 8-5 with thier remaining games being against the Panthers and Bills, two very bad teams. So if they beat Miami in two weeks they figure to finish 11-5.
If the Dolphins lose at S.F and lose to the Patriots they will finsh at best with an 11-5 record and would lose a tie breaker with New England (assuming the Jets will drop at least once because if not, it's even worse). So, a win either against the Niners or Patriots will put Miami in the driver's seat divisionwise. The Dolphins' objective at the start of the season is try to get a first week bye in the playoffs and they play at home at least once in the seond round. They do hold a tie breaker edge over the Raiders right now, but any lose will drop them back (assuming the Raiders win, their schedule is at S.D, Tenn., at Denver, Jets). So that summarizes the playoff picture right now (by the way, If the season ended today, a third seed could lead to a first round playoff game against the Jets...).
Now the game grades.
QB Great play by Fiedler. He had two bad throws (missing Konrad and down the middle to a double covered McKnight), but that's being petty. He completed 69 percent of his throws for 190+ yards and 3 TDs and no INTs again. He also ran for one TD. Lucas scored on a 2 yard run. A
RB Lamar saw the Colts... A solid day for the running game. Lamar ran for more than 100 yards. Fiedler, Lucas and Konrad (first career rushing TD on a great 18 yard run) scored running the ball. Minor again showed great ability. The Dolphins ran for more than 180 yards. Lamar Smith finished with a 3.9 yard per carry average despite the fact that in garbage time the Colts knew he was going to run the ball on most downs. A-
WR Good game overall. Gadsden had a few nice catches and a TD. McKnight caught a great catch. Minor had a brilliant long catch setting up the first TD on 3rd and 17. Chambers caught two TDs again, and the second one was am amazing catch with good coverage sliding down. He is playing better than anyone could have imagined. A-
OL Fiedler was sacked only once and they played very well in running situations. A-
DL A solid game across the line. Bowens made a great play deflecting a Manning pass into the hands of Taylor. The first Manning INT was partialy caused by pass rush from David Bowens. D.Bowens is showing that he can really help this team. A-
LB Another day in the office for these 3. Greenwood's name didn't come up and that goes for Rogers too. Zach was his usual self. The Colts scored 6 points, enough said. A-
Secondary Brilliant play. Nobody expected them to shut Mannig comletely by they came close. Marion had two INTs (and 77 yards returning them), Madison and Surtain also plaed well. Marion deserves an A+ all by himself. A
Special Teams A missed extra point can come back to haunt you in other situations. They converted a faked FG on 4th and 1. Punter Matt Turk is quitely having a pro bowl year. B+
Coaching The Dolphins won 41-6. Case closed. A
