Instant Analysis: Tampa Bay 17, Miami 6

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Instant Analysis: Tampa Bay 17, Miami 6

By Ben Volin | Saturday, August 9, 2008, 10:09 PM

Observations and analysis from the Dolphins’ 17-6 preseason loss to the Bucs. …

QB Competition: It took John Beck three series to pick up three first downs. Chad Henne did it in six plays.
Henne, a second-round pick in April’s draft, looked sharp in his first NFL action, playing against a mixture of First- and Second-Teamers. He hit David Kircus for 14 and 20 yards, picking up a first down each time, and led the Dolphins to a field goal on his first possession.

Henne played the second and third quarters, and finished 5-of-10 for 67 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. He was less effective in the third quarter behind the backup offensive line, taking several shot sin the pocket from the defense.

Beck, meanwhile, finished 5-of-9 for 45 yards and a 69.2 quarterback rating. Offensive coordinator Dan Henning called five consecutive passes to start the second drive, and seven out of eight plays, to test Beck.

He completed 3-of-6 for 33 yards, and was sacked once with a fumble that he recovered.

And in a surprise move, Josh McCown played in the fourth quarter, finishing 3-of-6 for 17 yards. Before the trade for Chad Pennington, McCown was supposed to sit the entire game, and Beck was supposed to play two quarters.

Longing for Long: Saturday was the debut of No. 1 overall draft pick Jake Long, and while he didn’t allow a sack in his two quarters of play, he also wasn’t tested much with the run. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown combined for 35 total yards, but all of those yards were picked up on the right side. The only runs to the left didn’t produce much: Ronnie Brown was stopped for a loss of 1, and then protection broke down for Ricky Williams, forcing Williams to improvise and cut back to the right side for an electrifying 9-yard game.

Starting defense shines: The Bucs’ offense may have controlled the clock throughout the second half, but the Dolphins’ starting defense shut down the Bucs’ starting offense - and did it without starters Joey Porter or Vonnie Holliday. The Fins forced the Bucs to go three-and-out on each of their first two possessions, and just 46 total yards in the first quarter. Rookie Kendall Langford made his presence known immediately, getting a hand in Luke McCown’s face on the first play from scrimmage, allowing newcomer Jason Ferguson to pick up the sack. Fellow rookie Phillip Merling finished with three tackles. The second team defense, though, has plenty of room for improvement. The Bucs had the ball for an eye-popping 36 minutes, and ran 75 plays to the Dolphins’ 47.

Penalties and mistakes: Tony Sparano could not have been happy with the penalties and sloppiness. The Dolphins committed eight penalties for 55 yards, and the fans booed mightily when Shawn Murphy committed a holding penalty in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins had two fumbles (and recovered both), and Jason Allen was hit on the back on a punt return, though the ball luckily went out of bounds.

One down: Three more to go until the regular season. Good showing for the first game, but there is plenty of work to be done. Next Saturday is at Jacksonville. Expect to see plenty of Pennington, who needs the preseason reps to get acquainted with his new team.