Ciaran Gowan: Win Streak Reaches 3

In one of the greatest performances in the Tony Sparano era, the Miami Dolphins have just completed their third straight double-digit victory and they did it in emphatic fashion. The Buffalo Bills could do little to stop the hot arm of Matt Moore and the Dolphins defence dominated like it was 1972. But, with these victories only coming against inferior teams, can the Dolphins repeat their success on Thanksgiving, as they travel to Big D to take on the Dallas Cowboys?

The Dolphins defence has been a recurring theme these last three weeks, with captains Karlos Dansby and Yeremiah Bell both stepping up to the plate. Dansby has made an unlimited number of tackles and has finally proven himself worthy of that contract that made him the highest paid linebacker in the NFL for a short while. Bell, on the other hand, is not as celebrated a player as Dansby but if you just watched that Bills game, you know the impact he has on this team. The two have combined with hit after hit, big play after big play and, with the help of Kevin Burnett, Jared Odrick and Vontae Davis in particular, they are proving themselves worthy of the top 5 status many granted them before the start of the season.

There have been 12 quarters since the Dolphins last conceded a touchdown. 12. Even with the Bills knocking on the door and with CJ Spiller finding himself with daylight in front of him the Dolphins somehow found a way to keep the Bills out. That, my friends, is called dominance.

On offence, Matt Moore has suddenly stepped up as the team’s leader, with his second three-touchdown game in his last three starts. I’m not going to start this debate right now, but hey, if the Dolphins aren’t going to get an elite quarterback in the draft why not keep Matt Moore around? He has exceeded all expectations to this point, who says he can’t continue this run? The most impressive thing about this Sunday’s offensive display has to be the way the Dolphins spread the ball around – Brandon Marshall only had 1 catch!

Matt Moore found 6 different receivers over the course of the game, with fullback/tight end/everything Charles Clay getting the bulk of the yardage and a touchdown to boot. He’s had an impressive start to his NFL career, mainly because teams still don’t take notice of his threat in the passing game. Reggie Bush had a pretty poor game but he keeps scoring touchdowns. Daniel Thomas had a comeback game with 50 yards and a number of crunching runs.

Since the playoffs are essentially out of reach at this point, the Dolphins will have a chance to play spoiler to close out the season with contenders such as the New York Jets, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders taking us on. And, as I said before, the world’s attention will be on the Dolphins on Thursday against the Cowboys, so the big question will be whether or not they can perform under the bright lights. I don’t see why not.