Live blog of Dolphins season opener right here

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Thank you, God. The 2010 NFL regular-season has arrived and so here we are. [I missed the 2009 season opener due to the passing of my mom. I'm thankful to be here today!]

First, let me tell you there will be a live blog here today.

Secondly, you might hear that there is uncertainty on the Dolphins part about the preseason that rookie Koa Misi had. Nonsense. It is true Misi may not start today. It is true Ikaika Alama-Francis will start today.

You know who will determine that?

The Buffalo Bills.

If the Bills come out in a run-package, Alama-Francis will get the call. If the Bills have pass-first personnel in the game, Misi will start. Either way, both will play a lot today.

It is no small accomplishment what Misi has done this preseason. He has gone for a down-lineman in college to a standup 3-4 outside linebacker. If he starts, he will be one of only three  four rookie linebackers to start in the NFL on opening week.

Sean Weatherspoon of the Atlanta Falcons, Daryl Washington, and Rolando McClain of the Oakland Raiders are the other two. So Misi, a second-round pick, is in good company.

As you know, Jason Allen will start for Miami at RCB. That move is not written in stone, folks. Sean Smith, the starter in 16 games last season, will play today. And if he is playing better than Allen, he will take over. If Allen is playing better, he'll keep his jobs and his snaps.

It is a fluid situation.

It is a cloudy day here, with drizzling rain in the air. The temps are in the high 60s. Love it!

There are some number changes today: Interior lineman Cory Procter will wear No. 71 and defensive end Robert Rose will wear No. 56.

I will have the pregame inactives as soon as they come out. So come back. And remember, the live blog starts in the comments section at kickoff.

[Update: The inactives are Roberto Wallace, Channing Crowder, Rose, Alama-Francis, Jermey Parnell, Clifton Geathers and Thigpen as the third QB. Obviously, Misi will now definitely start. The Alama-Francis inactive is not expected. Hmmmm.]

[Update 2: Alama-Francis got sick this morning, which is the reason he is not playing today, The Herald's Jeff Darlington is reporting.]

[Update 3: The Dolphins are now confirming that Alama-Francis was expected to start this morning but is not playing because he got sick this morning.]

Comments

[oldenglish]

cwake thats our second one of the day. thats more than last year against them

[steelgrizzly]

porter who???

[aquatix]

cant find the blog!

[wadsmels]

Lord o mighty! Wake is a beast.

[charlieb]

Fasano all day long

[steelgrizzly]

we need better blocking in kickoffs

[charlieb]

and sprinkle in some Beast

[charlieb]

no excuse there

[TorturedDolphan]

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

MARSHAL DROPS IT !!!!!!!!!

LOOOOOOOOOSER

[Mauro]

The pass was short

[mobiljorge]

give me a break shorty

[aquatix]

where is a link to the blog?

[King Ayatollah]

Hope this is the future to come -- that the preseason was just for warmups and now the team is ready to blow it out.

[Dman]

Henne has to get rid of the ball.

[zaphod]

Miami is looking fairly good ... I hope this is not just a "decent" team beating up on a completely "inept" team. I guess next week will tell ... or at least the next half.

[monty1121]

Teddy Drops Another Td!!! Oh Wait It Was Marshall!!

[curtis]

ouch!!!

[DC Dolfan]

what do y'all think of our defense now?

[DC Dolfan]

Mike Nolan turned 'em into a lean, mean, fighting machine!

[mobiljorge]

love it !good defense

[jamesc]

good to see def looking solid offense will get better

[bfish]

Thanks Dan for giving the Jills 6 points!! Fish can't afford to give nayone 6 points!!!!

[mserrania]

seriously. you go for it. sparano too cautious

[mserrania]

offense needs to run. bills hand on hips

[bootang25]

The time of possession approach that we take works when we put points on the board. However, when we do not, we keep teams in games. I know Henning had the right call on the Henne underthrow/Marshall drop, but our approach just means absolute precision and execution on every play. The Wildcat power run (at least use the motion to make the defense hesitate) and the Bess reverse stalled drives. This came back to bite us in the butt last year against Buffalo.

We just need to open it up a little bit. Also, if we are going to run an empty set, for the love of god, put Henne in the shotgun, why have him under center. Drives me crazy when we do that.

Plenty of good things, don't wanna sound all negative, just a few things that bothered me from the first half.

[The Phan]

PLEASE FIRE fatso Sparano right now! Why did he take a time out with 22 seconds in the first half, instead of winding down clock to 2 seconds? I will say this once again....He is an adequate teachr of X's and O's but he is incompetent with game management. I wish our new owner had the balls to fire such an incompetent fatso coach, but instead he's too bust courting J-Lo and Jimmy Buffet. Fire Fatso immediately!!

[bootang25]

I love what I see outta the D, though you have to temper enthusiasm when remembering we are playing CJ Spiller and that's basically it. Buffalo is playing to stay in the game, and we are letting them. Favre, Brady, Rodgers, Palmer, those guys will not play to stay in the game.

[deathlikebossk]

miami dominates first half: up 7

new england dominates first half up 24

[bootang25]

Henne still looks skittish, even though noone is really there. I bet if Mike Nolan had to be honest with you, he'd tell you he could destroy Henne with coverage/blitz looks. He just struggles to get to his 2nd and 3rd reads, to see the field. His statline suggests he is playing better than what he is. I fear he is going to be consistently inconsistent. Great throw, bad throw, great throw, bad throw.

[deathlikebossk]

i second what previous poster said about keeping a team in it.

[Jon]

There's this formation, it's called the shotgun, think Dan hennings ever heard of it? Just drop henne back in it with 4 wide and let him go to town.

[bootang25]

I will say one thing, we have been very good at playing to the level of our opponent the last few years.

[DC Dolfan]

bootang, I know exactly what you mean. My blood pressure can attest to the fact that Miami and nailbiters are synonymous.

[charlieb]

i cant remember the last time rhe Phins opened a game or half with a TD.

[mobiljorge]

here we go again

[jamesc]

as good as our run game is why cant we stretch the field

[oldenglish]

what is the deal with our o why is it every one else thinks we have a kiler offence but still we have no killer instinct we play so carefuly

[charlieb]

nice

[mserrania]

nice play by Oddrick

[mobiljorge]

need a TD

[sevensharp]

its good not seeing Vontae Davis on a tackle yet

[jamesc]

cincy sucks

[goodnbadguy]

same old dolphins

[oldenglish]

how long are we going to stare at a reciever

[MattD]

Old momentum is swinging toward Buff now...

[sevensharp]

if we keep messing around we are going to lose this game

[cowkilla]

Can you see the bills D-Backs getting there early or is it just me???
Punch em in the mouth Fins!!!!

[oldenglish]

he always sets on marshall it is not hard to guess where hen is going to throw it. he is not where he needs to be the o is waiting on him to mature. even wirh kyle orton could throw to him why cant we

[bfish]

Fish are not good enuff to carry their crappy special teams!!

[Sergio]

Note for Dan Henning: PLEASE DON'T RUN THE WILDCAT

[goodnbadguy]

henne is just not a pro QB yet

[jbarrett]

Where is the O

[inimounts]

what a surprise, we have the lead so we wait for the other team to catch up!

[bfish]

give up on the mild cat!!!! wasted a 2nd round pick for this joke

[tpatao]

pls no more wildcat! putting themselves in third and long all the time!!!!

[oldenglish]

we got to stop wih the wild crapt. the momentuim is gone we alway lplay scared why dont we ever go for the kill. which hartline caught the ball that was a 1st. realy miss greg.

[inimounts]

for those of
u against the wildcat, seriously stfu. u know nothing. defenses must prepre for it

[dolfanSF]

we should have replaced Henning this offseason too.

RUN THE DANG BALL. KEEP IT SIMPLE.

[NY_PhinFan]

wildcat when marshal is on the field....? retarded!!

[NY_PhinFan]

ok defense....we won't be throwing to are best player..so stack up for the run. The wildcat has lost its effectiveness