Week 17 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 22, Indianapolis Colts 27

What you need to know

Miami Dolphins

Miami played well enough against the Colts to stay in the game, but in the end, traded too many field goals for Indianapolis touchdowns as they lost 27- 22.

Cleo Lemon led the Dolphins on six scoring drives, but unfortunately for Miami, five of them resulted in just field goals. In the fourth quarter, Lemon connected with TE Randy McMichael from six yards out to cut the Indianapolis lead to five on their last score of the game.

RB Ronnie Brown carried the load for the Miami with 21 carries for 115 yards, but could not duplicate the huge numbers backs have been lighting up the Indianapolis defense for in the last few weeks.

With the youngster Lemon at the helm, Chris Chambers had another quiet day with just three catches for 39 yards. TE Randy McMichael scored on a six yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter for Miami’s only passing score of the game.

The Dolphins defense played well, especially against the run, but in the end just did not have enough to stop Colts QB Peyton Manning, who threw for two scores and added another rushing score on the ground.

Indianapolis Colts

Peyton Manning put in another solid effort against Miami with two first half touchdowns, including a rushing score by Manning himself, and another fourth quarter touchdown pass to WR Marvin Harrison to lead the Colts.

Joseph Addai was held in check by the Miami defense, with 21 carries for 64 yards that included a lost fumble and Dominick Rhodes chipped in with 42 yards on nine carries. The big play for the Indianapolis rushing attack came from Peyton Manning, who ran in an 11 yard run in the second quarter for the only rushing score on the day for the Colts.

Once again the Colts were led by WRs Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, the former catching five passes for 74 yards and a 27 yard touchdown reception and the latter adding six receptions for 70 yards. DT Dan Klecko, playing at fullback in a goal line package, caught a two yard touchdown pass for the first Indianapolis score of the game.

It’s no surprise that the Colts gave up another 100 yard rusher, but they managed to make plays when they needed to and forced Miami to kick five field goals and gave up just one touchdown.

What you ought to know

QB Cleo Lemon, Pass: 18 - 36 - 210 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - 9 - 0

Lemon made his first start against the Colts, and his performance showed just how young and inexperienced he is. For the game, he was 18 of 36 for 210 yards, including a fourth quarter six yard touchdown to TE Randy McMichael. He also threw an interception and, at times, made some poor decisions on key third down plays. As a result, five of Miami’s six scoring drives resulted in field goals, something you cannot do to beat the Colts.

RB Ronnie Brown, Rush: 21 - 115 - 0, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets)

Brown was able to reach the century mark against the league’s worst rush defense, but was not able to put up the huge numbers other backs have in recent weeks against the Colts. Of his 115 yards, 47 came on one play, and aside from that, he was unable to come up with enough big runs to keep some pressure off of his young quarterback. Brown did catch a pass on the only ball thrown to him for ten yards.

RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 2 - 19 - 0

Morris spelled Brown with two rushes for 19 yards.

WR Marty Booker, Rec: 4 - 46 - 0 (8 targets)

Booker was targeted eight times in the game, coming down with four balls for 46 yards. He had a few looks deep, but just could not get anything going downfield.

WR Chris Chambers, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0, Rec: 3 - 39 - 0 (7 targets)

Chambers had a quiet game, catching three passes for 39 yards on seven targets. His numbers have definitely been hurt by the erratic quarterback play from Miami this year. Chambers also left the game twice due to minor injuries, but came back on both occasions.

WR Wes Welker, Rec: 3 - 23 - 0 (5 targets)

Welker was targeted five times, catching three passes for 23 yards.

TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 4 - 55 - 1 (8 targets)

McMichael led the Miami receivers with four receptions for 55 yards that included a six yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. For the game, he was targeted eight times and had two receptions for first downs.

TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 2 - 31 - 0 (3 targets)

Peelle had two receptions for 31 yards and was targeted three times in the game.

PK Olindo Mare 5 - 5 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 16 points

Mare had a busy day, hitting five field goals from distances of 28, 38, 42, 27 and 34 yards out and added an extra point to finish with 16 points.

MIA Rush Defense

The Dolphins played tough against the run, giving up 117 yards on 31 carries for the game, for just a 3.8 ypc average. They held Colt RB Joseph Addai in check and forced a fourth quarter fumble by Addai that helped set up Miami’s only touchdown of the game. For the game, they gave up just five rushing first downs. The only rushing play that hurt the Dolphins came on a Manning 11 yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

LB Zach Thomas led the Dolphins with nine solo and three assisted tackles and DL Jason Taylor recovered the Addai fumble.

MIA Pass Defense

Miami’s pass defense played about as well as you can against a potent Colt offense, but like most teams, just did not have enough to shut them down. While they held Manning to under 300 passing yards, they gave up two scores through the air and allowed Indianapolis to convert on eight of 14 third downs. Also, for a defense that is known for forcing turnovers, they had no sacks or interceptions for the game.

DB Travis Daniels led the Miami secondary with eight solo tackles.

QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 22 - 37 - 282 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 11 - 1

Manning was too much for the Dolphins defense to handle. While he didn’t post huge numbers, he threw for a respectable 282 yards and two touchdowns against a tough Miami defense, and added another score on the ground, running one in from 11 yards out. He also helped set up two field goal scores, and his fourth quarter touchdown to WR Marvin Harrison proved to be the difference in the game. Manning’s other passing score came from two yards out to DT Dan Klecko, who was lined up at fullback.

RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 21 - 64 - 0, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (3 targets)

Addai got the bulk of the carries, with 21 for 64 yards against the Dolphins. He also had a fourth quarter fumble that resulted in Miami’s only touchdown of the game.

RB Dominic Rhodes, Rush: 9 - 42 - 0

Rhodes finished with nine rushes for 42 yards, giving way for most of the game to the youngster Addai.

WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 6 - 70 - 0 (9 targets)

Wayne was targeted nine times, catching six passes for 70 yards.

WR Marvin Harrison, Rec: 5 - 74 - 1 (11 targets)

Harrison was Manning’s favorite target, getting 11 looks for the game, catching five passes for 74 yards. He also scored in the fourth quarter on a 27 yard touchdown reception.

WR Aaron Moorehead, Rec: 2 - 41 - 0 (4 targets)

Moorehead played that third receiver role for the Colts, catching two balls for 41 yards on four targets. He had a 36 yard reception that led to the Manning touchdown run.

TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 4 - 56 - 0 (8 targets)

Clark finished with four catches for 56 yards, three of which resulted in first downs, and was targeted eight times.

TE Bryan Fletcher, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets)

Fletcher caught one pass on the only ball thrown to him for 10 yards and a Colts' first down.

PK Adam Vinatieri 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points

Vinatieri hit field goals from 46 and 34 yards out and added three extra points to finish with nine points for the game.

IND Rush Defense

The Colts continued to struggle against the run, giving up 150 yards for a 5.8 ypc average for the game, and once again allowed an opposing back to rush for over 100 yards. Fortunately for Indianapolis, Miami ran the ball just 26 times.

LB Gary Brackett led the Colts with nine solo tackles and one assist and Cato June filled up his stat line with five solo’s, six assists, a half sack, an interception and a forced fumble.

IND Pass Defense

Indianapolis played well against the pass, but some of that could be attributed to facing a young and inexperienced quarterback. They gave up just 204 net passing yards and one passing score and added two sacks and an interception. More importantly, they limited the big plays Miami WRs Chambers and Booker were able to get downfield.

LB Cato June recorded the only interception of the game for the Colts, and safety Antoine Bethea led the secondary with seven solo tackles and three assists.