(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
On Monday Night Football, in front of the whole country, the Miami Dolphins found themselves with a perfect opportunity to fix their season.
They took the lead on a Carpenter field goal with only 3:50 left to play. The defense was fresh and had seen about 14 minutes of action. Four plays, 80 yards and 32 second, later, the Dolphins found themselves trailing by four.
Armed with ample time and facing a depleted defense that had already played 42 minutes in the sweltering Miami heat, the Dolphins' offense took the field looking only for a touchdown on their final drive.
Here's how it happened.
Colts 27, Dolphins 23, First down, 3:13 left, Ball at the Colts 17
A slow handoff to Ronnie Brown who fights for a yard. After the play, Miami huddles up for what seems like forever. At this point I'm wondering if it's one of those times that felt like a while because of the beer, but in reality is only a few seconds. It wasn't; 39 seconds later Miami calls timeout.
2nd and 9, 2:26 left
Miami again slowly hands off to Brown for five yards. He is tackled at 2:20. Miami attempts to get another play off, but is moving at a sloth-like pace. They just used a timeout, but look totally unprepared for the next play.
If you run the ball from your own 18 without a lot of time left and the two minute warning approaching, you better have a plan for the following play. Instead, the Phins waste a total of 73 seconds, a timeout AND the two minute warning, just to run the ball twice up the middle. Who is calling these plays?
3rd and 4, 2:00 left
Play action pass up the middle (are they really going to run it again?) to Ginn to the Miami 34.
1st and 10, 1:38 left
Pennington throws to Ginn again outside. He steps out at the Miami 45.
2nd and 9, 1:33 left
Screen pass to Fasano who fails to get out of bounds. A two-yard gain and a first down are hardly worth 22 seconds when you are still on your side of the field needing a touchdown.
1st and 10, 1:11 left
Pennington drops back looking for the deep ball and is stripped. The Dolphins recover with 1:06 left on the clock. They call timeout with 56 seconds left despite a Colts player being injured downfield.
The football fan in me is literally laughing right now. So far, in what is clearly the definitive drive of the game, Miami has consumed two timeouts, the two minute warning, and two minutes (two thirds of their time) despite only running six plays. They have moved the ball a total of 18 yards of the 83 they need.
What's even odder is that they have only run one really bad play. Sure, Fasano could have got out of bounds and sure, a run could have broken free, but Ronnie Brown gaining six yards on two carries isn't that abnormal. Pennington completed all thee of his passes even. It's like they aren't even trying to get to the other end zone.
2nd and 20, 0:56 left
Miami calls the play action pass...obviously the defense is going to bite this time. Pennington avoids the pass rush and finds Devon Bess in between the zone on the left sideline for 19 yards. Aside from the pointless play action this is a nicely-executed play and clearly a better call than the run.
3rd and 1, 0:51 left, Ball at the Colts 46.
Pennington sneaks it up the middle for a gain of four. The clock continues to wind down.
1st and 10, 0:36 left, ball at the Colts 42
Pennington spikes the ball.
To quote the announcer, who literally made me laugh out loud, "Pennington's got to get up and get moving. This is the slowest two minute drill I have ever seen. Guys, I don't know.I mean, just...(makes choking noise)..."
2nd and 10, 0:36 left
We're going to send you the most entertaining Miami Dolphins articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete