Ravens beat the Dolphins then improved

In the week leading up to the Jets victory, I made the point that the boys from Gotham would be surprised if they expected to see the same Dolphins they defeated in the regular-season opener. The December Dolphins, I argued, had become a far superior team.

Well, this week the Dolphins face the Baltimore Ravens, a team they lost to 27-13 on October 19. And unfortunately for Miami, the Ravens they play in the wild card round of the playoffs Sunday are a far superior team than they were two months ago.

The Ravens came to that first game on a three-game losing skid and searching for an identity and a direction. They come to Sunday's game as winners of five of their last six games and nine of 11 overall. They've gotten better, folks.

When the teams first met, Baltimore rookie quarterback Joe Flacco entered the game with only five games of NFL experience. He had one touchdown and seven interceptions to show for those five outings. But Flacco played well against the Dolphins despite his Big Bird looks.

And he's gotten better ever since. He's thrown six touchdowns and three interceptions in his last six games and that includes a meltdown game against Pittsburgh (Pitt has a good defense) in which he threw two interceptions without a touchdown.

So that's not great news for Miami.

The Ravens have found a solid running combination in Le'Ron McClain and Willis McGahee since that October game. Ray Rice is there also and contributes.

And on that defense that is the lifeblood of Baltimore's playoff life, there has been a drastic tightening against the pass. When the Ravens last came to South Florida, their cornerbacks were troubled. Chris McAlister did not play and the Dolphins exploited the void.

But in Week 7, the Ravens inserted Fabian Washington, a former first-round pick in Oakland, and he has solidified the left cornerback spot. Suddenly that gaping hole in the Baltimore secondary is not there anymore.

So the Ravens are better than they were that indian summer Sunday in October.

Sure, the Dolphins also are better than they were then. But I would tell you Baltimore's leap has been just as significant. If not more.

Oh, about that game that was played in October ... Here are some factoids from the Miami loss that may interest only me: 

The Dolphins used the wildcat formation 5 times, all of them rushes. They gained four yards, which delivered a depressing .8 yards per rush.

The tale of the third down play was an interesting one: The Dolphins converted 5 of 13 attempts against the Ravens vaunted defense for a 38.5 percent success rate. That was, believe it or not, higher than the 37 percent success rate Miami averaged the entire season.

The Ravens offense, meanwhile, converted 6 of 13 third down plays against Miami's defense for a 46.2 percent success rate. That was well higher than the 37.8 percent success the Dolphins allowed throughout the season.

The Dolphins forced and recovered one fumble, that by McGahee. The Ravens had one interception by Terrell Suggs which he returned for a touchdown.

The Dolphins have outscored their opponents 82-62 in the fourth quarter this season. The Ravens outscored the Dolphins 7-0 in the fourth quarter in October.

One major difference for the Dolphins this week should be found right in the middle of the defensive line. Jason Ferguson missed that first game with an injury. Then Paul Soliai was suspended for breaking unspecified team rules. So it was Randy Starks at nose tackle most of that day -- a position he played without working there during the week.

Comments

TO BILL:YOU SHOULD CHARGE EVERY TEAM YOU FIX 7PERCENT OF VALUE OF THE TEAM .PEOPLE REMEMBER WHAT BILL PARCELL DID TO LIFT THE COWBOYS AND NEW ENGLAND FROM DEATH TO WHAT THEY HAVE BECOME TODAY.

[RR]

It's going to be a tough game down to the wire.
The 12th man will make the difference.

CALLING OUT ALL DOLPHIN FANS GOING TO THE GAME. MAKE IT LOUD. !!!!!! MAKE IT LOUD !!!!!!

See you there.

RR

CALLING OUT ALL RAVENS FANS GOING TO THE GAME. MAKE IT LOUD. !!!!!! MAKE IT LOUD !!!!!!

Baltimore: 47
Dolphins: 3

[RayRay52PooOnYou(The artist formerly known as Flacco TBIYM)]

Jon- You may not like hearing it, but Pennington doesn't have that strong of an arm. At least not as compared to pre-shoulder injury days. Its a simple fact. The guy has had surgery twice on it. He's still a serviceable QB, no doubt, and I actually like his play. I think he's a tough SOB and gritty. Gotta give him that. If we were in need of a QB, I wouldn't mind having him.

But its a fact that his arm isn't what it used to be. Don't need an anaylyst to tell me that. There's a reason the last few offenses he's played in have been tailored to the short pass. And at the VERY LEAST, if we're doing a head-to-head comparison, Flacco's arm is stronger. You guys don't know it yet because of your limited time seeing him play, but you'll have a better idea after the dust settles on Sunday. Let Clayton get behind your DBs and.....yeah, you're toast.

Record is irrelevant too. We had McNair two season ago, a man with a bad case of noodle arm himself, and we went 13-3. Record means exactly squat.

--------------------------------------

NYScott- Not a Jets fan, I pretty much hate all things NY. Not "dolphan4life", though if he comes on here and talks sh!t to all of you losers, I'd like to shake his hand.

And karma, shmarma. Two of my buddies up here in MD are Dolphins fans, and I'm already hearing even more preposterous cr@p from their mouths than from the morons posting here. So you've got plenty of bad vibes going on up here yourself, buddy.

Also, some "weird, pathetic" Dolphins fans....err, I mean f@gs....have been posting stuff up here in plenty of places. I guess mommy must be extending computer play time down there for you guys.

[Jon]

that's not right

DOLPHINS:33 BALTIMORE:0

[Jon]

more like it

[Willi Chirino]

This is a pretty good breakdown, Armando. I cannot disagree with any of it. Of course all the bandwagon Dolphins lovers want to only hear that their tream is going to win the Super Bowl, even though they didn't pay attention to the team until last week.

What hypocrites. If you guys just discovered the Dolphins and this blog and you don't like the truth, go F UCK yourselves.

[RR]

Yeah Baltimore fans make it loud! All 10 of you that are going to the game.

LMAO

RR

[Finheavenblows!]

I read Aiya's post. I want those wasted three seconds back.

DOLPHINS:13 HOME EARLY BALTIMORE:38 SUPER BOWL CHAMP

DOLPHINS:6 BALTIMORE:23 POSTED BY:MEAT BALL

[Pat]

The Ravens are a better team, no doubt, but you certainly downplay the strides Miami made. They are much better, much much different team than they were in week 7. This will be a tough game, no doubt about it, but the Dolphins have found ways to win without depending on the Wildcat as the did in the Week 7 loss. Sure, they may have only run the formation five times, but the Wildcat wasn't run effectively and therefor cost any chance of hard football to open up. Since then, they've found that the Wildcat isn't the only way to win. It's a great compliment and a good surprise when they do run it, but it's not play one-and-only like it was when the Ravens came to town. They will see a different Dolphins team and hopefully our Dolphins can make it to round two.

Go Baltimore.......................................Round towo

Dolphins Sucks

[go phins]

hey will chirino go back on the banana boat you came in on and f uk you too.

[go phins]

if dolphin fans believed everything somebody wrote was the truth we would be 5-11 and in last place you moron.

[Account Deleted]

I'm with Willi on that one. Where were all of these "fans" all season? Way to jump on the band wagon after it's full. You idiots are going to have to ride in the back because the people who have been here all year have the front seats. And don't be pulling the chord to get off if we lose this weekend, we'll kindly throw you out of the window as we do not have time to stop. The draft will be right around the corner and the team will still have work to do. As usual the real fans will be there for all of it showing our support!

Dolphins going To Vacation Soon.BALTIMORE TO SUPER BOWL.

[go phins]

dolphins going to vacation? can you say e-bonics dolphin4life or cuban menace jets suk and they are out get over it.

[phinneas]

They are both 11-5 and miami has the home field advantage anything could happen. I don't see us losing again after the Patriot game. That one lit a fuse under Miami and the players believe now...for real. I see the stop of the Ravens run game is key to the game. With Ferguson back in the lineup I think we will do much better. If we do that and contain Flacco and don't allow the big play we will win this game Miami's way in Miami. Very good matchup probably going to be the best game outta the wildcard

I am a new Dolphins fan and I deserve to be in the front row. At least I didnt suffer like all of you dumb old fans. I just started to cheer for the Dolphins once the Tuna showed off.

I also have the third row seat at the Baltimore game! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
all you old fans go eat sausage sandwiches``

by: ????????

[Willi Chirino]

hey go phins you can go eat s hit! I was born in Miami, Florida. I have not one, not two, but three college degrees. I own my own business, two houses, three cars and a pair of Dolphins season tickets. Oh, and that banana boat you talked about is really my 42-foot Sundancer you effing bigot retard.

[Jon]

I can say I have 3 degrees and a boat and own 3 businesses when I'm blogging as well.

haha

[cRUZ]

can someone please send Flacco some tweezers or some clippers or something. hes gonna have to trim that uni-brow to be able to look up field.

they should put porter and ray lewis to fight in half time. ill pay 3 times what my playoff tickets cost to see that.

[Willi Chirino]

One more thing: If I want to, I can spend my entire day on this blog and the boss won't mind because I'm my own boss!

So get back to work (assuming you have a job) go phins because your break at McDonald's is over now.

[cRUZ]

yo0o can we stop the dolfan on dolfan crime.

c'mon Porter make Flacco Your BIZZATCH

[Jon]

yea lets not let these Raven fans and bandwagon fans get between us.

go phins, all that matters is what happens Sunday.

[cRUZ]

there is no comparison.

Flacco threw for 700 yards less than Chad p.

He threw 5 fewer touchdowns than Chad P.

and had 5 More Ints.

[Jon]

nice stats Cruz.

Yards and TD's are big, but fewest turnovers is huge.

That's why we are in every game we play

[cRUZ]

O wait and then there are the intangibles like experience and intelligence.

To Willi And Phinneas:Please Can Both Of You Write Your Favorite Meat Ball Recipe............................................Dolphins:3 Baltimore:33

[go phins]

hey willie chirino you are so full of shyt you knew to cover your bullshyt by saying you are your own boss because you knew everbody was going to say if you have all these businesses when your f 'n.this blog all day

[nyfinfan]

All this name calling is pathetic. Hey Mando, you seem to think that the big bad Ravens are going to keep the Dolphins from coming out of the locker room. Btw, this week reminds me of a playoff game a long time ago against KC where they had The Nigerian Nightmare and a good defense and they would pound us into submission, blah, blah, blah. I seem to remember Steve DeBerg leading us down field at the end and we won by a field goal. This smells like a field goal game either way.

WHERE IS THE MEAT BALL RECIPE////////.,;L;'';

[go phins]

willie now get out of your mommy's basement and go get a job.mcdonald's is accepting applications you bullshyter.3 degrees,a yacht ,company's.houses but your on this blog all day ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha what aloser go back on the banana boat

CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHO IS GOING TO VACATION NEXT WEEK.ITHINKE DOLPHINS WILL LOSE BIG .POSTED BY:ARMANDO

[go phins]

septic tank cleaning,pest extermination do not qualify as fortune 500 companies willie get a job

[Nathaniel Dodsworth]

NYFINFAN, you've mistaken the 1993 season in which Steve DeBerg played for the Dolphins with the 1991 playoff game (1990 regular season) in which the Dolphins defeated the Chiefs when Nick Lowery was short on a field goal at the end of the game. DeBerg was quarterbacking the Chiefs that game. Our QB was Marino. Our halfback was SAMMIE SMITH! THE MOST DISAPPOINTING RUNNING BACK WE'VE EVER HAD! HE TOOK LONGER TO HIT THE HOLE THAN ARMANDO TAKES TO GET TO THE POINT! DON'T GET ME STARTED ON SAMMIE SMITH!

I think the Dolphins won that game 17-16, something like that. They were down 16-3 in the 4th and Marino drove them for 2 TDs. I also remember Stoyanovich hitting a really long FG that day - 57 yards?

[Nathaniel Dodsworth]

While it's true that Armando sucks, I guarantee you he never spelled "always" as "allways."

Irving Berlin wrote a great song entitled "Always."

I'll be loving you always ...

[Castro]

go back on the banana boat

NYFINFAN:JULIO ARMANDO NOT NICK LOWERY WHO WAS SHORT ON THE FIELD GOAL IN 1991.BY THE WAY DAN MARINO WSA OVER RATED.POSTED BY ARMANDO

[Ted Ginn]

I own the Cuban Menace

[go phins]

willie chirino has season tickets,yet he posts on this blog during home games ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha i can't take this any more what a bullshyter.o yeah i saw willie on the lifestyles of the rich and lame

[cRUZ]

NYFINFAN:JULIO ARMANDO NOT NICK LOWERY WHO WAS SHORT ON THE FIELD GOAL IN 1991.BY THE WAY DAN MARINO WSA OVER RATED.POSTED BY ARMANDO....................

You see the line above the email. when you try to post a comment thats the place you put your name.

that way you dont have to write POSETED BY: cRUZ

[cRUZ]

posted*

[go phins]

that post was not me

Willi Chirino is Armando's son hahaha

[go phins]

willie has a b.s. degree lol enough with that bullshyter he was exposed .lets talk dolpnins

BALTIMORE:43......................................DOLPHINS:12 POSTED BY LISA

[KW]

Ravens 31 Dolphins 6

Dolphins:-6 Baltimore:44 chad= 5 intercpation BY LISA

[KW]

Common opponents
Houston 29 Dolphins 28
Dolphins 17 Oakland 15
Ravens 27 Dolphins 13
Ravens 29 Oakland 10
Ravens 41 Houston 13
I don't know?

[cRUZ]

Dolphins:-6 Baltimore:44 chad= 5 intercpation BY LISA

--and then you woke up right--???? they must supply some hig quality green stuff in baltimore

IWANT GOOD MEAT BALL RECIPE ANY ONE. PLEASE TELL BY HOW MUCH DOLPHINS WILL LOSE BY.POSTED BY BACALA

[CHASE]

Has anyone see how nfl.com voted for comeback player of the year? Not one of them voted for Chad Pennington. Two of them took Antonio Bryant and two for Jake Delhomme. But atleast one took Ronnie Brown......

Chad Pennington Super Ball Mvp Posted By mario

[Tim]

Someone in this incredible string of messages commented "... there are Raven fans out there?'
This coming from a city with 25000 tickets available for sale to see the Dolphins? You wouldn't have that up here for the Ravens regular season or otherwise.

Secondly questioning the Ravens losses to quality teams, the Ravens lost to the Titans by 3. The Steelers by 3 and 4 in three losses. Was the Out of Division Schedule by the Dolphins this year NOT the NFC and AFC West ?? The two worst divisions in the NFL. That is 8 out of 16 games against the weaklings of the league !!
Before you talk about anyones schedule, you might be careful to not shove your foot in your mouth.

[heirshouse]

All you Raven fans...keep posting smack..just be man (or woman) enough to post your apologies later on Sunday nite! The Dolphins are a team of destiny and will not be denied. the Ravens might have more talent, but no team..repeat NO TEAM in the playoffs plays with more heart than the Fins..and no team in the playoffs is a more complete TEAM than the Fins. No part of their game is played poorly and everything (offense, defense, special teams)is above average to very good. we will win Sunday...it's meant to be...
the football Gods owe us after so many years of patience.

Does anyone remember the name of that long,chicken necked running back for the Chiefs that Bryan Cox clotheslined and ended his career? Harvey something?