Now the unpredictable Dolphins are 6-6 and have four games left for the season, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans and Pittsburg Steelers. The big question is - can they win all four and make the playoff at 10-6?  These four teams play as volatile as the Dolphins, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

However, it was clear that the Dolphins took care of their mistakes and weakness during practice for the Patriots game, as almost every member of the team on offense and defense played well. The game didn’t look as if would go Miami’s way in the first half, as before the second quarter the Patriots had scored two touchdowns and were leading 14-0. But the Dolphins were undaunted and rallied to 14-10 by half time.

The redemption was particularly sweet for quarterback Chad Henne, who bounced back from playing his worst game against the bills to arguably his best as a Dolphin. He made 29 successful passes from 52 attempts for 335 yards, two touch downs and an interception. But what will Henne do from here? Is this a sign of things to come?

Converse to their last outing the Dolphins defense stepped it up in the fourth quarter, dispelling the persona they have taken for most of the games they played this season. It was a beautiful thing to watch from a Dolphins’ perspective, seeing them stopping the Patriots on a couple of drives and giving the offense a chance to score a winning field goal.

Now it will be interesting to watch Miami close out the season, as afore mentioned no one knows just what the unpredictable Dolphins will do.

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But that was when field goal kicker, Dan Carpenter scored the game-winning field goal to give the Dolphins a 25-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs have been having a poor season, with only one victory. Had Miami lost the game, it would have been a devastating blow.

Perhaps the Dolphins got themselves caught in the typical “trap game,” taking the Buccaneers for granted, as they look toward Thursday night’s game against the Carolina Panthers, who defeated a very good Atlanta team on Sunday. The Dolphins were very listless, except for the last minute drive led by quarterback Chad Henne.

In fact, it was the last two minutes of the game that was worth the price of admission for those who attended. Within the first of those minutes when Miami seemed certain of victory it seemed that Henne was bent on giving the Bucs their second victory, when he was intercepted at the Dolphins 26-yard line, and the Bucs went on to score a touchdown to take a 23-22 lead.

But, the goal scored by the Bucs, finally gave the Dolphins a wake-up call, and at last the team found its guts. Henne seemed determined to get redemption for his costly error in the previous drive and led an impressive 77-yard drive that resulted in Carpenter’s winning 25-yard field goal.

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In the Patriots’ first offensive drive, Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis made an acrobatic interception of Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady as he made a long pass to wide receiver Randy Moss. But despite the effort, the Dolphins fell short, losing to the Patriots 17-27 to join Buffalo Bills at the bottom of the AFC East with a 3-5 record.

Davis’ play was a highlight of the Dolphins game, but it is now obvious that the Dolphins are not a serious contender to either reclaim the AFC East title or even make the playoffs this year. With Brady back from last year’s injury, the Patriots are again the boss of the AFC East.

The irony of the Dolphins is that they have proved to be a real threat to good teams like the Indianapolis Colts, the New Orleans Saints, and the Patriots, but are one or two plays from being a victorious team.

For example, as well as Davis played, Moss still made six catches for 147 yards and a lightening touchdown righter after Miami had scored to take a lead in the game.

After the game, Miami coach, Tony Sparano said, “We're a good football team. We're really close to being a really good football team. But we've got to get it to turn.”

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