- Dolphins Drop Chance to Beat Packers
- by Cary Altschuler
- Sports Editor
- The Miami Dolphins went to Lambeau Field and played a closer game than many people expected in their loss to the Green Bay Packers 23-18. The Dolphins weakness is their lack of quality depth at the wide receiver position. The defense is strong, but when they are on the field as much as they were against the Packers in the second half bad things will happen.
- by Cary Altschuler
The Dolphins offense is just that, offensive. The wide receiving corps, other than O.J. McDuffie, is absolutely horrendous. There is nobody that can catch a pass when there is a defender within five yards of them. Dolphins receivers dropped 11 Dan Marino passes in the game, many coming in situations that were crucial times of the game. The Packers played a defensive package featuring three pass rushers and six defensive backs, which gave Marino a lot of time to find receivers. But what good is having time when you throw the ball and the receivers drop it? The Packers were able to double cover McDuffie forcing Marino to try to find another receiver. This game plan was effective as they held Marino to 240 yards passing on 21 completions of 47 pass attempts. The 47 attempts were the most Marino has attempted under Jimmy Johnson. The offense was so bad that Johnson resorted to running two trick plays. The first was a fake field goal on fourth and one that holder John Kidd ran for a four yard gain and a first down late in the first quarter. The second was the play that turned around the momentum and totally took Miami out of the game. It was a fake punt on fourth and 11 that went for a mere two yard gain as Bernie Parmalee tried to run for the first down. Luckily, Green Bay only ended up with a field goal, but the Dolphins were mentally beaten from that point on.
The Dolphins defense played a pretty good game considering that nobody expected the team to play as well as they did at Lambeau. The "new-name" defense played very good for what was expected of them this week. The defense was the only thing that kept the Dolphins in this game. One thing that Dolphins fans have to realize about this defense is that it is the same philosophy that the Fins have used forever, bend don't break. Johnson may not like the fact that his team gives up a lot of yards, but if they can keep the opponent out of the end zone that is all that matters. The defense only allowed the Pack two touchdowns on 392 yards of offense, which is a ratio that Jimmy could live with if the offense could ever put the ball in the end zone themselves.
The special teams, other than the blown fake punt, had an excellent day. Olindo Mare had another huge day as he was perfect on four field goal attempts and one extra point. On Miami's first punt, Dwayne Dotson forced Bill Schroeder to fumble the ball and Bracy Walker recovered the ball, leading to a Miami field goal.
The Dolphins go to Tampa to play the Buccaneers on Sunday night. They then get a much needed bye week to get the offense in gear and come out strong for the rest of the season.
