Tepop ... in case you missed this article!
No doubt about it, Miami Dolphins' Chad Henne stood out Sundayhttp://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/story/1369157.htmlBy EDWIN POPE
epope@MiamiHerald.comCome on, 'fess up. You know you've doubted Chad Henne at times. You know you've said to yourself, No way the Dolphins entrust their future to Chad Henne's hands.
I know I have. I've cussed so many of his overthrows and underthrows, damned so many of his decisions, despaired of so much inconsistency. And all the while forgetting this is just his second season and those things happen to quarterbacks in their second NFL seasons.
Now I take it all back. In spades. I'm not saying these feelings will never return. Even the greatest quarterbacks don't become complete pictures of poise overnight.
But for Chad Henne it's progress. Boy howdy, it's progress.
To this king -- all right, this co-king (along with winning field-goal kicker Dan Carpenter), of Sunday's 22-21 squeak past New England, we offer a bow especially deep.
You turned the Dolphins around, Henne. Or at least stopped them from sliding farther into irrelevancy. You transformed what would have been their third loss in four games into the win that finally staked them to 6-6 and .500.
You stepped up when the Dolphins needed you most and put the touch in three touchdown drives and then the push for Carpenter's 41-yard winner.
We long ago gave up even imagining anymore Dan Marino numbers, but 29 for 52 for 335 yards and coming back from 11 points down in the third quarter?
Not bad for a guy we all were ready to write off at one time or another.
It was the way Henne did it, along with those guys up front offering human shields: He seemed to leap back rather than step back. He snapped the ball through instead of winding up like a baseball pitcher.
``When we give Chad an opportunity to make plays, he makes 'em,'' guard Justin Smiley said. ``It was like something like out of a movie, man.''
Afterward, though, Henne seemed to be apologizing for not hitting touchdown passes of 58 and 81 yards the way Tom Brady did.
``We were down 14 points, and we're not going to get big chunks running the ball,'' Henne said.
So he settled for what, in his mind, were non-chunks.
Pretty good non-chunks.
On the Dolphins' first touchdown drive, to cut the Patriots' margin to 14-7, Henne hit Greg Camarillo for 29 yards, Brian Hartline for 15 and 14 yards and Davone Bess for 13 on the TD. This was the drive where Henne first looked like a quick-draw trickster, seemingly drawing and firing without bothering to take aim.
On the first field-goal drive, to cut it to 14-10 Patriots, Henne hit 7 of 8 passes. The longest were 20 yards to Hartline and 19 to Ted Ginn Jr.
On the second and only other touchdown drive, Henne hit Bess for 19 and Fasano for 19 more.
I call those ``chunks.''
Altogether, Bess caught 10 Henne passes for 117 yards. Henne loves throwing to Bess because, as the QB puts it, ``Some of the [secondary] guys don't want to press him out there at the corner position.''
They don't like pressing Bess because if they press too close and miss, Bess is apt to be long gone.
Bess offered his own perspective on Henne. ``Every time they throw us the fastball, Chad is willing to hit the home run.''
The whole blooming game was a home run. It was a magnificent contest between one team that's a champ or near-about almost every year and another that's been crying to come even close since heaven knows when. It was more than just Henne and his catchers and Tom Brady and his. It was magnificent protection by the offensive line, too.
Not all those Dolphins involved were Pro Ball names. But Sunday, finally overtaking the Patriots with 1:02 left, they all played like Pro Bowlers in a contest that pulled harder at more hearts than any in recent Dolphins history. Mostly because of the guy we have so often doubted in his brief time here, and doubtless we shall doubt again.
When we do doubt Henne again is when we should remember something Coach Tony Sparano said about him late Sunday, when twilight had fallen and the cheers around Henne's shoulders were only echoes.
``Chad's a very resilient guy,'' is what Sparano said.
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