Miami-New England: Despite Everything, Will Dolphins Beat Patriots?

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Two weeks ago, the Miami Dolphins were flying high. Sure, they’d started out the season 0-3, and were about to take on the NFL’s highest-powered offense.

Yet, there was optimism in the air. It was an optimism that carried over to this fan, who predicted the ‘Phins would take down the previously undefeated New Orleans Saints.

Hell, I even had a cup of coffee riding on the results (there was also a matter of wearing the opposing team’s jersey for a day as part of that wager...more on that later).

Through the first two quarters of that game against the Saints, I was thoroughly convinced my belief in the ‘Phins was totally justified. They could do no wrong, and it seemed as if New Orleans had morphed into the bumbling “Aints” of the 1980 season.

Then came Dolphins’ coach Tony Sparano’s timeout.

Miami had been rolling, up 24-3, until a bad call by the refs resulted in a fumble for the Fish recovered by the Saints.

Although Drew Brees hadn’t done anything up to that moment, having a total of 27 yards, he easily marched down the field for a possible score in the final seconds of the half.

Another atrocious call gave the Saints a touchdown on a 20-yard (actually 19 and a half) pass to Marques Colston from Brees. Colston had clearly touched his knee down before the ball crossed the goal-line.

However, the referees, in another example of how bad officiating is throughout sports lately, called it a TD.

A mandatory review from the booth quickly overturned the call, and snatched the points from the scoreboard, silencing the cheers of the Saints players.

Rather than getting a touchdown and being down only 24-10, they would have to rush their kicking team out onto the field and settle for three (if they made it) for a 24-6 deficit going into the half.

New Orleans was in the midst of rushing their kicking team out there to do just that, with just five seconds left on the clock. That’s when Tony Sparano had a brainfart and called a timeout.

Why he would ever do such a thing is beyond me, and the moment I heard the television announcers make the statement that the Dolphins had called a timeout I knew Miami would lose the game. I kid you not, that was my immediate thought.

I’ve played football, and I know exactly how fragile the momentum can be for a team who is performing well, but might not quite believe they’re as good as they’re playing.

One little thing can upset the balance, and begin to make them think about what they’re doing. While football, as with any sport, requires some thinking by some players, it’s mainly a game played without thinking.

That’s why you practice; in order to hone your body to respond to situations without thinking. You drill and drill and drill until you react without a single thought; nearly pure instinct. Tony Sparano’s unfortunate timeout blew all that for the ‘Phins.

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