Well, Green Bay, you don't want to lose this late in the season. The top-ranked Packers were upset at Buffalo, causing them to tumble all the way to fourth and allowing the Patriots to grab the top spot. As we approach the end of the year, the names at the top of the AP's ranking look very familiar:
1. New England Patriots: 11-3
2. Seattle Seahawks: 10-4
3. Denver Broncos: 11-3
4. Green Bay Packers: 10-4
5. Arizona Cardinals: 11-3
6. Dallas Cowboys: 10-4
7. Indianapolis Colts: 10-4
8. Detroit Lions: 10-4
9. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-5
10. Baltimore Ravens: 9-5
The fading Dolphins (7-7) are now 18th, while the terrible Redskins (3-11) are now down to 31st (just above the 2-12 Titans).
The Game of the Week will take place Sunday night in Phoenix, where the banged-up Cardinals will host the Seahawks. The Colts will play a rare non-division game, as they travel to Dallas for a rematch of Super Bowl V. All in all, a pretty average week.
OK, after solid 5-3 start, Dolphins now 8-7, with Jets to go. Miami was 1-1 against both New England and Buffalo, and it won the first game against New York. The owner announced yesterday--after a great come-from-behind, fall-from-ahead, come-from-behind win over Minnesota--that the coach, Joe Philbin, and general manager, Dennis Hickey, will return. I'm for that.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, here are the number of wins per completed season of the Dolphins' head coaches since Don Shula ...
Joe Philbin: 7, 8
Tony Sparano: 11, 7, 7, 6
Cam Cameron: 1
Nick Saban: 9, 6
Dave Wannstedt: 11, 11, 9, 10, 4
Jimmy Johnson: 8, 9, 10, 9
Yeah I'm not sure how I feel. The Dolphins struggled this year down the stretch and seemed lost about how to make defensive adjustments when suddenly they had the worst run defense in the history of the NFL. But the GM did a good job with putting together a serviceable offensive line, etc after such a horrible one last year.
DeleteWhat frustrates me is that the Dolphins are so irrelevant when I went to watch highlights last night there was no game wrap up for their game against Minnesota.
My NFL.com "Audio Pass" failed to work for me Sunday, so I didn't get to hear the game. But I did get to follow the Mitch Miller bouncing ball down the animated field on the league website. It was a rather kooky game that Minnesota led, 14-0, in the second quarter and still led, 17-14, at the start of the fourth. Then this happened:
DeleteMIA TD L.Miller 1 yd. run (C.Sturgis kick) (9-64, 3:39)
MIN FG B.Walsh 33 yd. Field Goal (9-64, 5:05)
MIA TD M.Wallace 7 yd. pass from R.Tannehill (C.Sturgis kick) (8-80, 3:13)
MIN TD J.Wright 8 yd. pass from T.Bridgewater (M.Asiata run) (5-60, 1:53)
MIN TD M.Asiata 5 yd. run (B.Walsh kick) (1-5, 0:05)
MIA TD D.Williams 3 yd. pass from R.Tannehill (C.Sturgis kick) (11-80, 3:24)
MIA SFTY Punt blocked by T.Fede out of bounds in end zone for a Safety
And Minnesota's last touchdown was preceded by a Miami fumble at its own 5 on a kickoff return on which the Dolphin ball-carrier was touched by no other player before fumbling. Anyway, it all added up to a 37-35 win for Miami, so hooray for that!