Dolphins 24, Jaguars 3 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Written by Rich Rodriguez
Monday, 17 December 2012


The Good

Ryan Tannehill - possibly his best statistical day as a pro. Tannehill completed an astounding 78% of his passes for 220 yards and two TDs. He finished with a quarterback rating of 123.2, his highest of the season. He also contributed 52 yards with his legs, basically accounting for 70% of the Dolphins yards from scrimmage. If Tannehill wants to offer a glimmer of hope for the future, now's the time. He's an "arrow up" player right now, although he's definitely had his fluctuations all year long.

Reggie Bush - his best game in a while with 104 yards on the ground and a long of 53.

Anthony Fasano - his best game in a while as well, with 6 catches for 56 yards and 1 TD, as well as a reception on a 2 point conversion. Where has this been all season?

Brian Hartline - congratulations to Hartline on a 1000 yard season. This has been a breakout year for Hartline, who has shown improvement every season. The one negative was the dropped touchdown. Hartline has had a couple of these this season and his stats would look a lot better if he had hauled those touchdowns in.

Chris Clemons had a nice day from the safety spot, coming up with 10 tackles.

Kevin Burnett contributed 8 tackles and a sack.

Jared Odrick continues to show up late in the season, sacking Henne one time and getting 3 QB hits on him. Odrick has 3 sacks in the past four games after getting 2 sacks in the first 10 games.


The Bad

Not a lot of bad in this game, just the Ryan Tannehill fumble. Not much to complain about when you win 24-3.


The Ugly

I guess the ugly fact here is that we played a very bad team, well on their way to the 1st overall pick in the draft. But a win is a win.


Overall

Even though the Dolphins are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, they are more than likely sitting at home during the post season. Some fans argue this is the time to tank games and get better draft position, but others probably feel they want to see the team show some improvement going into next season. At this point, the games really are meaningless for the Dolphins, but from my point of view the one important thing is how Tannehill does. If he can finish the year out strong, it will build his confidence and his standing in the locker room.

Let's see how he does the last two weeks of the season.

Seattle just hung FIFTY over Buffalo. No reason they shouldn't come to Miami and not get lit up by Tannehill. Do you know if Bess will be active? Who played in the slot against JAX? I couldn't watch the game, was out of town.

Everyone except Reggie was involved in the passing game.. I am beginning to think Reggie & RT are not in sync with the passing plays. Has to be some reason they dont get him involved more..

the playcalling won this game. They got creative and they let Tannehill loose. He shoulda had 4 touchdowns.

The fake FG was pretty ugly.....I counted atleast 4 passes dropped. Tanny would have had an incredible day

Another one would have been a big gain for Rishard Matthews.

Are you referring to the one where Matthews had to jump & extend for it?

Yes, got two hands on it, still a drop.

Hartline and Thigpen should have caught those passes....but the pass to Matthews was high and behind him. It was a bad throw. Respectable game from Tanny though, especially using his feet to make big plays.

One of the dropped passes would have been a Hartline touchdown. Another one would have been a big gain for Rishard Matthews.

Yeah if those passes are caught, Tannehill's numbers are ridiculous.

Hartline's wasn't. Neither was Matthews, to me.

Hartline and Thigpen should have caught those passes....but the pass to Matthews was high and behind him. It was a bad throw. Respectable game from Tanny though, especially using his feet to make big plays.

The pass to Hartline hit him right in the bread basket. How is that not a drop?

And the pass to Matthews was of the same kind as the one Tony Gonzalez caught for a touchdown. Sometimes receivers need to make plays too. If it hits both hands like that, it needs to be caught.

I thought I remember the defender getting his hand in there to knock it out.

And that's why he's Tony Gonzalez, Rich. Hell of a catch I don't consider that a drop though.

Regardless, the throw could have been a little better.

The pass to Hartline hit him right in the bread basket. How is that not a drop?

And the pass to Matthews was of the same kind as the one Tony Gonzalez caught for a touchdown. Sometimes receivers need to make plays too. If it hits both hands like that, it needs to be caught.

Yes, got two hands on it, still a drop.

Replay showed it bounced off Hartline's chest.

This isn't video, but watching the video it looked to me like the defender got his hand in there.

They showed replay of it live, from different angles.

It was a drop, the hand never got in there.