Rookie WR/KR Jacoby Ford of the Raiders returned the opening kickoff 101 yards for a TD and that appeared to piss off the Dolphins who dominated the rest of this game.  Chad Henne looked outstanding in this game for the Fins as he completed 17 of 30 passes for 307 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT.  Ricky Williams (20 carries, 95 yards, TD) and Ronnie Brown (24 carries for 85 yards) led the way on the ground for the Fins in this game.  WRs Davone Bess (6 rec, 111 yards) and Brian Hartline (4 rec, 75 yards) led the way for the Fins in the passing game yesterday.  WR Marlon Moore (1 rec, 57 yards) and RB Patrick Cobbs (2 rec, 32 yards) each caught a TD pass from Chad Henne yesterday.  The Dolphins finished up with 186 yards rushing on 49 carries (3.8 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 30 passes for 285 yards as they had possession of the ball for 41:38.

CB Vontae Davis (6 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and LB Tim Dobbins (6 tackles) led the way for the Dolphins on D in this game.  Safeties Chris Clemons (4 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) and Yeremiah Bell (3 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception) also had solid games for the Fins on D in this game.  The Raiders finished up with 16 yards rushing on 12 carries (1.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 32 passes for 247 yards.  The Dolphins are now 6-5 on the year.

The Dolphins have travelled well on the road this year where they are 4-1 on the year and they will have Chad Henne back at QB.  They will likely be without Brandon Marshall though as his hamstring injury is really hurting him right now.  The Raiders came back to Earth last weekend as the Steelers beat them up 35-3 in Pittsburgh ending a three game winning streak.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Dolphins would be smart to get back to the running game this weekend with Ronnie Brown & Ricky Williams against a Raiders’ D that is allowing 128.5 yards rushing per game and 4.6 yards per carry.  The Raiders have a pretty solid pass rush so look for the Dolphins to run a lot of shorter passes to Davone Bess and Brian Hartline.  The Dolphins can make the Raiders pay for the blitzing though as opposing QBs have 19 TD passes and only 5 INTs against the Raiders this year.

When the Raiders have the ball:  Look for the Raiders to get back to running the ball against the Fins with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush.  The Raiders are averaging 152.1 yards rushing per game and 4.8 yards per carry so I look for them to be solid against a Fins’ D that is allowing 112.7 yards rushing per game.  Jason Campbell will get the start in this game but look for Coach Cable to have a quick hook if things don’t start out too good.

PREDICTION:  RAIDERS 20, DOLPHINS 17

The Dolphins have placed 28-year old center Corey Procter on I.R. with a torn ACL ending his season.  Procter played in 10 games (1 start) for the Fins this year.  He has played in 54 games (14 starts) in his first six years in the NFL.  The Dolphins have signed 29-year old center Eric Ghiaciuc and 27-year old G/T Tony Ugoh.  Ghiaciuc has not played in a game since 2008 with the Bengals.  He has played in 48 games (42 starts) in his NFL career and he could step into the starting lineup at some point for the Fins.  Ugoh played in 11 games (4 starts) for the Colts last season.  He has now played in 37 games (27 starts) in his first three years in the NFL.  Ugoh’s versatility will likely come in handy for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins didn’t have much of a chance tonight.  When you only have the ball for 22:09 it’s hard to win a football game but that’s how long the Fins had it.  Tyler Thigpen completed 17 of 29 passes for 187 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 6 times for 27 yards (4.5 ypc) in this game.  Ronnie Brown (3 carries for 10 yards and 3 catches for 19 yards) and Ricky Williams (3 carries for 1 yard and 1 catch for 12 yards) didn’t get the ball much last night.  WRs Brian Hartline (5 rec, 70 yards) and Brandon Marshall (3 rec, 41 yards) led the way for the Fins in the passing game.  The Dolphins finished up with 39 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 29 passes for 148 yards.

LB Karlos Dansby led the way for the Fins’ D in this game with 10 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit.  OLB Cameron Wake was also solid with 6 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for a loss and 1 QB hit.  CB Benny Sapp pitched in with 2 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  The Bears finished up with 135 yards rushing on 40 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 25 passes for 133 yards.  The Dolphins are now 5-5 on the season.

The Dolphins have won 2 out of the last three games while the Bears have won 2 in a row.  This is a huge game for both teams as the Dolphins need the win to keep pace in the AFC East while the Bears need the win to keep pace with the Packers.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Dolphins have the ball:  The Dolphins will likely not try to change too much for tonight’s game.  They might roll Tyler Thigpen to the right on pass plays especially if LT Jake Long (dislocated shoulder) can’t play.  Thipen can buy time with his feet which will put a lot of pressure on the Bears’ secondary.  He will likely have 3 WR sets a lot in this game with Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline and Davone Bess getting a lot of looks.  The Fins won’t forget to run the ball with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.  In fact, I see the Wildcat Formation being used more than usual in this game. 

When the Bears have the ball:  The Bears are likely going to give the Fins a heavy dose of Matt Forte and Chester Taylor both in the ground and in the air.  The Bears also have been dinking and dunking a lot in the passing game because of the weak O-Line that they have.  When Jay Cutler decides to go down the field, Johnny Knox will be his top target.  Jay Cutler is prone to throwing into traffic so the DBs and LBs need to make some big plays.

PREDICTION:  BEARS 20, DOLPHINS 17

49-year old head coach Tony Sparano has the Dolphins at 5-4 right now after the Fins finished 7-9 last season.  Things just got tougher for him with Chad Pennington and Chad Henne going down to injury.  He now will be going with Tyler Thigpen who is one of the best #3 QBs in the NFL.  He’s not a dropback passer like the Chad’s so it will be interesting to see how the offense changes.  Sparano will likely find a way to make it work.  He is now in his third year with the Fins and he has led them to a 23-18 (56.1%) record during the regular season.

The Dolphins have signed 31-year old QB Patrick Ramsey.  Ramsey has not played in a regular season game since 2008 with the Broncos and he hasn’t started a game since 2005 with the Redskins, so he’s likely a tad rusty.  Ramsey has played in 38 games (24 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 511 of 913 passes (56%) for 5,930 yards with 35 TD passes and 30 INTs (74.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 47 times for 89 yards (1.9 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his career.  Ramsey will be the #2 QB for the Fins starting this Thursday against the Bears.

UPDATE:  (11/30/2010) – The Dolphins have released Patrick Ramsey who was no longer needed with the return of Chad Henne.

With Chad Henne & Chad Pennington out for the year, 26-year old Tyler Thigpen will take over as the new starting QB for the Miami Dolphins.  Thigpen has played in 2 games for the Dolphins so far this year and he has completed 6 of 12 passes (50%) for 79 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (64.2 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 3 times for 17 yards (5.7 ypc) so far this year.  Thigpen has now played in 19 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has completed 242 of 446 passes (54.3%) for 2,811 yards with 20 TD passes and 16 INTs (73.6 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 67 times for 406 yards (6.1 ypc) with 3 TD runs so far in his career.  Thigpen has good mobility and a decent enough arm but he’s a gunslinger often throwing the ball into coverage.  He reminds me a lot of Sage Rosenfels.  With that in mind I would get back to the power running game if I were in charge of the Fins’ offense.  As far as #3 QBs go though, you can do a lot worse than Thigpen.

The Dolphins will be without Chad Pennington and Chad Henne for the rest of the season.  Pennington was making his first start of the year yesterday and he completed 1 of 2 passes for 19 yards before suffering a serious injury to his right shoulder.  Henne dislocated his left knee yesterday.  He played in 9 games for the Dolphins this year and he completed 195 of 305 passes (63.9%) for 2,140 yards with 9 TD passes and 11 INTs (79.4 QB Rating).  Henne also carried the ball 18 times for 18 yards (1.0 ypc) this year.  This is a huge blow to the Dolphins as it would be to any team.  They will roll with Tyler Thigpen as the new starting QB but look for them to sign 1 or 2 free agent QBs this week to back him up.

UPDATE:  (11/16/2010) – It appears that the Dolphins aren’t ready to declare Chad Henne out for the year quite yet.  Even if he does return to action though he’s likely going to miss a huge chunk of the rest of the 2010 season.

The Dolphins went through three QBs in this game which makes the passing numbers even more impressive.  Chad Pennington started this game and he was 1 of 2 passing for 19 yards before leaving the game with a shoulder injury.  Chad Henne replaced Pennington and he completed 19 of 28 passes for 240 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT before leaving the game with a dislocated left kneecap.  Tyler Thigpen finished up this game at QB and he completed 4 of 6 passes for 64 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  Ricky Williams led the way on the ground for the Fins in this game with 11 carries for 64 yards (5.8 ypc).  Ronnie Brown had an awful game as he carried the ball 12 times for 11 yards (0.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Patrick Cobbs only carried the ball 1 time for 1 yard but he helped out in the passing game with 3 grabs for 35 yards (11.7 avg) with a TD catch.  TE Anthony Fasano (5 rec, 107 yards, TD) and WR Brian Hartline (5 rec, 98 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Dolphins yesterday.  The Dolphins finished up with 88 yards rushing on 30 carries (2.9 ypc) and they also completed 24 of 37 passes for 316 yards as they had possession of the football for 33:04 in this game.

The Dolphins were outstanding against the pass yesterday but they did have some issues on run defense.  Safety Yeremiah Bell (8 tackles, sack), LB Karlos Dansby (8 tackles) and safety Reshad Jones (3 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed, 1 QB hit and 1 interception) led the way for the Fins’ D in this game.  DT Randy Starks and safety Chris Clemons each recovered a fumble in this game.  The Titans finished up with 135 yards rushing on 25 carries (5.4 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 38 passes for 124 yards in this game.  The Dolphins are now 5-4 on the year.