Commentary: Simply scoring a touchdown will do wonders for Dolphins

[DolFan619]

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/epaper/2008/08/13/0813george.html

Commentary: Simply scoring a touchdown will do wonders for Dolphins

By DAVE GEORGE
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

DAVIE — "Calm on the outside and like a tornado on the inside," that's how Chad Pennington described his feelings and his approach while taking command of the Dolphins practice huddle for the first time.

Finally, someone around here who gets the urgency of turning this training camp into a retraining camp.

We're talking mental gymnastics here. Psychological strain. After all, nobody gets an NFL contract, even for a week or two, if they're not up to snuff physically.

The mission of this new Dolphins detail, this Tony Sparano species, is to start winning the mind games that Cam Cameron never quite understood, from the moment the one-and-done former head coach spent a first-round draft pick on a wide receiver (Ted Ginn Jr.) who needed three games just to catch his first NFL pass.

You know the kind of attitude adjustment I'm talking about. Ride the wild tornado. Tear last year's 1-15 record right out of the history books, and then, just for good measure, tear a phone book in half, too.

And if all of that sounds too extreme, could somebody at least score a touchdown? That basic building block of football success was more than the pitiful Miami offense could manage in three 2007 games.

For all the fan excitement about starting fresh in 2008, Sparano's guys had the same problem in an opening 17-6 exhibition loss to Tampa Bay.

Two field goals. Six punts. Four-of-12 on third down.

Say all you want about patience and perspective and the luxury of three more pre-season games to get some offensive rhythm going. Whoever carries the ball across the goal line for Miami first on Saturday night at Jacksonville, even if it's in fourth-quarter garbage time, will be my new best friend.

For breaking that psychological barrier, he should be guaranteed a roster spot, plus the right to sing the national anthem at the Sept. 7 regular-season opener against the Jets, plus the use of Bill Parcells' parking spot for the rest of the month.

That's how important it is for the Dolphins to start looking like they know how to play this game again. Important to them and to the people who pay to watch them play. Important to Sparano, the rookie head coach who once called plays for Tony Romo in Dallas but has far less overall talent available to him now.

"I think a guy can learn the offense in a week to two weeks' time," Sparano said when asked about the challenge Pennington faces in pumping up the offense.

Two weeks will seem like too much if Miami can't push a touchdown across Saturday. This is about more than defensive recognition, an area where Pennington excels compared to rookie Chad Henne and whichever other quarterback, Josh McCown or John Beck, gets to keep his job.

Name recognition is a key factor, too, in separating this retooled squad from the floundering Fish of a season ago. Fans are dying for someone to believe in, especially with Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas gone.

Look at the 17 most recent touchdowns scored by the Dolphins' offense, going all the way back to Game 6 of last season. Cleo Lemon was in on 10 of them, either passing or running, but Cleo will be on the Jacksonville sideline for Saturday's game.

Samkon Gado scored three of them and Jesse Chatman one, but neither of those running backs is on the Miami roster anymore.

Beck was in on two of them and tight end David Martin two more, but neither of those guys may survive Miami's final cut to 53 players.

Anthony Fasano is one of several newcomers who played for Parcells and Sparano at Dallas and he figures to be the starter at tight end. Justin Peelle probably gets the backup tight end spot because he's more valuable on special teams.

Nothing, then, from last season is guaranteed to last, not when leading scorer Jay Feely, who made 21 of 23 field goals in 2007, gets cut like some chump.

Guess field goals don't provide much sustenance to a franchise that has been bombed back to the Stone Age of 1-15.

The Dolphins need a touchdown, any kind of touchdown, and they need it Saturday.

In the context of this particular retraining camp, the mind games of August are every bit as critical as the genuine September storms to come.