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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL at SD | BUF at JAX | DEN at CHI | GB at DET | HOU at CLE | IND at ATL | MIA at PIT | MIN at NYG |
| NO at CAR | NYJ at DAL | OAK at KC | PHI at NE | SEA at STL | SF at ARI | TEN at CIN | WAS at TB |
Week 12 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 0, Pittsburgh Steelers 3
What you need to know
| Miami Dolphins |
The biggest stories of this game were the weather and the field. After daylong rains in Pittsburgh, a lightning storm delayed the opening kickoff 25 minutes, and rain then continued to fall on and off throughout the night. The resodded field, overwhelmed by all the water, quickly turned into a swampy, nearly unplayable quagmire.
Unable to overcome the dreadful conditions, the Dolphins offense made little noise and came close to scoring only once.
Rookie QB John Beck led the Miami attack, accounting for 132 passing yards and eight rushing yards. He threw the ball accurately and did not have an INT, but he could muster only one drive longer than 30 yards and got his team to the red zone only once. Beck was sacked four times and lost one fumble.
RB Jesse Chatman got the start despite a painful ankle injury, but he was mostly ineffective. He injured his neck in the third quarter and had to leave the game. RB Ricky Williams saw his first NFL action in 22 months, but he suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter and also had to leave the game. RB Patrick Cobbs was the only other active Dolphins RB, and he got the remainder of the rushing attempts after Williams and Chatman departed.
WR Marty Booker was the most targeted Dolphins receiver and hauled in two 20+ yard catches in the fourth quarter. WR Ted Ginn was also active in this game and came up with one 15 yard catch. TE David Martin and RB Patrick Cobbs were the only other Dolphins receivers targeted more than twice.
PK Jay Feely missed his only field goal attempt, though the play was nullified by a penalty.
Led by fired up LB Joey Porter and aided by the marsh-like conditions, the Dolphins defense did a solid job containing the Steelers attack, despite defending a short field most of the evening. They collected five sacks and one turnover.
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
Hampered by the horrible playing conditions, the Steelers offense was only slightly more effective than the Dolphins attack, despite enjoying favorable field position most of the game.
QB Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball accurately, but he was able to muster only one red zone drive, which resulted in the game winning field goal. Roethlisberger's only INT killed the opening drive, and he was sacked five times.
RB Willie Parker ran impressively and was the only back who seemed capable of dealing with the spongy turf. Parker broke off a few nice gains, but he was also stopped for one yard or less on nine of his attempts. RB Najeh Davenport had three carries for two yards.
WR Hines Ward was extremely active and led all receivers with nine receptions. WR Cedric Wilson caught all three passes thrown his way, but no other Steelers receiver was targeted more than twice. WR Santonio Holmes was inactive due to an ankle sprain.
PK Jeff Reed missed his first field goal attempt (44 yards), but he drilled the game winner with 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers shut down the Dolphins ground attack, and they kept steady pressure on QB John Beck throughout the game. They came up with four sacks and one fumble recovery.
What you ought to know
| QB John Beck, Pass: 14 - 23 - 132 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 8 - 0 |
Given the abysmal conditions, and considering it was only his second NFL start in front of a national audience, Beck had a very solid game, despite his meager stats. He displayed good footwork and stood up well in the pocket, despite facing a variety of blitz packages, and he usually found a way to get rid of the ball before getting hit (though he was sacked four times). Beck played conservatively and took care of the ball pretty well, but he did cough it up on a jarring fourth quarter sack by LB James Harrison. All things considered, though, the rookie played impressively on the road against a very good defense.
| RB Jesse Chatman, Rush: 11 - 17 - 0, Rec: 1 - -4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Chatman played in obvious pain due to his ankle sprain, but he gutted it out for nearly three quarters. He broke off a ten yard run in the second half, but a crushing tackle at the end of the play injured his neck, and he sat out the rest of the game.
| RB Ricky Williams, Rush: 6 - 15 - 0 |
Williams did not start but entered the game on the second offensive series. He showed decent moves in limited action, but he fumbled the ball away on his fifth rushing attempt, plus he injured his right shoulder on the play. Williams returned for one more carry and then left the game for good.
| RB Patrick Cobbs, Rush: 4 - 10 - 0, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (3 targets) |
Cobbs entered the game in the third quarter after Chatman injured his neck. He finished the game and had four carries for ten yards.
| WR Marty Booker, Pass: 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rec: 5 - 54 - 0 (9 targets) |
Booker was very involved in the passing attack, especially late. Five of his targets came in the final quarter, as did his two 20+ yard catches.
| WR Ted Ginn, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (6 targets) |
Beck looked for Ginn early on, but only once in the fourth quarter. Ginn had a 12 yard catch in the first quarter and a 15 yarder on the opening drive of the second half.
| TE David Martin, Rec: 2 - 35 - 0 (3 targets) |
Martin came up with two nice catches, one for 21 yards in the second quarter, and the other for 14 yards on a third quarter flea flicker.
| TE Justin Peelle, Rec: 2 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) |
Peelle caught both passes thrown his way but was not too involved in the attack.
| PK Jay Feely 0 - 0 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 0 points |
Feely attempted a field goal in the fourth quarter that missed badly, but the play was nullified by a penalty. The Dolphins turned the ball over on the next play.
| MIA Rush Defense |
The Dolphins rush defense did a good job containing Willie Parker and Najeh Davenport. Parker ran well at times, but the Dolphins stopped him when they needed to most, and most importantly kept him out of the end zone. LB Channing Crowder led Miami with seven solo tackles and five assists, plus a half sack.
| MIA Pass Defense |
The Dolphins pass rush kept steady pressure on Ben Roethlisberger most of the night. They sacked the Steelers QB five times and hit him a few other occasions right after he threw the ball. DE Jason Taylor collected one of the sacks, and LB Joey Porter had a big INT on the opening drive of the game, which seemed to give his team a lift.
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 18 - 21 - 165 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0 |
Despite the awful conditions, and aside from his first quarter pick, Roethlisberger threw the ball very accurately. With Santonio Holmes out due to an ankle injury, Roethlisberger had eyes mostly for Hines Ward (ten of his 21 passes were thrown to Ward, along with two others that were called back). Continuing a recent trend, Roethlisberger was unable to get rid of the ball in crucial situations. He was sacked five times, and three of those sacks ended Steelers drives in Miami territory.
| RB Willie Parker, Rush: 24 - 81 - 0, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (2 targets) |
As expected, Parker was the focal point of the Steelers offense. He ran hard and busted off a few good runs, and his final stats were pretty solid considering the rain and the awful field. Still, the Dolphins found a way to stop Parker when they absolutely needed to (a telling stat: he was held to two yards or less on 12 of his 24 carries). Parker had one red zone carry, and he was also targeted by Roethlisberger in the end zone on the game winning drive.
| RB Najeh Davenport, Rush: 3 - 2 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Davenport had three carries, two of them ending unhappily. In the second quarter, Davenport was dropped for a loss on fourth and short at the Miami 40, and in the third quarter, he was dropped for another loss on third and one at the Miami 25. Davenport also committed a holding penalty on a second quarter play that would have resulted in a 19 yard completion to Hines Ward.
| RB Carey Davis, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Davis had no rushing attempts but did catch a third down pass in the second quarter.
| RB Dan Kreider, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (1 targets) |
Kreider had no rushing attempts, but his second quarter reception set up a first down at the Miami 32.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 9 - 88 - 0 (12 targets) |
Ward was very busy in this game, and the miserable conditions did not seem to phase him. Ward missed his first pass target of the night and then caught everything else thrown his way. He caught two other third down passes that were called back due to penalties (each would have given the Steelers a first down in Miami territory).
| WR Cedrick Wilson, Rec: 3 - 29 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wilson caught all three passes thrown his way.
| WR Nate Washington, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (1 targets) |
Washington was barely involved in the Steelers attack but came up with a catch on his only passing target.
| TE Heath Miller |
Miller was a non factor in this game (no targets), other than an odd pass interference penalty called against him in the second quarter that negated a Steelers first down deep in Miami territory.
| PK Jeff Reed 1 - 2 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 3 points |
Going into the game, Reed had not missed a field goal from inside 60 yards, but he missed badly on a 44 yard attempt near the end of the third quarter. It's hard to blame Reed, though, considering the rain and the horrible field. He redeemed himself by nailing the game winner from 24 yards out in the waning moments.
| PIT Rush Defense |
Other than an eight yard scramble by John Beck, a ten yard run by Jesse Chatman, and a six yard scamper by Ricky Williams (which altogether accounted for almost half of the Miami rushing production), the Steelers throttled the vaunted Dolphins rushing attack. Granted the weather and field were factors, but kudos to the Steelers defense for the way they dominated the improved Dolphins offensive line. LB James Farrior had a big game, with seven solo tackles and four assists, plus a half sack and a forced fumble.
| PIT Pass Defense |
The Steelers secondary gave up passes here and there, but it's hard to find any serious fault considering they never allowed the Dolphins to seriously threaten (Miami did get to the Steelers 20 in the fourth quarter but was unable to convert on fourth down). Veteran SS Tyrone Carter was all over the field in this game and finished with eleven solo tackles and one assist.
