Miami 22 – New England 21. Feels so good to see it in print!

I have to admit, even though I had cast my cares aside and begged Santa for help, I didn’t have a lot of faith that I’d have a happy ending. When the Dolphins quickly fell down 14-0, I was ready to kiss the season goodbye. Same old Dolphins. Same old Patriots. Right? Well, I’m happy to say that I was wrong! We WON! All is right with the world. At least until next Sunday…

For now, I’m casting off any future cares to take one more look at the past. I’m feeling so good that I’m going to give the Miami boys two Hit Its for every Quit It.

Hit It: Davone Bess. Give the guy a game ball. With 10 receptions and 117 yards, he posted a career-high game. I commend him for the catches, but more importantly for the yards after the catches.
Hit It: The kids: Brian Hartline. This guy keeps improving. Great catches, and gutsy special teams play, too! Chad Henne. The Boomerang Boy. He bounced back from two huge mistakes – an interception and a horrible pass on 3rd down (overthrowing a wide open Polite) – and made a critical 4th down throw to Camarillo to set the stage for Carpenter to kick the game-winning FG.
Quit It: 3rd down situations – We had twenty-four 1st downs. Good. We had nineteen 3rd downs. Not good. ‘Nuf said.

Hit It: Coach Sparano. GASP! He said he practiced 4th quarter situations this past week, telling the guys they’d do it until they got it right. If necessary, he reminded them, they had lights. Guess he finally did something right. Too bad it took him so long. Wait, this is a Hit It. *ahem* Good job, Sparano!
Hit It: Dan Carpenter. This guy is rock-solid dependable. I’m so grateful we don’t need to shop for a kicker. Just ask the Redskins, you can never assume anything is a gimme field goal anymore.
Quit It: Field Goals. I’m so tired of seeing drives stall as we approach the red zone and seeing Carpenter trot on field for another *yawn* field goal. I love you, Dan. But I love touchdowns more…

Hit It: No Wildcat. No, you don’t need your eyes checked. You read that correctly. The Miami Dolphins won a game without a single wildcat play! Maybe we’ll get some respect now?
Hit It: Ricky Williams. For having the presence of mind to fall on the Pat White fumble. (Poor Ricky looked sooo embarrassed and disgusted–just like us fans!) And for having a workman-like day when the run was such a diminished part of the game plan. 75 yards ain’t too shabby for a “routine day at the office”!
Quit It: Pat White. Seriously, I cringe and hold my breath every time he comes in. Much more of him and I might hurt myself! You might have heard of St. George, the dragon slayer. Well, let me introduce Pat White, our knight-errant. Pat, I dub thee “Drive Slayer”!

Hit It: Ted Ginn. For playing well enough to NOT make the Quit It list this week.
Hit It: The defense. For once, they didn’t collapse in the 4th quarter! Shout outs to Vontae Davis (INT#1, the turning point), Cameron Wake (hit Brady causing INT #2) , Channing Crowder (INT #2), and Randy Starks (consistent overall tough-guy play!)
Quit It: The defense. I may be experiencing bliss, but I’m not ignorant. Stop giving up big plays! Boys, you played well, but don’t take all the credit. You had help. Belichick made a couple of bad decisions– one being choosing to go for a TD on 4th down rather than take a FG. Brady overthrew some wide open receivers on deep passes (Aiken!) that could have gone all the way. Merry Christmas, boys. Now back to work. Don’t forget, Coach Sparano has lights!

We beat the Patriots! I am more stunned at this fact than I was to discover that Belichick didn’t wear a hacked-up hoodie. The man wore a normal golf shirt for once! And, I must confess, looking at Belichick’s prize QB is not something I enjoy, but watching Tom Brady hang his head, now that was a BEAUTIFUL sight!