Miami recap from today's win in a 3/4 full stadium

Lil Bit Special · September 8, 2014

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/07/4334868/armando-salguero-theres-a-refreshing.html

Armando Salguero: There’s a refreshing vibe coming from this inspired Miami Dolphins team

BY ARMANDO SALGUERO SSALGUERO@MIAMIHERALD.COM

It took Chris McCain less than three minutes to make an impact play in his first NFL game, and when he blocked that punt that eventually led to the season’s first touchdown, it was quickly apparent something was different about these Dolphins.

At least on this day.

The Dolphins on Sunday had their lapses and made their mistakes as they routinely have in the past. There were three turnovers, the Ryan Tannehill-to-Mike Wallace connection is still a work in progress, and the tape will give coaches plenty to correct.

But despite the familiar foibles this was a much different team out there.

This team showed no fear. This team was loose. This team was emotional. This team was physical. This team, full of newcomers throughout the lineup, played like we haven’t seen the Dolphins play in quite a while.

Yes, the Dolphins have beaten the Patriots before, and it has meant nothing. Remember last year’s victory over New England? It was followed by consecutive losses to the Bills and the Jets.

But there’s something different and, hopefully, lasting with this group.

These guys didn’t back down even when things went poorly. And you got a hint of that attitude before the game when Knowshon Moreno spent part of his time stretching during warmups and part of his time stalking the Patriots.

The Dolphins runner paced back and forth on his side of the field like a caged lion and when the Patriots came out to do their calisthenics, he stared them down as if daring them to say something to him.

Or stop him.

The Patriots ultimately didn’t stop Moreno. He rushed for 134 yards, with a lot of those yards coming through turnpike-lane-sized holes but some, like his 4-yard touchdown, coming after he shed tacklers in the backfield and rammed through the line for daylight.

This team was loose. Less than an hour before the game, cornerbacks Will Davis, Brent Grimes and Cortland Finnegan gathered with defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle in the locker room and took a selfie of themselves.

No, really.

Davis looking cool wearing sunglasses, Grimes smiling and Finnegan and Coyle filling in the gaps between cool and happy mugged for the cellphone camera.

Then Davis put the photo on Twitter.

The second-year player was about to play more snaps than he had ever played professionally and do it against quarterback Tom Brady, yet he was hanging with his guys, tweeting before it went down.

Nerve.

Want more nerve? The Dolphins came to this game knowing linebacker Phillip Wheeler was out with a thumb injury. But before the second quarter ended, the Dolphins also lost the other two starting linebackers — Koa Misi and Dannell Ellerbe — for the afternoon.

It was not a disaster. It wasn’t even a noticeable loss.

The backups came into the game and didn’t seem fazed one bit. Jelani Jenkins played well. McCain added a sack to his blocked punt.

“The injuries hit us in the face really fast,” Jenkins said. “But we all watch the same film and prepare for those situations. No, we didn’t expect that to happen, but you have to be ready in case it does, and I think we were.

“You got to play this game with confidence. The moment you look in front of you and see it’s Tom Brady and you struggle or shrink, he’s going to tear you up. … So you have to come to the game and have the confidence and know you’re here for a reason.”

This Dolphins team was physical. The offensive line that was the epicenter of sacks and other problems last year gave up only one sack against the Patriots. It also pushed aside Vince Wilfork and Co. as if they were merely an inconvenience getting in the way of yardage.

When it was over, the Dolphins had rushed for 191 yards and averaged 5.0 yards per try.

The physical nature of this team was also evident on defense. Cameron Wake exploded past Sebastian Vollmer or anyone else who tried to block him time and again. He collected two sacks but was in the Patriots backfield so often it was if he was applying for residency back there.

Afterward, Miami rookie offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James, who was schooled time and again by Wake during training camp, felt relieved.

“Seeing Cam out there today,” James joked, “made me feel better about myself.”

This team is young and hungry, and there is something captivating about it. They were so vicious at times, one almost felt compassion for Brady (not really). And afterward, that violence was followed by, well, tears.

“I dropped a couple of tears after the game,” McCain said, his eyes still reddened by the emotion. “Playing New England, watching them when I was kid, Tom Brady playing back there. Getting a sack on him felt good. Blocking a punt felt good. Winning the game felt good.

“Nobody would have thought Miami in the first game in this division would beat New England. We showed them. We got 15 more games to finish up strong. I believe we can do it.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/07/4334868/armando-salguero-theres-a-refreshing.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/07/4334875/greg-cote-miami-dolphins-have.html

Greg Cote: Miami Dolphins have a chance to be very good — savor it Dolfans

BY GREG COTE GCOTE@MIAMIHERALD.COM

There is a tendency to think that the years of mediocrity and disappointment have gradually beaten the enthusiasm out of Dolphins fans and replaced it with the hardened scab of cynical doubt. It isn’t true. A season-opening game like Sunday’s reminded us of that.

So the sound you heard long after the game had ended was an intoxicating cocktail of celebration and hope. Thousands of Dolfans were chanting in perfect unison as they poured down the home stadium’s concourses and into the parking lots. The club’s marketing theme for the game was “Stronger Together,” and the merry noise reflected that.

“Let’s go Dolphins!” the thousands sang, rhythmic clapping in between, the chorus filled with joy and going on and on and on. “Let’s go Dolphins!”

This exhilarating 33-20 Miami triumph over the nemesis New England Patriots was medicine for this beleaguered, listing franchise — “One of the most exciting, fun games I’ve been a part of,” quarterback Ryan Tannehill called it.

Dolfans want so, so much to believe again.

Sunday afternoon gave them a chance, gave them a reason.

This was not a fluke, and it was not a mirage.

These Dolphins have a chance to be very good.

Repeat that. Savor it.

The team I saw rally Sunday to dominate in the second half and humble the mighty Patriots was a balanced squad capable of imposing its will physically on both sides of the line of scrimmage, as it did in overcoming its 20-10 halftime hole.

Miami committed three turnovers and suffered linebacker injuries yet overcame its own early mistakes because the Cameron Wake-led defense sacked Tom Brady four times and — even more impressive — because new running back Knowshon Moreno’s 134 yards on 24 carries led a near-200-yard ground attack.

Tannehill was no better than efficient — except for a bad underthrow of Mike Wallace that led to an interception — but he didn’t need to be better than that thanks to the defense and dominant running game.

New offensive coordinator Bill Lazor came from the Philadelphia Eagles, whose offense last year produced the NFL rushing leader in LeSean McCoy. It’s an offense that spreads the field, is full of movement and, in the second half, kept New England on its heel with a no-huddle element.

“If we correct our mistakes, it’s kind of scary what this offense can do,” Tannehill said.

Moreno’s 4-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter came on third down. Imagine that!

Miami used to have so little confidence in its run that third-and-4 automatically was a passing down.

Were these even the Dolphins?

Answer: None that we’ve seen for a long time. This team flexed and punished.

And that started with the maligned offensive line. This was the group decimated by the embarrassment of last year’s Bullygate scandal. The line began Sunday’s game with five new starters as center Mike Pouncey continued rehabilitating from an injury. But the new unit showed muscle and cohesion — showed everything last year’s line did not.

“They opened up some great holes,” Moreno said.

New left tackle Brandon Albert threw the praise right back at Moreno.

“That’s contagious,” he said of his running.

I was on record forecasting Miami as a playoff team and predicting Sunday’s opening win, all but alone on that. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure until I saw it for myself.

You never know with the first game of a regular season. Pats coach Bill Belichick had been asked whether any other game brings with it so much uncertainty.

“No, and I’d say by a wide margin,” he replied.

So it was that the favored Patriots went into Sunday roundly expected to continue their stranglehold over the AFC East and their role as chief roadblock to Dolphin dreams. Just as the Dolphins entered the opener roundly expected to reprise their role as the Little Brother in this relationship.

Instead, roles reversed, and Dolfans were reveling in it.

“They came out in full force,” receiver Brian Hartline said.

Players supped on the energy, making plays that in turn fed the crowd.

“The Dolphins played their tails off,” veteran Patriot Vince Wilfork said.

Miami not only flexed strong defense and a potentially great ground game Sunday but also displayed a hunger indicative of youth. The 13 rookies on this team (of 53 players) are the most Miami has had on an opening-day roster since 1979.

One of the rookies was Chris McCain, a linebacker from the University of California who properly introduced himself with an early blocked punt that led to a fast 7-0 lead and later had a sack.

Afterward, he was the last Dolphin player still in uniform in the post-game locker room, his No. 58 jersey stained with grass, dirt and sweat. It’s as if he didn’t want the afternoon to end.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” McCain said. “Just being here. Just being able to pull on this uniform. It’s just a blessing, man.”

It is necessary, of course, to temper enthusiasm, even as the sound of those thunderous “Let’s go Dolphins!” postgame chants echo in the mind. Recent history is sobering. Very recent history. Recall that last season the Dolphins started 3-0 and also won at home over New England, yet the year still ended out of the playoffs. Again. (There is surely a little devil on every Dolfan’s shoulder whispering that a loss next week at Buffalo would reconfigure everything and dump rain on Sunday’s sunshine.)

Last year’s fast start, however, didn’t show the strong ground game and balance we saw Sunday. Or the ability to hector an opposing QB with only a four-man pass rush. This team feels fundamentally better.

Wallace, who caught seven passes in the opener and out-fought cornerback Darrelle Revis to turn a contested pass into a touchdown, was asked afterward what he thought Sunday’s message was to the rest of the NFL.

“We want people to take us seriously,” he said.

The first step toward being taken seriously is for people to notice you.

Sunday did that for the Dolphins.

Now let’s see how they deal with the changed pressure that comes when expectations are raised, and when the rest of the league is paying attention.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/07/4334875/greg-cote-miami-dolphins-have.html#storylink=cpy