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Ricky Williams and the Dolphins were held to 72 rushing yards
ANDY COHEN: A Lot Of Improving To Do
How do you explain this? The Dolphins go to Arizona and played at their absolute worst. You kept waiting for something good to happen. Something. Anything. But instead there were missed tackles, far too many penalties, botched coverages, so many things that went wrong it is impossible to list them all.
Finally, Chad Henne comes in and leads the Dolphins to a late touchdown. Some semblance of hope. But far too little too late.
We were realistic about this team heading into the season. We knew this would take time. But we never expected a performance like this, a mismatch like this in just the second game of the season.
Arizona 31, Miami 10. Swallow this hard. It is difficult to fathom.
It has never been clearer than now that this rebuilding project is going to take time. Time and lots of patience. The fact that the Dolphins are making roster moves every week is the best indication that the new regime isn't satisfied with what they have. These moves will continue throughout the season. They'll continue into the next offseason.
Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano are determined to get this right. And against the Cardinals, there was very little right.
This is the way I see it: The Dolphins spent this past offseason rebuilding the offensive and defensive lines. You can't turn 1-15 around in a single offseason. You've got to do it in pieces. The two lines were at the top of the shopping list. It came at the expense of other areas.
Next offseason, I believe they will focus on offensive playmakers and defensive backs. Those are the areas that are now lacking, the areas that came to the forefront both in the opener against the Jets and to a larger extent Sunday against Arizona.
The defensive backs simply could not stay with Arizona's two Pro Bowl playmaking receivers, Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. It was evident almost from the opening minutes. The Dolphins defensive backs were smaller, slower and less equipped to make plays. This isn't an opinion as much as it is a fact. You saw it happen. We all saw it happen. The Dolphins blow a coverage and Boldin goes 79 yards for a 7-0 lead. The cornerback can't jump as high as Fitzgerald and the result is a 75-yard play.
At the same time, the Dolphins weren't making plays on offense. None of the receivers were running faster or jumping higher than the Arizona defensive backs.
One team could; the other couldn't. That about sums up this forgettable afternoon.
The futility of it all was never more evident than on Arizona's first drive of the second half. The Cardinals missed a 47-yard field goal. It should have been a positive moment for the Dolphins defense. But a flag was resting on the ground. There were 12 Dolphins on the field for the field goal attempt.
That's what you call a Cardinal Sin.
A few plays later, after a pass-interference penalty and then a facemask penalty, the Cardinals had a 24-0 lead. If there was air in the balloon before then, there wasn't any now.
Henne's performance on that late-touchdown drive was the only real positive you can take from this game. That was a sneak peek at the future. But this isn't the time for a change. The problem isn't quarterback Chad Pennington. If only it were that easy.
I can accept the fact that this team is limited in talent in several areas. But the penalties and the mental breakdowns have to stop. These are what the coaches like to call "correctable mistakes." It is time to correct them.
Unfortunately for the Dolphins, they have fallen behind in both games this season. This team is simply not built to come from behind. It must rely on the running backs to set the tone and keep the Dolphins defense off the field. When that doesn't happen, bad things will probably occur. I'd like to see how this team plays with an early lead. Pennington would then have more options. It is the situation they must strive for beginning this Sunday in New England.
Nobody is happy to be 0-2 right now. Nobody can put a positive spin on this loss to Arizona. What we need to see now is improvement, maybe in small steps, but something to grasp as the season progresses.
If you believe in the master plan devised by Parcells and Ireland, you know there will be better days. All we can do is hope there won't be many more days like Sunday's loss to the Cardinals.
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