The Lions went right down the field the first time they had the ball and scored a TD.  After that, the defense locked up the Lions offense and it was Joey Harrington’s turn for payback! 

Joey Harrington completed 19 of 29 passes for 213 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT.  You could tell he was enjoying sticking the dagger into the Lions defense, and on Thanksgiving..no less.  Ronnie Brown carried the ball 15 times for 68 yards (4.5 ypc), but he left the game with an injured hand.  Sammy Morris stepped in and dominated.  Morris carried the ball 12 times for 91 yards (7.6 ypc).  Travis Minor even got in on the fun with 6 carries for 27 yards (4.5 ypc).  Marty Booker had an outstanding game with 7 receptions for 115 yards and 2 TDs.  Wes Welker was busy with 5 catches for 42 yards.  Randy McMichael caught 3 passes for 25 yards and a TD.

The defense was all over Jon Kitna as Zach Thomas, Vonnie Holliday and Matt Ryan each had 2 sacks.  The Dolphins smothered the Lions running game as they held them to 21 yards rushing on 10 carries (2.1 ypc).  The Lions completed 22 of 40 passes for 199 net yards passing.

Incredible as it seems, the Dolphins are now 5-6 and back in playoff contention.  Joey Harrington is laying claim to being the starting QB for the Dolphins even when Duante Culpepper returns.

The Miami Dolphins have been on a roll since their bye week as they have won all three games by a combined score of 68-43.  The Lions have lost two games in a row.

Look for the Dolphins to run the ball alot in the early stages of this football game.  Ronnie Brown (712 yards rushing) should find alot of running room against a Lions defense that is allowing 125.5 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Dolphins won’t be able to resist letting Joey Harrington try to stick it to his old team.  The Lions allow 216.7 net yards passing and have allowed opposing QBs to run up a rating of 100.6 on the season.  Look for Harrington to spread the ball around to Chris Chambers, Randy McMichael, Wes Welker and Marty Booker.

The Lions could be without Kevin Jones, and if he doesn’t play look for the Lions to throw the ball almost every down because Arlen Harris is not much of a running threat.  The Dolphins have a very rugged run defense anyways (101.2 yards per game, 3.4 ypc) so the Lions wouldn’t have had much success on the ground anyhow.  Look for Jon Kitna (2,624 yards passing) to throw the ball short to Mike Furrey (49 rec, 583 yards) and long to Roy Williams (54 rec, 867 yards).  Kitna could have success as long as the O-Line keeps Jason Taylor (9 sacks) away from him.

This should be a good football game, but I have to side with the Dolphins here as Joey Harrington will get the last laugh on Detroit.

The Miami Dolphins defense rose to the occasion in the 4th quarter and snatched a victory away from the Minnesota Vikings.  Safety Reynaldo Hill recovered a Chester Taylor fumble and returned it 48 yards for a TD and Jason Taylor intercepted a screen pass and returned it 51 yards for a TD in the 4th quarter!  Zach Thomas had 17 tackles and Yeremiah Bell added 12 tackles and a fumble recovery.  Jason Taylor also added 5 tackles and a sack.  The Vikings carried the ball 35 times for 114 yards (3.3 ypc).  The Fins allowed the Vikes to complete 26 of 44 passes for 247 net yards thru the air.

Joe Harrington had a good game throwing the ball as he completed 26 of 42 passes for 254 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.  Ronnie Brown had a game he would like to forget as he carried the ball 12 times for 2 yards (0.2 ypc).  Marty Booker caught 6 passes for 84 yards to lead the receiving corps.  Chris Chambers ( 6 rec, 44 yards), Wes Welker (4 rec, 59 yards) and Randy McMichael (4 rec, 37 yards) all helped out in the passing game.  Reserve TE Justin Peelle caught 3 passes for 21 yards and a TD.

The Dolphins keep rolling along with their third victory in a row.

These are two teams going in different directions.  The Vikings have looked awful the last three weeks, losing all three games by a combined score of 63-27!  The Dolphins have turned up the defense the last two weeks and shut down the Chiefs & Bears in wins.

The Vikings will just run their offense and hope they have some success moving the ball against the tough Miami Dolphins defense.  Look for the Vikings to lean on the running game with Chester Taylor running to the left behind Bryant McKinnie and Steve Hutchinson.  The Dolphins can be run on as they’ve allowed 99.8 yards rushing per game, but you have to stick with it because they only allow 3.4 yards per carry.  Look for Brad Johnson to take a couple deep shots to Bethel Johnson and Billy McMullen who both played well last week.

The Dolphins will go with what has worked for them and try to run the ball with Ronnie Brown.  Brown has rushed for 246 yards the last two weeks…..both victories.  The Vikings defense has been tough so far allowing only 66.6 yards rushing per game and 2.9 yards per carry.  The Vikings do allow 225.0 net yards passing per game, so Joey Harrington could have some success throwing the football.

Look for this to be a close, low-scoring football game.  The winner will be the team that protects the football better.

Jeno James will miss several weeks after re-injuring his knee on Monday.  He was trying to return just two weeks after having knee surgery.  Kendyll Jacox will take over at guard until James can come back. 

This is kind of crazy to push James that hard to come back, and now the Dolphins will be lucky to get him back at all.

The Dolphins hogged the ball on offense and played well on defense.  Joey Harrington completed 19 of 35 passes for 201 yards.  Ronnie Brown had another decent game with 25 carries for 89 yards (3.6 ypc) and a TD, but he also lost a fumble.  Chris Chambers (3 rec, 66 yards), Wes Welker (3 rec, 46 yards) and Randy McMichael (5 rec, 34 yards) each played well for the Fins.

Young safety Yeremiah Bell (9 tackles, 3 pass defensed) and Zach Thomas (6 tackles and a sack) led the way on defense for the Fins.  The Chiefs only ran the ball 19 times for 80 yards (4.2 ypc).  The Fins only allowed the Chiefs to complete 15 of 38 passes for 185 net yards passing.

The Dolphins played a great game on defense for the second week in a row and won the game because of that.

The Dolphins QB play has been pathetic all season long.  Joey Harrington is the current starter but the song remains the same.  Harrington has completed 57.3% of his passes for 1,049 yards with 6 TDs and 9 INTs.  Harrington’s QB rating is a horrible 64.6 this season.  The problem for the Dolphins is that they are stuck playing him because of Culpepper’s health.  Harrington does get rid of the ball quick as he has only been sacked 5 times this season. 

Daunte Culpepper never really looked like he was healthy.  I refuse to use that as an excuse for his poor play, because he was lousy last season when he was healthy.  Culpepper has completed 60.4% of his passes for 829 yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs.  Culpepper had a QB rating of 77.0 which is just a little below the league average.  Daunte was holding the ball too long and that resulted him being sacked 21 times which couldn’t have helped his knee. 

The Dolphins have again ruined the Bears try for a perfect season, belting them on their own football field.  The offense was opportunistic for the Fins, but the defense was dominating!   LB Channing Crowder led the way with 10 tackles.  Zach Thomas pitched in with 8 tackles.  Free safety Reynaldo Hill had a good game with 5 tackles and an interception.  DE Kevin Carter was very disruptive with 3 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.  Jason Taylor was the game-changer for the defense.  Taylor had 2 tackles, a sack, and intercepted a ball that he returned 20 yards for a TD.  The Dolphins allowed the Bears to run the ball 28 times for 103 yards (3.7 ypc).  The Bears had trouble throwing the ball, competing only 18 of 42 passes for 189 net yards passing.

On offense the Dolphins finally decided to give the ball to their best offensive player, Ronnie Brown.  Brown carried the ball 29 times for 157 yards (5.4 ypc) and caught 2 passes for 33 yards.  Joey Harrington played ok, he completed 16 of 32 passes for 137 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INTs.  Chris Chambers caught 5 passes for 58 yards and a TD.  Marty Booker caught 3 passes for 14 yards and a TD.  Wes Welker caught 2 passes for 14 yards and a TD.

The Dolphins haven’t won a road game all season and head to the snakepit known as Soldier Field in Chicago.  The Bears have destroyed every team that has stepped on their turf, going 4-0 and outscoring the opponent 152-20!

The Dolphins will have to play an error-free game to have any shot of keeping this game close.  The Fins should try to run the ball and stick with it instead of abandoning it too early, like they’ve done in previous games.  Ronnie Brown (464 yards rushing) will take on the tough Bears defense that is allowing only 82.4 yards rushing and 3.7 yards per carry this season.  If the Fins get a running game going, then they can go to the air.  They had better be careful though, because the Bears already have 8 interceptions this season.  Joey Harrington must limit his mistakes and his receivers need to catch the ball when it hits them in the hands.  A few of Harrington’s interceptions were caused by the brick hands he hit perfectly with passes.

The Bears would like to run the ball with Thomas Jones (543 yards rushing) and Cedric Benson (174 yards rushing), but the Dolphins are tough against the run, allowing only 3.3 yards per carry!  The Bears should have no problem attacking the Dolphins secondary that is awful.  Opposing QBs have a QB rating of 93.7 against the Dolphins and already have thrown 12 TD passes against them.  Grossman should be able to carve up the Dolphins short with throws to TE Desmond Clark (26 rec, 391 yards) and Mushin Muhammad (32 rec, 401 yards).  Then Grossman will throw it deep to Bernard Berrian who has caught 26 passes for 485 yards (18.7 avg) and 4 TDs.

This could be a bloodbath in Chicago.  I don’t see the Dolphins having a prayer in this football game!