The Dolphins were winning the game earlier today 14-7 heading into the 4th quarter and that is when the roof caved in as the Bills scored 24 unanswered points to end the game.  Chad Henne had probably the worst game of his NFL career today as he completed 17 of 31 passes for 175 yards with 1 TD pass and 3 INTs.  Ricky Williams was outstanding running the ball as he carried it 27 times for 115 yards (4.3 ypc) with 1 TD run, but, he also through a interception in the end zone while running the Wildcat Formation and it really hurt the Fins.  Anthony Fasano led the way in the passing game for the Dolphins today with 5 catches for 74 yards (14.8 avg).  Rookie WR Brian Hartline pitched in with 3 catches for 31 yards (10.3 avg) with a TD grab today.  The Dolphins finished up with 325 total yards on offense in this game (157 rushing, 168 passing).

The defense played really well for the first 3/4 of this game before falling apart.  Safety Yeremiah Bell led the way for the Fins’ on defense with 13 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a INT.  OLB Joey Porter was again almost impossible to keep out of the backfield as he finished up with 5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and 3 QB hits.  The Bills finished up with 336 total yards on offense (129 rushing, 207 passing).  The Dolphins are now 5-6 on the season as this is a huge blow to their playoff hopes in 2009.

The Dolphins have signed 27-year old CB Evan Oglesby.  Oglesby played in 9 games for the Ravens last season and he made 14 tackles.  He has now played in 4 years in his NFL career appearing in 36 games in which he has 35 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  This was a decent signing as Oglesby will provide depth in the secondary and he will likely help out on special teams.

This is a heated rivalry that the Bills and Dolphins have that goes back to the good old days of Dan Marino and Jim Kelly.  Chad Henne and Ryan Fitzpatrick won’t be likely putting on an air show like Marino and Kelly used to this weekend.  The Dolphins are really playing well the last seven weeks losing to only the Patriots and Saints in that time.  They abused the Bills in the first meeting between these teams 38-10 in Miami.  The Dolphins will likely have the same type of gameplan which included a lot of running the ball on offense.  The Bills are allowing 165.9 yards rushing per game and 4.9 yards per carry this season so look for Ricky Williams to be heavily involved in the offense.  Chad Henne will likely only be asked to manage this game and that is a good idea due to the ballhawking secondary that the Bills employ that already has 17 pickoffs this season.

The Bills will likely come out firing the football around the field in a attempt to get the Dolphins out of their game plan.  Terrell Owens and Lee Evans will likely be the players most targeted in the passing game as the Fins will be starting two rookies at CB.  For that type of offense to work the O-Line will have to give Fitzpatrick time to throw the ball.  That will be easier said than done with the injuries the Bills have suffered recently along the O-Line.  The Fins will likely be blitzing a lot in this game with Jason Taylor and the recently rejuvenated Joey Porter.  The Bills will also likely use a lot of screen passes in this game to beat the blitz.  Fred Jackson will likely do a lot of the heavy lifting in the running game and out of the backfield in the passing game as Marshawn Lynch is gimpy right now. 

PREDICTION:  DOLPHINS 24, BILLS 17

The Dolphins have lost 27-year old OLB/DE off waivers to the Cleveland Browns.  Roth played in 4 games for the Fins this season and he made a whopping 4 tackles.  Roth played 5 years for the Dolphins appearing in 65 games in which he made 158 tackles, defensed 5 passes, forced 6 fumbles and he had 12.5 sacks.  The Dolphins won’t miss Roth too much unless he turns into a stud in Cleveland.

The Dolphins have lost 34-year old NT Jason Ferguson for the season due to a severe knee injury.  He played in 9 games for the Dolphins this season and he made 23 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss and he defensed 1 pass.  Randy Starks will move into the starting lineup to replace Ferguson and he is a pretty decent player himself.  He has played in all 10 games for the Fins this season and he has 33 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he has 5.5 sacks.  With Starks in there full time the pass rushing will improve up the middle for the Dolphins while the run defense might be a tad weaker.  Tony McDaniel will move up to the #2 job behind Starks and they will need him to step up when he’s on the field.  McDaniel has played in 10 games this season for the Dolphins and he has made 7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he has defensed 1 pass. 

24-year old Ted Ginn Jr. is really starting to look like a stiff.  He has played in 10 games this season for the Dolphins and he has caught 23 passes for 250 yards (10.9 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Ginn has also carried the ball 5 times for 36 yards (7.2 ypc) so far this year.  The only area that Ginn has really helped the Dolphins this season has been on special teams.  He has returned 25 kickoffs for 761 yards (30.4 avg) with 2 TD returns and he has also returned 3 punts for 15 yards (5.0 avg) this year.  Ginn needs to quit having alligator arms when going over the middle and he needs to quit going down so easy.  But, he’s not in the Big Ten anymore so maybe he’s out of his league.  Ginn has now played in 42 games in his three years in the NFL and has caught 113 passes for 1,460 yards (12.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He also has carried the ball 14 times for 112 yards (8.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Ginn has returned 34 punts for 300 yards (8.8 avg) with 1 TD return and he has also returned 120 kickoffs for 2,851 yards (23.8 avg) with 2 TD returns.  The Dolphins drafted him way too high three years ago and they should consider trading him at the end of this season if the doesn’t get tougher and start producing on offense.

The Dolphins looked pretty good last night in Charlotte beating the Panthers at their own game.  Chad Henne was solid making big throws when he needed to as he completed 17 of 29 passes for 172 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Ricky Williams was outstanding for the Dolphins last night as he carried the ball 22 times for 119 yards (5.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  He also caught 2 passes for 19 yards (9.5 avg) with a TD grab last night.  Lex Hilliard also looked decent at RB for the Dolphins last night with 24 yards on 4 carries (6.0 ypc0 and he also caught 2 passes for 7 yards (3.5 avg).  Davone Bess was the leading receiver for the Dolphins last night with 6 grabs for 63 yards (10.5 avg).  The Dolphins finished up with 326 total yards offensively last night (154 rushing, 172 passing).

OLB Joey Porter kicked down the door of Coach Tony Sparano’s Dog House last night as he led the way for the Fins’ D last night with 8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits!  DT Randy Starks also had a big game with 5 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack and 2 QB hits.  The Panthers finished up with 383 total yards on offense (182 rushing, 201 passing) but the Fins made big plays on D when they needed them late in this game to win it.   The Dolphins are now 5-5 on the year.

This is a big game for both teams tomorrow night as they each sit at 4-5 on the year.  The Dolphins will be without Ronnie Brown which could force them to throw the ball a bit more than usual.  Still, they will try to ride Ricky Williams against a Panthers’ D that is allowing 128.1 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  The Dolphins will likely have to throw the ball a few times on first down to make the Panthers pay for cheating the safeties up towards the line of scrimmage.  That would mean that Ted Ginn and Brian Hartline will have to step up and that is a iffy proposition.  But, Chad Henne has a strong enough arm to get the ball deep if he has time to throw the ball.  That means that the Dolphins will have to keep DE Julius Peppers (who is playing with a broken hand) out of the backfield which is easier said than done.

The Panthers will likely pound the ball with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart against a Dolphins’ D that is only allowing 97.6 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry so something will have to give in this game.  The Panthers could also come out throwing the ball before they run it to try to get the Dolphins out of their comfort zone offensively getting them to play from behind.  To do that though the Panthers will need to keep Jason Taylor, Cameron Wake and Charlie Anderson away from Jake Delhomme.  Because if Delhomme has time to throw the ball he will likely beat the rookie CBs of the Dolphins with Steve Smith and Mushin Muhammad.  Delhomme has been better about protecting the football and look for that to continue tomorrow night against a Fins’ D with 8 interceptions that is allowing 239.4 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  PANTHERS 27, DOLPHINS 20

The Dolphins have a real lack of talent at WR and they will need to address that position after the year is over through free agency and the draft.  Davone Bess is the leader on the team in both receptions (40) and receiving yards (334) but he is only averaging a paltry 8.4 yards per catch.  Bess would be best served as a #4 or #5 WR on a team with a good offense but in Miami he is #1 which really says something about the quality of the WR corps of the Dolphins this year.  Greg Camarillo is also a possession type WR as he has caught 27 passes for 277 yards (10.3 avg) for the Dolphins this season.  Ted Ginn Jr. has the speed to get deep but he just shows no interest in catching forward passes as he is softer than a roll of Charmin.  He has caught 19 passes for 218 yards (11.5 avg) with 1 TD grab for the Fins so far this year.  Rookie WR Brian Hartline is averaging 16.0 yards per catch this year on 12 catches for 192 yards with 1 TD grab but his upside appears to be limited.  With no one to stretch the field out of this WR corps it makes it harder on the Dolphins running game as teams walk their safeties up toward the line of scrimmage.  The Dolphins will need to bring in more talent to boost this position in the off-season if they want to truly excel offensively.

The Dolphins might bench 32-year old OLB Joey Porter again on Thursday Night against the Panthers at Carolina.  Porter has played in 7 games for the Fins this season and he has 12 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and he has defensed 1 pass.  The Dolphins will likely go with younger players like Cameron Wake and Charlie Anderson at Porter’s old spot.  Anderson has played in 9 games for the Fins this season and he has 12 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 1 sack.   He will likely start the game if Porter doesn’t play.  Cameron Wake is one of the better pass rushers on the Dolphins so he will also likely get a lot of playing time on Thursday.  Wake has played in 7 games this season and he has 14 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss and he has forced 1 fumble.  Porter’s benching has a lot to do with his lack of production this year.

UPDATE:  Porter not only played on Thursday but he dominated this game.  Porter had 8 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 3 QB hits against the Panthers on Thursday Night.