Cry me a river

Rex Ryan was going on about how he thought his team outplayed Miami and deserved to win.

 

To quote Bitchin, Sr, "if you don't score more points than the other team, you don't deserve to win!"

And then there were two...

Indy and New Orleans both remain undefeated....wouldn't it be something if an 18-0 Saints team met up with an 18-0 Colts team here in Miami for the Superbowl?

Amusing

EPSN's top 10 plays of the weekend included, at #3, Braylon Edwards supposed TD reception.  Yes, it was ruled that way, but the play by Smith was better.  So, if you see it, remember that its in there because Smith stripped the ball.

 

At least ESPN made up for it by making Ginn's second TD their #1 play.

NYTimes: Dolphins Leave Jets at a Loss

>

> From The New York Times:
>
> DOLPHINS 30, JETS 25: Dolphins Leave Jets at a Loss
>
> Despite three touchdowns from Mark Sanchez and six sacks by the
> defense, the Jets still lost to Miami for the second time in 20 days.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/sports/football/02jets.html
>
> Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes
>
>
> .

Ted Ginn

I'll give him props for making a record-setting two TDs of 100+ yards in the same quarter.  And I'll ask why the Phins even bother to use him as a wide receiver?  He had 6 touches of the ball and nearly 300 yards.  That beats two catches any day.  I say leave him as the kick returner and just give him a play now and again on offense to stretch the field.

 

Anyway, Richie Winnebago (okay Bonemago, but I like this name better) had been setting up the long return all day by having Ginn hesitate and fake left before running right.  And the Jets were being overly agressive by having Jay Feeley come down and collapse in for the tackle.  I think Westhoff assumed that Ginn was no threat as long as they pressured him.

So, in the first shot, Feeley has the arrow pointed to him.  He made two tackles and was a dancing fool.

 

In the second, we see the mistake.  Normally the kicker stays closer to midfield, which will allow for him to be the last man when the returner gets free.  Ginn did, and that left no one back to help.

 

Westhoff says "Aw that's bull crap" and you have to love the expression after the second return.  Normally, he has the upper hand.  But not on this day...

 

Now we have it from a good source that Bob Griese told Ted Ginn they have really good tacos in Giants Stadium, available in section 114.  And if Ginn were to get a TD on that end, Griese was buying.  "Now go get a taco!" he shouted to him....

TD?

For the second week in a row, Miami got jobbed on a play down near the goal line.

 

In this case, it was Braylon Edwards who caught the ball at his hip and tried to push into the endzone.  The Umpire is right there.  Again it was called TD.  And again, I claim they were wrong.  This time it was up to Sparano to challenge it; he didn't and I suspect he wouldn't have won anyway.

 

* Shot 1: Edwards makes the catch

* Shot 2: He's driving to the goal line with Clemons and Smith on him

* Shot 3: He leans further back, still not in

* Shot 4: Smith has jarred the ball loose.  Edwards no longer has possession; he's also not across the goal line

* Shot 5: the ball is between them, but because of the loss of possession a moment earlier it can not be a TD at this moment

* Shot 6: Smith has the ball.  And note the umpire has still not signaled TD.

 

It should have been a touchback, on the forced fumble (though I suppose they could have ruled it an interception, since Edwards hadn't really made a move at that point).

 

I think they were having trouble following the ball because on the "naked bootleg" that Sanchez ran, they ruled fumble and that Miami had recovered.  But clearly, that was not correct either.  When they saw Sanchez with the ball, they changed the call....

 

Mark Sanchez reacts...

....to the bad hot dog he ate right after kickoff.

recently found photo

I had forgotten that one off-season granny wanted to lift the spirits of the boys playing in the USFL.  Becuase of her NFL contract, she couldn't play for them.  But her contract said nothing of her being a cheerleader for them.  She spent the season urging on the Tampa Bay Bandits during 1984.  Why the Bandits?  Because that had that "hunk" Burt Reynolds as a limited partner.

Rule

The ranter pointed out that there is a rule change that was made thus offseason that made this type of play reviewable.

He's generally right, but I think that in this case it still may not have made a difference. The whistle blew and some players made no effort to get to the ball.

Therefore with no clear recovery it likely still woulda been miami ball.

But in any case sparano was smart in running a quick play.

Rules #2

At one point sanchez had a snap bounce off his hands. The ball got kicked and wound up being recovered downfield by the jets.

Phil Simms made a comment about this being a muff and he was right. But the officials got it wrong. It was inside of 2 minutes so the "Dave Casper rule" was in place. That is only the player who fumbled can advance it.

It was ruled jets ball 5 yards up the field. It should have moved back to the spot of the fumble and it would be 1st and 10 from there.

Yes it's quirky and doesn't happen often.

What was up with that?

During the broadcast they were touting the superbowl by touting the days, hours, and minutes to kickoff.

And next up on CBS? Bull riding. Boy that's scintillating tv. I switched to the game on fox.

Rules

At one point in the game - on the lone Miami TD drive - Bess appeared
to fumble, but the ref ruled him down. Miami hurried to the line
before a challenge could be made.

Seems simple enough. But what really happened?

By ruling the play dead, and saying it was not a fumble, the ref "blew
the whistle" and play stopped. Anything that happened after that was
for naught.

So if the Jets had challenged it, the best they could hope for was
that it was indeed a fumble; but with no change of possession.

In other words, Miami hurrying to the line really only helped with
momentum because the jets were momentarily confused.

Very odd, indeed

A few games ago, Miami dominated in every statistical category, but lost the game to the Colts.

 

This week, they had 104 yards of TOTAL offense (yes, I said 104 yards; 52 rushing and 52 passing, that's pathetic) and lost the time of possession battle by nearly 10 minutes.  And the offense only mustered 9 points.

 

And yet, somehow, some way, the football gods smiled on the Dolphins on this day.  Two long kick returns from some guy named Ginn who decided to turn it on, and a fumble recovery/score by a guy who used to make a living at that named JT.

 

That added up to 21 additional points - enough to beat those Jets for the second time this season.

 

A strange day, to be sure, but a win's a win in the NFL and you take it where you can...

Hunh?

Miami scored late on a pass to Joey Haynos that made the score 30-19.  Sparano elected to go for 2.  Wait.  Hunh?

 

2?  Really?

 

At the point they scored there was around 8 minutes left.  Its an 11 point lead.  

 

Going for 1 means you're ahead by 12; the Jets would have to score 2 TDs to win, even with a two point conversion. 

 

Going for 2 means you're ahead by 13; the Jets would have to score 2 TDs to win

 

...but the downside in either case is that you miss and remain ahead by 11 meaning that a TD and 2 point conversion plus a field goal ties the game.

 

I don't see the logic in going for 2 here.  So I have to assume that Sparano got mixed up in all this "high math"....or...

 

Maybe Carpenter had to hit the lou, and couldn't kick?  Or maybe a bookie friend called to remind the Fins of the point spread?  I have no idea.  

 

It was just weird. 

A couple of quick notes

* Fasano was thrown to early and often.  Decidedly mixed results.  He was open but made only a couple of catches - but in good spots.

* Ted Ginn did not start; Hartline started in his place.  Neither did much in receiving, but Ginn acquitted himself well on kick returns. (more on that later)

* Gibril Wilson started, but schematically, Miami rotated in a bunch of guys at various times, including Chris Clemons.  Overall, Clemons did okay, though he was soft on some coverage.  Wilson had two big sacks in the game.

* Where was Cameron Wake?

 

love it

Its like I always say: the Fins can go 2-14....so long as the 2 are against the Jets!!!!

 

Sure beating the Patsies is nice, but there's a special place in every Dolphins fan's heart for beating the stinking, rotten Jets.