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Week 3 Game Recap: Miami Dolphins 38, New England Patriots 13
What you need to know
| Miami Dolphins |
First off, you'll need to know that the score you just saw at the top was not a mistake. It actually happened. The Miami Dolphins finally showed everyone just what they can do when their running game is on point this past Sunday. QB Chad Pennington was nearly flawless, completing 17 of his 20 passes for 226 yards. His day was the polar opposite of his week two performance, and he successfully quelled any rumors that the team would be replacing him with rookie QB Chad Henne.
The Dolphins offensive line absolutely dominated the Patriots' front four. In addition, they did the same on the pass blocking side; not surrendering a sack and not letting anyone even get near Pennington for the most part. RB Ronnie Brown had a career day thanks to them and it was arguably one of the best overall days we have seen for quite some time. He started off the day with a solid 50 yards and three rushing TDs that still would have had everyone buzzing. However, one 62 yard TD run and a passing TD later, and Ronnie Browns performance was being touted as one for the ages. Overshadowed by Browns career day was Ricky Williams' solid, breakout performance. He finished just shy of the century mark rushing wise with 98 yards, but he also tacked on 21 yards receiving which placed him over the 100 total yard mark for the day.
The targets were relatively spread out in regards to the receivers, with no one player really being favored over any other. The Dolphins force fed Ted Ginn Jr. into the offense, targeting him the most out of anyone for the day with six targets. He converted them into five receptions for 49 yards. He also had one fumble as well. Greg Camarillo was targeted second most with five targets, and continued his week to week improvement finishing with 60 yards on four receptions. Anthony Fasano had the biggest day out of anyone on the team, barreling his way towards 66 yards and one TD on three receptions.
| New England Patriots |
Patriots QB Matt Cassel's second career start looked a lot like how everyone thought his first one would go: Not very well. The USC alum was 19 of 31 for 131 yards, one TD, one INT, and 4.2 yard per attempt average. He looked shell shocked nearly the entire game and failed to cover up the fact that he was hurting after some hard sacks. The only good thing that could be said about his day is that he kept it coming and peeled himself (albeit noticeably reluctant) off the ground after every sack. Backup rookie QB Kevin O'Connell came into the game for Cassel late, going three of four for 25 yards and a 6.3 yard per attempt average.
With such a poor passing game so early on, the running game never got much of a chance to get going. Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordan combined for 49 yards (27 and 22 respectively) on 15 carries. Kevin Faulk also tacked on six yards on one carry. Besides a 17 yard run by Sammy Morris early on in the first quarter, and a nine yard run by Lamont Jordan on the second to last play of the game, there's really nothing else worth noting.
Although Randy Moss was targeted much more than last week, most of the ten were off target and he ended up catching just four balls for 25 yards. Wes Welker and Jabar Gaffney fared a bit better, with Welker pulling in six balls for 55 yards and Gaffney catching the same amount for 51 yards and a TD. Gaffney's performance was the highlight of the entire day for the team, and that's saying something when you consider the offense. Luckily for the Patriots, they are heading into a bye week and will have an ample amount of time to fix what went horribly wrong this past Sunday. If body language could talk however, many on the Patriots offense may be expressing a bit of displeasure with Cassel's play thus far.
What you ought to know
| QB Chad Pennington, Pass: 17 - 20 - 226 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Pennington proved all of the people calling for the Chad Henne era to begin last week wrong with a close to flawless day. Two of his three passes that were not completed would come early in the team's first two drives. Following the second one though, Pennington would go on to complete 16 of his remaining 17 passes for 220 yards. He picked apart the Patriots defense with relative ease, driving the Dolphins to the Patriots goal line three separate times. Once he got them within reach, Ronnie Brown would do the rest.
| QB Chad Henne |
Chad Henne came into the game late in the fourth, but not due to the same reason as last week. This time around, his job was to just hand the ball off and give Chad Pennington a well deserved early exit from the game.
| RB Ronnie Brown, Pass: 1 - 1 - 19 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 17 - 113 - 4, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
It's safe to say that Ronnie Brown has officially returned from his ACL tear that put him on the IR early last year. Brown had an absolute monstrous day, looking quick, fluid, and powerful en route to his 113 rushing yards, nine receiving yards, and five total TDs (one passing). It can be said now that although the team is still going to go with a Brown/Williams duo going forward, Brown definitely has folk's attention.
| RB Ricky Williams, Rush: 16 - 98 - 0, Rec: 2 - 21 - 0 (2 targets) |
Had it not been for Ronnie Browns absolutely amazing day, the talk of football nation would have definitely been focused on Ricky Williams. He finished with 119 total yards (98 rushing) on 16 carries and two receptions. He was utilized in many trick type plays along with Brown, who was lined up at QB. Williams would come in motion for either a fake play action pass, or receive the ball in a sweep to the outside. The Dolphins did practically every possible variation of this formation set, with Chad Pennington even lining up at WR on some of them. It's not clear on whether or not this is something that they will continue to do or focus on in the future, but Williams was a large part of both it and the entire offensive package set in general. The former Texas Longhorn running back showed many people that he still has what it takes despite his age. Although it's apparent that he's clearly lost a step or two in terms of his speed, Williams looked both powerful and hungry on all of the carries that he was called upon.
| WR Ted Ginn, Rec: 5 - 49 - 0 (6 targets) |
After an incredibly disappointing first two weeks, Ginn was force fed into the Dolphins offense on Sunday through six, short yardage targets. It was clear even before the announcers confirmed it, but the Dolphins have expressed their desire to get the second year WR more involved in the offense after being practically invisible in the team's first two games. The team's plan is for the majority of Ginn's targets to be short slants or screen-passes so that he can hopefully utilize his strengths (speed and shiftiness) and minimize his time spent blanketed by pass coverage. Ginn did manage to fumble his first catch, although it was the only blemish on the day for both he and the team.
| WR Greg Camarillo, Rec: 4 - 60 - 0 (5 targets) |
Camarillo was nearly tied with Ted Ginn Jr. in targets but while Ginn was targeted once more, it apparently seems that Camarillo is looking to be the team's primary medium to long range WR option. He has been targeted at least five times per game this year, and his season low five targets against the Patriots on Sunday could have been due to the running games success. He has also progressively gained more and more receiving yards over the past three weeks (37, 49, and 60 yards respectively) this season. Most importantly, it's very apparent that the promising third year WR has become Chad Pennington's favorite wide out on the team so far this season.
| WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (1 targets) |
Wilford, who was largely believed to be one of the team's top receivers when he was signed, wasn't targeted at all and saw barely any playing time for the first two weeks of the season. He was targeted once on Sunday, and he converted it into a 15 yard reception.
| WR Davone Bess, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Rookie wide receiver Davone Bess successfully hauled in his only target for four yards. He also returned three kickoffs for 47 yards and one punt for ten yards.
| TE Anthony Fasano, Rec: 3 - 66 - 1 (3 targets) |
After following his impressive Dolphins debut by being practically invisible in week two, Fasano returned to his former self once again in the teams shocking win against the Patriots. Not only did he have the best receiving day on the entire team, Fasano also looked eager to find contact after two of his three catches left him in open space. When he did find contact, he met it head on and would drive forward for an extra potential yard. It appears his only concern when running after a catch is to gain as many yards as possible, no matter how hard he has to hit whoever's trying to tackle him.
| TE David Martin, Rec: 1 - 21 - 0 (2 targets) |
Although Martin was overshadowed by Fasano's day, he made worthy contributions blocking in addition to a long reception. His one reception for 21 yards marked the second straight week that he's produced less than the week before (Week one: four receptions for 53 yards, Week two: three receptions for 32 yards, and Week three: one reception for 21 yards). Despite the decline, Martin remains a worthy receiving option for QB Chad Pennington.
| PK Dan Carpenter 1 - 1 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 8 points |
Carpenter converted all five of his extra point attempts in addition to knocking through a 39 yard field goal.
| MIA Rush Defense |
The Dolphins rushing defense didn't have to contend with the Patriots' rushing trio of Sammy Morris, Lamont Jordan, and Kevin Faulk for very long since the Dolphins went ahead early, but even when they did they managed to keep them in check. The unit let up 79 rushing yards total and just 55 yards to the team's three running backs.
| MIA Pass Defense |
The Dolphins pass defense held Matt Cassel to 131 passing yards and one TD. They picked off one of his passes, sacked him four times, and hurried his throws on a countless amount of plays.
| QB Matt Cassel, Pass: 19 - 31 - 131 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 3 - 5 - 0 |
Cassel's second start looked more like what we thought we might see from him in his first start last week. Unlike in week one, where it looked from the play calling that the training wheels were kept on, the QB was given a more varied, training wheel-less approach in regards to the play selections. He looked unsure, was inaccurate, took a four sack beating, and was constantly hurried all day long. His yards per attempt also finished at just over four. All in all, it was not a good day.
| QB Kevin OConnell, Pass: 3 - 4 - 25 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Rookie backup QB Kevin O'Connell filled in for Matt Cassel late in the game. Although his body of work was small and it came at a time when the Dolphins defense was much more concerned with the victory celebration, O'Connell completed 75% of his passes and looked decisive. His yards per attempt clocked in at 6.3 and while it wasn't enough to cause a QB controversy, the rookie showed he could prove to be a worthy option should Cassel continue to struggle.
| RB Sammy Morris, Rush: 9 - 27 - 0, Rec: 1 - 0 - 0 (2 targets) |
Morris failed to make the most of his starting job in the wake of Lawrence Maroney's absence other than a 17 yard scamper early in the first quarter. After that, he rushed for ten yards on eight attempts. Again, it was not a good day for anyone on the Patriots rushing offense.
| RB LaMont Jordan, Rush: 6 - 22 - 0 |
Although Jordan had the team's highest yards per carry average, it was only 3.7 and he only received 6 carries. You'd be grasping at straws if you were trying to garner anything positive from anything the offense did on Sunday.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 1 - 6 - 0, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Faulk had six yards rushing on one attempt as well as six yards receiving on two receptions. He did not play his usual role on offense, but then again, neither did any of the Patriots running backs.
| WR Wes Welker, Rush: 1 - 19 - 0, Rec: 6 - 55 - 0 (7 targets) |
The only consistent part of the Cassel led offense these past two weeks is Wes Welker's involvement and consistency. He was the second most targeted receiver on Sunday (first last week) and looks to be one for the entire time that it takes Cassel to get comfortable in the offense. Welker is the very definition of a safety blanket for a quarterback of Matt Cassel's skill type: Quick, nimble, vacuums for hands, and the ability to do anything or go anywhere that is asked of him.
| WR Jabar Gaffney, Rec: 6 - 51 - 1 (9 targets) |
The one, positive, nugget of happenings that you could garner from the Patriots perspective on Sunday would be Jabar Gaffney's solid 51 yard, one TD game. While everyone else on offense was fine and producing the first two weeks, Gaffney was invisible. When everyone on the offense save for Wes Welker couldn't seem to do anything right, he decides to bust out and officially arrive to the regular season. Gaffney got the second most targets on the team and looked to be a favorite of QB Matt Cassel.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 4 - 25 - 0 (10 targets) |
It almost seemed like the Patriots were forcing the ball to Randy Moss when it was thrown to him, and when it was thrown to him it wasn't thrown very accurately. The reason for Cassel's affinity for getting Moss the ball and being off target when he does may be because of the attention that Moss has been garnering on nearly every play. The four passes Moss did catch were for short yardage and he finished the day with 6.3 yards per reception average. The week four bye can only help matters, because it's also looked like Cassel and Moss need some quality football bonding time.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Watson converted one of his two targets into a reception for six yards. It came early in the game, when things were looking bright, and his catch marked the last positive thing to happen for the Patriots on Sunday before everything began to head downhill.
| TE David Thomas, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (3 targets) |
Despite being targeted three times, Texas University grad David Thomas only caught one of them for four yards.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Unlike most of the rest of the team, Gostkowski was flawless against the Dolphins. He knocked through both of his kick attempts for 37 and 44 yards and successfully booted through his only extra point attempt.
| NE Rush Defense |
Perhaps even more surprising than the fact that Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams racked up 211 combined rushing yards is that it was done against a Patriots team who is quite capable in stopping the run. There is not one positive thing to say about the Patriots rushing defense's performance this past Sunday. Not one.
| NE Pass Defense |
While not as historically bad as the rushing defenses performance, the Patriots passing defense was picked apart to pieces by Chad Pennington all game. The only thing you could say is that they didn't let up a passing touchdown, but then again, the Dolphins never got much of a chance to attempt many with the epic rushing performances and all.
