Game 13: Dolphins 18, Jagwires 17

Craig Bolerjack, Nat Moore and Bob Griese call the first half for Miami. Ted Ginn Jr. bounces outside to return the opening kickoff 25 yards. Remember when Ginn was going to be a Ram? What would have happened if he and Adam Carriker had been off the board when the Rams picked on draft day? We'd still have Jimmy Kennedy and still be waiting for Darrelle Revis to come to camp?

Trent Green gets his 2nd down pass batted down by John Henderson and throws a one-hopper under pressure on third down to start Miami off with a 3-and-out. The punt is partially blocked, too, and the Jagwires will start near midfield.

Terrible start by Jagwire T Tony Pashos. Matt Roth beats him badly on 2nd down to sack Byron Leftwich. He false starts on 3rd down. The Dolphins blitz and nobody picks up Rodrique Wright for another sack. So in one series, Leftwich has already been sacked twice. This is becoming a tradition for him.

By the way, the nfl.com website has been redesigned, and it sucks. It is slower than Albert Pujols "running" out a grounder with Scott Rolen on his back, and the team rosters are spread out over multiple pages? What the hell is that? (Looks like they fixed that later.)

Dolphins are giving their fans no reason not to worry about their offense. Fastball in the dirt from Green on 1st down, followed by a holding penalty on Samson Satele and two short completions that don't get the first.

Jagwires get one first down but are forced to punt when Maurice Jones-Drew gains just 1 on 3rd-and-2. Why isn't Greg Jones getting that call?

The Dolphins go for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 29. Corey Schlesinger gets the yard. He may be Miami's lead rusher tonight; Ronnie Brown has stunk. And how many years has Trent Green been in the league and he's throwing after crossing the line of scrimmage? That boneheaded penalty by a 14-year veteran kills the Dolphin drive.

Leftwich throws four incompletions in a row, but penalties keep the drive alive, especially Vonnie Holliday's penalty for roughing the passer on 3rd-and-20. Vonnie and the announcers are mad about the call, but you gotta know to hit the QB lower than Vonnie did, meeting Leftwich facemask-to-facemask. Leftwich then hits Matt Jones for 19, first play Jones has has shown any interest in tonight. Last play of the first quarter.

Jagwires leave my Greg Jones question from earlier unanswered by bringing in LaBrandon Toefield. Leftwich hits him for 18 to get close to the red zone. Alvin Pearman rips up the middle for 16, and it's first-and-goal. 1-yard TD to Dennis Northcutt puts Jacksonville on the board first. 7-0 Jagwires. Good touch and zip on that pass by Byron. Much more ham-handed touch by the Dolphin announcers, who are still moaning about the penalty on Holliday. Head-to-head hit, people.

Cam Cameron was a candidate for the Rams' HC job last year before they picked Scott Linehan. This drive makes me think the Rams came out on top. Ronnie Brown up the middle for 3. Then, Ronnie Brown up the middle for 3. On 3rd-and-4, a draw play, or, Ronnie Brown up the middle. For minus three. Yeah, that's some innovative offense right there. 1,2,3, kick.

David Garrard now at QB for the Jagwires. Upon seeing Paul Soliai surge into the backfield, a startled Toefield juggles and loses the first-down handoff. Seriously. Soliai scared the ball out of Toefield's hands. Miami recovers.

Green sacked on first down. 2nd down, screen pass incomplete under pressure. With all night to throw on 3rd down, Green throws a poor pass under pressure and incomplete for TE David Martin. Dolphins bailed out by a offsides penalty. On 3rd-and-5, James Wyche pops Anthony Alabi like he's nothing, sacks Green, forces a fumble, 92 recovers for Jacksonville. Just a four-man rush there.

Dolphin football... it's Cam-tastic!

Key play of the Jagwire drive is a 24-yard pass from Garrard to Matt Jones. Jim Maxwell stops Toefield for a loss, and KGB's brother AGB sacks Garrard to force a FG attempt, which Josh Scobee hits. 10-0 Jagwires.

3:00 left in the half, and Trent Green is still in at QB. He hits Ginn for 9, but Derek Hagan muffs the catch a couple of plays later right into the hands of Bruce Thornton. But the Jagwires are determined not to let the Dolphins be the only sloppy team on the field; Toefield commits his second turnover after getting popped by Jason Allen at the end of a reception.

The Dolphins are on fire! Hagan tries to atone for his fumble with a 29-yard catch over the middle. Tack on a facemask penalty on Jamal Fudge, who still thanks his lucky stars every day that he wasn't drafted by Green Bay. That got Miami into the red zone, but Trent had to throw the ball away on third down, leaving Jay Feely to put Miami on the board. 10-3. Green's night is over with 6-15 passing, 60 yards (half on the Hagans catch), two sacks, a lost fumble and an interception.

The Jagwires cross midfield but Garrard can't connect with Reggie Williams on the Hail Mary as the half ends. 10-3 Jacksonville.

Paul Burmeister and Tony Boselli on the call now for Jacksonville. Jags string together a nice drive to start the second half. Garrard hits a wide-open Reggie Williams for 29 - almost looked like a blown coverage - to get in the red zone, and John Broussard at the Dolphin 1. That sets up an Alvin Pearman TD run - again with the little guys in the situations that call for big guys! - and a 17-3 lead for Jacksonville.

Cleo Lemon is the new QB for Miami. Jesse Chatman's the guy who puts points on the board, though; he slips an ankle tackle in the backfield, cuts back left, runs past both safeties upfield and outraces the Jagwire defense for a 74-yard TD. It's now 17-10.

New Jagwire QB is Tim (no relation) Couch. Jax gets out to midfield before Dolphin DT Steve Fifita rag-dolls Jagwire center Dan Connolly and plasters Couch for a 10-yard loss. Time to punt.

NFL Network jumps directly to Miami's next punt, forcing us to miss Lemon's deep pass to Kerry Reed, tackled by Nick "Sunshine" Sorenson. The abridged third quarter ends with a brutal drop by TE Greg Estandia, Miami bailing the Jagwires out with a DPI and Edmond Miles dropping Pearman for a loss. 17-10 Jax going into the 4th.

Poor screen pass from Couch to Pearman creates a 3rd-and-13, on which Abraham Wright gets a sack of Couch. Though Wright's #53, the Jagwire TV crew identifies him as Kevin Vickerson, #92.

Dolphins dink their way across midfield, but on 3rd-and-4, Lorenzo Booker stops his pattern downfield while Lemon was expecting him to keep going. Punt downed at the 12.

New Jagwires QB is Lester Ricard. Engage! Hey, a Richard Angulo sighting! He false started. A couple of incompletions to rookie WR Mike Walker, who appears preoccupied with his dislocated middle finger, not that I blame him. I certainly couldn't drive around here without mine. Up goes another punt.

Rookie John Beck takes over at QB for the Dolphins. He gets away with a terrible misfire when Brian Iwuh drops an interception floating right toward him. Beck was trying to throw a bomb but threw a lob instead; ball may have slipped out of his hand. Beck also gets away with a fumble that RB Patrick Cobbs picks up and advances to the 20. Cobbs finishes out saving Beck's bacon with an 11-yard run and a 3-yard vault into the end zone. Cam mercifully goes for two instead of tying the game with 3:50 left. That'll help his coaching karma. Cobbs plunges in to give Miami its first lead, 18-17.

Ricard's going to get the chance to drive the Jagwires to victory. They face a 4th-and-1 near midfield at the 2:00 warning. The very-French-sounding connection of Ricard-to-Broussard hits for a 30-yard fade pass. Interesting call for the situation; beautiful throw by Ricard. That gets Jacksonville to the Miami 25; should be good enough for the win.

But no. Josh Scobee yanks it right. The Jags burn through their timeouts and get one last shot, but from their own 13, and Ricard can't do much with it. Miami wins 18-17.

The win disguises a lot of what is wrong with Miami, namely, THE STARTING OFFENSE. Trent Green looked bad and wasn't even playing smart. He just has to do better than that behind his awful offensive line. That line already looks like a sinking ship, though.

The Jagwires burned through the starters pretty quickly and are harder to gauge. I'm not impressed with their offensive line. Toefield had better have some other career skills besides fumbling. Their offensive playcalling seems less conservative this year, especially in conservative situations. That's a good sign for future success.

Up next (sort of, I'm actually working on these at the same time): Seahawks @ Chargers.