05:01 Mon 12-07-09 | by Andy Kent
For someone who is the leading receiver on the Miami Dolphins by far, the fact that Davone Bess has not been listed as a starter in any of the 12 games to date is perhaps the most intriguing statistic.
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Bess had a career day in yesterday's 22-21 victory over the New England Patriots at Land Shark Stadium with 10 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. He has now surpassed his season total from last year's rookie campaign in receptions by five (59-54) and matched his touchdown reception total with one, while his 548 receiving yards is six fewer than his 2008 total.
The next closest receiver to Bess is Greg Camarillo with 32 receptions for 342 yards and he has started all 12 games, yet it was Bess who the Patriots were the most concerned about dating back to the first meeting between the two teams up in Foxborough, Mass., on November 8th. That little known fact is what made his performance yesterday stand out even more.
"Davone did a nice job yesterday and obviously one of the big things, running after the catch I thought was critical," Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano said in his day-after press conference. "I think that there was a clear emphasis on the Patriots' part to try to take Davone away. There was some double coverage out there on him at times and Davone did a good job of beating double coverage a few times. He made some good decisions. He caught the ball and split it and ran and broke a few tackles and did some good things that way."
Sparano felt near the end of that first game there was some concern being shown by New England and he saw more double coverage going Bess' way, so in yesterday's game the Dolphins kept moving Bess around more by sometimes lining him up in the slot and other times out wide. He also came in motion a lot to try to shake the double coverage.
Bess knew early in the week leading up to the game with the Patriots that the passing game was going to take center stage; although he wasn't quite sure quarterback Chad Henne was going to put the ball in the air 52 times and complete 29 of them for 335 yards. Once the game began however, and New England jumped out to a 14-0 lead, there was no doubt.
"It was exciting and it's been something the whole receiving corps has been looking forward to," said Bess, who ranks near the top of the league in third-down conversions among receivers and is No. 1 in receptions among second-year receivers. "The coaches definitely had the trust and the confidence in us to get the job done and the offensive line did a great job at blocking and giving Henne time to sit back and pretty much pick apart the defense."
Even before Henne took over as the starting quarterback, Bess had become veteran Chad Pennington's favorite go-to receiver, especially on third downs. He and Camarillo have become almost automatic in those situations and Sparano credits that to their improvement on route depth.
Wide receivers coach Karl Dorrell works with all of the receivers on that aspect of their game, which involves them being cognizant of the timing with Henne when they come out of their breaks. There is a big difference, as Sparano explained, between running a 12-yard route where the receiver is rounding it out to that depth as opposed to running the full 12 yards and making a sharp cut, with the latter being the preferred method so the quarterback knows when he will be coming out of his break.
"That's something that I've definitely had to work on since I've been in the NFL," Bess said. "When I was in college our coaches out there always stressed a sense of urgency on your route and always being aware versus actually getting your depth. So that's one of the things I've been drilling myself on and the coaches have been drilling me to do it and it's been getting better and better each week so I've just got to continue to stay focused and understand that I can do this."
One area Bess has definitely noticed improvement on when it comes to route depth is on third down because he will look for the first-down marker and if it's deeper than his normal depth he will extend the route to cross that line in order to get the first down. He described it more as a feel than as something that takes a lot of thinking because it happens so fast.
Early in the first quarter Bess caught two key third-down passes - one for 12 yards and the other for 13 yards in which he turned it up the field to get the first down. From that point on he and Henne had a special connection and knew this was going to be a theme for the rest of the game.
"When he connected with me on those key first downs that pretty much set the tempo for the rest of the day." Bess said. "Everybody did their part in executing and I wouldn't have got open if Greg or Brian didn't get the depth on their routes. All of us work together and that's why it's a team game."
FUN FINISH ON THE HORIZON: Sparano hasn't taken the time to map out all of the different playoff scenarios because he wants to stay focused on the immediate future, which in this case involves Sunday's game at Jacksonville against the Jaguars.
With their win yesterday over the Houston Texans the Jags improved to 7-5 and have the inside track on the last AFC Wild Card spot depending on the outcome of tonight's game between the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers. Sparano likes the fact that his team gets to play all of the teams in the mix for the playoffs down the stretch, beginning with Jacksonville.
"We do have a few of them coming up that are going to be big games and none bigger than this one," he said. "We just gave ourselves an opportunity to keep playing big football games for however long it lasts. However long there's this possibility there and however long it is that you people tell me that there's still a chance, I'm going to listen.
"But there's a chance and the chance got a little better yesterday due to the people in that locker room. I like knowing you've got a chance right now and I like knowing that there are some teams right now that are not playing for very much and we have a chance, so we're going to try to do everything in our power to make this the best run that we can make it."
DOLPHINS TIDBITS: Just because the passing game came to the forefront against New England that doesn't mean the running backs did not have an impact on the outcome. Ricky Williams was in on 52 plays but only carried 18 times for 75 yards and caught two passes for six yards, so the rest of his plays required him to block in protecting Henne. He, fullback Lousaka Polite and running back Lex Hilliard all were called upon to block and Sparano sung their praises, reminding the media that it's not only the offensive line responsible for keeping Henne's jersey clean. ... As many problems as Miami has had finishing games in the fourth quarter, it managed to seal the deal yesterday, and Sparano had shown his players the study he did about how many costly penalties have occurred in the fourth quarter. Of the 24 offensive penalties all year prior to yesterday, 12 happened in the fourth quarter and nine were false starts. And on the defensive side, of the 27 penalties, nine were in the fourth quarter, and after going three quarters yesterday without a penalty the Dolphins committed three, but they responded the rest of the way with two turnovers and forced two punts while giving up just 60 yards in the last four series for New England's offense. ... Sparano admitted he'd like to get outside linebacker Cameron Wake involved even more after the explosiveness he showed in his pass rush, specifically on the last play when he got to Brady and forced the errant throw that wound up in the hands of Channing Crowder for a clinching interception.
