I Need the Bye Week

I was talking to a friend Monday...someone who didn't see the Jets game Sunday.

I was explaining to him how the Jets should have won the game, like the previous Dolphins game, which the Jets also should have won. And I started thinking and said, "So the Jets are 4-4, which they really deserve to be...but man, they could have been 5-3. And if they had beaten the Dolphins that first time, they could be 6-2." And the more I thought about it, they should have beaten the Bills in that disaster of the game...dare I say they could have been 7-1 at this point?

I know, you can 'would have, should have' any team to death - but really, the Jets are that close to having turned 3 games right around - the two Dolphins games came down to the last play and the Bills game was an overtime loss. And the Jets gave the best team in football a run for their money in the Saints.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Beleaguered Ginn Strikes Back

Dolphins wide receiver Ted Ginn responded to his benching with a historic performance, tying an NFL record with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single quarter to lead Miami to a 30-25 win over the rival New York Jets.

Ginn said all the right things after his history-equaling performance, stressing that he "just wanted to make plays" for a team that has had few big ones this season.

Against the Jets, with the momentum seemingly on New York's side after a pair of scoring drives engineered by Mark Sanchez, Ginn made a spectacular rebuttal.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Another Test for Mark Sanchez

Someday soon it will be time to measure up Mark Sanchez again. Maybe the next time he plays in cold weather, which wasn't so successful two weeks ago against Buffalo. Maybe it's when he plays Buffalo next, since that's the team that picked him off five times in that game. Maybe it's the next matchup against the Patriots - in New England, instead of in front of the home crowd.

But this week the object of scrutiny is not the rookie quarterback - it's the rookie coach. The last time the Jets played the Dolphins, Sanchez was fine. It was Rex Ryan's vaunted defense that looked exposed just three short weeks ago against Miami and its wildcat formation.

That shortcoming seems a bit more magnified following the Saints' ability to neutralize the wildcat last week as they staged a monster comeback on Miami.

At the same time, the Jets' defense was showing signs of life again after a couple of 'just OK' weeks - nothing close to the way they started the season. But that performance comes with a huge asterisk, because it was against the subpar Oakland offense.

(Continue to 200 Miles From the Citi)

Dolphins-Jets: The Sequel

In a strange scheduling quirk, the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets face off for the second time in three weeks, this time in the Meadowlands. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

The last time the two teams played, of course, was on Monday night. And in one of the best games in the rivalry in recent years, Ronnie Brown's 2-yard TD run with six seconds left lifted Miami to a 31-27 win.

The next week, the Jets continued their skid with a 16-13 overitme loss at home to Buffalo, their third loss in a row. Quarterback Mark Sanchez single-handedly lost the game with his worst day as a pro, tossing five interceptions.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Is Ted Ginn a Bust?

Over the past few days, there has been a firestorm of criticism in Miami surrounding wide receiver Ted Ginn after another lackluster performance agaisnt the New Orleans Saints.

The numbers tell a grim story: Four receptions for 77 yards the past four games, with 53 of them coming on a TD catch against the New York Jets.

He has also dropped several passes, and seemingly shied away from contact.

Against the Saints, Ginn dropped two passes, with one of them a bobble that ended up in the hands of safety Darren Sharper for a 42-yard TD that aided the New Orleans comeback.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Saints Don't Get AFC's Memo

The AFC spent most of Sunday sending a powerful statement to the NFC.

By about 5:45 p.m. EST, and well into the day's second offering of games, the AFC had taken all the toss-up tilts between the rival leagues, and turned them into their own.

The Bengals had demolished the Bears, 45-10. Houston had knocked back a suddenly reeling 49ers club. Pittsburgh had played with fire, and then set ablaze Minnesota's undefeated season. Why, Buffalo had even out-mediocre-d the Panthers in Carolina.

And now with its undefeated Saints being battered by middling Miami, 24-3, late in the first half, the NFC was preparing a message of surrender. But just before the white flag went up, Drew Brees' Saints put their league on their backs and picked themselves up off the Miami sod with a resounding leap.

(Continue to The Grill Room)

Dolphins Melt Down Against Saints

For most of the first half against New Orleans, the Dolphins played their finest football of the young season.

Miami held the high-powered Saints to just one first down through the first 22 minutes of play, harrassed Drew Brees into three interceptions, and dominated the clock with the Wildcat en route to a 24-3 lead.

Jason Taylor looked like the J.T. of old for the first time in 2009, sacking Brees twice and forcing two fumbles.

As a team, the Dolphins recorded five sacks on Brees, the second-best performance of the season.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

High-Scoring Saints March into Miami

The Miami Dolphins come out of their bye week and into the fire, as they host the undefeated New Orleans Saints at Land Shark Stadium. Kickoff is at 4:15.

To say the Saints are a high-scoring outfit is an understatement. Through five games, New Orleans is averaging 38.4 points and 430 yards of total ofense per game.

Last week, Drew Brees and Company eviscerated the then-No. 1 defense in the NFL, the New York Giants, for 493 total yards and 48 points in the Saints' 48-27 drubbing.

Brees was at his best, completing 23-of-30 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns, and Marques Colston caught eight passes for 166 yards and a TD.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Grading the Dolphins

With the Dolphins on a bye this past weekend, this seems like a good time to grade the team on its performance so far this season:

Offensive line -- B: The space-eaters up front are reportedly making a combined $155 million in salaries this season, and they've earned every penny in the running game, paving the way for a ground game that leads the league with an average of 177 yards per game. It's not just that the Dolphins are running it a lot; they are also running effectively, as their 4.8-average per carry attests. The only downside: The pass protection has been leaky at times, as the Dolphins have allowed 13 sacks through five regular season games, tied for 13th in the NFL.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

More Compelling Games in Week 6

With the Dolphins on their bye week, the Guru gets to pick every game for the second straight week as I made an exception last week due to the gravity of that Monday Night game between the Jets and Dolphins.

[Quick interlude: Talk about an instant classic! Five lead changes in the fourth quarter? Three touchdowns in that quarter by Miami matching the total given up by the Jets defense in the previous four games? A 130.4 passer rating for second-year Dolphins QB Chad Henne in just his second NFL start? The Wildcat waltzing up and down the field on a Rex Ryan defense? All I can say is it was one of those memorable games those of us in the media will be talking about for years to come.]

Now back to regularly scheduled program:

(Continue to NFL Guru)

Dolphins Climb Back into Race

The Jets-Dolphins rivalry is back, and the nation got a chance to see two up-and-coming football teams play a classic game Monday night.

Ronnie Brown and the Wildcat got the better of the Jets, with Brown scoring a 2-yard touchdown run with six seconds left to give the Fins a 31-27 win that puts them back in the AFC East race.

There were several positives in the performance, and many of them were on offense.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Mirror Images Collide Monday Night

After losing some steam in recent years, the Miami Dolphins-New York Jets rivalry has returned to prominence over the past two seasons.

Monday night, the two teams meet before a national audience, in a game that will be televised by ESPN.

The Jets will no doubt be playing the revenge card in this one.

It was Miami that ended their dreams of a playoff berth in 2008, and ended the Brett Favre Era in one fell swoop in a 24-17 win at the Meadowlands.

Much has changed in that time.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

'Fins-Jets: A Memorable Rivalry

With all due respect to the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and even the Miami Dolphins' former AFC East playmates, the Indianapolis Colts, no team gets Dolphins' fans blood boiling more than the New York Jets.

It's a rivaly that goes back to the salad days of the AFL, when Joe Namath led the Jets on an upward climb that led to their only Super Bowl win in 1969, and the Dolphins were a struggling expansion franchise.

Monday night marks the 88th meeting between the teams, with the Jets holding a 46-40-1 overall edge, including a 13-5 mark against Miami this decade.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Dolphins Finally in Win Column

It was the template you thought the Miami Dolphins would follow for success against the Buffalo Bills: Establish the run, and put Chad Henne in good situations when throwing the football.

Well, the Dolphins held the ball for more than 37 minutes, and piled up 250 rushing yards for their first victory of the 2009 season, 38-10 over the fading Buffalo Bills.

Henne was efficient, completing 14-of-22 passes for 115 yards and his first NFL touchdown pass, a 5-yard toss to rookie Brian Hartline.

But the story of this game was the Miami offensive line, which cleared the way for Ronnie Brown's 20-carry, 115-yard, 2 TD effort.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

New-Look Dolphins Take on Bills

It's not the ideal time to break in a new starting quarterback, but the Miami Dolphins will try and make the most of it as they take on the Buffalo Bills at home Sunday. Kickoff is at 4:05 p.m.

At 0-3, it's panic time for Miami, which suffered a huge blow in losing starter Chad Pennington for the season last week.

That means Chad Henne, who has thrown all of 31 professional passes in his NFL career, is now the starter.

Henne struggled last week off the bench against San Diego, completing 10-of-19 passes for 92 yards. But Eric Weddle intercepted Henne, and returned the ball 31 yards to clinch Miami's third straight loss of the season.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

It's Henne Time in Miami

A bad start for the Miami Dolphins got even worse with the news that starting quarterback Chad Pennington has a torn capsule in his right shoulder and will be lost for the season.

With Pennington gone, Miami loses the ultimate game manager, and one of the players most responsible for last season's 11-5 record and AFC East division title.

Pennington passed for 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions, and quickly became the leader of a young Dolphins offense. It's no coincidence that the Dolphins turned the ball over a league-record low 13 times in a 16-game season, a testament to Pennington's ability to make good decisions under pressure.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Never Too Early for Must Wins

Here we are in Week 3 of the NFL season and already there are a handful of teams in precarious situations. Some of them were expected to be where they are while others are not at all where they wanted to be.

And while the tired cliche "Every game is a must-win," has been repeated around the league, it actually holds true in more than one case -- including the game I will be at tomorrow out here in beautiful San Diego between the Chargers and the Miami Dolphins.

So let's go down the list, shall we? Last week was the first time I have tried my hand at picking games and I have to say going 8-7 was a pleasant surprise. Remember, because of my affiliation with the Dolphins I cannot weigh in with a prediction on their game.

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Dolphins Look to Avoid 0-3 Start

After all but beating the Indianapolis Colts last Monday night, the Miami Dolphins travel to the West Coast to face the high powered San Diego Chargers at 4:15 p.m.

The challenge is a daunting one: Try to avoid going 0-3 against one of the most talented teams in the NFL.

Last week, Miami dominated the Colts statistically, except for the big statistic on the scoreboard, which read Indianapolis 27, Miami 23.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Conservative Dolphins Done In by Colts

As we've often heard, statistics don't always tell the story, and Monday night was proof of that.

The Miami Dolphins dominated time of possession, holding the ball for more than three full quarters.

They had 27 first downs to the Indianapolis Colts' 14, ran for 239 yards to Indy's 61.

Yet, by game's end, the scoreboard read, Indianapolis 27, Miami 23.

A must win for the Dolphins became a blown opportunity.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)

Manning vs. Miami on Monday Night

Needing a win in Week 2, one of the last players the Miami Dolphins want to see is Peyton Manning and his 1-0 Indianapolis Colts. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. Monday in Land Shark Stadium.

True, Manning has had his struggles against the Dolphins. In fact, aside from New England, Manning's 4-7 record as a starter against the Dolphins is his worst against any NFL team.

The Dolphins have also had more success historically against No. 18 than any team in the NFL. Manning's passer rating (76.3) and minus-2 TD/INT ratio are his worst numbers vs. one team.

(Continue to Dolphins Watch)