Your 2009 Miami Dolphins: Weeks 12 and 13

I’m kind of glad I delayed writing up a summary of Buffalo game. Man that was one depressing game. Coming off two wins in a row it looked like the Dolphins might have been starting to put something together. Climbing over .500 for the season and putting themselves in playoff position would have no small thing after an 0-3 start. Instead we saw Chad Henne seeming to regress, the team unable to execute the Wildcat without Ronnie Brown and a defense once again saving its worst for last-- the fourth quarter. That last item’s a real mystery ‘cause it happens even when the Dolphins are dominating time of possession all day. It’s always easy to overreact to one game but that collapse in the final four minutes really left a bad taste in the mouths of Dolphin fans.

But the high of the week 13 upset of the Patriots washed away that bitter taste real quick. The Patriots should have won that game. Taking advantage of Miami’s unfortunate tendency to give up the big play New England jumped out to a 14-0 lead and, after Miami crawled back into it, took a 21-10 lead in the second half. But the Dolphins kept plugging away. They decided to put the game in Henne’s hands and responded. And the defense made a couple of huge plays, stopping the Pats on a 4th-and-one and picking off Brady in the end zone.

So Miami fans go from pessimistic to optimistic in the space of a week. But losing to Buffalo blew the Dolphins’ margin for error when it comes to the postseason. It’s hard to see how they make the playoffs if they lose to Jacksonville this week.