Miami Dolphins In Depth

More snaps for Hartline means fewer for ...

Although I included this in Thursday afternoon's blog about the coordinators, it bears repeating because on my housetop where I constantly scream to the world the Dolphins need wide receiver help, any nugget of news suggesting the help is coming is going to get extra attention.

Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning did say this week that rookie Brian Hartline is going to get more playing time very soon, and I'm told that soon starts Sunday against New England.

"Hartline is coming along," Henning said. "We haven't pushed him to the front as much. We probably will here in the near future. We like him. He's making plays. He seems to show up as much as Greg [Camarillo] showed up in training camp the first year we were here, albeit we know and he knows what his shortcomings are. But he's an accountable guy.

"Hartline isn't quite as accountable yet. He hasn't been through the ropes and once in a while he'll blow this or blow that. But he has the ability to make explosive plays and we do need to get him the ball more."

Well, unless the Dolphins plan to open in a three- or four-wide package and stay there all game long, or unless the offense gets 30 or so more snaps than usual, the fact is when Hartline gets more snaps, someone will have to get fewer.

So who gets bumped down?

The choices among Miami's receiver corps is, well, almost everyone and anyone.

Consider:

Greg Camarillo? I love this guy because I still believe he is Miami's most polished and dependable receiver. But something obviously happened between last year and this year because of his knee injury. Coaches don't believe him to be as explosive (which is bad because, running 4.6 40s, he was never a track star to begin with).

And the proof that something is up is in Camarillo's numbers. Last year he caught 55 passes for 613 yards and a 11.1-yard per catch average. He also scored two touchdowns. And he did this in only 11 games because he went on injured reserve after that 11th game.

Well, through 11 games this year, Camarillo's production has dropped by about half. He has only 28 catches. He's gained only 281 yards and he hasn't scored a TD. His yards per catch is also down by 1.1 yards.

So he is a candidate for less time.

Ted Ginn Jr.?

He was demoted earlier this season, at New York and New England, following that meltdown game against New Orleans that made it clear to me he'll never be a go-to guy. But for some reason, Ginn quietly worked himself back into the coaching staff's good graces and started games against Tampa Bay, Carolina and Buffalo.

Why?

Given some new life in the five games since New Orleans, Ginn has responded with a resounding seven catches. Seven catches! In five games! Seven catches is a half of work for Wes Welker, but I digress.

The fact is I'm not all that troubled by Ginn's number of catches. The fact is the troubling numbers with him are his average yards per catch and his drops.

Ginn has 25 catches this year. And he has eight drops. That means Ginn drops almost one-quarter (24.2 percent) of the passes in his hands. And in the last six games, Ginn has not once climbed into double figures on average yards per catch. Miami's alleged deep-threat receiver is averaging 8 yards per catch since Oct. 25.

So you know what happens to kids in high school and college who drop one out of every four passes they touch and average only 8 yards per each rare catch?

They get moved to cornerback.

Ginn? He regained his starting job.

For perspective and to be fair, I want you to know I'm not picking on Ginn because he is failing to meet standards set by Andre Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald or anyone else playing outside his universe. He is failing to meet standards set by, well, Ted Ginn.

Last year Ginn led the team with 56 receptions for 790 yards. He had a 14.1-yard-per-catch average and scored two touchdowns. So far this year, he has less the half the number of catches (25) for a humilating 268 yards. And his yards per catch have dropped by nearly 4. In the year we expected him to step forward, to break out, to improve, he has taken a drastic step backward.

So maybe the Dolphins have seen the light. He is a candidate to lose receiver snaps.

Davone Bess is not really a candidate to lose snaps. Although his yards per catch average is down from 10.3 last year to 8.8 this year, he be hella ballin' of late, with 13 catches for 169 yards (13.0 yards per catch) the last three games.

Bess is on pace to finish this year with more catches and more yards than he did last year. In that regard, he is alone on the Miami receiver corps.

So, my opinion which player gets fewer snaps Sunday? Both Ginn and Camarillo.

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The truth and spin about the Miami Dolphins

I try to read most of your comments. And one theme I'm noticing lately is how some of you feel disappointed when one of the coaches says something that is clearly, patently false or just a bunch of hooey.

Examples:

"Ernest Wilford is improving every day in practice," when everyone knows if he was improving he'd be playing.

"I don't have information on that yet," when discussing injuries that are already diagnosed and have a prognosis and the third person to find out that information (after the doctor/trainer and player) is usually the head coach.

"The right guard job is Shawn Murphy's to lose," when everyone knows the second Donald Thomas can put one foot in front of the other he's starting and Murphy is really not going to pan out in Miami.

"I thought Matt played really well," when Matt Roth plays his first game after being on the non-football injury list but is cut three weeks later for poor performance and other reasons.

"I like our receivers," when Miami's receivers don't often win one-on-one battles and are all flawed in one significant way or another.

The words don't always match the facts. Your eyes tell you one thing while the Miami coaching staff tells you something different.

Well, it happens because that is what the Dolphins staff feels it must do. When your team is as flawed, as filled with voids as the current Dolphins are, you cannot as a coach, fire a broadside into your own ship and add yet another hole. It would be dumb considering the coaching staff is on that ship.

So Tony Sparano and Dan Henning and Paul Pasqualoni tap dance. They try not to outright lie. But they cannot really tell you the whole truth about their Dolphins.

Some of you, and even some media, often forget this fact. You take what coaches say as gospel. It often is not. It often is spin.

"I've got people upstairs that I'm accountable to," Dolphins offensive coordinator Dan Henning explained Thursday. "And when I'm called in to be accountable to them, I explain it to them exactly like it is. They don't like to hear it all the time but that's the way I explain it.

"I can't do that with you and Tony can't do that with you [media]. Because if I explain to you that this is a liability for us and this is a plus for us, then pretty soon that gets written or somebody speaks it on the TV and then somebody on the other side [on other teams] writing that down says, 'Well, they won't do this because he thinks that's a problem,' that type of thing. Understand that from us. You guys know that. I don't have to explain that to you."

So understand, when you read quotes from Sparano or Henning or Pasqualoni that stretch credulity, don't think them unwise or fooled by their own team. Trust me, the Miami's coaches know they have talent problems. They know this team is a work-in-progress.

But what are they supposed to say? We stink like a sewer?

And that leads me to this:

The Dolphins offense and Dolphins defense stink like a sewer.

Naw, not really. But they are both very, very troubled.

The offense has scored 26 touchdowns in 11 games. That averages to 2.4 touchdowns per game. You know what team made the playoffs last year averaging 2.4 touchdowns per game? None.

And it's not just that the Dolphins struggle to score. It's how they score that is also troubling. In a league that is all about electric, dynamic offense, the Dolphins look like a team straight out of the 1970s. They plod along, slow and sometimes steady on 13-, 14-,15-play drives.

The "chunk" plays Sparano is always talking about? Wait until next year the earliest for them.

This year the Dolphins have scored three, count 'em, three touchdowns from outside the 20 yard line. Three!

Don't blame the running game for this fact. It's all about a terrible passing game. Fact is the Dolphins have eight running plays of 25-yards or more this season. The passing game has contributed the same number of plays of 25-yards or more. That, in a word, is horrible.

For context, consider that Miami's defense, not exactly a slice of swiss cheese, has yielded 26 pass plays of 25-yards or more.

About that defense. If it's the fourth quarter, Miami's D Fence more closely resembles a swinging gate. The Dolphins have yielded an NFL high 134 fourth-quarter points this year. Aside from being an NFL worst, it is already a franchise worst.

The 2007 Dolphins, the 1-15 debacle of a team, yielded 126 fourth-quarter points.

So this year's team has already surrendered more fourth-quarter points than the worst Miami team of all time. And there are still five games to play!

And what does Pasqualoni say when he's asked about that terrible, terrible fourth-quarter performance?

Hint: He's not saying, Phillip Merling isn't playing like a first-round pick, Joey Porter gets sacks only when he plays backup tackles, Channing Crowder isn't making any big plays, our young corners are going to be good some day but not yet, our safeties were out of synch the entire first half of the season, and our front seven is slow to the football.

Pasqualoni is saying: "We've been real good in the red zone. We've been real good, to me, it's field position as much as anything. Just so happens that some of that stuff has come up in the fourth quarter, but we've got to do a better job of finishing there's no question about that. And we've got to do a better job of just flat-out executing."

You didn't expect him to put another hole in the ship, did you?

Coordinators explain selves, decisions

The first question to offensive coordinator Dan Henning today was why he called a halfback pass out of the direct snap formation against Buffalo last Sunday. The question came today because Henning only talks on Thursdays and because the play was an utter disaster, having been intercepted when Ricky Williams was hit as he threw on the first-and-goal play.

"Amazing that would be the first question," Henning said. "Let me just say this, we had 23 times we've been inside the 10-yard line this year. Two of those times the clock was running out and we kicked a field goal on first down. So that makes it 21 where we had opportunities to make touchdowns. We made 18 touchdowns in those 21 times. That's No. 1 in the league by far.

"My job is to get the ball in the end zone when we get down there. I don't make excuses for how we do it. And if you look at the 18, you'll find out there are some other calls that you would be asking questions about had they not been successful. We had a fumble and we had an interception. We don't apologize but we lament like everyone else."

Henning was asked if he understands why fans and media are perplexed why he called that pass play when Williams has publicly said he doesn't like throwing the ball and the Dolphins were plowing the Bills on previous plays in the drive.

"Certainly, I do," Henning answered. "I wonder about it. I'd like to have every call that wasn't successful back. Can't do it. That's not the way this works. Sometimes the players bail you out on a bad call that they make a good play. Sometimes they don't make a good play on what you think is a good call.

"We have to be accountable for that. You guys don't. I can only tell you our job is to get it in the end zone. We've done a good job of that. We didn't get it in there, that's a bad job."

I asked Henning what was his mindset in calling the play. Was he trying to fool the Bills?

"My mindset is Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday night," Henning said. "I do all the second-guessing you guys do and I still make that call. Because I thought it was our best opportunity at that time for the overall picture, OK? We didn't score there, we come back on the next series, we went ahead 7-0.

"There's a lot of things that I know when you go home to dinner at night, you don't have to worry about. I have to worry about it. I can only tell you that''s our job to get it in there. When we played New England last time, I can tell you we were down there and ran two straight plays. Runs. And we got stuffed. And then there was a guy named Ronnie Brown, he slipped out of there and threw a toucdown pass. You know what I heard about that one? That was innovative.

"And believe me, Ronnie doesn't throw the ball any better than Ricky does in that area of the field."

Henning said the Dolphins practiced the play in question for three weeks and that it worked every time in practice. He did admit Williams was not rushed in those practices.

Henning also admitted Williams has told him he doesn't like throwing the football. Despite this, the offensive coordinator that always asks his quarterbacks to list their favorite and least plays -- so he can call the ones they like and avoid the ones they don't -- doesn't apply that logic to his running back.

"Now Ricky would tell you he doesn't like to throw the ball. But over time, with all due respect to my boy Ricky, and I love him, he can tell you a lot of things he doesn't like to do or he might like to do and you might not agree with any of them," Henning said."So we have to deal with all that also. We understand that."

Henning's 10-minute interview was not all centered around the Buffalo call. He made a little news by saying the Dolphins are going to start using rookie receiver Brian Hartline more as we go forward.

"Hartline is coming along," he said. "We haven't pushed him to the front as much. We probably will here in the near future. We like him. He's making plays. He seems to show up as much as Greg [Camarillo] showed up in training camp the first year we were here, albeit we know and he knows what his shortcomings are. But he's an accountable guy.

"Hartline isn't quite as accountable yet. He hasn't been through the ropes and once in a while he'll blow this or blow that. But he has the ability to make explosive plays and we do need to get him the ball more."

The press conference with defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni was not quite so touchy. But I did ask who was responsible for losing leverage and letting Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick pop wide and down the sideline for a 31-yard TD.

"Everybody," Pasqualoni answered. "Thats everybody's job. That run there is 31 yards. And the shame of it is, if we keep the leverage there, he's probably going to get sacked because nobody blocked the right end who forced him to his right our left, anyway.

"The guys up  front are responsible for it and they got to keep [the quarterback] inside. And we have to react in the back end and not give him a 31-yard run. We have to tackle him and get ready to play red zone defense. So it's just a matter of proper execution. That's all it is."

Jake Grove out vs. Patriots, possibly longer

Center Jake Grove will miss Sunday's game between the Dolphins and Patriots, barring a sudden and unexpected recovery from a high ankle sprain and tibia injury, a club source said Thursday.

It is also possible Grove, who already missed a start against Buffalo last week after suffering the injury against Carolina the week before, will miss time beyond Sunday. Although the Dolphins have opted not to place Grove on the injured reserve list, the worst-case scenario is he could be out through the end of the season.

The club is hopeful it will not come to that. But a high ankle sprain typically takes four to six weeks to heal depending on its severity. Grove has already been out two weeks because the injury happened during a Thursday night game on Nov. 18.  

Some players are able to get back on the field quicker due, in part, to their tolerance for pain and the positions they play. A center is more likely to be able to play with the injury than a player who has to perform in space. So that is a plus.

The tibia injury, however, complicates matters in weighing recovery time.  

With Grove out, the Dolphins are expected to continue starting Joe Berger at center. Berger started in Grove's place against the Bills.

“I thought Joe Berger played very well yesterday, I really did," coach Tony Sparano said Monday when asked to assess Berger's performance. "Really pleased with what he did."

Grove did not practice at all last week and did not practice Wednesday when the Dolphins began preparations for the Patriots. Sparano was asked about the center's condition and responded, “Did not practice today, getting a little bit better."

Not having Grove hurts the Dolphins because he was signed as an unrestricted free agent, in part, because he played well last season for the Oakland Raiders against AFC East nose tackles. The Dolphins were said to be particularly impressed with his performance against Kris Jenkins of the New York Jets.

New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork is one of the most versatile players on the Patriots front line and is perhaps the team's best run-stopper.

Grove's injury is a setback and a disappointment because he came to the Dolphins to upgrade the running game. The Dolphins signed Grove to a five-year, $29.5 million contract that includes $14.5 million in guaranteed money.

But Grove also came to Miami with a reputation for being injured. He missed six games because of injuries in 2005. He missed nine games in 2007. He missed four games in 2008. The only season in which Grove did not miss any games came in 2006 when he started all 16 for Oakland.

What does Jason Taylor really want?

Several media outlets serving the greater Boston area this evening reporting that Jason Taylor is open to joining the Patriots for the 2010 season.

If you read this blog daily, you know I've reported that Taylor wants to return to the Dolphins in 2010.

So what gives?

Well, let's handle the Pats idea first. Taylor was on a conference call with Boston media and was asked if he might revist the idea of signing with the Patriots when his deal with the Dolphins is over.

"We’ll see after the season's over," Taylor responded. "I know my deal ends at the end of the year. We’ll reevaluate where we’re at at the end of the year, what the teams want to do and take it from there. You never close off any of your options, you don’t burn any bridges and you always keep an open mind."

So Taylor isn't slamming the door shut on New England. What do you expect him to say? He is not the type to alienate anyone, least of all an organization he respects led by a coach and owner he respects and quarterbacked by friend Tom Brady.

Taylor also has received no guarantees from the Dolphins that they want him back after 2009 as those conversations won't begin until after the season.

But ...

Make no mistake: Given the choice, Taylor will pick Miami over New England practically every time, I'm told. It's not that he has any personnel disagreement with playing for New England. It's just that, barring a change in Taylor's domestic life, he wants to be close to his family and his home.

And his family and his home are in South Florida. Simple.

Taylor did tell the Boston media he has no regrets not going to New England even though the Pats were courting him with inviting quotes from the owner and phone calls from head coach Bill Belichick to Taylor's agent.

"No regrets. I have no regrets," Taylor said. "I’m here in Miami. I’m happy. I’m home. Obviously, it meant a lot to me that coach Belichick, Mr. Kraft and the organization would have me, [but] it was meant for me to be here and I will leave it at that."

If the Dolphins will have Taylor back next season, at age 36, Taylor will want to come back. If not, he has obviously left himself a viable option, which obviously is good business even if it causes Miami fans to question (wrongly, I believe) his loyalty.

The doings for the Dolphins as NE prep begins

The Dolphins are preparing for the Patriots today and that preparation included some interesting nuggets.

Coach Tony Sparano told his team that following a fourth-quarter meltdown at Buffalo, they were going to work on a fourth-quarter period in practice today. And during that period the coach wanted to see every play run right.

And so if a play wasn't run right, practice reverted back to the play and it was run until it was done right. That, by the way, usually does not happen.

"The message was that we have lights out there," Sparano said. "Whatever it took for us to get it right, we were going to get it right. And every player in that locker room was on board for that. Those guys are anxious to get it right. They really are. But to be honest with you, practice ran over about six minutes."

The Dolphins practiced for two hours and 35 minutes, according to Sparano.

As I reported to my twitter followers, center Jake Grove didn't practice today. Sparano said he's "getting a little bit better," as he nurses his ankle injury, but still didn't work. Joe Berger worked with the first-team offensive line at center.

It's a big week for Berger. He faces New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork, one of the most dominant NTs in the NFL. If you remember, the Patriots moved Wilfork to DE throughout the game against Miami Nov. 8.

That hasn't been the case since. 

"It really hasn't shown up since our game," Sparano said. "It's hasn't shown up. Two plays since our game, that move has shown up. I don't know why they did it since our game. I don't know if it was matchup or tendency of runs, those kind of things. I have my hunches, but I'll keep my hunches to myself."

Good natured, fun-loving dude Joey Porter talked to the media gaggle for a few minutes today. He didn't really say anything interesting about the Patriots, which is probably wise considering he fired that team up before the last meeting by saying they "cheated" him out of a Super Bowl trophy and that Tom Brady could force officials to call penalties at will.

He wasn't asked about that today, but The Herald's David J. Neal asked Porter if it's tough being athlete today in the fishbowl of twitter and facebook and cell phone cameras with the Tiger Woods scandal as the obvious backdrop.

And so Porter bit at that like a Great White on a defenseless tuna.

"It is what it is. It depends how far ya'll want to dig for a story," he told the gathered reporters. "Ya'll can dig as deep as you want to. It depends on what ya'll want to put out there. The athletes haven't changed. The access to athletes has changed. So I think we made ourselves too accessible to you.

"And at the end of the day it backfires on the athletes. We don't get to write a story about ya'll. The secrets, the stuff ya'll trying to keep away from other people and stuff like that, they don't write that story about sports writers. But athletes make that mistake, everybody wants to write about it. That's how it happens. Ya'll get to put all the stuff you do bad out there. Nobody put out the stuff everybody else do bad out there. So it's a one-way street. That's how it always been. If we don't give you nothing to write about, you can't write about it. That's how it go."

I'm going to miss Porter next year.

The injury report just came out. The Patriots have 22, count 'em, 22 guys on the report. Only one of those players -- running back Fred Taylor -- did not practice. He has an ankle injury. The Dolphins listed four players on their injury report. Aside from Grove missing, DE Lionel Dotson was limited with an ankle injury, while SS Yeremiah Bell (thumb) and RB Ricky Williams (chest) were able to practice full.

Final word that might be interesting only to me: After ripping his team for looking like a "3-7" unit during the fourth quarter of Sunday's Buffalo loss, Sparano was doing a little rehabilitation of his troops today. He made the point his team is 4-1 in games decided by seven points or less. He also noted the Patriots are 2-3 in those games. 

Miami Dolphins personnel dept. good not great

One of my twitter followers (which you should join, by the way) asked me Tuesday afternoon what order of responsibility I would assign to Miami's current struggles. OK, let me be more honest: He asked who I blame for Miami's problems this season.

Well, with the Dolphins the responsibility (blame or credit) for a season's performance goes to the players, who must execute, the coaches, who must develop players and put them in a position to succeed, and the personnel department, who delivers the players to the coaches.

This blog usually focuses on the players and coaches.

Today we focus on the personnel department.

And that personnel department is pretty much the kingdom of Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland -- The Big Tuna and the Tuna Helper, as I sometimes amuse myself designating them. (I'll stop if one ever asks me to.)

The overall grade of the personnel department since March of 2008 has to be considered a B-minus as of today. That department took a 1-15 team and cleaned a very dirty house. I believe the accurate percentage of player turnover has been in the 75 percent range as only 16 players that were on the team before the current regime arrived are still on the team. That figure includes players on injured reserve.

The grade can and will change as this season's final month unfolds, but the point is the personnel department has done relatively well.

But great? Wonderful? Amazing?

Not really.

Quick, which player did this personnel department sign, draft or trade for that has been a game-defining player? Yeah, nobody. 

Jake Long might be an excellent player for the next decade but you're supposed to get that and more when you get the first pick of the draft. And Long doesn't change the game or force opponents to scheme and game plan for him. He's a foundational role player.

The point is we cannot name one player that we know will be a superstar for the Dolphins in the coming years. You hope Chad Henne might be that player. But there are almost as many reasons to doubt he can be that guy as there are reasons to believe he will be.

We hope Vontae Davis or Sean Smith become lockdown cornerbacks in the coming years and become perhaps the best CB combo in the NFL. But they're not there yet. Not even close. And so we can give the personnel department kudos for picking two starters, but no credit (yet) for finding greatness.

Cameron Wake has potential. But he is a project that might take another couple of years. Lousaka Polite is a fine player at fullback but he is a role player, not a star.

Anyone else on that roster that might be getting Pro Bowl consideration in the coming weeks or seasons?

Anyone?

We hope Phillip Merling goes there, but frankly, he's kind of a disappointment in that he didn't pick up this year where he left off last season and then rise from there. Kendall Langford is good enough to start, but not great. Randy Starks is a nice player, but he's not going to the Pro Bowl, folks.

The rest of that highly paid $156 million offensive line? Not a Pro Bowl player on there despite high hopes for the future of Donald Thomas. Again, good stuff, but no greatness yet.

The fact is the personnel department has hit on a ton C and B players. But the A and A-plus guys have yet to show themselves.

Miami's personnel department has also missed some as well, and that, of course, lowers the overall grade.

The personnel department's biggest and most obvious mistake is in its failing to find a playmaker for the offense. Here we are in Year 2 of Parcells and Ireland and we are relying on Ricky Williams to carry the offense.

Ricky Williams!

The guy was carrying the offense in 2002. So Parcells and Ireland are threatening to fall into the same abyss that swallowed Dave Wannstedt and Nick Saban and Cam Cameron in that none added two or three offensive players that turned Williams into a role player. Saban almost did it by drafting Ronnie Brown, but even he complained in 2006 that one reason the Dolphins finished 6-10 was that his best weapon was not available as Williams was suspended for the season.

Cameron wanted to get rid of Williams because he disliked everything Williams represented, but even he found himself needing Williams.

And now these Dolphins need Williams. Too much. The truth is today's Dolphins have no real hope of winning games if the 32-year-old running back doesn't play great. That Miami finds itself in this unseemly situation is ... is ... really bad personnel work.

The personnel department has yet to find a star wide receiver. The Dolphins weren't interested in Terrell Owens, didn't trade for Braylon Edwards, didn't draft Hakeem Nicks, and now Miami has no receiver that is an appreciable threat to defenses. The team did draft Brian Hartline and Patrick Turner. Hartline has been OK as a rookie, while Turner cannot get on the field.

The personnel department blew it on Ernest Wilford. That's all I got to say about that.

The personnel department was looking for an upgrade at free safety this year and paid Gibril Wilson $27.5 million to be that guy. The New Orleans Saints, meanwhile, paid Darren Sharper $1.7 million for one year. Which of the two players has taken over games this season? By the way, it was a personnel decision to let Renaldo Hill go to Denver. He also has played better than Wilson.

No personnel department is flawless. Miami's is not. But the outstanding personnel departments cover a multitude of misses by adding one game-changing player a year or two. Look at Minnesota, who has added Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen and Brett Favre the last three years.

No, they didn't draft two of those players. So what? All three are key reasons the Vikings are playing exceedingly well now.

The Colts do it through the draft, but they seem to get production from their rookies almost immediately. Look up WR Austin Collie's numbers. Look at what rookie CB Jerraud Powers is doing as a starter. And I'm not even mentioning Donald Brown, who we last saw plowing over Gibril Wilson en route to a TD at Land Shark Stadium.

The point here is the Miami personnel department is in great hands with Parcells and Ireland. They've done a good job. But you cannot honestly say they've done a great job until we see some great players on the field. We cannot say they've done a great job until we see a team that's better than 5-6.

Dolphins Pro Bowl player? Jake Long

Only three weeks remain in the fans voting for the Pro Bowl and while Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning leads all vote-getters with 853,565, there is one Dolphins player leading all other players at his position with the most votes.

Jake Long is the AFC's leading vote-getter at tackle. He has 169,801 votes as of this writing.

Long, in his second season as Miami's left tackle, is the only Dolphins player leading in votes at his position. Frankly, the only other Miami player I can fathom having any chance to make the Pro Bowl might be Ricky Williams if he continues the three-game, 100-yard-per-game string he's currently on until season's end.

Fans can vote for their Pro Bowl choices at NFL.com and can do so for another three weeks. The NFL combines the votes from fans, coaches and players to determine their Pro Bowl teams. The Pro Bowl this year will be played in my town on Jan. 31, 2010.

The voting, of course, says nothing about whether Long truly deserves a Pro Bowl berth or not. The voting is subjective. The fact is Long has played well of late if one discounts the fact he is the second-most penalized player on the Dolphins offensive line this season.

So, yes, it would be nice if the hometown team could manage at least one representative to the game.

Dolphins defense needs new approach vs. Pats

Just watched the New Orleans Saints demolish the New England Patriots. It was such a thorough whipping of the AFC East leaders that coach Bill Belichick pulled his starting offense out of the game with 5:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Belichick, by the way, has the look of a coach in his final season at New England. That is just my instinct and not anything I am reporting -- just a feel.

Anyway, the point here is how the Saints were able to so dominate the Patriots on both sides of the ball, but particularly on defense.

The Saints made Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and the rest of the Patriots offense seem ordinary. And New Orleans did it while playing a rookie cornerback (Michael Jenkins) and two vets signed off the street within the last couple of weeks (Mike McKenzie and Chris McAlister).

"It's pretty amazing those guys weren't part of our team two weeks ago," New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees said. "The fact they got out there and contributed as much as they did, it's pretty amazing considering we do some pretty complicated things on defense."

Amazing, indeed, in that Brady was intercepted twice and left the Big Easy with a terrible 55.0 QB rating.

"They did what they do," Belichick said of the New Orleans defense. "They played zone. They double-covered. They rushed. They played man."

The Saints did it all and this is where I'm hoping Dolphins defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni stayed up past his bedtime watching the game.

In Miami's 27-17 loss to New England on Nov. 8, the Dolphins came after Brady and put their cornerbacks in man-coverage on practically every play. It was the blueprint borrowed from the New York Giants' Super Bowl victory over New England.

That plan failed the Dolphins the first game -- in part because they don't have the personnel the Giants had two seasons ago. Well, the Miami defense needs to protect its corners on Sunday as much as the Saints had to Monday night. The Dolphins need to diffuse the Moss big-play threat as much as New Orleans did. The Dolphins need to frustrate Brady as much as New Orleans did.

So why wouldn't the Dolphins try to confuse Brady? Why wouldn't they try to protect their two rookie corners with some zone and double-coverage as well as some man? Why wouldn't the Dolphins come with six-man rushes followed by three-man rushes and eight-man coverage?

Why wouldn't the Dolphins do the unexpected rather than what they have been doing practically all year long?

The truth of the matter is Pasqualoni's defense has been a disappointment so far this season. It has allowed a whopping 275 points this year, which averages out to 25 points per game. Miami is 26th in the NFL in scoring defense, and considering points are what determine the outcome of games, that's an important and distressing statistic.

It is a statistic that has fans quite unhappy with Pasqualoni because the Dolphins have devoted many resources to making the defense a good one since Bill Parcells took over the football decisions in 2008.

The Dolphins have drafted seven defensive players the past two years -- including first-rounder Vontae Davis in 2009 and what-should-be-considered-a-first-rounder (32nd overall) Phillip Merling in 2008. Three defensive players were added via trades and six more players were signed as unrestricted free agents.

That's 17 players the new regime has added to play defense. And they are giving up 25 points per game compared to 27.3 points per game in 2007 under Cam Cameron and 17.6 points per game in 2006 under Nick Saban.

So yeah, doing something different vs. New England might be a good idea for Pasqualoni.

Dolphins coaching was a problem versus Bill

There are complaints aplenty about the Miami Dolphins today.

Some of them come from fans, as blogs, message boards and radio call-in shows will be loaded today with complaints about play-calling and coaching.

Some of the complaints come from Miami's locker room and coaching staff. That's the one I decided to focus on for my column in the Miami Herald Monday. Players and coaches alike looked at their fourth-quarter collapse against the Bills, a collapse which turned a 14-7 lead into a 31-14 loss, and everyone agreed the Dolphins have a problem finishing.

The Dolphins are perhaps the NFL's worst team at finishing games. They've blown games against Indianapolis, New Orleans, and the Bills in the final stanza this year. They also got outplayed by San Diego in the fourth quarter of that game.

Read the column and answer the following question: How does a team that cannot finish games, expect to successfully finish the season?

As to matters not in the column:

The coaching by the Dolphins staff was horrible on Sunday. I have great respect for the Miami coaching staff because I believe they often get the most production out of some limited talent. But this blowout upset loss was different.

This was embarrassing.

The facts are the Dolphins were facing an inferior team on Sunday. The Buffalo starting cornerbacks of Leodis McKelvin and Terrence McGee did not play on Sunday. The Buffalo offensive line was missing two starters and had another dude playing out of position. The Buffalo head coach is a rookie. And Ryan Fitzpatrick from Harvard? Really?

The Bills had nothing to play for but pride while the Dolphins' season was on the line.

Then one has to understand the Dolphins had 10 days to prepare for this game.

And the Bills still won?

"We've got 10 days to prepare and I didn't do a good enough job obviously preparing them," coach Tony Sparano said. "I've got to do a better job."

Sparano, the former play-caller for Bill Parcells in Dallas, has to do a better job of riding herd over offensive coordinator Dan Henning. Henning, who has forgotten more football than most people will ever know, is normally a fine offensive coordinator.

Sunday was not one of those occassions.

Consider that on Miami's first possession the Dolphins moved from their own 45 yard line to the Buffalo 3. Chad Henne completed a 15-yard pass. Ricky Williams ran for 11, then 7, then six, then 5 yards. The Bills were on their heels.

And then on first-and-goal, Henning got cute by calling a halfback pass for a player that hasn't thrown a pass since 2000.

Interception.

Momentum lost.

"Yeah, you know, I got the ball and Joey Haynos was supposed to block the outside linebacker and then go, and I saw him, and I just didn't put enough arch on the ball and it was picked off by the backside linebacker," Williams said.

But why call the play at that point? I can understand if the Dolphins weren't running well? But they were rolling. Not smart. They used their best runner to throw, thereby not using their best runner's or best passer's greatest assets. Not smart. 

Sparano relegated the criticism of the play-call to "Monday Morning quarterbacking" and said the problem with the play was in its execution. It sounded like a coach who would prefer to blame a player than another coach for a play's failure.

There were other head-scratching offensive calls also.

In the second quarter the Dolphins took a 7-0 lead and then stopped the Bills on a three-and-out. Then the Dolphins complete a pass for 11 yards, Williams runs for 6 yards, Williams runs for 5 yards. And then Henning gets cute again.

He calls an end-around to Ginn on first down. It loses 4 yards. And you know what? The Dolphins make 11 yards on the next two plays but have to punt because they needed 14 yards for a first thanks to that reverse, So that reverse to Ginn costs the Dolphins a chance to keep driving.

The Bills then get the ball and tie the game at 7-7 on their next possession.

Finally, can I ask about continuing to force the issue with Pat White? He is neither one of the team's better runners nor it's best passer. And yet he continues to get plays at strange moments when Miami runs its spread option.

White ran once for 2 yards on Sunday. When did that first taste of action come?

In the fourth quarter. Right after Buffalo took a 17-14 lead. What changed at that point that didn't happen in the three previous quarters when Miami was winning? What was the freakin' point?

The defensive coaching staff doesn't get a pass here, either.

We all recognize the Dolphins are starting two rookie cornerbacks. We recognize they are talented. And we recognize they are capable. But why put them in one-on-one coverage a large majority of the game, every game?

Hello? Other teams watch tape, also ...

It is begging for a game-changing TD. And the Dolphins got exactly what they were begging for when Terrell Owens caught a 51-yard TD pass over Vontae Davis in the fourth quarter. Fitzpatrick said he recognized the coverage pre-snap and called an audible.

Dagger to the heart.

One more thing: We keep hearing how Cameron Wake cannot get into games more because he is a work-in-progress as a run-defender.

Well, how long does it take to coach up a player to defend the edge of the defense? We're 11 games into the season and Wake's still not ready to tackle somebody running wide?

And if Wake isn't, what makes coaches think Joey Porter is ready? Porter blew edge run assignments time after time on Sunday. Yes, he had a couple of sacks against reserve tackles. But that was Porter blowing the run defense against Fitzpatrick as the Ivy League QB set off on a 31-yard TD run.

So the young player can't be taught to defend the run 11 games into a season and the veteran can't be reminded to keep his assignment discipline? Yes, the players have a responsibility to get this done. But the coaches have an equal responsibility to make sure those players do their job or take a seat on the bench.

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