September 22, 2009
Winning time of possession is one formula that produces wins in the NFL, but that formula did not work in the Miami Dolphins’ favor on Monday night. The disparity in time of possession was greatly lopsided: Miami Dolphins had the ball for more than 45 minutes, while Indianapolis Colts had the ball for less than 15 minutes.
Miami’s game plan was well executed – because they played a very controlled game – but could not come away with a win at home, losing to the Colts 27-to-23.
Land Shark Stadium attracted several stars (Tiger Woods, Jennifer Lopez and Mark Anthony, Venus and Serena Williams, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, and Jimmy Buffet), but the real star of the night was Colts’ quarterback Peyton Manning. He did not throw the ball a lot, but when he did air the ball – he caused damage.
On the first offensive play of the game, Manning completed a pass down the middle to tight end Dallas Clark, and he did the rest, breaking one tackle and taking it into the end zone. It was an 80-yard touchdown pass by Manning.
Miami’s first offensive drive also led to a touchdown, but it was not in a quick-striking fashion but rather a slow and calculated drive, mixed with some wildcat trickery and short passes. Eventually, the wildcat earned Dolphins a touchdown through a 14-yard run by running back Ronnie Brown. This 9-play drive occupied 6 minutes and 6 seconds.
The first quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.
In the second quarter, the Dolphins’ second offensive possession was similar to their first – slow, calculated but effective enough to put some points on the scoreboard.
On Indianapolis’ 28-yard line, the Dolphins had a couple chances to score a touchdown, but the receivers could not come down with the ball: the first play occurred when quarterback Chad Pennington threw a deep middle pass to tight end Anthony Fasano and he dropped it; the second play was a deep pass thrown by Pennington to speedster Ted Ginn Jr., deep right in the back of the end zone, and he misread the ball, causing an incompletion.
Kicker Dan Carpenter connected for a 45-yard field goal, giving the Dolphins a 10-to-7 lead. This drive occupied 7 minutes and 24 seconds.
On the Colts’ third possession, Manning marched his offense down the field quickly, getting two first downs on their first two plays. With a few more plays, the Colts made their way to the Dolphins’ 25-yard line, which resulted in a 43-yard field goal by kicker Adam Vinatieri to even the game at 10.
The Dolphins’ following possession started well as they converted two first downs. The drive ate up the clock, but it ended with their first punt of the game. With less than five minutes left in the half, Colts got the ball and went three and out.
Dolphins started with good field position at their 40-yard line and continued their conservative play. The offense showed no will to get the ball into the end zone, despite managing to get two first downs to reach the Colts’ 35-yard line. On first down, Pennington completed a 1-yard pass to Greg Camarilo; on second down, Brown gained 2 yards with a run up the middle to set up a 3rd-and-7.
Apparently, trying to get a first down to possibly score a touchdown was not on their minds, because the play that was called was not a passing play but rather a badly executed running play that yielded 5 yards up the middle by Ricky Williams. This drive showed that Dolphins surrendered the drive and content with a field goal, and thus Carpenter lined up and connected a 44-yard field goal try.
Dolphins retook the lead 13-to-10.
With 35 seconds left on the clock, the Colts took the field at their 26-yard line and that’s all the time they needed. In shotgun mode, Manning completed a 24-yard pass to rookie running back Donald Brown to reach midfield. A couple of plays later, Manning attempted to connect to wide receiver Reggie Wayne down the right sideline, but the ball was intercepted by free safety Gibril Wilson.
The play was challenged and the ruling of an interception on the field was overturned. Replay showed that Wilson dropped a clear-cut interception, a drop that would be costly. With only 8 seconds left on the Colts’ 45-yard line, Manning completed a deep left pass to Clark and he ran out of bounds to stop the clock at 2 seconds. Vinatieri came in and did the rest, making a 48-yard field goal try that was almost missed as the ball hit the right side of the goalpost.
The half ended 13 all.
Like the first two quarters, the third quarter belonged to the Dolphins, not because they did anything special (or scored any points), but because they controlled the ball basically the entire quarter.
Miami received the ball first and meticulously moved the ball down the field, employing the wildcat, short passes and run plays. The drive was effective enough to put some points on the scoreboard, but there was no guarantee. After failing to convert a 3rd-and-7 on the Colts’ 31-yard line, Carpenter lined up for a 49-yard field goal try and missed wide right; it was not even close.
The Colts’ first possession of the second half yielded nothing; this three-and-out possession (which lasted less than 2 minutes) was their only time on the field in the third quarter.
The Dolphins regained the ball with 7 minutes and 8 seconds and had the ball until the third quarter ended, slowly gaining yards as they ate up the clock.
The third quarter ended without a score and still tied at 13.
The time-consuming drive was successful; Brown earned his second touchdown of the game with a 3-yard run. (This 13-play drive lasted 8 minutes and 35 seconds.)
The Dolphins again retook the lead 20-to-13.
The well-rested offense of the Colts came onto the field and toyed with Dolphin’s defense as they gained vital yards through two big plays: the first big play occurred when Manning completed a 49-yard pass to Clark, positioning them on the Dolphins’ 27-yard line; the second play was a 15-yard touchdown run by rookie Brown, breaking several tackles to reach the end zone. (This drive occupied 6 plays for 3 minutes and 17 seconds.)
The game in no time was tied at 20.
The back and forth continued as the Dolphins pulled ahead via a 45-yard field goal by Carpenter, giving them a 23-to-20 lead.
Being behind did not affect the Colts at all. They trailed 10-to-7, 13-to-10, and 20-to-13, and pulled even each time. With 3 minutes and 50 seconds left, this drive would not be the equalizer but the game-deciding drive of the night. They took the lead with one big play, executed by a short right pass from Manning to wide receiver Pierre Garcon and he broke away from defenders for a 48-yard touchdown. This drive only took 32 seconds.
For the first time, the Colts led 27-to-23.
The Dolphins’ offense came onto the field and displayed their worst possession of the entire game. They lined up with no intensity or worry, running the ball their first two plays. Instead of firing the ball downfield, they continued their conservative play with short passes and useless run plays. The cautious play calling was ridiculous – not to mention the horrible time management.
The Dolphins, however, had chance to score a touchdown. With less than 15 second left, Pennington gunned a catchable pass into the end zone for wide receiver Ted Ginn and he dropped it. With only 6 seconds left, Pennington had no choice but to put the ball into the end zone once more hoping for a miracle, but it wasn’t meant to be. The pass was intercepted by free safety Antoine Bethea.
Miami controlled the game from start to finish. The disparity in time of possession was not even close: the Dolphins had the ball for 45 minutes and 7 seconds and the Colts had the ball for 14 minutes and 53 seconds. Surprisingly, the latter was enough to yield a win. The Dolphins dominated basically every category: total first downs (27), third down efficiency (15/21), total rush yards (239), total net yards (403), etc.
Miami’s offense did everything right throughout and played a well-rounded game (excluding the final drive). Running backs Brown and Williams played great, combining for 205 yards: Brown gained 136 yards with 24 carries for 2 touchdowns; Williams gained 69 yards with 19 carries.
Wide receiver Ginn played a respectable game, catching 11 passes for 108 yards. However, when he had chances to make big plays, he did not deliver. He missed a touchdown pass deep in the end zone the first quarter and missed another touchdown pass in the final seconds of the game. Any one of these catches would have given the Dolphins the win. Granted, these passes were tough (especially the first pass which was slightly overthrown), but they were catchable.
Although the Dolphins’ offense played well and exhausted the Colts’ defense, their offense was predictable. When they did not line up in the wildcat formation, a short pass was thrown or a basic running play was executed. Pennington did not even attempt a deep pass for more than 35 yards downfield. In fact, his longest completion was a 21 yard completion to Ginn.
For the Dolphins’ offense to be more efficient in passing, the ball needs to be thrown downfield to give receivers chances to make plays. Like the two-running back system with Ronnie and Ricky, Miami should consider having a two-quarterback system with either Chad Henne or Pat White. Pennington would remain the starting quarterback, while Henne or White would come in sporadically to execute deep passes downfield.
Ginn is fastest player on the Dolphins and one of the fastest in the NFL (in 2007, he ran a 4.38 40-yard dash for NFL scouts with an injured ankle), so why is his speed not utilized?
He has yet to rundown three deep passes downfield with the Dolphins since drafted – and it’s not his fault. If the ball is not thrown downfield a few times in a game, then Ginn and even Devon Bess cannot make big plays downfield.
To put quick points on the scoreboard, the Dolphins need to open up their offense and gun the ball downfield rather than settling for short passes, because the wildcat will not be effective all the time like it was with the Colts.
Despite a dominant performance by the Dolphins’ offense, their defense was horrible – mainly the secondary. The defense was ineffective on blitzes, missed way too many tackles, failed to adjust and audible their defensive plays to match the Colts’ offense, and gave up too many big plays. These mistakes were crucial, which gave Manning the ammunition to destroy the defense at will. He threw for 303 yards and his main target was Dallas Clark.
Clark abused the Dolphins’ defense, catching 7 passes for 183 yards. He was unstoppable and hard to tackle.
Generally, the Colts-Dolphins’ Monday night matchup was enjoyable. The Indianapolis Colts, being the better team offensively but not statistically, had more firepower to improve their record to 2-and-0, while the Miami Dolphins remain winless at 0-and-2 after a heartbreaking defeat.
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Originally published/written September 22, 2009 via now-defunct Web site Helium.com
Hamlet Pericles The Writer 