The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

It's easy to second guess once you have access to the results.

But, at the end of the game, considering how we'd been playing the game thus far, I thought that scoring that TD late might've been a mistake.

We pretty much had the game in the bag, and if we'd been able to run some time before scoring, it would've been a difference maker.  Did any of you consider that we maybe should've not tried to score as aggressively, so quickly, and force Houston to waste timeouts.

Even if we are unable to get the TD, you have a pretty guaranteed FG, without much time left.  ....and I think we'd have still been able to get the TD a play or two later.

Just a thought I had....  anyone else have it?

I agree I was hoping Ronnie would hit the ground after he got a first down on the five yard line or near it. I wonder if Houston allowed him to score knowing they had two time outs and 1:40 left. If only Ronnie would have hit the dirt they would burn both time outs and would only have 30 seconds or less to get in field goal territory. But it is what it is.

I would have liked to seen Chad Henne try to throw a hail mary attempt,rather than the hook and ladder play.....

I understand the stratagy,I'd rather had the TD...and have the Texans drive the the entire field needing 7 to win,rather than kick the field goal...One deep play then they kick a long field goal to win..IE the Falcons beating the Bears today..I was flipping back and forth at the end of both these games.....

Wow another great point. I thought for sure Henne would come for the last play, but when I saw it was still Pennington on the field. I knew they would try the laterial gimmick.

It is not called a hail mary for no reason.  With a QB like Brady or Manning and a receiver like Moss or TO, it is has a very low likelihood of success.  I think a hook a ladder when you have players like Brown and Williams gives a better chance. 

i was saying the exact same thing at the bar when we were at the 15 yard line.  i said "let's take it slow here" because of how explosive the texans are.

And then you have 2 - 6'4"Wide recievers in E. Wilford,Brandon London sitting on the bench not to forget Fasano and Martin both 6'4" and Camarillio,and Hagan both over 6' tall also....You've got size,but not really a guy to throw it...50 yards down the field....

If you can't count on your defense from stopping a QB you dominated all day from going 80 yards in 90 seconds, then all the strategies in the world won't matter.

Dave, I had the same thought and I posted in it the anti-fins section.

If the Dolphins go 2-14, I'd fire Sparano!!!!!!!!!! 

Agreed.  With the exception of their first drive in the 4th quarter, Houston's offense was dominating our defense in the 2nd half.
5 plays-78 yards - TD
10 plays - 68 yards - fumble by Johnson at our 7
3 plays - 4 yards - punt
8 plays - 56 yards - field goal

If we were going to leave any time on the clock then we needed the touchdown which forced them to go 76 yards instead of 46 for the FG. 

A field is never a sure thing, but this one would have been less than 30 yards. 

1-10-HOU 12  (1:57) 23-R.Brown left end to HOU 6 for 6 yards (56-M.Greenwood). 
Timeout #1 by HOU at 01:51. 
2-4-HOU 6  (1:51) 23-R.Brown up the middle for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. 

Even if Brown didn't score on 2nd or 3rd down, Houston still had timeouts to stop the clock after each play.  We kick the FG on 4th and they would have had ~1:30 and no timeouts, or :45 and one timeout.  Still too much time if they only needed 45 yards. 



Who was the RB that a dive inside the 5 last season rather than coast in for the TD?

Here we go again  ::)

Imagine the outcry that would have happened if Brown downed himself and Miami missed the field goal somehow. You never, I repeat never take points for granted.

Brian Westbrook.

There was also one huge difference between the Westbrook & Brown situations. The Eagles had the lead when Westbrook did it.

I didn't have a problem with them scoring, because I side a little more with one of the other posters on not taking points for granted.  Plus, our offense wasn't exactly playing stellar the whole game and we were low on timeouts if things started to go wrong.

What I did have a problem with was the call to go for 1 instead of 2 after that score.  WTF!!!  This isn't a hindsight is 20/20 thing either.  There was almost no benefit to kicking the PAT, and alot to be gained with a successful 2 point conversion.

I also was pissed when I saw the linebacker move out of the backfield on the last play of the game.  It is a major mismatch having 5 O-linemen and a QB against 4 tired D-lineman and all 2-3 yards to gain to win the game.  Sparano called it gutsy in his interview.  I disagree, we invited them in for the score.  Sparano should take some accountability for presenting an easy oppurtunity for the ball to be run in on that last play.  

Before they even lined up on the last play I said to my fellow spectators (on the couch), watch for the sneak up the middle.  Then I saw the linebacker move out and said, "where the hell is he going?".  Next thing you know it is game over.  I don't see how people who get paid the kind of money that the coaches get paid don't see this stuff coming when I see it and it is just a hobby for me.  Very frustrating stuff.

Side Note - Ronaldo Hill needs to start catching some of these balls instead of almost catching them.  Almost doesn't count and it is killing us considering he seems to often be in a position to ICE the game if he makes the play.

the bottom line is we scored 28 points and had a +3 turnover edge

we lost because of special teams

end of story

No, we lost because our defense couldn't get off the field. 

I don't want a situation where a player has to consider whether scoring a TD is the right thing to do. Just SCORE.

If anything else, any weird tactic, is to be employed, it needs to be dictated a priori from the sideline.