Home  Sports Dolphins win four in a row
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Dolphins win four in a row |
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Written by Mikhail S. Rose
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Sunday, 23 November 2008 |
Sure, it’s a great and refreshing accomplishment that the Miami Dolphins are continuing their winning streak, but if they continue winning like they did over the Oakland Raiders last Sunday and the Seattle Seahawks the week before, they are going to give their fans a nervous breakdown.
A win is a win and, of course, the Dolphins 17-15 victory over the Raiders is welcome, but the team needs to convincingly beat teams with losing records like the Seahawks and the Raiders. The week before, the Dolphins barely escaped losing to the Seahawks, and last Sunday Dolfans held their collective breath as rookie kicker Dan Carpenter made what was the game-winning field goal and defeated a spirited Raiders team.
In Sunday’s game Dolphins wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. had another outstanding game. Although he had only 53 yards receiving (plus 113 running) he made some critical plays against the raiders that helped to seal the team’s sixth victory this season. The most memorable play was in the first quarter when Ginn took a handoff on a reverse play and went scored on a 40 yard touchdown giving the Dolphins a 7-0 lead. However, his catch from quarterback Chad Pennington at the two minute warning in fourth quarter was the catch of the game.
After scoring two touchdowns, the Raiders had rebounded on two field goals, a safety (sacking Pennington in the Dolphins end zone), and a touchdown, to lead the Dolphins 15-14. In the attempt to get a score to take the lead the Dolphins made it to the Raiders 35 yards line, but on fourth down was 5 yards short of the first down marker. A 53 yard field goal could have won the game, but obviously Coach Tony Sparano did not have sufficient confidence in Carpenter for him to take his first game winning field goal from such a far distance. So Sparano took the brave decision to go for the first down play. The entire game rested on this play, and Dolphins would be sure to lose if it didn’t work. But it did. Ginn managed to evade the Raiders defenders and caught the direct 7 yard pass from Pennington. First down Dolphins! After moving the ball further to the 20 yard line it was time for Carpenter to make his initial winning field goal. Carpenter was very confident as he made the kick right down the pike, in the center of the goalposts and assured the Dolphins victory.
The Dolphins also had a good running game, gaining 222 yards on 35 carries. The three running backs, Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, and Patrick Cobbs all played well running from the basic formation as well as the Wildcat which is now a key play in the Dolphins playbook. Cobbs ran in a 10 yards to score the ‘Fins second touchdown. The defense also played well, again lead by Joey Porter with two sacks.
The team faces a much stronger challenge this week when they face the New England Patriots, who they defeated earlier in the season.
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