Miami-New York: Chad Henne and Dolphins Top Jets in "Wild" MNF Shootout, 31-27

(Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Let’s get it out of the way right from the beginning so as not to make anyone who’s reading this be confused about anything. The Miami Dolphins ran the “Wildcat” formation effectively last night and beat the New York Jets 31-27.

They scored the game’s winning touchdown from the formation in dramatic fashion on a Ronnie Brown two-yard rush with 0:06 seconds left, in one of the greatest fourth-quarter shootouts between these two bitter rivals anyone has ever seen. Now, on with my take on everything.

I’d started a piece on the Miami Dolphins after three games into the preseason that I never finished and never posted. Even though the ‘Phins were 3-0 at that time in the preseason, I wrote I hadn’t been too impressed.

Inconsistency had been their hallmark through those first three games of the preseason, and it continued into the first three games of the regular season, with the result being an 0-3 start for my beloved Miami franchise and despair seeping into me about the season.

The biggest thing I’d noted during those games before real football began was the fact Miami didn’t seem to have a clear idea who their No. 1 receiver was going to be. They seemed to be envisioning Ted Ginn Jr. in that role, but through those first three games of the preseason they had appeared to forget Ginn even existed.

Given all that, I was a bit apprehensive, yet I still had confidence in Tony Sparano and Bill Parcells. After all, these were the football “Gods” who had orchestrated a miraculous 11-5 season and won the AFC East just one year removed from a 1-15 debacle. To me, these men were simply infallible; they could do no wrong.

Sure, I questioned why they’d cut a player like Ernest Wilford (no matter that he was a mediocre player), because cutting him resulted in paying an extra $1.5 million and I felt that was a waste. I wondered about some other moves that were being made as well, but I bit my tongue, even to myself, and hid my doubts amid a string of predictions to my best friends that the ‘Phins were going to repeat as division champs.

After the first three games of the year, I was singing a different tune to them, as you can imagine. In fact, by that time I was wondering if this year would end up looking more like two years ago than it would the year of the “Wildcat.”

Forgive me, Tony Sparano, for doubting you. I humbly offer my contrition, oh football god, Bill Parcells. I should never have doubted your great minds and staunch hearts, oh great ones. You knew what you were doing, and you never doubted it, and though we started off roughly, you’ve trudged through and have us on the brink of the Promised Land.

Sure, the ‘Phins had started out 0-3, and had just lost their starting star quarterback, Chad Pennington for the season during that third game. Sure, the season looked incredibly bleak. But there were so many positives to take away from those first three games that people simply ignored because of that record.

For instance, the ‘Phins were running the ball incredibly well. They were pounding it on the ground like no other Miami team since the squads of the early 70’s. Against the Indianapolis Colts, the ‘Phins controlled the ball for more than 45 minutes of the game.

Yes, they lost, because of the magic of a QB who reminds most people, including myself, of another magical passer named Dan Marino, but they had dominated the Colts in every way except on the scoreboard, and that shouldn’t have been ignored just because of the final score and the record with no wins in the W column.

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