Dolphins Win Again Barely...

The Dolphins won their 5th game of the season on Sunday. Far more than most of us expected at this point when the season began. (I was expecting 5 or 6 wins for the whole season.)

The Dolphins did not play their best, but they did enough (and at the right times) to win the game in end. They played a team in Seattle Seahawks that were beat up and missing some of their key components.

They had to hang on in end when Seattle mounted two late drives one of which resulted in a touchdown and failed two point conversion with less three minutes to go. Then another at the end of the game where they gave it up on down at mid field.

There were some good things that we saw including:

• The Dolphins were able to run the ball and get yards when they needed it (including two fourth and one plays)
• Ted Ginn made a couple nice catches including a touchdown grab in double coverage
• Ricky Williams showed flashes of his younger days with a 100+ yard rushing performance
• The "Wildcat" formation was effective in keeping Seattle's defense off balanced

But unfortunately there were some bad aspects to the game as well:

• Pennington made a couple bad reads including one pick-six (interception returned for a touchdown)
• Special teams coverage gave up some big returns
• The offensive lineman allowed Seattle to get more pressure on Pennington
• The defense failed to come up with any turnovers

In the end they won the game - that is the important part. They have also won three games in a row. When was the last time the Dolphins did that?

Some people are starting to talk about the prospect of making the playoffs. That might be a bit premature at this point. The Dolphins are now going through the softer part of their schedule with games against Oakland and St. Louis over the next three weeks. If they can win 3 of the next four, then maybe we can legitimately talk about that.