The first game of the pre-season has come and gone now for the Dolphins, and it certainly had its ups and downs.
While the starters failed to impress in their time in the game, it was the backups that led the team to the come from behind win.
Both the starting offense and defense were ineffective against the Falcons starters, as Chad Henne failed to get anything going until the Falcons backups came in, and the Dolphins defense was shredded by the dual threat of Matt Ryan and Michael Turner.
While the starters were not scheduled to play more than a drive or two in the first quarter, Henne and the rest of the offense hiked out onto the gridiron to start the second quarter as well. Henne’s first three drives ended prematurely, so head coach Tony Sparano had no choice but to let Henne try and get something going.
Henne’s stat line for the first quarter: 1-5 for 5 yards and two interceptions. While Henne finished 4-8 throwing for 77 yards and a touchdown along with the two interceptions, the majority of the yardage came against the backups, as well as the 44 yard touchdown toss to Brian Hartline.
But the ineffectiveness of the Dolphins offense cannot solely lie on Henne’s shoulders, as the running game never got going either. Rookie Daniel Thomas ran for only 5 yards on four carries. The rest of the running game only amassed 63 yards also.
With the lack of a ground attack, despite the absence of starter Reggie Bush, I have to say a little bit of concern strikes me, as the offensive line and the ground game are supposed to be our bread and butter, the team still has the same philosophy as when the Trifecta first came to Miami in 2008, but it seems to be ineffective, after going stale last season, and looking dreadful tonight.
With the running game not making a difference tonight, the Dolphins were forced to rely on the aerial attack to come back from a 17-0 deficit after the first quarter.
The ferocious comeback was led by 2nd string quarterback Matt Moore, who finished the night throwing for 123 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, on 11-18 attempts.
Before the game I stated that Matt Moore was a player I was going to look out for. He answered the call, and then some, leading the team back from the hole the starters put the team in. I said in my earlier post that this game was not to see where the team was at, but more so to see where the depth of the team is at, and how much talent our depth chart boasts.
Based on the end result, the Dolphins roster is deeper than the Falcons, from 1-80. While the starters certainly were not on the same level as Atlanta’s, Miami showed that they do have some promising players waiting in the wings, such as rookies Jimmy Wilson, Clyde Gates, and Philip Livas.
Wilson registered a sack and a forced fumble in the 3rd quarter that resulted in a 6 yard touchdown pass from Moore to Gates. Gates also had a 17 yard reception in the game as well to finish the day with two catches for 23 yards and touchdown.
Roberto Wallace also caught a touchdown pass from Moore in the second quarter in what is a do or die pre-season for him. He is competing with Livas and several other rookies for the last receiver spot on the roster, and if he can establish a red-zone presence, the Dolphins should be inclined to give him a roster spot.
With the majority of my players to watch putting in solid performances, I have to say I came away impressed with the depth of this team. The Dolphins front office has always said they want players with their backs against the wall, and it looks like the whole team that is listed below the starters came into this game with a chip on their shoulder. That can only be a positive note to take away from this game, to know that we have players that can step in and make plays to help benefit this team, something we did not have happen often last season.
The chunk plays that the team is looking for are starting to happen. Henne to Hartline’s 44 yard connection, Gates 17 yard catch, rookie Philip Livas 75 yard punt return for a touchdown, Wallace’s 28 yard touchdown, and Daniel Thomas’ 25 yard reception as well, all are positive indications that the offense this year will focus more on creating mismatches to lead to the chunk plays, as opposed to last years dink and dunk offense.
The only two concerning aspects of this game for me were the play of the offensive line, which failed to pave the way for the running game, which seems to have carried over from last year, and the unimpressive play of the defense.
While both Sean Smith and Vontae Davis only allowed one reception (to Julio Jones on a drag pass in the flat), the rest of the starting defense did not make much of an impact, as every drive they were in, the Falcons first team offense scored at will.
As well as Smith and Davis’ lockdown play, backup inside linebacker A.J. Edds registered 7 tackles and one sack. Edds was another player I was looking for to make an impact and he came through. Again, Edds could provide some solid depth at a position that is in need of it.
While I do not want to get too overly optimistic or pessimistic because of one pre-season game, the bottomline is that football season is here. The Dolphins still have a long ways to go, but tonight we found out where we stand and what else we have to work on the rest of the pre-season. Some starters were absent tonight, and as the season rolls closer and closer, the Dolphins should get more and more cohesiveness as a group, something that appeared to be absent tonight.
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