A 'Giant' Disapointment

Monday, October 6, 2003
Robert Henderson
MDBW Staff Writer

This past weekend rocked for South Florida teams, and sucked for both Giants teams. After the Marlins compiled two exciting victories down in Pro Player Stadium, the Dolphins won their second game in East Rutherford, NJ (which is better than their record at Pro Player, 1-1). Although Ricky Williams (22 carries, 39 yards) couldn't get anything going until the late fourth quarter, Miami showcased a few of their other weapons to beat the Giants easily.

Many people are wondering what team showed up week 1 against the Texans because since then, Miami has won three straight games and the defense has given up an average of 8 points per game. In fact, the defense shut out the Bills because their only score was off of a Jay Fiedler interception return by Nate Clements. And if you omit the only Giant's touchdown yesterday which was because of a Fiedler fumble at the Miami 16, then the defense has given up 13 points in 3 games which averages out to only 4.3 points a game.

The game started out well when Jay Fiedler connected with Randy McMichael for 33 yards after the Giants' defense bit on a fake handoff to Ricky Williams. It was obvious that the Giants' defense had gameplanned to stop Ricky Williams and ignored most other aspects because of Ricky's inability to gain any yardage, but also because of Fiedler's ability to make plays downfield. The one play that really showcased this obvious mistake by Giants' Head Coach, Jim Fassel was when Fiedler handed the ball off to Williams, and as he ran around the left side, he handed it off to James McKnight who ran behind excellent blocking all the way down the right sideline for 68 yards and a touchdown. When was the last time something like this worked? Uh, well…never?

Matt Turk's presence was also a benefit. Although he didn't have that great of a day punting the ball, Olindo Mare seemed to be back to his old self. He connected on field goals of 43, 23, and 48 yards. Perhaps Royals was the problem for Mare's kicking woes.

Another Special Teams plus was when Charles Rogers avoided tacklers on the right side of the field and then reversed his direction and scampered 33 yards into Giants territory. He finally showed why he was picked up to do this. Hopefully, the coverage will get better so he won't have to call as many fair catches.

The defense forced four turnovers in this game after forcing three against Buffalo. Patrick Surtain added two more interceptions to his stat chart which gives him four for the year in only four games. Brock Marion added another to his chart after Sam Madison bobbled the ball, and it appeared on the Giants' receiver's back. Terrell Buckley then stripped Ike Hilliard of the football and recovered it himself. The fact that the defense is forcing these turnovers and stopping opponents drives is essential. If the defense can keep this up all season, it will be hard to beat the Miami Dolphins. The Ravens offense of 2000 wasn't that flashy, but because of their defense, they won the Super Bowl.

The play calling was excellent, and it seemed as though Norv Turner knew that the Giants were going to key in on Ricky Williams. Apparently they had practiced the end around all week - it worked.

Next week, Miami will have to try and contain Byron Leftwich and the Jaguars in a Florida battle. The Jaguars are 1-4, so he might be the only one they have to stop. Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith can be dangerous though. The bottom line is, however, that this upcoming game must not be overlooked. It happened against Houston with a division game coming up against the Jets. Who do the Dolphins play after the Jaguars? The Patriots.

Robert Henderson can be reached by e-mailing webmaster@miamidolphinsbahamas.com. Or you can talk about this story and more on the MDBW Forums message board!