Volume 1, Number 5

Too Close For Comfort Yet Again

• The Dolphins win the toss, defer, and now we're hoping to see some improvement in the kickoff coverage right from the start. Oops, doesn't happen. Instead, it's a 40-yard return for Oakland's Justin Miller. Will this problem ever get fixed? We'll find out later it clearly won't happen on this day.
  
  
• Oakland's first offensive snap results in a false start penalty. We begin to see why the Raiders are so bad every year.
  
  
• The Raiders go three-and-out, but more special teams problems arise. Charlie Anderson gets called for holding on the return and that puts the Dolphins at the 7-yard line for the start of their first possession. That's two weeks in a row with a holding penalty for Anderson, who probably would be well advised to cut those out.
  
  
• After Ricky Williams gets thrown for a loss of 2 yards on first-and-10, the Raiders decide to help out and jump offside twice in three plays, making it third-and-2. More examples of the Raiders' "Just Lose Baby" ways.
  
  
• The Dolphins unveil another great new play. Chad Pennington fakes a pitch to Ronnie Brown in motion and then hands off inside to Patrick Cobbs, who easily gains 12 yards. The play-calling keeps getting better.
  
  
• Ted Ginn Jr. caps that first drive with a 40-yard touchdown run on an end-around. He breaks a tackle from Nnamdi Asomugha and then fakes out Hiram Eugene in the open field on his way to the end zone. It's the start of a big day for Ginn, who continues to become more and more of a playmaker for the Dolphins.
  
  
• The Dolphins stop Oakland's next drive, but there's another penalty on the punt return, this one on Jason Allen. Sadly, it's going to get worse for the special teams.
  
  
• Vonnie Holliday had to share a sack with Joey Porter in the first quarter when he's the one who did all the work, but he came back later to get one all on his own. Holliday quietly has been one of the team's best defensive players this season.
  
  
• This game might not have been as close as it turned out to be had Ronnie Brown not fumbled inside the Raiders 30-yard line early in the second quarter. But give credit on that play to Oakland cornerback Chris Johnson, who literally ripped the ball out of Brown's hands while he was being tackled by another defender.
  
  
• More evidence of Oakland's ineptitude: Marques Tuiasosopo enters the game at quarterback for starter JaMarcus Russell and promptly botches a fake handoff. The ball comes loose after Tuiasosopo inadvertently touches the Raiders running back. "Just Lose Baby."
  
  
• Another play that helped Oakland get back in the game was the 41-yard pass-interference penalty called on the Dolphins in the second quarter. Safety Yeremiah Bell did nothing but run for the overthrown pass himself and his feet got tangled with the receiver. It was a bad call, and the officials looked worse by announcing the penalty was on Jason Allen, who never made contact with the receiver. What the heck, you're going to make a bad call, might as well go all the way and call out the wrong offender.
  
  
• Speaking of questionable calls, the Dolphins had a pretty bad sequence at the end of the first half. First, they let Oakland run 40 seconds off the clock when the Raiders had a fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line right after the two-minute warning. Regardless of whether Oakland would go for the touchdown or kick the field goal, the Dolphins were going to get the ball right back. Then we have to question the decision to run a draw play with Ronnie Brown with 3 seconds left in the first half and the ball at the Oakland 48-yard line. That positively, absolutely has to be a heave to the end zone. The chances of that resulting in either a touchdown or a defensive pass interference are slim, but clearly better than Brown scoring from 48 yards out on the last play of the half. If Chad Pennington can't get it to the end zone for whatever reason, then bring in Chad Henne for that one chuck.
  
  
• Hate to see Pennington give up a safety by getting sacked into the end zone. He's not mobile, but he's got plenty of savvy and you would expect him to recognize trouble a little quicker.
  
  
• The next time the Dolphins got the ball, they put together a great drive that ended with a Patrick Cobbs touchdown run. It came on the same fake-pitch, inside-handoff play the Dolphins ran in the first half. Love that play! And who makes the tackle on the ensuing kickoff? Yep, Patrick Cobbs. He's not the best player on the team, but he just might be the most versatile.
  
  
• Cobbs' runs helped the Dolphins rush for 222 yards, which was more than the Raiders had in total offense. The Dolphins ended up with 382 total yards, but it sure didn't seem they were that effective offensively. And how come they scored only 17 points?
  
  
• The Dolphins caught a major break on a third-and-9 in the fourth quarter when Pennington threw into traffic and the ball was tipped by an Oakland defender right into the waiting arms of Greg Camarillo for a 27-yard gain. The Dolphins weren't getting those breaks the last three, four years. Must be the Bill Parcells influence.
  
  
• But then came the dreaded special teams again, and Johnnie Lee Higgins' 93-yard punt return for a touchdown that gave Oakland a 15-14 lead. All of a sudden, we're staring at the distinct possibility of the Dolphins losing to this brutal Raiders team. It would be a major setback, to say the least.
  
  
• It was a bad day for wideout Davone Bess, who dropped a couple of passes. But the rookie who's from the Oakland area made amends on the game-winning drive with a 27-yard reception where he dragged defenders on his back for a good 10 yards. And Bess isn't really built to be dragging defenders. Call that determination.
  
  
• Then Ginn delivers in the clutch, catching a 7-yard pass on fourth-and-5. If the Dolphins wind up making the playoffs, we'll look back at that play as one of the key moments.
  
  
• His half-sack aside, Joey Porter was terribly quiet for most of the game. But he came up with a sack on Oakland's last drive. That's also clutch.
  
  
• So make it two weeks in a row where the Dolphins don't play particularly well but still win. We're getting a little spoiled.
  
  
• Next comes the rematch against the New England Patriots. Think about it: When's the last time the Dolphins have played such a big game? We'll say 2003.
  
  
• Speaking of the Patriots, it might have been better for the Dolphins had they beaten the Jets in that Thursday night game. But, really, how can you not enjoy watching them lose?
  
  
• Of course, nothing would beat the Dolphins taking care of them a second time this season. One thing for sure, the Dolphins will have to play better than they did the last two Sundays.