FOF4: Miami Dolphins 2004

DolphinFan1 · 03-08-2003, 12:15 PM

Almost ready to start the 2004 season.
Here are links to my other seasons:

1980: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...&threadid=5163

2002: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...&threadid=5197

2003: http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...&threadid=5395

DolphinFan1 · 03-08-2003, 08:41 PM

Miami Dolphins 2004 Off-Season

Just before the start of the 2004 off-season, the commissioner of the league schedules a meeting with all 32 GM’s about some rule changes.
Rule #1: When we are renegotiating contracts, we may not offer less than 50% of the current salary per year.
Rule #2: Bonuses can not be more than the total salary for the life of the contract unless the player asks for the high bonus in negotiations.
Rule #3: We may not hire a new coach or scout unless we have a losing season or their contract is up.
He also tells us that the ratings of the first two season of this NFL are good. People are watching. He said that he wants to have a live draft starting with the 2005 season. They want to interview all the GM’s during the draft. Sometimes I forget I’m playing a game when I see the replay of the games on TV.

Well it’s time for another off-season scramble to make our team better. Finishing 12-4 and losing in the Conference Finals was a step forward after our 1st season of not making the playoffs. But with 21 open spots on the roster, I have my work cut out for me. We only have 18 million in cap room. With 9 draft picks we will have about 15 million left to sign 12 players. Not an easy task.
Looking at our roster, I see two problems. After DT- Cooper’s injury plagued season, (he only played in 5 games last year), he has a severe drop in ratings. K- Cousino also had a slight drop in his ratings after his injury. I will be looking @ DL and K in the draft. We also need help at the receiving positions. Here is my estimation of our needs this year:
1- DL- We need one or two quality run stoppers and pass rushers.
2- WR- We need at least one starter and some young talent.
3- LB- We need two run stoppers and maybe a good backup.
4- S- All 4 of our safeties are FA, we need some people here.
5- P/K- Our P is a FA and our K is questionable after his injury, we need help here.

Our schedule isn’t an easy one after being division champs. We play 4 non-division opponents who made the playoffs last season. Plus the 2 games against division rival N.E. who also made the playoffs.
I put in a stadium request. I ask to renovate from 74,900 to 80,000 seats. This is adding 800 club seats and 5 luxury boxes. Also to renovate the parking lot which is in fair condition. Using a high-quality construction firm, this will cost 121 million dollars. I will have the team contribute half of this. Let’s see if we can get the public to vote yes on this. We need more seats. We sold out almost all of our games last year and the parking lot will only get worse.
Due to the new rules imposed by the commissioner, I will not be changing my coach or scout.
Our scout stays the same in his ratings, except for 2 categories. He drops in rec. from good to average and sec. from very good to good. Our coach only drops in offensive play calling from very good to good.

Next: 2004 FA period

DolphinFan1 · 03-09-2003, 02:36 PM

FA week 1:

With 24 FA, I have to decide who to offer contracts to. RB- Bradley really stepped it up after the Stephenson trade. He was an undrafted rookie and did well for us. Unfortunately, he wants a 6 year, 58 million dollar deal. We can’t afford that. Too bad, because he showed he can run. QB- Bush is a FA. I don’t think Raven is ready to start yet. But Bush wants 2 years and 3.58 million dollars. I will wait to see if we have the cap room later. LB- O’Neal, CB- Franz and S- Benson all want 1 year deals. Here are my FA signings and offerings in week 1:

FB- Jalove- signed him to a 2 year deal. Lowe is clearly the starter and head and shoulders above Jalove, but I need a veteran backup. He came in with a price in our budget.
CB- Lyle wants a 3 year, 13 million dollar deal. I offer him a 3 year, 10.2 million dollar deal with a voidable year with 2 interceptions. He has 9 interceptions in 2 years, so he should have no problem reaching that. I needed to save some money and still keep some of our good starters. He accepts our offer.
CB- Franz- I gave him his one year deal to add depth to our CB position.
I offered a free agent, FL- D.J.Lowe a contract. He played with K.C. for 2 seasons. I offered him a 3 year, 5 million dollar deal with a voidable year for 500 receiving yards. Again, this is reachable. I need to offer less to save cap room. He is also a veteran we need to help our receiving crew. We have 3 FA at the WR position.
That’s all my moves for week 1.

FA week 2:

Not much to report this week. These are the FA I will be letting go: RB- Wolf, FB- Blanchard, TE- Wilson, RT- Crisp, DE- Robbins, DT- Schoeder, LB- Shadade, S- Henry and S- Morabito. I may invite some of these players to training camp to try and earn a spot like last year. I have to see how many spots I have left and what’s left in the FA market. I am looking at our other FA to see what we can offer them money wise. We still have 18 spots to fill.

FA week 3:

I signed S- Benson to a one year deal. He came in with a reasonable price.
I also do a little tweaking with the numbers and offer RB- Bradley a 6 year, 38 million dollar deal which includes a 7 million dollar signing bonus and an incentive for 1000 rushing yards. This offer is down from his 58 million he wanted, but I offered him a little more bonus money than he asked for. He accepts our offer. It will cost us some cap money, but we have too many holes to fill to need a RB in the draft. This leaves us just under 6 million left to spend before the draft. That’s taking out what we need to save for the draft.

FA week 4:

FL- D.J.Lowe signed with us on our offer. That gives us a veteran receiver and makes one of ours expendable.
I sign SE- Blassingame to a 3 year, 2.91 million dollar deal, which is what he asked for. He was solid for us the last two years.

FA week 5:

QB- Bush still wants a 2 year, 3.26 million dollar deal. I offer him 2 years and 2.75 million. He accepts. I need QB- Raven to learn one more year. Then maybe he can take over.

FA week 6-9:

I didn’t make any moves. With only 2.7 million left in cap money and 13 spots left to fill, I think I will wait until the draft and undrafted rookies who are left. The guys I have left aren’t really game breakers anyway.

FA week 10:

Our former K- Blake Stanfield was signed by Indianapolis. He spent the entire 2003 campaign on the FA wire.

FA week 11-19:

I didn’t make any moves.

FA week 20:

FL- Webster still wants a 2 year, 3.73 million dollar deal. I will not offer him a contract at this time.
DT- Clifton wants a 2 year, 2.7 million dollar deal. I will decline for now.
LB- Bradford wants a 2 year, 2.1 million dollar deal. I also decline this.
These were the only other players on my roster that I deliberated on signing. I will wait until after the draft to see what my needs are.

Next: The 2004 Amateur Draft

DolphinFan1 · 03-09-2003, 09:22 PM

2004 Amateur Draft

We pick 30th in the draft. We also have some picks at 21st from the Stephenson trade to Washington. The first 3 picks in the draft were OT. Here are our draft picks:

Round 2..Bucky Meidinger.......DT...........Ohio
Round 2..Kelvin Rosenthal......FL............Texas EL- Paso
Round 3..Shaun Parker..........OLB..........Indiana
Round 4..Bob Reilly.................FS............Wisconsin
Round 4..Duane Wansley.......SS............Wisconsin
Round 5..Keith Leclair............OLB...........Arkansas
Round 5..Rodney Peterson......P.............Arkansas State
Round 6..Marty Berchin..........OT............Utah State
Round 7..Ray Lake.................ILB............Southern Methodist

Analysis of the draft:

Well, I got almost all our holes filled with our draft picks. If these guys pan out, we could have a solid young group of guys. I drafted a punter high because I wanted better than we have. If I had waited until the 6th or 7th round, this guy would have been gone. He was the best in the draft. My scout rates him at a 77 potential. McKnight just wasn’t getting it done. He was too inconsistent. I got a solid FL if he can learn the game. He has a lot of potential. Let’s see how these guys fare after training camp.

After the draft, I received this e-mail from the county government:

Your proposal for stadium renovation was submitted to the voters of your county for a decision. The issue failed. We hope that you do not view this as a referendum on the viability of football in Miami, but we understand that you are now free to seek a new stadium elsewhere. Please try again next year, however. You may find the voters more amendable.
Here’s the final vote tally:

Rejected:..610,412.....50.4%
In Favor:...598,118.....49.5%

We didn’t lose the vote by much. We needed an upgrade. I guess we will have to try again next year.

We get two trade offers. One is for QB- Bush from St. Louis for their 4th round draft pick in 2005. I decline. Bush may be worth more than that if he has a solid year. The other offer is for our other QB- Raven. This one is from Carolina and their 4th round pick. He was a 1st round pick. I decline. I want to see what he can do. He may earn a starting job this year.

I sign 4 undrafted rookie FA after the draft to fill some holes:

DE- Randal Franklin- Texas Tech
FS- Johnnie Kiselak- Kansas State
RB- Adrian Gamroth- Georgia
TE- Andre Lyon- Kansas

I invite SE- Kosderka to training camp and preseason to try and earn a spot from SE- Farrell.
I invite K- Kadanoff also to try and earn a spot from K- Cousino.
I signed DT- Clifton and release DT- Merrell. After his injury in 2002, he didn’t return to form in 2003. Time to head to training camp to see which of our players is a breakout player or bust.

After training camp, we get a couple more trade offers. K.C. offers me a 2nd round draft pick in 2005 for QB- Raven. I decline. Cleveland offers me a 4th round pick in 2005 and their FB- Mickey Buchhalter for my 3rd round pick this year, OLB- Shaun Parker. I decline that as well. I need to see how these guys shape up.
We sold 73,200 season tickets out of a capacity of 74,900. That’s down 200 from last year.
After camp I see that QB- Bush has learned 2 new formations. Also that QB- Raven has learned 1 new formation. I will give them both ample time in preseason to earn the starting job. Since our passing attack was dead last, someone had better show me something.

As for our rookies, our scout has rated them again after training camp. DE- Randal Franklin who was an undrafted FA, has improved 10 points higher than my scout’s initial assessment of his future potential. RB- Adrian Gamroth, also an undrafted rookie FA, has a 4 point increase in his future potential. Our two 2nd round picks, DT- Bucky Meidinger and FL- Kelvin Rosenthal have only lost 1 and 2 future potential ratings points respectively. Rosenthal is already a fan favorite and he has some great talent. If he can develop, he could be a star. Our 3rd round pick, OLB- Shaun Parker, has dropped 8 points in his future estimate of his potential. He still looks solid on paper. He should be an instant starter. Our 2 4th round picks, FS- Bob Reilly and SS- Duane Wansley, look good and will challenge FS- Benson for a starting job. Our 5th round picks, OLB- Keith Leclair and P- Rodney Peterson, look to be good also. Leclair should start outside with Parker. We needed an upgrade at LB and if these guys develop, we should have a solid LB crew. Our 6th round pick, OT- Marty Berchin, is ok for a 6th round pick. But he isn’t starting material. He may develop and surprise people, but I doubt it. He should be a solid backup to give our starters a rest. Our 7th round pick, ILB- Ray Lake, won’t get the starting nod either. But again he may be a help to rest a starter. Our other 2 undrafted FA will be backups unless they have a breakout preseason.

Next: the 2004 preseason

DolphinFan1 · 03-10-2003, 05:28 PM

2004 Miami Dolphins preseason schedule

Week 1: Bye week
Week 2: New Orleans W 34-24
Week 3: @ Washington W 12-3
Week 4: Tampa Bay W 36-13
Week 5: @ N.Y.Giants L 24-10

Week 2: Overall we had a good game. Our defense struggled in the 1st half, allowing N.O. to score on their 1st four possessions (1 TD, 3 FG). RB- Jordan fumbled for a N.O. score was our only turnover. He made up for it later with a 47 yard TD run. We had 5 rushing TD’s on the day. Undrafted rookie RB- Gamroth had 6 carries for 100 yards and 2 TD runs of 33 and 64. That was 97 of his 100 yards. RB- Jordan had 10 carries for 75 yards. We were 8/12 on 3rd downs. QB- Bush was 11/16 for 109 yards. QB- Raven was 9/10 for 88 yards. On the receiving side, newly acquired free agent FL- Lowe had 5 catches for 48 yards. Rookie FL- Rosenthal had only 2 catches for 13 yards, but he had a good day returning kickoffs. P- Peterson had 4 punts for a 44.5 average. A good first game for our rookies overall. We had a few lapses on defense. But we have a lot of new people and it will take time to mesh.
Injuries in the game: FB- Lowe pulled a groin and is doubtful. I will probably sit him for the rest of the preseason. His job isn’t in jeopardy. I need him in there during the season. CB- Franz is out for 2 weeks with a strained adductor muscle. De- Wingfield has a bad cold but should play some.

Week 3: K- Kadanoff was the star as he scored all of our points. He was 4/5 on FG, his only miss from 39 yards. Tough call on a kicker. K- Cousino has a chance to shine against T.B. next week. We didn’t have any turnovers. RB- Gamroth had 12 rushes for 77 yards. The QB battle is tight. Both Raven and Bush played well. Raven was 9/17 for 109 yards, while Bush was 7/10 for 58 yards. Our negatives in the game were that we had 11 penalties. Also, on defense we are not causing any turnovers. We have 0 turnovers in the first two preseason games. Other than that our young defense is playing well.
Injuries in the game: Only one new injury, RB- Jordan separated his shoulder and will miss the final two games of the preseason. CB- Franz and FB- Lowe should only need one more week to heal. Then they will get a little playing time in the preseason finale.
There are some interesting battles going on for roster spots and starting jobs. SE- Farrell and Se- Kosderka are playing this week for all intents and purposes a roster spot. Both kickers are playing well. QB- Raven and QB- Bush are neck and neck for the start on opening day. If it stays this way, I have some tough decisions to make.

Week 4: Our defense finally stepped up and caused some turnovers. We had 4 and a blocked punt. We also recorded 5 sacks. K- Cousino, in a battle for his job, was 3/3 of FG and 3/4 on PAT. In his defense on the PAT miss, it was a torrential downpour. The rookies are playing well. RB- Bradley and RB- Gamroth had good days. They combined for 110 yards on 15 carries and 1 TD. RB- Eriksen struggled as he had only 8 yards on 9 carries and a TD. Rookie punter, Peterson, had 4/7 punts inside the 20 and a 49.2 average. We only had a couple points to worry about. We were only 2/13 on 3rd downs and we also had a punt blocked for a TD.
Injuries in the game: QB- Raven broke his toe and will sit out the preseason finale. FB- Lowe is almost 100% and may play some. RB- Jordan is still a couple weeks away. CB- Franz is 100%.
SE- Kosderka has all but assured himself a roster spot with 3 catches for 22 yards and a TD. SE- Farrell just hasn’t shown anything in preseason. The QB situation is muddled with Raven’s injury. Bush will start the year and Raven will just have to take any opportunities he gets to try and win the job. The kicking job will come down to our preseason finale. Kadanoff will have to have another good day to uproot Cousino who has looked good in preseason.

Week 5: There were some positives and negatives in this game. We had 6 sacks by our defense. The rookies played well today on defense. We turned the ball over 4 times and had 13 penalties for 94 yards. We also lost the T.O.P. battle 34 minutes to 26 minutes. We didn’t have a good day running the ball. As a team we only had 66 yards on 23 carries. QB- Bush played a half and was 11/21 for 117 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT. Bryant, our 3rd QB, got some playing time with the injury to Raven last week. He was ok, 8/13 for 128 yards with 1 INT. Rookie FL- Rosenthal had 5 catches for 81 yards. P- Peterson had a 45.6 average. K- Kadanoff was 1/1 on FG and 1/1 on PAT. We finished the preseason at 3-1.
Injuries in the game: SE- Kosderka sprained his thumb. He is probable for about 4 weeks. CB- Riekens broke his hand and is probable for about 2 weeks. QB- Raven is still recovering and is about 1 week from 100%. RB- Jordan is still suffering from his separated shoulder and will return in 1 week. We get FB- Lowe back from his groin injury.

Next: Final cuts and the 2004 regular season.

DolphinFan1 · 03-11-2003, 08:59 PM

2004 Miami Dolphins regular season

Before the first game, I have some decisions to make. SE- Kosderka played well in preseason and took the job from SE- Farrell. I shopped Farrell around, but no one was interested. I cut him. The other cut was K- Kadanoff. I decided to keep Cousino even though since the injury, Kadanoff has better ratings according to my scout. It was a tough decision because both had a good preseason. But Cousino has shown in the past that he can kick under pressure. If he doesn’t do the job, I may have to draft or find a FA next year. Those two cuts put us at the 53 man limit.
After the releases we have $720,000 in cap money left. Not much if we have any serious injuries and have to sign somebody. But we lost $8.1 million in cap money from players released or traded in the past two years with the bonus money.
Now for your Miami Dolphins 2004 starting lineup:

QB- Bush starts the year. Raven suffered that broken toe in preseason and set him back a little. After he heals he may start a few games if Bush struggles. Bryant is once again the 3rd QB on our roster.

RB- Eriksen and Bradley will both get their share of playing time and starts. Both have incentive goals to try to reach. Eriksen needs 1400 yards this year to become a FA. If not he is with us through 2005. Bradley has the new 6 year contract we signed and needs 1000 yards to become a FA one year early. Rookie undrafted FA Gamroth and Jordan will alternate being inactive and also back up Eriksen and Bradley. Gamroth has shown some speed to the outside. We will have to use that and Jordan will try to rebound and once again be our short yardage runner.

FB- Lowe returns from his excellent rookie year to start. He missed the final 3 preseason games with a pulled groin. Hopefully this won’t hamper him. Jalove will back him up again. He had a decent preseason.

TE- We have 3 TE on the roster and none are star players. Talley will start with Hansen and undrafted rookie FA Lyon backing up. This may turn out to be a rotation spot as no one has shown any breakout potential in preseason. It may also be something to look at next off-season.

FL- The rookie Rosenthal looked good in preseason and will start over our FA signing D.J. Lowe. This was a big upgrade over last year’s starting FL.

SE- Carlson starts again with Blassingame and Kosderka backing up. Not a great crew talent wise, but it will have to do. Kosderka and TE- Lyon will alternate being inactive.

LT/RT- Graham starts at LT for the 3rd year with Heath at RT. Knight and the rookie Berchin will alternate being inactive and backup.

LG/RG- Rodriguez and Brosseau start at LG/RG respectively. Both had a decent year last season. Let’s see if they can improve. Dodge and Moore will alternate being inactive and backup.

C- This position remains unchanged this season with Malone coming off his second all-league season in a row. He starts with Isbell backing up.

P/K- Our new punter, Peterson, had a great preseason with a 45 yard average. He struggles with the directional punting but is a big upgrade from last year. Cousino returns after a neck and neck battle with Kadanoff in preseason. Let’s see if he can make my decision to keep him a good one.

DE- Dix and Lynch start at the DE positions. Undrafted rookie Franklin looked good in preseason and will backup and be a designated pass rusher with Dix. Wingfield will also backup.

DT- Oliver and Cooper return to start. Cooper’s ratings have dropped off significantly since last season’s injury. But he’s going to start to see how he does. If he struggles, our second round pick, Meidinger will be there to take his place. Clifton backs up also. Oliver and Meidinger will be pass rushers.

OLB- This will raise some eyebrows around the league. I am starting our two draft picks at OLB this year. Leclair and Parker played well in preseason and get rewarded with starting jobs. Burton returns in a backup role with Brim also available. Burton and Brim will alternate being inactive. The decision to start the rookies was because we needed help against the run at OLB and they have better current and future potential at those catergories. Burton may not like his reduced role, but he has to show something to get his job back.

ILB- A change in the starter this year. Bruce starts over Stanton this season. He played better in preseason and Stanton didn’t have a great year last season anyway. Stanton and the rookie Lake will backup and alternate being inactive. Lake looks like nothing more than a backup. He may surprise some people but I don’t think so.

CB- Riekens returns after a stellar year and a big upgrade to our punt return game. Lyle starts at the other corner and Franz is the nickel back. Valle returns from missing the entire year to injury to see if he can play. Hoskins is the 5th CB if needed. This looks to be our deepest position.

FS/SS- Benson keeps his starting job barely beating out the rookie Wansley for the job. Reilly is the other starter with Kiselak backing up and alternating being inactive with Hoskins. Benson has to keep playing well because the rookie is right on his heels.

This is your 2004 Miami Dolphins roster and starting lineup. I will be running a 4-3 defense again this year. Let’s start out on a good note. We play N.E. at their place in the 1st game of the year. Let’s take over the division in week 1.

Next: Opening Day in N.E.

DolphinFan1 · 03-12-2003, 06:17 PM

I decided to change my game reporting to full game results. I want my readers to feel the game winning drives or defeats. Hope you enjoy. It took longer than I thought to type up each game.

Week 1: Miami @ New England

We are 4-0 lifetime (2 seasons) vs. N.E. Let’s try to keep that trend up. We are 5 point underdogs this week. SE- Kosderka and RB- Jordan are deactivated for this game due to injury. CB- Riekens and QB- Raven are active at less than 100%. FB- Lowe returns from missing the final 3 preseason games.

We win the toss and receive. We start with an incomplete pass. On our 2nd play from scrimmage, QB- Bush throws an interception. Not a good way to start for our team or Bush. Raven is waiting in the wings for too many mistakes to be made.
CB- Riekens bails us out on N.E. first snap with an interception of his own and we are back in business. But we can’t do anything with it and have to punt after a 3 and out.
N.E. goes right down the field and gets a 40 yard FG and take the early lead 3-0.
We both have to punt on our next drive. Then we get a couple first downs but still have to punt.
N.E. takes the ball to our 24 where we hold them. They miss a 41 yard FG and the lead is still just 3-0.
We finally get a drive going. We go 69 yards on 15 plays in 6:51 and get a TD. We lead 7-3. RB- Gamroth punched it in from 1 yard out.
We hold them and get a good PR by Riekens. We have the ball at our 33 with 56 ticks to go in the 1st half and 2 timeouts. We go down the field in 6 plays and 54 yards and are at the N.E. 13. With only a couple seconds left we have to try a FG. K- Cousino hits it from 30 yards out and we go in at halftime leading 10-3. QB- Bush has recovered from that early interception.
They open the second half and our defense holds on 1st and 2nd downs. On third down, rookie DT- Meidinger knocks the ball loose and CB- Lyle recovers the ball at N.E. 30 yard line.
We take the ball and get a first down and are in sure FG range and QB- Bush throws another interception.
They have the ball and their RB rips a run for 62 yards and they get a FG from 26 yards after the turnover. Our lead is cut to 10-6.
We can’t answer and have to punt after a 1st down.
N.E. is chewing on our defense as they go right down the field and get a TD and they lead 13-10. They have 209 yards on the ground.
We answer with a nice drive. However, we stall at their 45 and have to punt. Our rookie punter, Peterson, booms it into the endzone for a touchback. That could be a problem this year. He has great distance and hang time, but almost no talent for directional punting. He will be able to get us out of trouble if we are pinned deep, but we probably won’t be pinning anyone else deep this year. But, when I drafted him I knew this. I just think it is more important to be able to get the ball out from deep in your own territory.
After the punt, N.E. rips through our defense again for a TD. They now lead 20-10. Our defense can’t stop them.
Our next drive is ended when QB- Bush throws his 3rd interception of the day. I’ve seen enough of him. Raven will try even though he still isn’t 100% after his broken toe. But we have nothing to lose. We are getting clobbered as N.E. takes the turnover and gets another TD and now lead 27-10.
QB- Raven has a shaky beginning as he throws an interception on his 2nd play.
Our defense finally holds them. But at 27-10, does it matter.
Raven takes us down the field on a nice drive. We get to the N.E. 1 yard line and time runs out. We lose 27-10.

This was a tough loss to swallow. We lead 10-3 at the half in their stadium. Then they turn it over on their 1st drive of the 2nd half deep in their own territory. We proceed to give it right back to them.

Stats on the game:
We only had 62 yards on 25 carries rushing.
They had 237 yards rushing and a 6.5 average.
Rookie FL- Rosenthal had 8 receptions for 101 yards. Not a bad debut.
FA pickup, FL- Lowe had 4 receptions for 73 yards.
LB- Bruce had 8 tackles, 3 assists, 2 sacks and 1 pass defended.
QB- Bush was 17/29 for 143 yards with 3 INT.
QB- Raven was 7/12 for 120 yards with 1 INT. He wasn’t 100%, still suffering from the broken toe.
P- Peterson had a 43.6 average.

Miami player of the week nominees: LB- Bruce and FL- Rosenthal.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Kindrick Hamilton- Atlanta was 24/37 for 292 yards with 3 TD and 0 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Pat Barham- San Francisco had 6 tackles, 2 assists, 3.5 sacks and 1 INT.

Injuries in the game:
DE- Lynch strained a hamstring and is probable. No return date.
FB- Lowe has a high ankle sprain and is out about 12 weeks.
RG- Brosseau has a bruised sternum and is probable for about 3 weeks.
SS- Wansley has a strained adductor muscle and is out for about 7 weeks.
CB- Riekens is still suffering from his broken hand.
SE- Kosderka is still suffering from his sprained thumb.

FB- Lowe, SS- Wansley and SE- Kosderka will be deactive due to their injuries.
DE- Lynch, RG- Brosseau and CB- Riekens will try to play.

Notes:
There will be some changes for next week’s game. QB- Raven is 100% and will start. QB- Bush struggled last week and we need to see if Raven can play. FB- Lowe is a RFA after this season. He made the second team award list last season as a rookie and was a definite signing for next year. But he has been injury prone so far. He missed 2 games last year and the last 3 preseason games this year. Now this latest injury is for about 12 weeks. When he returns, I will have to evaluate his talent ratings. I may have to look for another FB in FA or the draft. For now, FB- Jalove gets his job back. Maybe he can step it up.

Next: We try to rebound against S.F.

DolphinFan1 · 03-13-2003, 05:00 PM

Week 2: San Francisco (1-0) @ Miami (0-1) Point spread: Miami -1

We have never faced San Francisco yet. Let’s see if we can rebound from last week’s loss.
QB- Raven gets his first start of his career. We win the toss and receive. We quickly go 3 and out.
Our 1st defensive play is a sack by a blitzing LB- Parker and a forced fumble recovered by DE- Dix at the S.F. 38.
We proceed to get -2 yards on 2 runs and an incomplete pass on 3rd down. We squandered a good opportunity for some early points. Peterson punts the ball to their 9 yard line.
They go on a 91 yard TD drive and take a 7-0 lead. They had 2 big plays on the drive. One was a 49 yard run and also an illegal contact penalty on 3rd down to keep the drive alive.
We answer with one 1st down then have to punt. Peterson booms another kick, this one for 66 yards to their 3 yard line.
We hold them on 3 downs. The end of the 1st quarter has S.F. leading 7-0.
The start of the second quarter has S.F. punting and CB- Riekens returns the ball 20 yards to our 49. Our 1st play, QB- Raven is sacked for a 10 yard loss and he fumbles the ball. Fortunately, QB- Bradley is there to recover and goes 20 yards down to their 39 yard line. We only get 6 more yards on 3 plays and have a 4th and 4 at their 33 yard line. I elect to try a FG. K- Cousino hits it from 50 yards out and we cut the S.F. lead to 7-3.
On their next drive they get one 1st down. Then our defense steps up on the next 3rd down play and we get a sack. But, wait a minute, there’s a flag on the play. It’s a defensive holding call on us that gives S.F. a 1st down. They end up turning the drive into a TD and a 14-3 lead.
We get a drive going, helped by a couple of penalties on S.F. We stall at their 31 with a 4th and 6. We try a 48 yarder. K- Cousino misses it wide left and the score is still S.F. 14, Miami 3.
They get one 1st down on their next drive. Then CB- Lyle steps in front of a receiver and intercepts a pass for a 63 yard TD. We cut the S.F. lead to 14-10. Our defense made a play and put us back in the game.
But, they go right down the field just before halftime and get a 34 yard FG. Now the lead is up to 17-10. That’s the score at the half.
Our 1st defensive play of the second half is a sack by DE- Dix and LB- Parker. Then we hold them to a 3 and out and they punt.
We do nothing and go 3 and out for -8 yards. QB- Raven got injured early in the game, but I thought it wasn’t serious. Now I see that he isn’t well enough to play. Our offense is anemic. I will have to put Bush in there.
We punt and they return it 59 yards for a TD and a 24-10 lead. Can it get any worse?
We get a couple of 1st downs with Bush in there, but have to punt from our 40 yard line.
We each get the ball 2 more times in the 3rd quarter, but neither team can do anything with it. The 3rd quarter ends with S.F. leading 24-10.
They start out the 4th quarter with a drive to our 36 and they have a 4th down. They elect to punt instead of trying a long FG. I elect to try to block the punt to make something happen. We do, and recover it at our 48 with 12:27 to go.
That’s the spark we needed as we go right down the field in 6 plays and get a TD. RB- Eriksen punches it in from 3 yards out. But we miss the extra point and trail by 8, 24-16.
Our defense now has to stop them. On 1st down, S.F. gets called for holding which puts the ball at their 7 yard line. Then on 3rd and 3, LB- Brim intercepts a pass and returns it to their 10 yard line. Now we are in business. There’s 7:36 to go and we only trail 24-16.
Our 1st down is and incomplete pass. 2nd down is an incomplete pass. 3rd down is an incomplete pass. What is our offensive coordinator doing? Why isn’t he running the ball? We have to settle for a 27 yard FG and the lead is cut to 24-19. But we should have tried to punch it in from the 10 yard line. What a lost opportunity.
S.F. answers by going right down the field on our tired defense. We finally stop them at our 22. They try a 39 yard FG. They miss it. We still have a chance. We are only down 5 with 2:32 to go and 2 timeouts. The ball is at our 29 yard line.
Our 1st 3 plays net us -2 yards. On 4th and 12 at our 27 we have to go for it with only 1:50 to go. The pass is incomplete. They get a first down and run out the clock. S.F. wins 24-19 and we fall to 0-2.

Stats on the game:
We were outplayed on offense, 350 yards to 133. We gave up 229 yards on the ground. That’s the second straight game that our defense has given up over 200 yards on the ground. Our rushing game isn’t too good so far. We only had 52 yards and a 2.3 average.
QB- Raven was 5/15 for 28 yards.
QB- Bush was 9/19 for 79 yards.
K- Cousino was 2/3 of FG and 1 for 2 on PAT.
RG- Brosseau allowed 3 sacks. It’s clear that his injury is hampering him. He will sit out next week’s game.
Rookie LB- Parker had 6 tackles, 2 assists and 1.5 sacks.

Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Parker.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland was 22/25 for 255 yards with 3 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DT- Antonio Ellard- N.Y. Jets had 6 tackles and 4 sacks.

Injuries in the game:
QB- Raven re-injured his toe and is questionable for about 3 weeks. Bush will start.
RG- Brosseau is still nursing a bruised sternum and struggled this week. He will sit.
SE- Kosderka is almost 100% and will play this week.
DE- Lynch is probable with his strained hamstring and will play.
CB- Riekens’ broken hand isn’t healing very fast, but he has been playing. He should play.
FB- Lowe and SS- Wansley are still out.

Notes:
Well, Raven clearly wasn’t 100%. He didn’t have a very good 1st start. Now I will let him heal fully before he starts again. Bush had better play better. He has a chance to show he can play with Raven out.
N.E. leads the AFC East with a 2-0 record. Buffalo and the Jets are 1-1 and we are 0-2. Not a good start. Our defense is getting shredded on the ground. It’s time for a change. Rookie DT- Meidinger will start in place of DT- Cooper. Cooper just hasn’t returned to form after his injury. Meidinger has shown some flashes in a backup role. He is a better run stopper, so let’s see what he can do.
Rookie- LB- Parker is playing well in two games so far. Let’s try to get it going at Houston next week.

Next: We travel to Houston and try to get our 1st win of the year.

DolphinFan1 · 03-14-2003, 08:35 PM

Week 3: Miami (0-2) @ Houston (1-1) Point spread: Houston -2

Houston wins the toss and gets the ball first. On their 1st play, CB- Lyle intercepts a pass @ Houston’s 47 yard line.
We get a good drive by our offense. We get all the way to their 4 yard line and have to settle for a FG try. K- Cousino misses a chip shot from 21 yards. What a wasted turnover. So far this year, that’s the way it has gone.
Our defense let’s them go right down the field. We finally hold them @ our 2 yard line. They get a 19 yard FG and an early 3-0 lead.
We answer their score with a drive only to our 39 yard line and have to punt. But it’s not all bad news, QB- Bush is playing well so far. He is 4/5 for 53 yards. Maybe benching him and letting Raven start one week helped.
The first quarter ends with Houston leading 3-0.
Houston’s next drive rips through our defense until we manage to tighten up @ our 12 yard line and they have to settle for a 29 yard FG try. They hit it for a 6-0 lead.
We get a big pass play on our next drive for 25 yards. On the next play, RB- Eriksen runs for 4 yards. But on the play we get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. TE- Talley was ejected for excessive arguing with the head linesman. A couple of plays later, QB- Bush throws an interception that is returned to our 10 yard line.
On the next play, our defense strips the ball and we recover it to our 21 yard line. DT- Meidinger forced the fumble and DT- Oliver recovered. The rookie DT- Meidinger is already helping where DT- Cooper wasn’t playing so well this year.
We finally get the offense going after the turnover. We go 79 yards in 9 plays and get a TD for a 7-6 lead. RB- Bradley punched it in from 1 yard out.
Houston has a drive which puts them in FG range, but a holding penalty moves them back and they have to punt.
The ball is downed @ our 8 after the punt. With only 14 seconds remaining in the half and a 7-6 lead on the road, I tell the coach to have Bush take a knee.
We start the 2nd half with the ball. We get a drive going, but it stalls @ our 47. QB- Bush is having a good day so far. He is 9/13 for 126 yards and 1 INT.
Houston takes the ball after the punt from their 11 yard line and they go 89 yards in 8 plays. They get a 44 yard TD bomb on a blown coverage. With a successful 2 point conversion, they lead 14-7.
After a couple more short drives by both teams, the 3rd quarter ends with that score.
We go back and forth punting for most of the 4th quarter. We are pinned deep for most of the possessions.
Houston has the ball with 4:11 to play and a 14-7 lead. We need a stop if we are going to have any chance at all at winning. We stop them and they punt.
Once again we are pinned deep @ our 9 yard line. With 2:05 to go and no timeouts, we have our work cut out for us.
1st and 10 from our 9: 15 yard pass play to SE- Carlson. Timeout for the 2 minute warning.
1st and 10 from our 24: Another 15 yard pass play to SE- Carlson.
1st and 10 from our 39: Bush is on target again, this time to SE- Blassingame for 20 yards. Ball is on Houston’s 41 with 1:34 to go.
1st and 10 from their 41: Incomplete pass.
2nd and 10 from their 41: A 15 yard pass play to FL- Rosenthal. Ball is at Houston’s 26 with 1:13 to go.
1st and 10 from their 26: Incomplete pass.
2nd and 10 from their 26: Incomplete pass.
3rd and 10 from their 26: 11 yard pass play to SE- Carlson and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Houston puts the ball at Houston’s 8 yard line with 36 seconds to go.
1st and goal at the 8 yard line: An 8 yard TD pass to FL- Lowe. The PAT is good.
We tie the game at 14. What a drive by Bush. He was 6/9 for 84 yards and a TD on the drive.
We are going to overtime.
We get the ball 1st in O.T. We go 3 and out.
Houston has a 3rd and 1 on their drive and we hold them and they punt.
We go 3 and out again.
Houston has the ball @ their 17. Their 1st down play, we stuff for no gain. DT- Oliver knocks the ball loose on the play. CB- Riekens recovers the ball @ their 17.
I tell the coach to play it safe and call 3 running plays and let K- Cousino make up for his earlier miss. Our 1st two runs go for a total of 2 yards. On 3rd and 8 from the Houston 15, we run a safe play up the middle. RB- Gamroth breaks it for a 15 yard TD and the win. We win 20-14 in O.T.

Stats on the game:
QB- Bush was 21/44 for 281 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
Our defense was better against the run this week. We only allowed 102 yards and a 3.5 average. We won the turnover battle 3-1. We were 8/19 on 3rd downs and we had 4 sacks on defense. Our OL didn’t allow a sack. RB- Gamroth had 7 carries for 36 yards and the one TD which was the game winner. RB- Eriksen and Bradley had an unimpressive 3.1 and 2.5 yards per carry average. SE- Carlson had 6 catches for 81 yards. FL- Rosenthal had 4 catches for 70 yards and a TD. P- Peterson had a 43.8 average. He’s looking good. LB- Parker is another one of our shining rookies. He had 8 tackles, 2 assists and 1 sack. We were 3/4 in the redzone.

Miami player of the week nominee: QB Bush.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Bobby Speer- N.O. 33/53 for 215 yards with 2 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- J.C. Durham- Detroit 6 tackles and 3 sacks.

Injuries:
Thankfully we had no new injuries in the game. FB- Lowe is still out for about 10 more weeks. SS- Wansley is still out for about 5 more weeks. QB- Raven is about 2 weeks from full strength. CB- Riekens is still suffering with the broken hand. He has been playing well with it, but it’s not healing. I will have to rest him some this week. I will start CB- Franz and play Riekens sparingly so he can heal. RG- Brosseau is almost 100% and DE- Lynch is still playing with a strained hamstring.

Notes:
CB- Lyle had an interception. That’s his 2nd of the year. He had a voidable year contract if he got 2 interceptions, so his 3rd year on his contract should be voided. I only gave him such a low incentive because I wanted to sign him cheap and save some cap money. We still have him through 2005. N.E. won again and are 3-0. The Jets are 2-1, while Buffalo and us are 1-2. We play in Cincinnati next week and they are 3-0.

Next: Let's try to make it 2 in a row in Cincinnati.

DolphinFan1 · 03-17-2003, 08:59 AM

Week 4: Miami (1-2) @ Cincinnati (3-0) Point spread: Cincinnati -2

We win the toss and receive. We get 8 yards on 3 plays and have to punt.
Cincinnati’s 1st possession nets one 1st down, then we stop them and they punt.
Our next drive starts out promising. We get two 1st down’s before QB- Bush throws and interception. Cincinnati returns it to our 8 yard line.
Our defense steps up and forces them to kick a FG. They lead 3-0.
We each get another short possession before the first quarter ends with Cincinnati leading 3-0.
We start the second quarter continuing the possession we started when the first quarter ended. We get a 3 yard TD run by RB- Eriksen for a 7-3 lead. The drive was 13 plays and 61 yards with 5:19 taken off the clock. One negative point, on the drive RB- Bradley was seriously hurt.
Our defense holds them on their next drive and we get to their 40 on our next drive. We have a 4th and 2 and I tell the coach to go for it. We won’t gain much by punting. We don’t get it and Cincinnati takes over at their 40. Bad call on my part.
Cincinnati drives right down the field in 4 plays and takes the lead 10-7.
The half ends a little later with that same score.
The first 6 possessions of the 3rd quarter are uneventful as both teams barely move the ball.
Cincinnati takes the last possession of the 3rd quarter to our 12 yard line with a 1st down and still leading 10-7. They start the 4th quarter and finish the drive with a TD. Now the lead is 17-7. They go 75 yards in 14 plays. Their SE- Ramsey has 8 catches for 115 yards and I have him double covered most of the time.
We need a drive fast. We only get to the 45 and have to punt.
Our defense holds them on 3 plays.
On our next drive we only get to our 36 and have to punt. We are running out of chances.
On the punt return, RB- Eriksen knocks the ball loose and recovers it himself for a 44 yard TD. We are back in the game only trailing 17-14 with 4:43 to play. Great special teams play by Eriksen.
Now we just have to hold them. With 3 timeouts left there is plenty of time.
Unfortunately, Cincinnati drives down the field and our defense can do nothing. They run out the clock and hold on for a 17-14 win. We fall to 1-3 on the year.

Stats on the game:

We gave up 157 yards on the ground. Our defense had 6 sacks, but our OL allowed 4 sacks. We were 8/17 on 3rd downs. We had 6 penalties for 60 yards. Our running game struggled again. We really miss our bruising FB- Lowe. RB- Eriksen had 13 carries for 37 yards and 1 TD. RB- Jordan had 7 carries for 10 yards. RB- Bradley had 6 carries for 15 yards before he was injured. QB- Bush was 17/30 for 181 yards and 1 INT. SE- Carlson had 6 receptions for 94 yards.

Miami player of the week nominee: SE- Carlson
Offensive player of the week: QB- Donavan Harney- San Diego 23/31 for 202 yards and 3 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Lionel Heffernan- N.Y. Jets 7 tackles and 3 sacks.

Injuries in the game:
DE- Wingfield will be out about 3 weeks with a hyperextended knee.
RB- Bradley will be out for the year with a torn knee ligament.
CB- Riekens and QB- Raven are still not 100%.

Notes:
RB- Bradley won’t be back until next season. I hope he can come back close to his current ratings. I just gave him a long term, high priced contract. I don’t want to have to eat it. I put him on IR. The FA market is pretty thin in talent at RB or FB. We only have $980,000 in cap money to spend on a new player. I find a RB, Sammy Wheeler. He played for Philadelphia for 2 seasons. Nothing outstanding, but maybe a help to our receiving out of the backfield. He does have fumbling problems. He wanted a contract for $230,000 in bonus money and $850,000 for the salary. That is more than we can afford. I offer him $200,000 in bonus money and a $700,000 salary. He accepts.
We are just being decimated by injuries this season. We are 1-3 at the bottom of the AFC East with Buffalo. N.E. still leads with a 4-0 record with the Jets at 3-1. We need to start winning soon.
Buffalo comes to our place next week. We need this win in the division badly. Let’s get it going.

Next: We need a win to stay alive this early in the season.

DolphinFan1 · 03-17-2003, 08:09 PM

Trading Deadline

With our team sitting at the bottom of the AFC East at 1-3, I look to make a trade to see if I can generate a spark. I decided to try to trade QB- Raven. He has a strong conflict with two of our team leaders. Maybe that’s the reason he hasn’t played well when he has had the chance. Also, my scout is poor at evaluating QB’s. Maybe he is wrong on Raven’s potential.
I contact Washington, who are looking for a QB. I offered them Raven, our 4th and 7th round picks in 2005 for their 1st and 5th round pick next year. The Washington GM says we are very close to a deal. But he won’t tell me what I need more to offer him. I feel he is pulling my leg, since Raven is largely unproven. I try G.B. to see if asking around will change the Washington GM’s mind when he sees I am serious about a deal. G.B. won’t even accept Raven for their 1st round pick, where Washington said I was close on that offer.
After a couple other failures and not being able to get the deal closed with Washington, I give up. I will stick with what we have.

Next: Buffalo comes to town in a must win for us.

DolphinFan1 · 03-20-2003, 03:38 AM

Just wanted to let my readers know that I am still hear. I just have been really busy working 12 hour days. I will post more on this dynasty this weekend. Thanks.

DolphinFan1 · 03-21-2003, 06:46 PM

Week 5: Buffalo (1-3) @ Miami (1-3) Point spread: Miami -7

Buffalo wins the toss and receives. We stop them on the first 3 plays. But we are offsides on the punt which makes it a 4th and 1. They then fake the punt and get the first down. But our defense holds them on the next 3 plays and this time they do punt.
We get a nice first drive going. We get to the Buffalo 5 yard line with a 4th and 1. I tell the coach to go for it. I want a TD. We need to get this team going early. We get the 1st down on a run by RB- Jordan. The next play QB- Bush gets sacked for a 6 yard loss. I’m thinking that if this doesn’t work, maybe I should have tried the FG. Then QB- Bush finds FB- Jalove open for a 9 yard TD pass and we have the early 7-0 lead. The drive was 17 plays for 90 yards and chewed up 8:10 off the clock. It’s about time we have a drive like that this season.
On Buffalo’s ensuing drive, they get a 1st down and fumble. CB- Lyle recovers the ball, but wait a minute, we were offsides. Another penalty when we should have the ball. But our defense makes up for it by stopping them on the next three plays. The 1st quarter ends with us leading 7-0 and Buffalo with a 4th and 8 at their 39 yard line.
The second quarter starts with a Buffalo punt and then both teams going 3 and out.
Our next drive, we have a 3rd and 5 @ our 31 and QB- Bush hits newly acquired RB- Wheeler for a 49 yard pass play. But it’s called back because of an illegal shift. Another costly penalty. Bush responds with a pass to TE- Hansen for a 1st down. But we only gain 6 yards on our next 3 plays and have to punt.
Our defense stops them on 3 plays, but our offense can’t get a 1st down either and we have to give it back to them.
They go right down the field on 4 big pass plays to our 15 yard line. Then we hold them to a FG try from 26 yards. They hit it to cut our lead to 7-3.
We have just over 2 minutes to go in the half. We get a couple of quick 1st downs, but stall at the Buffalo 47 and have to punt with 21 seconds to go. We go in at halftime leading 7-3. QB- Bush is playing well. He is 9/13 for 74 yards and a TD in the 1st half.
We start the 3rd quarter with a 3 and out. But P- Peterson get us out of trouble with a booming 52 yard punt to Buffalo’s 10 yard line.
We hold them after one 1st down.
On our next drive QB- Bush gets sacked on the first play and fumbles. Buffalo recovers at our 38.
Our defense steps up again and holds them to only one 1st down. But they get a 46 yard FG to cut our lead to 7-6.
We answer with a good drive. But we stall at their 23 with a 4th and 2. I deliberate on going for it, but ultimately decide to take the points. K- Cousino misses a 40 yarder wide left. I think we may look for a better kicker in the off-season.
Our 1st defensive play after the missed FG is an offsides call. Then we stuff their RB for only a 1 yard gain. The next play, rookie LB- Leclair intercepts a pass and returns it 39 yards to Buffalo’s 10 yard line.
Our 1st play following the turnover, QB- Bush hits FL- Lowe for a 9 yard TD and we now have a 14-6 lead.
Our defense holds Buffalo to a three and out.
The 3rd quarter ends a couple of plays later with us leading 14-6 and our ball with a 1st and 10 at the 50 yard line. We get to the 34 with a 4th and 6. I am a little nervous about letting Cousino trying a long FG. If he misses, Buffalo gets good field position with us only up by 8. But Cousino has been better at the longer FG in his short career. So, I let him try a 51 yarder. He hits it and we now lead 17-6 with 13 minutes to go in the game.
Buffalo starts the next drive with 2 big pass plays and are moving the ball quickly. Then, SS- Benson intercepts a pass @ our 38 to end the threat.
We only get 9 yards though and have to punt.
Buffalo gets a couple of key 3rd down conversions before our defense stops them yet again.
We have the ball at our 29 with 4:10 to go and a 17-6 lead. We only get one 1st down, but that forces Buffalo to use all their timeouts on defense. We punt and Buffalo has the ball at their 33 with 2:05 to play needing 2 scores.
They can’t get more than one 1st down and we take a knee after the turnover on downs and the game is over. We win 17-6.
Big win for this team.

Stats on the game:

We had 7 sacks on defense. We won the turnover battle 2-1. We were 7/17 on 3rd downs. We had a 33 to 27 minute T.O.P. edge. RB- Eriksen 22/73, RB- Gamroth 9/34 and RB- Wheeler 3/14. QB- Bush was 14/23 for 118 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. SE- Carlson had 3 dropped passes. P- Peterson had a 49.4 punting average. K- Cousino was 1 for 2 on FG. He hit a 51 yarder, but missed from 40.

Miami players of the week nominees: S- Benson had 3 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 INT., LB- Leclair had 4 tackles, 1 sack and 1 INT., T- Graham was 5/11 on key run blocks with 0 sacks allowed.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Donavan Harney- San Diego was 22/31 for 204 yards and 1 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Ray Schneider- Chicago had 4 tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

We didn’t suffer any new injuries in the game. That’s the good news. The bad news is that my team has come down with the flu. 11 of my players have it. I will have to try to play some as I am already thin in some areas as it is. Here are the players who have the flu or past injuries not 100%:
FB- Jalove, SE- Kosderka, LT- Graham, LG- Moore, DT- Oliver, DT- Cooper, RT- Heath, QB- Raven, K- Cousino, LB- Lake and RT- Berchin all have the flu. Most have to play some, because I don’t have any other choice.
CB- Riekens broken hand is almost 100%. About 1 more week for him.
DE- Wingfield is about 2 weeks from returning from his hyperextended knee.
FB- Lowe is still about 8 weeks from returning.
SS- Wansley is still about 4 weeks from returning.

Notes:

This was a big win for us. Baltimore upset N.E. so now they and the Jets are tied atop the AFC East with a 4-1 record. We sit at 2-3 and Buffalo falls to 1-4. Maybe we can get back in this thing. We have a tough road game next week at Cleveland who are 4-1. It figures that my team has to pick this week to come down with the flu. Well, let’s see if we can suck it up.

Next: Big win, but a mountain next week in Cleveland with a depleted roster.

DolphinFan1 · 03-22-2003, 11:04 AM

Week 6: Miami (2-3) @ Cleveland (4-1) Point spread: Cleveland -8

Cleveland wins the toss and receives. Their 1st play goes for 23 yards through the air and I’m thinking that this could be a long day with half of my starters suffering from the flu. But our defense stops them on the next three plays and they punt.
We start at our 6 yard line after a good punt by Cleveland. We get a grand total of -1 yard on 3 plays and have to punt from deep in our endzone. Not a good start.
Cleveland, with good field position, only manage one 1st down and have to settle for a 43 yard FG and a 3-0 lead.
Our next drive starts out promising with 2 quick pass plays from QB- Bush to FL- Rosenthal for 17 yards and then to FL- Lowe for 16 yards. We then bog down at the Cleveland 41 yard line.
We each get one more possession before the 1st quarter ends with Cleveland leading 3-0.
We stop Cleveland on 3 plays to start the 2nd quarter.
I take over the play calling. I’m not happy with our run to pass ratio. We get a 14 play, 72 yard drive, which eats up 6:57 off the clock. QB- Bush hits FL- Lowe on a 14 yard strike and we lead 7-3.
On the ensuing kickoff, holding is called on Cleveland. They are backed up to their 3 yard line. We stop them on 3 plays. I decide to try to block the punt. We don’t get to the punter, but we do get good field position at Cleveland’s 44.
Our 1st play is an 11 yard pass to TE- Talley. Then we only gain 8 yards. We have a 4th and 2 at Cleveland’s 25 yard line. K- Cousino hits the 42 yard FG and we lead 10-3.
There is 2:22 to go in the 1st half. Cleveland goes into hurry-up mode. DE- Dix gets a sack on their 1st play. Then they go right down on our defense. They have 4 straight plays of 10 yards or more. With 11 seconds to go and no timeouts, Cleveland elects to try a 34 yard FG. They miss it wide left and we go in at halftime leading 10-3.
We start the 2nd half with 3 running plays. On the 3rd and 1 play, FB- Jalove gets the 1st down but fumbles the ball and Cleveland recovers at our 32.
They get 2 plays and a 1st down. Then rookie FS- Reilly intercepts a pass in the endzone to end the threat and we hold onto a 10-3 lead.
We go down the field on a nice drive. QB- Bush hit a couple of 3rd down passes for 1st downs. But we stall at the 7 with a 4th and 3. No question about whether or not to go for it here. We are leading by 7 on the road. We will take the points. K- Cousino hits the 24 yard FG and we lead 13-3. The drive was 73 yards in 10 plays and took 5:58 off the clock.
Cleveland gets one 1st down but then a sack puts them in a long 3rd down situation. We stop them. My team may be suffering from the flu, but they are giving it 110%.
But our offense only gains 9 yards and we have to punt.
After 2 Cleveland plays, that’s the end of the 3rd quarter with us leading 13-3. Cleveland drives the ball to our 3 yard line and have a 4th and goal. They take the 20 yard FG and our lead is cut back to 7 at 13-6 with 10:10 to play.
We try a big pass play on 1st down, but it backfires as QB- Bush is off target and it is picked off. Cleveland returns the ball to our 45. Now our defense is tired and back on the field.
They get to our 19 yard line, when somehow we stop them. They try a 36 yard FG. They miss it and we still lead 13-6. We dodged a bullet there.
We have the ball with 5:49 to go. But we only get 9 yards and have to punt.
Our defense steps up again with another sack by DE- Dix and then an interception by SS- Benson. He returns it to Cleveland’s 10 yard line.
Our 1st play goes for 8 yards to TE- Lyon. Then we lose 3 on a run. But RB- Wheeler punches it in from 5 yards out for the 20-6 lead with 2:30 to go. That will just about put the game away.
SS- Benson intercepts another pass on Cleveland’s next drive. He is having a game. I’m glad I resigned him in the off-season. K- Cousino misses a 39 yard FG later.
Cleveland drives to our 1 yard line as time expires and we win 20-6. SS- Benson was the player of the game.

Stats on the game:

Our OL allowed 0 sacks. We only had 4 penalties. RB- Eriksen 15/44, RB- Gamroth 10/34, RB- Wheeler 4/18 and 1 TD. QB- Bush 14/21 for 134 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. K- Cousino was 2/3 on FG. C- Malone was 4/5 on run blocks. DE- Dix had 3 tackles, 1 assist and 2 sacks. SS- Benson had 5 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack and 2 INT.
One negative stat: Cleveland’s SE- Stephenson had 6 catches for 121 yards.

Miami players of the week nominees: DE- Dix and SS- Benson.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Bucky Randle-EL- N.E. was 26/40 for 246 yards and 3 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Ralph Hojnacki- Oakland had 4 tackles and 3 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

Only one new injury, LB- Leclair is suffering from knee bursitis, he should play. We still have about 6 players suffering from the flu. De- Wingfield is about 1 week away from returning from his hyperextended knee. SS- Wansley is about 3 weeks away. FB- Lowe isn’t healing very fast as he is still 8 weeks away. CB- Riekens is finally 100%.

Notes:

N.E. played the Jets and won. The AFC East standings: N.E. 5-1, Jets 4-2, Miami 3-3 and Buffaol 1-5. We are now 1 game out of the wildcard spot. Jets and Cleveland are 1 game ahead of us and we just beat Cleveland and still have 2 to play with the Jets. We are back in this thing. We play Pittsburgh at home next week. They are also 3-3.

Next: Let's try to keep it going against Pittsburgh.

DolphinFan1 · 03-23-2003, 01:48 PM

Week 7: Pittsburgh (3-3) @ Miami (3-3) Point spread: Miami -4

Pittsburgh wins the toss and receives. Their 1st play is a false start. On the next play, LB- Leclair gets a sack on a blitz and DE- Dix recovers a fumble to Pittsburgh’s 2 yard line.
We run the ball from the 2 yard line three times and gain a total of -1 yards. We have to settle for a 20 yard FG. We couldn’t gain 2 yards for a TD. That’s disappointing.
Pittsburgh answers with a good drive. They move down the field at will on our defense. We finally hold at our 3 and they also get a 20 yard FG to tie the game at 3. We did stop them on a 3rd and goal at our 1 yard line.
Our next drive, RB- Eriksen runs for 5 yards. Then we get a 7 yard pass play to SE- Blassingame for a 1st down. Then after a false start, QB- Bush hits SE- Blassingame again, this time for a 60 yard bomb for a TD. We take the lead 10-3.
We hold Pittsburgh on 3 plays. Off the short punt, CB- Riekens returns it 16 yards to Pittsburgh’s 30 yard line.
We only gain 2 yards on 3 plays and have to try a 45 yard FG. K- Cousino misses it as he slipped on the wet field. The score is still 10-3 Miami.
Pittsburgh gets 5 plays before the 1st quarter ends. They start the 2nd quarter with a punt.
We start our next drive promising enough. QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson for a 16 yard pass on the first play. But we can’t gain another 1st down and have to punt.
Pittsburgh doesn’t do anything however, and have to punt.
Another short punt and CB- Riekens returns it 16 yards again to Pittsburgh’s 38. We get a 1 yard run by RB- Eriksen, a 2 yard run by RB- Gamroth and an 11 yard run by RB- Wheeler on a 3rd down draw play. But we don’t get another 1st down and have to settle for another FG try. K- Cousino misses another one, this time from 41 yards. We still only lead 10-3.
Pittsburgh goes on a good drive towards the end of the 1st half. They move right down the field and get down to our 1 yard line. That is where LB- Parker knocks the ball loose and CB- Riekens recovers at our 1 yard line. A great play to save the lead.
With the ball at our 1 with 1:21 to go, I tell the coach to play it safe. We call 3 running plays and punt and that ends the half.
We start the 2nd half with a drive that only gains one 1st down.
But our defense is playing well as we force Pittsburgh to punt after only 3 plays.
Again we only gain one 1st down and punt.
Pittsburgh has the ball 2 more times in the 3rd quarter and us once, but neither team is moving the ball very well. The 3rd quarter ends with us still leading 10-3.
We have the ball on our 5 yard line with 13:43 to go in the game. We go -2 yards on 2 running plays, then QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 15 yard pass play for a 1st down. Then Pittsburgh commits 2 defensive penalties to give us first downs. After a couple of running plays and 2 false starts, we have a 3rd and 10. QB- Bush makes an ill-advised pass which is intercepted at Pittsburgh’s 47 yard line.
Pittsburgh doesn’t take long to make us pay for the turnover. They go 2 plays and get a 42 yard TD pass to tie the game at 10.
FL- Rosenthal pumps up the team with a 32 yard kickoff return to our 46 with 7:57 to go. We get a 6 yard pass to RB- Wheeler to start the drive. Then a 10 yard pass to FL- Rosenthal to get a 1st down. After a run for no gain and a Pittsburgh offsides call, we get another run for -1 yards. Our rushing game is struggling. Then QB- Bush gets sacked on the 3rd down play and we have a 4th and 12 at Pittsburgh’s 40 yard line. K- Cousino has been erratic today and I don’t think he has the leg for a 57 yard FG anyway. So, I tell the coach to punt and let our defense hold them. Good punt, downed at the 7 yard line. There is 4:23 to go.
Pittsburgh starts our with 2 big pass plays of 18 and 16 yards and are already out to the 41 yard line. They get a couple of runs and another big play for 19 yards and eventually have a 4th and 5 at our 22 with 46 seconds to go. I call a timeout to save as much time as I can in case they hit the FG. It’s from 39 yards out and they hit it to lead 13-10.
We have the ball after the kickoff at our 24 with 35 seconds to go.
After a sack, QB- Bush throws 3 incomplete passes and the game is over. We lose 13-10.

Stats on the game:

There weren’t many positives in the game. We only allowed 13 points on defense, but 10 came on Pittsburgh’s final 2 possessions. We didn’t score any points after our 1st two drives. We had 52 rushing yards on 25 attempts. That is pitiful. We were 3/14 on 3rd down conversions and we only had 195 yards of total offense. SE- Blassingame had a decent game with 3 catches for 71 yards and a TD. LB- Leclair had a good game defensively with 8 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks. QB- Bush is struggling with a 13/23 for 143 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT day. K- Cousino also is struggling with a 1 for 3 day.

Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Leclair.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Terrance Markovich- K.C. was 28/44 for 273 yards with 2 TD
Defensive player of the week: DE- Riddick Kieffer- G.B. had 9 tackles, 2 assists and 2.5 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

Only one new injury, CB- Franz has a pulled groin and will be out up to three weeks. With our bye week this week, everyone else should recover nicely.

Notes:

This was a tough loss. We had a lot of missed opportunities. We only got a FG after that 1st turnover by Pittsburgh at their 2 yard line. Also the 2 missed FG by Cousino. He should have hit them. I will be looking for a kicker in the off-season. I will take a quick look at the FA wire now, but I don’t think there is much to choose from.
With the loss, we fall further back in the playoff race. N.E. won again, and are 6-1. The Jets lost and are 4-3. We are 3-4 and Buffalo lost also and are 1-6. We play N.E. after our bye week.

Next: N.E. comes to town after our bye week.

DolphinFan1 · 03-23-2003, 01:50 PM

Week 8: Bye Week

Offensive player of the week: QB- Wade Lyons- Buffalo was 28/49 for 330 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Conrad Soria- Tennessee had 5 tackles, 2 assists and 4 sacks.

On the injury front:

We only have three injuries still on the list, not counting RB- Bradley who is on IR. FB- Lowe is doubtful and is expected back to full strength in about 6 weeks. SS- Wansley is probable and should be back to full strength in about 1 week. He is a rookie who only played part of the 1st game of the season. CB- Franz is questionable with his pulled groin and will be 100% in about 2 weeks. FB- Lowe and CB- Franz will sit. SS- Wansley will try to play some.

Notes:

N.E. lost to Cleveland to fall to 6-2. The Jets won and are one game back at 5-3. We are 3-4 and Buffalo lost to the Jets to fall to 1-7. We play N.E. and need a win. QB- Raven is healthy and may play if QB- Bush struggles. But he has a serious chemistry problem with some of our leaders as I talked about a few weeks ago. I haven’t decided what to do about it yet.
I made a move in the kicking department. I released Cousino and signed an undrafted FA, Clay Stanton out of Oklahoma State. He has better potential in kicking accuracy, power and hangtime. He has a little drop off in kickoff distance. But that wasn’t a problem. Let’s see if he can help us. If not, it’s plan B in the off-season, get a kicker in the draft.

Next: Let's try to turn it around against N.E.

DolphinFan1 · 03-24-2003, 05:40 PM

Week 9: N.E. (6-2) @ Miami (3-4) Point spread: N.E. -3

Before the game, I look at the injury report. N.E. star QB- Bucky Randle El is out with torn knee cartilage. That will certainly help us as their backup is not 100%. Also their starting TE- is out. Glad to see we aren’t the only team with injury problems. On with the game.

N.E. wins the toss and receives. They quickly go 3 plays and punt.
We also go 3 and out.
On N.E. next drive, they get an 8 yard run on 1st down. Then our defense holds them to 1 yard on 2 plays. They go for it from their 41 with a 4th and 1. We stop them for no gain. I don’t know if I would have done that so early in the game.
We have the ball in great field position after the turnover on downs. Our 1st three plays are 3 runs for 11 yards and a 1st down. Then RB- Eriksen runs 10 yards, but fumbles the ball. Thankfully FL- Rosenthal is there to save the day. He recovers it to N.E. 14 yard line. Another 5 yard run and then QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 9 yard TD pass for a 7-0 lead.
N.E. goes 3 and out again. Our defense is playing well. N.E. has no 1st downs and 22 total yards on their 1st three possessions. The punt is returned by CB- Riekens 22 yards to our 48 yard line.
We start our next drive with 2 runs of 4 and 10 yards. Then a couple of incomplete passes and a run for -1 yard. We have a 4th and 11 at N.E. 39 yard line. Let’s get our new kicker’s feet wet. We try a 56 yarder and it is short.
Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Now N.E. has good field position at their own 46 yard line. They get a 1st down before the 1st quarter ends. They continue the drive into the 2nd quarter with a 14 yard pass play. But we hold them on the next two plays. They have a 3rd and 13 and we get a sack and they fumble the ball. But they recover it at our 32 yard line and have a 4th down. They try a 49 yard FG and miss it short. We still lead 7-0.
Our next drive is a short one as we get 2 yards on a run and then QB- Bush gets sacked and fumbles the ball. N.E. recovers it at our 37 yard line.
N.E. only gains 1 yard in 3 plays. They have a 4th and 9 at our 36 and they try a 53 yard FG. Another miss short.
We get a good drive going following the missed FG. But it stalls at the N.E. 37 yard line. I go to the well again and try a long FG. K- Stanton is short again, this time from 54 yards. The score is still 7-0.
They drive again down the field. Our defense gets a sack on a key third down which puts them at our 31 on 4th down. They try a 48 yard FG. It’s short again. Unbelievable, 5 FG tried and all are short.
We start at our 38 yard line. We get two 1st downs but a sack puts us at a 4th and 14 from their 42. I tell the coach to punt this time. There is 1:02 to go in the half. I don’t want them to have a short field again.
We punt to the 6 yard line. N.E. is content to go in at halftime only down 7-0 on the road. They run the ball 4 times and the half is over, mercifully. There were 5 missed FG in the half.
We start the second half with the ball. RB- Eriksen is running the ball well today. He has a couple of nice runs on the drive and we get to N.E. 33 yard line with a 4th and 5. Although I am a little nervous about trying another long FG, we need to get some points sooner or later. This time K- Stanton hits the 50 yard FG and we extend the lead to 10-0.
The next 4 drives are 3 plays and out.
Then N.E. gets a couple of 1st downs before the 3rd quarter ends with the score still Miami 10-0. The 4th quarter starts with N.E. punting.
We go three plays and punt. We are letting N.E. stay in the game. That’s how we lost to Pittsburgh two week’s ago. We need to put this game away.
N.E. gets a couple of 1st downs and have a 4th and 3 at our 36 yard line. Would you believe they are short on another kick. That’s 4 missed FG by N.E. today. That’s the only reason we still lead this game 10-0.
We only get one 1st down on our next drive and have to punt.
Thankfully N.E. offense is struggling also as they only get one 1st down themselves.
We have the ball at our 11 yard line with 7:15 to go in the game still leading 10-0. We only get 9 yards on 3 plays and have to punt.
N.E. gets a 21 yard PR to our 44, but they fumble the ball. TE- Talley recovers the ball for us at their 47 yard line. But of course we can do nothing with it and have to punt after only 3 plays.
N.E. has the ball at their 18 yard line with 3:16 to go. On their 1st play we sack the QB for a 7 yard loss. Then they throw an incomplete pass. Then on 3rd down we get a 10 yard sack. They have a 4th an 27 at their 1 yard line. I tell the coach to try to block the punt. We don’t get to it, but the punt isn’t very good as CB- Riekens calls a fair catch at N.E. 35 yard line.
There is 2:26 to play. We get one 1st down and a few more yards. But we stall at their 13 yard line and have to try the dreaded FG. K- Stanton hits it from 30 yards out and we lead 13-0 with just under a minute to go.
N.E. has the ball at their 42 yard line after the kickoff with 45 seconds to go. On the first play, SS- Benson intercepts a pass at N.E. 47 yard line and the game is over. We win 13-0.

Stats on the game:

We held N.E. to 189 total yards. But we only gained 214 yards ourselves, thankfully 143 were on the ground. We had 6 sacks by our defense, but allowed 4 sacks. We had a 34 to 26 minute edge in T.O.P. RB- Eriksen had his 1st 100 yard rushing game of the year as he had 27 carries for 116 yards. QB- Bush was ok as he was 11/20 for 71 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. New K- Stanton was 2/4 with a long of 50 yards on FG. LT- Graham was 5/13 on run blocks with 1 sack allowed. RT- Heath was 4/6 and TE- Lyon was 3/3 run blocking. There were 6 missed FG in the game and all were short.

Miami players of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen, LT- Graham and DE- Franklin had 3 tackles and 2 sacks.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Bobby Speer- N.O. was 22/31 for 215 yards with 2 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Mike Cobb- Seattle had 5 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

We didn’t suffer any new injuries in the game. But we do have a relapse of the flu epidemic again. Ten players have it, some new and some have caught it again. CB- Franz is about 1 week away from returning from his groin pull. FB- Lowe is questionable and about 5 weeks away from returning. We need him, but I want him to heal first.

Notes:

We are 4-4 at the halfway point in the season. We play Baltimore at home next week. They are 3-5. We need to keep winning to stay in the playoff hunt. N.E. still leads the AFC East with a 6-3 record. The Jets are also 6-3. We are 4-4 and Buffalo is 2-7. The Jets and Cincinnati are the wildcards right now with 6-3 and 5-3 records respectively. We are one game off the pace at 4-4, but we are tied with 6 other teams with the same record. It looks to be a mad scramble for a playoff spot. Time to look at our mid-season stats and rookie report through 8 games.

Next: Big win but we have a long way to go. Mid-season report coming up next.

DolphinFan1 · 03-26-2003, 02:07 AM

To all my readers. There will be a delay in this dynasty for a few days. My grandfather passed away tonight. I will try to continue it sometime this weekend.

DolphinFan1 · 03-29-2003, 05:55 AM

2004 Miami Dolphins Mid-Season Report

Record: 4-4......3rd in the AFC East..................................We are tied with 6 teams with a 4-4 record
1 ½ games out.................................1 game out of a wildcard spot.

Team Stats Offense:........Rank:................Team Stats Defense:................Rank:

93.1 rushing yards a game.........29th in the league...........131.5 rushing yards.........29th in the league
162.2 passing yards a game...30th in the league....200.3 passing yards.....17th in the league
15.5 Points per game..............28th in the league....13.3 Points per game..3rd in the league
36.2% 3rd down conversions........T- 11th in the league......33 sacks...............T- 2nd in the league
+ 7 Turnover ratio........................T- 6th in the league........We are T- 6th in the league in penalties against

Individual Stats:

QB- Bush 116/209....55.5%.....1150 yards..........6 TD......7 INT
RB- Eriksen.......124 rushes........393 yards (3.1)..2 TD.............1 Fumble
FL- Lowe......20 catches.............233 yards...........3 TD
FL- Rosenthal..22 catches..........270 yards
SE- Blassingame 14 catches.......217 yards...........1 TD
SE- Carlson.........31 catches........345 yards..........1 TD
TE- Talley...........11 catches...........93 yards

PR- Riekens has a 12.6 average............ KR- Lowe has a 23.6 average......KR- Rosenthal has a 22.7 average
P- Peterson has a 43.1 average which is T- 8th in the league
K- Stanton is our new kicker with only 1 game under his belt. He is 2.4 with a long of 50 yards.

Team Stats:

Sacks: DE- Dix and DE- Franklin have 5.0 each. LB- Parker and LB- Leclair have 3.5 each.
Tackles: LB- Bruce has 36, LB- Parker has 34 and S- Benson has 32.
Interceptions: S- Benson has 4 and CB- Lyle has 2.
Passes Defended: LB- Bruce has 5, CB- Riekens has 4, S- Benson, CB- Lyle and CB- Valle have 3 each.
Run Blocks: LT- Graham 19/54 with 1 sack allowed, C- Malone 13/41 with 4 sacks allowed and G- Rodriguez 10/52 with 2 sacks allowed.

1st Half Analysis

With the loss of our big blocking FB- Lowe to injury in week one, our running game has struggled. We are only rushing for 2.88 yards per carry which is last in the league. Our PR continues to shine. As does our new punter. We do need more depth at the RB/FB positions. Also a good solid kicker. I’m not sure recently signed K- Stanton is the answer. I will address these issues during the off-season. With our injuries we’ve had, I guess 4-4 isn’t all that bad. It’s just disappointing because we won the division last season with a 12-4 record.

DolphinFan1 · 03-29-2003, 06:09 AM

.................................................................Rookie Report:......................................................1st half grade:

2nd round pick: DT- Meidinger................Playing ok, learning the game. He has improved
.................................................................in the last couple of games................................................B-

2nd round pick: FL- Rosenthal.................Starting and playing well. A big help to our KR
.................................................................game. He could be a star someday.....................................B+

3rd round pick: LB- Parker.......................Excellent value for the pick. A big help to our
.................................................................OLB problems we’ve had..................................................A-

4th round pick: FS- Reilly........................Playing ok, not having as big an impact as I would
................................................................Have liked..........................................................................C+

4th round pick: SS- Wansley....................Got hurt in week one. Just came back from injury.
..........................................................................................................................................................N/A

5th round pick: LB- Leclair......................Another great value for the pick. The other side of
..................................................................our rookie OLB crew........................................................A-

5th round pick: P- Peterson......................A big upgrade to our punting game. In top 10 in the
.................................................................league.................................................................................A

6th round pick: OT- Berchin....................Mainly a backup for now. Unsure if he will start..............C

7th round pick: LB- Lake.........................Backup LB. Probably won’t be a starter in this league......C

................................................................Undrafted Rookies:.................................................1st half grade:

RB- Gamroth..............................Not a bad runner to the outside. Ok for an undrafted
....................................................rookie..............................................................................................C+

TE- Lyon....................................He is backing up. Had a couple of good games..............................C

DE- Franklin..............................A great addition to our DL. Leads team with 5 sacks.....................A-

FS- Kiselak................................A backup, nothing more...................................................................C

DolphinFan1 · 03-30-2003, 10:13 PM

2004 Miami Dolphins second half of the season weekly wrapup

Week 10: Baltimore (3-5) @ Miami (4-4) Point spread: Miaim -4

Baltimore wins the toss and receives. They get two 1st downs and we finally stop them. But wait a minute, there is an unnecessary roughness penalty called on us. That gives Baltimore a 1st down. They get to our 16 yard line on a 3rd and 9 when LB- Parker intercepts a pass and returns it to their 49 yard line. A great play to stop a good drive by Baltimore.
We have a false start penalty called on us on our 1st offensive play. Not a good way to start. But we get a 1st down on a big 3rd down pass play by QB- Bush. After 2 more plays, we have a 3rd and 2 at Baltimore’s 30 yard line. QB- Bush finds SE- Carlson on a 30 yard pass play for the TD. We lead 7-0.
We both go 3 and out on our next drive.
Baltimore then gets two 1st downs and that ends the 1st quarter. We still lead 7-0. Baltimore gets to our 41 and have to punt. The ball is downed at our 7 yard line.
We proceed to go backwards to our 1 yard line and have to punt from there. We only get a 37 yard punt and Baltimore has great field position.
Our defense steps up and only allows Baltimore 2 yards and they decide to punt rather than try a 53 yard FG. A good choice by them as their punter puts it out of bounds at our 1 yard line. We are backed up again.
We get a couple of big 1st downs and move the ball to Baltimore’s 47 yard line. But we have to punt with a 4th and 4. At least we changed the field position.
There is 3:55 to play in the 1st half. Baltimore gets a 1st down and then on the next play CB- Hoskins intercepts a pass at their 34 and returns it to their 23.
We have 2:38 to work with. We start out good with a 19 yard pass play that puts the ball at Baltimore’s 4 yard line and a 1st and goal. We get 2 yards on a run and then a delay of game penalty. After a 2 yard loss on a run, QB- Bush gets sacked and we now have a 4th and goal at their 14. We are going backwards after the big pass play. We try a 31 yard FG. K- Stanton misses it. We still only lead 7-0. We should have been able to punch that in.
Baltimore is content to run out the clock and go in at halftime only down 7-0 on the road.
We start the second half with the ball. We get an 8 yard run and then a sack. QB- Bush fumbled the ball on the sack, but SE- Kosderka recovered it 7 yards to give us a 3rd and 2. He saved the turnover. We get the 1st down, but ultimately have to punt.
Baltimore goes 3 and out.
We get a couple of nice runs by RB- Eriksen on our next drive, but have to settle for a 32 yard FG try. K- Stanton hits it and we now lead 10-0.
Our defense is playing well today. On Baltimore’s next possession, we get a stop on a run for -1 yard, a 4 yard loss on a sack and an interception by S- Kiselak at Baltimore’s 30 yard line.
We don’t waste any time and get a 15 yard TD pass from QB- Bush to FL- Rosenthal after a 3 play drive and take a 17-0 lead.
Baltimore finally gets a drive going at the end of the 3rd quarter. They get to our 45 yard line and have a 1st and 10 as the 3rd quarter ends. We still lead 17-0. They continue the drive into the 4th quarter and we hold them at the 28 yard line. They have to settle for a 45 yard FG and our lead is cut to 17-3.
We only get one 1st down and Baltimore has the ball right back.
They get a 33 yard pass play on their 1st play and go right down the field and score a TD. Our lead is now 17-10. This is getting too close. We have dominated this game. We need to put it away.
We don’t start so well with a 5 yard run and an incomplete pass gives us a 3rd and 5. Our coach calls a draw play with backup RB- Wheeler. He breaks it for 44 yards and a 1st down. We get 0 yards on our next 2 runs and have a 3rd and 10. QB- Bush’s pass on 3rd down is incomplete, but there is a pass interference call on Baltimore and that gives us a 1st down at their 5 yard line. We get a 2 yard run and then RB- Eriksen punches it in from 3 yards out for the TD and the 24-10 lead with 3:34 to go. Nice answer to Baltimore’s drive.
Baltimore can’t get anything done and that’s the final score. We win 24-10.

Stats on the game:

We had 174 rushing yards. We won the turnover battle 3-0. We did have 7 penalties for 45 yards. RB- Eriksen had 26 rushes for 79 yards and a TD. RB- Wheeler had 2 rushes for 43 yards. RB- Gamroth had 11 rushes for 52 yards. QB- Bush was 12/15 for 133 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. This was his best game from an efficiency standpoint of his career. K- Stanton continues to struggle as he was 1 for 2 on FG, but the miss was from 31 yards. DE- Dix had 5 tackles, 5 assists, 1 sack and 2 hurries. C- Malone was 4/10 on run blocks. DE- Franklin had 3 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack and 3 hurries. CB- Valle had 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Miami player of the week nominee: CB- Valle
Offensive player of the week: QB- Rufus Craig- St. Louis was 21/27 for 236 yards with 1 TD.
Defensive player of the week: CB- Malcolm Duncan- S.D. had 7 tackles, 1 assist, 2 interceptions and 2 passes defended.

Injuries in the game:

We had 3 new injuries, but none look serious. FL- Lowe had a bruised shoulder and should play next week. DT- Cooper has shoulder tendinitis and he should play. DE- Franklin had knee bursitis but should play. FB- Lowe is still questionable for about 4 weeks with his high ankle sprain. We have 8 players still suffering from the flu. I will try to rest as many as I can.

Notes:

Here are the AFC East standing: Jets 6-3, N.E. 6-4, Miami 5-4 and Buffalo 3-7. We have climbed back into the race. We play the Jets this week at their place for a share of the AFC East lead. N.E. has a bye week. So, there could be a 3 way tie atop the division. It’s too bad FB- Lowe isn’t healthy. I would pound the ball down their throats. But we will have to make do with what we have. We have been fighting back all season long. Also with a lot of our players suffering from the flu, it will be that much harder. But I think we can win.

Next: Let's beat those pesky Jets and earn a share of the AFC East lead.

lytic · 03-31-2003, 12:06 AM

Go pats!

DolphinFan1 · 03-31-2003, 09:40 AM

Week 11: Miami (5-4) @ N.Y. Jets (6-3) Point spread: Jets -4

The Jets win the toss and receive. They start out with a 3 and out and off the punt so do we. The Jets get a couple of 1st downs on their next possession to change the field position. When they punt we are backed up. We proceed to help them and go 3 and out again. The Jets get a good punt return to set them up in good field position. They start out with 2 runs of 16 and 14 yards. After a couple of negative plays they get a 13 yard TD pass to take a 7-0 lead. The 1st quarter ends a couple of short possessions later with the same score.
The 2nd quarter starts out much like the 1st did, with both teams going 3 plays and out. On our next drive, we do manage one 1st down but ultimately have to punt. Our defense helps our cause and stops them on 3 plays with a sack thrown in. After a short punt, we have good field position at the Jets 41.
We start the drive with a 13 yard pass to FL- Rosenthal, but it’s called back because he pushed off and is called for offensive pass interference. After an incomplete pass, QB- Bush hits FL- Rosenthal again, this time for 31 yards and a 1st down. This time it counts. We get all the way down to the Jets 1 yard line and have a 4th and goal. I hate kicking FG inside the 5 yard line, so I tell the coach to go for it. Let’s punch it in. RB- Gamroth explodes into the endzone for the 1 yard TD run and we tie the score at 7-7.
The Jets next drive is stalled with 2 penalties on them and they have to punt. But the punt goes to our 2 yard line and we are backed up. We manage to go backwards 1 yard and have a 4th and 11 at our 1 yard line. We have to punt from our endzone. The punt is only 33 yards and the Jets have great field position. There is also a fair catch interference call on us, so the Jets good field position just got better. They start at our 19 yard line. The only thing in our favor is there are only 22 seconds to play in the 1st half. They start out with a run for no gain and call a timeout. Then they get a 16 yard run and call a timeout. They are at our 3 yard line, but there are only 5 seconds to play. Not wanting to risk running out of time, they take the 20 yard FG and go in at halftime with the lead 10-7.
We start the second half with 2 plays for 6 yards. Then on 3rd down, QB- Bush is sacked and loses the football. The Jets recover at our 23 yard line. Our defense rises to the occasion and holds them to just 3 yards on 3 plays. The Jets have to settle for a 37 yard FG, but they now lead 13-7.
We don’t start so well on our next drive as we run twice for 0 yards. Then we run a draw play on 3rd and 10 and get 11 yards and a 1st down. After another 1st down, we get to their 28 a couple of plays later. We have a 4th and 1. Not sure if K- Stanton can hit a 45 yarder, I tell the coach to go for it. We run for 3 yards and a 1st down. But we can’t get another 1st down and have a 4th and 4 at their 19 yard line. Not wanting to press my luck on another 4th down call, we take the 36 yard FG. K- Stanton hits it to cut the Jets lead to 13-10.
The Jets help our cause by answering with a drive of 3 plays and punt.
Our offense continues where our last drive ended with a nice couple of plays. The Jets help with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give us a 1st and 10 at their 24 yard line. We get another 1st down and then have a 3rd and goal at the Jets 5 yard line. QB- Bush hits SE- Kosderka for a 5 yard TD pass and we take the lead 17-13. We go 73 yards in 10 plays and take 4:31 off the clock. There is 14:16 to play in the game.
The Jets answer right back with a good drive of their own. Our defense which was playing well, looks tired on this drive. The Jets get to our 24 before we stop them. They hit a 41 yard FG and cut the lead to 17-16 with 8:58 to play.
We don’t do anything to answer and proceed to punt after 3 plays.
We start out with a good defensive play on the Jets next drive. We sack their QB for a 7 yard loss. After an incomplete pass on 2nd down, the Jets are called again for unsportsmanlike conduct. This puts them at their 10 yard line with a 3rd and 26. Their 3rd down play is incomplete, but we get called for a defensive holding call and that gives them an automatic 1st down. On 3rd and 26 they get a gift call. That’s bull. They get another quick 1st down, but our defense holds and they have to punt.
We get the ball at our 33 with 3:10 to play and a 17-16 lead. Let’s run out the clock. The Jets use their timeouts on defense as we run the ball and try to end the game. We only get one 1st down and have to punt from the Jets 45.
The ball goes to the Jets 17 and they only have 1:08 to work with and no timeouts. They start out with an incomplete pass on 1st down. Then they get a 36 yard pass to give them a 1st down at our 47. This is getting dicey. They spike the ball to stop the clock. Then on 2nd and 3rd down, they throw 2 incomplete passes. So, now the situation is this: The Jets have a 4th and 10 at our 47 yard line, trailing 17-16 with 15 seconds to go and no timeouts. We need a stop here. Let’s not lose another one on a last second FG. The ball is snapped and the pass is away. It falls incomplete and we take over on downs with 7 seconds remaining. We take a knee and we win 17-16. Big win on the road and a division game.

Stats on the game:

Our rushing game was anemic again. We only had 62 yards on 35 carries. We also allowed 146 yards to the Jets running game. They helped our cause by committing 10 penalties. QB- Bush carried the team and had a decent day from the numbers point of view. He was 20/28 for 178 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. But he did have that one fumble which resulted in a Jets FG. FL- Rosenthal had 5 catches for 53 yards. SE- Carlson had 4 catches for 46 yards. RT- Heath was 3/5 on run blocks. K- Stanton hit his only FG attempt and was 2/2 on PAT.

Miami player of the week nominees: None. That’s ok, it was a team win.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Lamar Pringle- Houston was 23/33 for 249 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Rich Crawford- Baltimore had 9 tackles and 3 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

QB- Bush has knee bursitis and is probable for about 2 weeks. He will play next week unless it is bothering him. It he struggles I will have no choice but to play Raven. S- Kiselak is out until further notice. He has impaired vision. The doctors aren’t sure when he’ll be back. He’s a backup anyway. FL- Rosenthal is the only player still suffering from the flu. FL- Lowe will start in his place. Rosenthal will play some. FB- Lowe has been upgraded to probable and should be 100% in about 3 weeks. I will sit him at least one more week. RB- Bradley is on IR and that is all the injuries at the moment. Everyone is healthy.

Notes:

We have really turned our season around. We started 1-3 and have won 5 of 6 to take over the division lead with a 6-4 record. The Jets and N.E. are also 6-4, but we have the better division record right now at 3-1. Buffalo is 3-7. It looks to be a dog fight the last 6 games in the AFC East race. We travel to Arizona next week who are 5-5. They are on a hot streak also, they have won 2 in a row and 3 of 4. Let’s keep it going.

Next: We go to Arizona and try to stay on top of the AFC East.

Fritz · 03-31-2003, 10:16 AM

go fins!

DolphinFan1 · 03-31-2003, 03:02 PM

Thanks Fritz,

It looked bleak for awhile but we have turned it around. Keep reading to find out what happens. Thanks for the reply.

DolphinFan1 · 03-31-2003, 03:05 PM

Week 12: Miami (6-4) @ Arizona (5-5) Point spread: Miami -3

Arizona wins the toss and receives. Our defense starts out hot and forces a punt after 3 plays. The next 4 possessions in the game are 3 and outs.
We are 1st to record a 1st down in the game on our 3rd possession. We gain 2 more 1st downs, but ultimately have to punt.
Arizona’s next drive was killed by two penalties called on them.
Our next drive starts out real bad with an incomplete pass on 1st down and a sack for a 5 yard loss on 2nd down. But QB- Bush completes a pass for 16 yards and a 1st down. After another completed pass, this time for 30 yards, that’s the end of the 1st quarter. It is scoreless, but we have a 1st and 10 at the Arizona 16 yard line. We start out the 2nd quarter with a run for 1 yard and another run for 5 yards. Then Bush completes a pass to the 1 yard line for a 1st and goal. We lose a yard on 1st down, but RB- Eriksen powers his way into the endzone from 2 yards out and we lead 7-0. Our drive took 9 plays and went 57 yards and ate up 4:22 off the clock.
Arizona answers our drive with a good one of their own. But an offensive holding and a delay of game penalty pushes them back from a 1st and 10 at our 12, to a 4th and forever at our 24. They try a 41 yard FG and miss it. We still lead 7-0.
We move the ball well again on our next drive. Our running game is struggling, but Bush is on fire. He completes a couple of key 3rd down passes to convert and keep the drive alive. We have a 1st and goal at the Arizona 7 and run into trouble. We get 0 yards on a run. Then on 2nd down, Bush’s pass is incomplete. On 3rd down, our OL allows a sack and we lose 11 yards. We had a 1st and goal at the 7 and now are at the 18 and have to try a 35 yard FG. K- Stanton hits it though and we lead 10-0. But we should have had a TD. The drive was 10 plays and went 51 yards in 5:03.
Arizona gets the ball with 28 seconds to play in the 1st half. They start out with an 18 yard pass play, but after another offensive holding penalty and a sack, they have a long 3rd down. The pass is incomplete and time runs out on the 1st half. We go in on the road with a 10-0 lead.
We get the ball to start the 2nd half. On the kickoff return, FL- Lowe fumbles the ball. Thankfully, SE- Blassingame is there to recover it to save a turnover. But we only gain 2 yards and have to punt after 3 plays.
Arizona gets a long 44 yard pass play on their next drive and eventually get to our 10 yard line and our defense holds them. They try a 27 yard FG and miss it again. We still lead 10-0.
On our next drive, RB- Eriksen fumbles the ball on our 2nd play, but G- Rodriguez is there to save us. That’s twice we dodged a bullet. We can’t gain a 1st down however and have to punt.
Arizona only gets one 1st down on their next drive and punt.
We finally get a good drive going in the 2nd half. A couple of nice passes by Bush, along with a couple of key Arizona penalties get us to the Arizona 35. They RB- Eriksen runs for 2 yards and fumbles and this time Arizona is there to recover. A good drive killed by a turnover.
The 3rd quarter ends with Arizona driving but we still lead 10-0. They continue the drive in the 4th quarter and end up getting a TD to cut our lead to 10-7. They turned our mistake into points. We should be running away with this game with the missed FGs by Arizona and the drive we just fumbled away. But instead we are in a nailbiter.
After a short kickoff, we return it 33 yards to Arizona’s 48 yard line. It takes just 3 plays for us to answer Arizona’s TD. Bush completes two passes for 40 and 7 yards and RB- Eriksen makes up for his fumble with a 1 yard TD run. His second TD of the day. We now have 17-7 lead with 10 minutes to play.
Arizona is not giving up however, as they move right down the field on our defense. They get to our 28 yard line and then throw 3 incomplete passes. They then miss a 45 yard FG. That’s their 3rd miss of the day. We still lead 17-7.
We have the ball with 6:40 to play. Bush completes a couple of passes for 1st downs and we get to Arizona’s 20 with a 4th and 4. We try a 37 yard FG which is blocked. Arizona returns it to our 49. We needed that FG. This is getting too close.
Arizona has to hurry as there is only 2:47 to play. They get a 7 yard pass on 1st down. Then on 2nd down, CB- Riekens intercepts a pass in the endzone. That should seal the deal. Riekens with a key turnover to save a possible score by Arizona. That could have made it a 3 point game and it would have been too close for my taste. We run out most of the clock and Arizona’s last possession is inconsequential. We win 17-7. QB- Bush is the game MVP.

Stats on the game:

We only gained 34 yards on 26 carries on the ground. QB- Bush carried the team again as he was 20/27 for 291 yards and no INT. Our OL gave up 5 sacks. Arizona helped our cause by committing 12 penalties for 75 yards. We only had 3 penalties. RB- Eriksen has a forgettable day in yardage with 27 yards on 17 carries, but he did have our 2 TD’s to help us win. FL- Rosenthal had 7 catches for 61 yards and FL- Lowe had 115 yards on 5 catches.

Miami player of the week nominees: QB- Bush and FL- Lowe.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Bucky Randle EL- N.E. was 27/42 for 236 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: LB- Vincent Monty- Dallas had 8 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

Thankfully we didn’t suffer any new injuries. Everyone is recovered from the flu, again. QB- Bush is still suffering from knee bursitis, but it didn’t seem to hamper his performance any. FB- Lowe is almost ready to return. I will sit him out at least one more week. S- Kiselak is still out from impaired vision. Everyone else is healthy.

Notes:

N.E. won so we are both tied atop the AFC East with 7-4 records. The Jets are 6-5 and Buffalo is 3-8. We are on a 4 game winning streak. Oakland comes to town next week. They are 5-6 and have won their last 2 games. We need to keep winning, our division is tough.
The defensive player of the week this week, LB- Vincent Monty, was someone who was on my draft board this year. But Dallas took him in the 1st round. But I guess I can’t complain. We have a couple of good rookie OLB starting and playing well for us, Leclair and Parker.

Next: Let's try to keep it going against Oakland.

DolphinFan1 · 04-01-2003, 05:58 PM

Week 13: Oakland (5-6) @ Miami (7-4) Point spread: Miami - 4

Oakland wins the toss and receives. They start out with an incomplete pass and a run for a 3 yard loss. Then on 3rd and 13, DE- Franklin gets a sack and the ball comes loose and he recovers at the Oakland 12 yard line.
We only take 3 plays to convert it into points. QB- Bush hits TE- Lyon on a 7 yard TD pass and we take the early 7-0 lead. Now that’s the way to start a game. A defensive play for a turnover and a quick strike on offense.
On Oakland’s next drive they get a 16 yard run on 1st down. Then we get another sack, this time by LB- Burton on a blitz. The ball comes loose again. DE- Dix is there for the recovery at the Oakland 47 yard line.
We squander an opportunity as Bush is sacked twice and we go backwards 12 yards on a short 3 play drive. P- Peterson booms a punt for 59 yards and a touchback.
Oakland starts with a 20 yard pass on 1st down. Then we get another sack by DE- Franklin. This time their QB hangs on to the ball. We stop them on 2nd and 3rd down however. They punt and it goes 62 yards down to our 1 yard line. We have our backs against the wall.
We start out with 2 runs for 5 yards. Then Bush completes a pass for 14 yards and a 1st down. RB- Eriksen then takes over with a run for 19 yards. Then 3 plays later he rips another run for 34 yards. After 2 more runs, we have a 3rd and 3 at the 8 yard line. Bush hits RB- Eriksen for an 8 yard TD pass and we have a 13-0 lead. The PAT was blocked. We started that drive on our 1 yard line. We went 99 yards in 10 plays to score.
We each have the ball one more time in the 1st quarter and both go 3 plays and out.
The 2nd quarter starts out uneventful as Oakland and then we can’t do much with the ball. After a 2nd Oakland 3 and out, we have the ball at the 50.
We don’t start the drive so well, with a run for no gain and a false start. Then Bush completes a pass for 21 yards and a 1st down. Another pass for 14 yards and a 6 yard run gives us a 2nd and 4 at the 14 yard line. After an incomplete pass, RB- Eriksen rips through Oakland’s line for a 14 yard TD run. We lead 20-0. Eriksen is running well today.
We each have a couple more possessions with no points scored. The 1st half ends with us leading 20-0. We dominated the 1st half. We lead in 1st downs: 12 - 3. We have a total yardage edge of: 204 to 30. Let’s keep it going into the 2nd half.
We start the 2nd half with one 1st down and then have to punt.
Oakland doesn’t take long to get back in the game. They move right down the field on our defense in 7 plays and get an 18 yard TD run and now our lead is cut 20-7.
We are not helping our cause any, as we have to punt after not gaining a 1st down.
Oakland again goes down the field. This time our defense holds at the 10 yard line. But that’s good enough for an Oakland FG from 27 yards and now our lead is ten at 20-10.
We need to get a drive going. We start out with a run for -2 yards and then an incomplete pass. We have a 3rd and 12 and Bush completes a pass for 15 yards and a 1st down. Then we have an incomplete pass and then an offensive holding call. We are just killing ourselves. Bush gets sacked 2 plays later for a loss of 6 yards. He fumbled the ball on the sack, but SE- Blassingame was there to save the turnover. We still have to punt.
Oakland runs 4 plays to end the 3rd quarter with us leading 20-10, but they are on the move again. They start out the 4th quarter like they ended the 3rd. They get 2 more 1st downs and then a 3 yard TD run to cut our lead to 20-17. Oakland has scored 17 points on their 1st three possessions of the 2nd half. Our defense hasn’t been able to stop them in the second half.
We need to do something fast. We start to move the ball and gain a couple of 1st downs. But we stall at the Oakland 38 with a 4th and 10. This is no man’s land. It’s too far to kick a FG, too many yards for a 1st down and too close to punt. I chose to punt as the lesser of the potential negative plays that can happen. It is a touchback.
Now Oakland has the ball again with 7:06 to play and only trailing by 3. They get two 1st downs and our defense finally holds them.
We have the ball with 3:02 to play. We get -3 yards on our 1st play. Oakland calls a timeout. Then we get a 5 yard run and Oakland calls their 2nd timeout. We have a 3rd and 8 and need a 1st down. I tell the coach to not play it safe and get the 1st down with a pass. It falls incomplete and we have to punt. The punt is downed at Oakland’s 38. We need another defensive stop.
There is 2:35 to play and Oakland has only 1 timeout left. They start out with an offensive holding penalty. Then after 3 plays for 2 yards, they have a 4th and 18. S- Rielly intercepts a pass at our 49 yard line. We needed that on defense.
We of course can’t get a 1st down. Oakland uses it’s last timeout and it’s just enough to make us punt.
Oakland has the ball at their 11 yard line with 14 seconds to go. They get a 23 yard pass on 1st down. But the next play is a hail mary pass for an incomplete pass and the game is over. We win 20-17. We hang on. DE- Franklin is the player of the game.

Stats on the game:

Our defense had 6 sacks. We were 8/19 on 3rd downs. We had a 33 to 27 minute T.O.P edge. RB- Eriksen had 110 yards on 20 carries and a TD. QB- Bush was 16/31 for 145 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. DE- Franklin had 5 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 hurries and a fumble recovery. CB- Franz had 5 tackles, 1 assist, 1.5 sacks and 1 pass defended. We were 3/3 on TD’s in the red zone.

Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen, CB- Franz and DE- Franklin.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland was 28/39 for 320 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Randal Franklin- Miami. That’s our 1st player of the week during the regular season ever.

Injuries in the game:

We didn’t suffer any injuries again. It’s about time. If we can stay healthy I think we can beat anyone. QB- Bush is still having problems with knee bursitis. He is probable and should be 100% in about 1 week. He has been playing with the injury just fine. If fact, the last 3 games have been the best 3 game stint in his career. S- Kiselak is still out with vision impairment. FB- Lowe is almost 100% and will start next week. He has played a couple plays a game on special teams the last few weeks to get ready. Let’s hope he can stay healthy this time.

Notes:

We have now won 5 in a row and have a 1 game lead in the AFC East. N.E. lost and are 7-5. The Jets are 6-6 and Buffalo is 3-9. We lead the league in fewest points allowed with 157. We play a tough game at home next week against St. Louis. They are 9-3 and lead their division.

Next: Can we keep it going against St. Louis

DolphinFan1 · 04-03-2003, 03:53 PM

Week 14: St. Louis (9-3) @ Miami (8-4) Point spread: Miami -1

St. Louis wins the toss and receives. I don’t think we have won a toss all season. They get their first 1st down on a defensive holding call. Then they run for one 1st down. Then they get 2 passes for 1st downs. We are not stopping them at all. They have a good offense. After an incomplete pass, our defense finally steps up. Rookie S- Reilly intercepts a pass at our 12 and returns it to our 46. We got a big play on defense.
We start out with a run for -1 yard and an 18 yard pass play. Then QB- Bush throws 3 incomplete passes. We have a 4th and 10 at St. Louis’ 37 yard line. We will go for it. It’s no man’s land. Bush gets an 11 yard completion and we have a 1st down. We only gain 4 more yards however, and we have a 4th and 6 at St. Louis’ 22 yard line. This is in K- Stanton’s range, so I tell the coach to kick the FG. Stanton hits the 39 yarder and we lead 3-0.
St. Louis starts out their next possession and throws another interception. This time LB- Parker pulls it in at St. Louis’ 27 yard line.
We only take 3 plays to make the turnover hurt on a 2 yard TD run by RB- Eriksen. We now lead 10-0.
St. Louis starts their next drive with a purpose. Their 1st three plays go for 13,26 and 10 yards. We catch a break on their next play when they are called for offensive holding. But it doesn’t matter as 3 plays later they get a 14 yard TD pass to cut our lead to 10-7. Our defense looked slow on that drive.
We start our next drive and run 2 plays and that ends the 1st quarter. We continue the drive into the 2nd with a couple of key 3rd down passes by QB- Bush. But after a sack and 2 incomplete passes we have a 4th and 15 at the St. Louis 19 yard line. We will try the FG. K- Stanton hits it and we lead 13-7.
We stop St. Louis on their next drive on 3 plays.
CB- Riekens returns the punt 20 yards to our 47 and we have great field position to start our next drive. We only get two 1st downs, but a 23 yard pass gets us close enough to try another FG. It’s a 25 yard attempt and K- Stanton hits his 3rd of the day and we extend our lead to 16-7.
St. Louis shows why they are in the top 5 in most offensive categories on their next drive. They get a 47 yard pass play and after a false start a 12 yard pass along with a few runs and shorter passes. Then they get a 9 yard TD pass and cut our lead to 16-14.
We get the ball with 2 minutes to go and 3 timeouts. We get 2 yards on a run and then a false start. They QB- Bush completes a 23 yard pass and we call a timeout. After an incomplete pass, Bush completes another for 35 yards and we are getting close to scoring. Unfortunately, Bush throws an interception on his next pass at the St. Louis 5 yard line. We lost a good opportunity to score some points.
St. Louis runs two plays and that ends the 1st half with us leading 16-14.
We start the 2nd half with the ball. RB- Eriksen runs for 5 yards on the first play but he fumbles the ball. St. Louis recovers at our 35 yard line. Not the way I wanted to start the 2nd half.
We make it worse with an offsides call on 1st down. They then run the ball 4 straight times for 9 more yards. They have a 3rd and 8 at our 21 yard line. They get a 21 yard TD run, but it is called back for an illegal block below the waist. We caught a break. On the next play, DT- Oliver gets a sack for 9 yards that takes them out of FG range. That was a great defensive stand after the turnover.
We start our next drive at our 6 yard line after the punt. We only get 5 yards and have to punt. The punt is 41 yards, but it is returned 12 yards to our 40 yard line.
They start fast again with an 18 yard pass and a 14 yard run. After 2 more yards on a run, they get a 6 yard TD pass called back because of offensive holding. That is key because we hold them out of the endzone and they have to settle for a 25 yard FG try. They hit it and take the lead 17-16.
We only get one 1st down and have to punt. But the punt is a good one to the St. Louis 5 yard line. Now let’s see if we can hold them and get the ball back.
They only get 5 yards on their 1st two plays and then get the 5 needed for a 1st down on 3rd down. They fumble but recover. We get a sack and then an incomplete pass, but we have defensive holding called against us to give them another 1st down. Another penalty, encroachment, on 3rd down gives them another 1st down. After a 1 yard gain, that’s the end of the 3rd quarter. They have a 2nd and 9 at their own 27 yard line leading 17-16. They get one more 1st down and we finally stop them and they punt. But it is downed at our 7 yard line.
We start with a 19 yard run by RB- Eriksen. After 2 incomplete passes, QB- Bush completes two passes for 21 and 16 yards. After one more 1st down and two runs of 4 yards, we have a 3rd and 2 at their 16 yard line. But we have a false start called and now it’s a 3rd and 7 at the 21. We give up a sack for a 12 yard loss that puts us back at the 33. The sack was allowed by rookie RT- Berchin. It’s a big sack because it makes the potential go ahead FG a 50 yarder. K- Stanton misses the FG and we still trail 17-16 with 6:26 to play in the game.
Our defense comes up big with a stop on 3 and out with a sack thrown in.
We get the ball at our 22 yard line with 4:07 to play and trailing by 1 point. We start out with an incomplete pass and then a 2 yard run. On 3rd and 8 QB- Bush completes a pass for 11 yards and a 1st down. Then Bush throws 2 more incomplete passes and we have a 3rd and 10. He then completes a 15 yard pass for another key 3rd down conversion. One more incomplete pass and then a 34 yard completion to take us to the 2 minute warning. We have a 1st and 10 at the 16 yard line. We try to run and get nothing and then an incomplete pass makes us have a 3rd and 10 from the 16 yard line. I tell the coach to play it safe and run and kick the FG to take the lead. There shouldn’t be that much time left for St. Louis to come back. RB- Eriksen breaks the draw play for a 16 yard TD run. We have a 22-17 lead. We go for 2 to try to make it a 7 point game. We don’t get it. We still lead by 5 with 1:10 to go.
St. Louis starts at their 22 with 3 timeouts. Their 1st two plays are incomplete passes. Then a 4 yard scramble by their QB and they call a timeout. They get a 6 yard run on 4th down to get the 1st down, but they fumble the ball. DT- Cooper recovers it at their 32 with 36 seconds to go in the game.
We run it 3 times and St. Louis uses their timeouts. But we run out the clock to win 22-17.
A good come from behind victory. QB- Bush had a nice game-winning drive. FL- Lowe is the player of the game.

Stats on the game:

We blew leads of 10-0 and 16-7. We were 7/15 on 3rd down conversions. RB- Eriksen had 23 rushes for 87 yards with 2 TD and he fumbled once. QB- Bush was 17/36 for 289 yards with 1 INT. FL- Lowe had 6 catches for 121 yards. FL- Rosenthal had 3 catches for 66 yards. K- Stanton was 3/4 on FG and 1/1 on PAT. His miss was from 50 yards. We scored on our 1st four possessions (3 FG and 1 TD). C- Malone was 4/7 on run blocks with 0 sacks allowed.

Miami players of the week nominees: QB- Bush, RB- Eriksen, FL- Lowe and C- Malone.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Dennis Wells- Dallas was 24/37 for 274 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Pat Barham- San Francisco had 6 tackles, 2 assists and 4 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

We suffered no new injuries in the game. Everyone is healthy except, RB- Bradley who is on IR and S- Kiselak who is still suffering from vision impairment.

Notes:

We have now won 6 in a row to run our record to 9-4. N.E. lost and are 7-6 as are the Jets. Buffalo is 3-10. We play the Jets this week at home. We beat them 4 weeks ago and won a close one 17-16. FB- Lowe was ok in his 1st start since his injury. At least he didn’t get injured again. FL- Lowe has reached his voidable option on his contract for 500 receiving yards. LT- Graham has 23 key run blocks this season. He needs 7 over the last 3 games to reach his voidable option on his contract.

Next: Those pesky Jets come to town.

DolphinFan1 · 04-06-2003, 03:49 PM

Week 15: N.Y. Jets (7-6) @ Miami (9-4) Point spread: Miami -5

We finally win a toss and receive the ball first. After 2 runs of only gaining 2 yards, QB- Bush completes 2 passes of 12 and 23 yards. But on the next play we have an offensive holding call and then a false start that pushes us back. That forces us into a long 3rd down play which we can’t convert. We have a 4th and 20 at the Jets 43 yard line. That’s too far for a FG so we punt. It’s a touchback.
The Jets just march down the field on our defense. They take 14 plays and go 80 yards in 7:28 and take the early 7-0 lead.
We start our next drive and move the ball well. We are at the Jets 36 yard line when the 1st quarter ends. It is a fast 1st quarter. We continue the drive into the 2nd quarter and are still moving the ball well. We get to the Jets’ 1 yard line and have a 1st and goal. We get a run for no gain and then a false start. After an incomplete pass we have a 3rd and goal at the Jets’ 6 yard line. QB- Bush hits FL- Lowe on a 6 yard TD pass and we tie the game at 7. The drive was 69 yards in 14 plays and took 7:08.
Our defense does better on the Jets’ next drive only allowing them one 1st down.
We get two 1st downs and have a 4th and 2 at the Jets’ 33 yard line. I tell the coach to try the long FG. K- Stanton misses it short and the score is still 7-7.
The Jets move the ball a little and then we hold them at our 38 yard line. They try a 55 yard FG and it’s short.
We can’t take advantage of the good field position however, and have to punt after gaining only 3 yards on 3 plays. The punt is a good one to the Jets’ 10 yard line.
They go 3 and out and we have the ball right back.
But we only have 1:06 to go in the 1st half. We move the ball quickly, but ultimately run out of time. The 1st half ends with the score 7-7.
The Jets get the ball to start the 2nd half. They get a 24 yard pass on the 1st play. After 2 incomplete passes, they get two 11 yard passes. Then 4 plays later they have a 3rd and 4 at our 8 yard line. They get an 8 yard TD pass and take the lead 14-7. They march down the field in 10 plays and 70 yards and take only 4:49 to do it.
FL- Rosenthal returns the kickoff 36 yards to our 48 to give us good field position. We try a long bomb to SE- Carlson on 1st down which falls incomplete. But the Jets commit a pass interference penalty which gives us a 1st down at their 18 yard line. We try to run but only gain 2 yards and an encroachment penalty against the Jets. We have to settle for a 28 yard FG try. K- Stanton hits it to cut the Jets’ lead to 14-10.
On the Jets’ 1st play they are called for an ineligible receiver and then on the next play, DT- Meidinger gets an 8 yard sack. On the play the QB- fumbles and DT- Oliver recovers it at the Jets’ 7 yard line.
We don’t wait to score as QB- Bush finds TE- Talley in the endzone for a 7 yard TD pass and we take the 17-14 lead.
The Jets’ move right down the field again on their next drive. We finally hold them at our 19 yard line and they have to try to tie the game with a 36 yard FG. They miss it and we still lead 17-14.
We start the next drive with a 5 yard run and then a 15 yard pass to FB- Lowe for a 1st down. Good to see him back in the game making plays. We run 4 more plays and that is the end of the 3rd quarter. We have a 2nd and 8 at the Jets’ 41 yard line. We start out the 4th with a 7 yard run and then an offsides call on the Jets give us a 1st down. We can’t gain another 1st down however and we have a 4th and 2 at the Jets’ 21 yard line. We try a 38 yard FG which K- Stanton misses. The score is still 17-14. We can’t pull away.
The Jets’ only get one 1st down and then we hold them. They have a 4th and 3 at our 48 yard line and they punt.
We block the punt. LB- Burton blocks it and DE- Franklin recovers it at the Jets’ 39 yard line and returns it to the Jets’ 28. Our 1st play is a 23 yard strike to FL- Rosenthal. Then next play RB- Gamroth plunges in the endzone on the 5 yard TD run. We now extend the lead to 24-14.
The Jets get two 1st downs before CB- Riekens steps in front of a receiver an intercepts a pass at our 44 and returns it 1 yard. What a great play to stop a potential scoring threat.
We only manage one 1st down and have a 4th and 2 at the Jets’ 29 yard line. K- Stanton hits the 46 yard FG and we now lead 27-14. The Jets only have 3:15 to score 2 TD.
After their 1st pass falls incomplete, they get 2 runs of 11 and 12 yards. Two plays later it’s the 2 minute warning. On 3rd down, CB- Valle sacks the QB for a 9 yard loss. They now have a 4th and 17 at their own 36 yard line. Would you believe they get the 1st down on a 22 yard pass. CB- Franz gets a sack on the next play however. Then after another incomplete pass, S- Benson intercepts a pass at our 1 yard line and returns it 29 yards.
There is only 57 seconds to go in the game. We are able to run out the clock and we win 27-14. QB- Bush is the player of the game.

Stats on the game:

We trailed 14-7 after the 1st drive of the 2nd half. We then outscored the Jets 20-0. Our OL only allowed 1 sack. We won the turnover battle 3-0. We only had 4 penalties against us. QB- Bush had another good game as he was 19/29 for 213 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. 8 different receivers caught passes. K- Stanton was 2/4 on FG and 3/3 on PAT. S- Benson had 9 tackles, 1 assist and 1 INT. LT- Graham was 4/7 on run blocks with 0 sacks allowed. He is 3 away from 30.

Miami player of the week nominee: QB- Bush.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland was 26/37 for 337 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT.
Defensive player of the week: S- Don Burks- San Diego had 11 tackles, 4 assists and 2 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

We didn’t suffer any new injuries in the game. But QB- Raven has a viral infection and will be questionable for about 2 weeks.

Notes:

We have won 7 in a row and 9 of our last 10 games. QB- Bush has really stepped it up in the last 7 games. He has 8 TD and only 1 INT. With the win we go to 10-4. N.E. lost and fall to 7-7 like the Jets. Buffalo beat N.E. to go to 4-10. With N.E. losing we clinch the AFC East for the second straight year. We play Seattle at their place next week. They are 4-10 and have nothing to lose. We have to be careful, we are playing for a 1st round bye.

Next: Let's go to Seattle and put them out of their misery.

DolphinFan1 · 04-07-2003, 02:40 AM

Week 16: Miami (10-4) @ Seattle (4-10) Point spread: Miami -10

We win the toss for the second straight week and receive. Our 1st play is a run for 2 yards. Then QB- Bush makes a poor decision and is intercepted at our 34 and it’s returned to our 22. Not the way I wanted to start against a 4-10 team
Seattle doesn’t waste time and take only 5 plays to make the turnover hurt. They get a 3 yard TD run and take the early 7-0 lead.
We are doing a good imitation of role reversal as we look like the 4-10 team. We fail to get a 1st down and only gain 4 yards on 3 plays. Then to make matters worse, our punt is blocked. Seattle gets the ball at our 10.
It takes them 3 plays and suddenly they have a 14-0 lead. We need to wake up soon.
We start our next drive and get 5 free yards thanks to a Seattle offsides call. QB- Bush finally wakes up and throws 3 passes on the drive over 15 yards. The last one was an 18 yard TD pass to TE- Talley and we are back in the game trailing only 14-7. We go 93 yards in 7 plays. That was a nice answer drive.
Our defense plays a little better on Seattle’s next possession when they don’t have their back against the wall. Their 1st two drives started at our 22 and 10 yard line. The defense doesn’t stand much of a chance. After they get one 1st down, CB- Riekens intercepts a pass at Seattle’s 42 yard line.
Now our offense is clicking on all cylinders as we end the 1st quarter after moving the ball to Seattle’s 7 yard line in 5 plays. We have a 1st and goal at the 7 to start the 2nd quarter. We don’t start the 2nd so well as we get -1 yard on a run and then a sack for a 5 yard loss. Rookie RT- Berchin allowed the sack again. On the sack, Bush fumbled but thankfully RB- Eriksen was there to recover and he goes 10 yards to Seattle’s 3 yard line. We caught a break. RB- Gamroth punches it in from 3 yards out and we are now all even at 14. It’s about time we wake up. We are 10 point favorites against a 4-10 team.
Now our defense is playing like a 10-4 team. They gain 9 yards on the 1st two plays of their next drive. Then on 3rd and 1, DE- Dix gets a big sack which forces them to punt.
We don’t take advantage however, as we also allow a sack on a 3rd and 2 and have to punt after only 3 plays.
Seattle starts their next drive with a 19 yard pass play. Then after an incomplete pass they get a run for 16 yards. They are moving the ball again. Then they have a false start, incomplete pass and a delay of game penalty which pushes them back to a 2nd and 20 at our 36 yard line. They get a 36 yard TD pass on the next play, but it’s called back because of offensive holding. We caught another break. They have a 2nd and 30 at our 46. They throw 2 more incomplete passes and have to punt. We were lucky for the penalties on that drive.
We only gain one 1st down on our next drive, so Seattle has the ball right back.
But Seattle returns the favor by only gaining one 1st down themselves and have to punt. The punt however goes to our 3 yard line. There is 2:20 to play in the 1st half.
After an incomplete pass, QB- Bush throws his 2nd interception of the day at our 14 yard line.
Seattle runs the ball 6 straight times and gets a 2 yard TD run for a 21-14 lead. That’s the 3rd time we’ve given them a short field of less than 25 yards and all three times they have made us pay. This is a 4-10 team we are playing. We should be beating them into oblivion.
We get the ball with only about 30 seconds to play in the half. We can’t do anything and QB- Bush throws his 3rd interception of the day to end the 1st half.
Seattle starts the 2nd half with the ball and gets one 1st down and they have to punt.
We start out with a false start and then a 5 yard pass play. Then QB- Bush finally goes downfield and hits FL- Lowe on a 30 yard pass. We get one more 1st down and then we give up a big sack for a loss of 11 yards which we can’t recover from. We have to punt.
Bad news on the punt, Seattle returns it 88 yards for a TD and they now lead 28-14.
We get the ball and QB- Bush throws an incomplete pass and then his 4th interception of the day which Seattle returns to our 7 yard line. It’s time to pull him, but QB- Raven is suffering from a viral infection. So, I guess QB- Bryant will play some.
Seattle wastes little time in making us pay for another Bush mistake. They get a 7 yard TD pass on the 1st play and we now trail 35-14. This just keeps getting worse.
QB- Bryant gets in there and actually does ok for himself. He completes passes for 18,11 and 21 before he throws an interception at the 1 yard line which Seattle returns to the 36. QB- Bryant got us to the 12 yard line before the turnover.
Seattle can’t get a 1st down thanks to an offensive holding call and have to punt. On the punt, DE- Dix blocks it and CB- Hoskins recovers it 28 yards for a TD. We now trail only 35-21.
That’s the end of the 3rd quarter with Seattle leading 35-21.
Seattle can’t get a 1st down and have to punt.
I decide to put Bush back in the game. Maybe he’ll wake up after I benched him for a series. We can’t gain a 1st down and have to punt. At least he didn’t throw another interception.
Seattle gets one 1st down and has to punt.
We get the ball and only gain one 1st down and have to punt it right back to them. We are running out of time.
Seattle only gets one 1st down again thanks to another offensive holding call and have to punt.
We have the ball at our 39 yard line with only 3:09 to play and trailing by 2 TD. We have to hurry. We start with a 9 yard pass and then a sack for a loss of 6 yards. After an incomplete pass we have a 4th and 7 at our 42. We have to go for it. The pass falls incomplete and we turn it over on downs.
We use our timeouts and Seattle has to try a 51 yard FG. They miss it wide left, but they still lead by 14.
We have the ball with 1:47 to play and QB- Bush throws 4 straight incomplete passes to end his horrible day. We lose 35-21. Our 7 game winning streak is over.

Stats on the game:

Our OL allowed 5 sacks. We turned it over 5 times. We were 3/12 on 3rd down conversions. QB- Bush was horrible as he was 13/31 for 181 yards with 1 TD and 4 INT. We fell behind 14-0 and fought back to tie it at 14, but then we went home. We actually outgained them in yardage because most of Seattle’s TD drives were short ones because of the turnovers. We played like the team that was 4-10 and out of the playoffs.

Miami player of the week nominee: None, and rightfully so.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Gary Nieuwstadt- Detroit was 29/47 for 344 yards with 4 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Grady Gains- Green Bay had 6 tackles and 4 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

CB- Riekens has knee bursitis, but he should be well enough to play. QB- Raven is still suffering from the viral infection. S- Kiselak is still out with impaired vision.

Notes:

We are 10-5, N.E. is 8-7 as are the Jets and Buffalo is 4-11. We have locked up a #2 seed. We can’t get the #1 seed because Cincinnati is 11-5, (they had an early game) and they beat us in week 4. But we can rest some of our starters this week. They will only play about a half. Our final game of the regular season is at Buffalo. We beat them in week 5 by a score of 17-6.

Next: The final regular season game of 2004

DolphinFan1 · 04-07-2003, 03:57 PM

Week 17: Miami (10-5) @ Buffalo (4-11) Point spread: Miami -10

We win the toss and receive. We only get 3 yards and have to punt.
We start out with a sack on the first play on defense. It’s all downhill from there. They just rip through our defense on this drive. They go 67 yards in 7 plays and take a 7-0 lead. We seem to be having trouble with these teams that are out of the playoffs.
We start out our second drive running the ball fairly well. We gain 22 yards on 4 straight running plays. Then we get called for offensive holding. But we get the 1st down on a big 3rd down pass by QB- Bush. But our drive stalls at the Buffalo 34 with a 4th and 7. We try a 51 yard FG. K- Stanton misses it wide right. The score is still Buffalo 7-0.
Buffalo starts their next drive like they ended the 1st one. They rip through our defense. They have a 2nd and 7 at our 29 yard line when the 1st quarter ends. They continue into the 2nd quarter and finish the drive with a 1 yard TD run and take a 14-0 lead. Their QB is on fire as he is 9/9 for 103 yards and 1 TD.
We get a promising start on our next drive when FL- Rosenthal returns the kickoff 40 yards to our 43. Then QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 35 yard pass play. But we only gain 1 yard on our next 3 plays and have a 4th and 9 at the Buffalo 21 yard line. We try a 38 yard FG which K- Stanton misses wide right again. I am definitely looking for a kicker in the off-season.
Our defense finally holds them on 3 plays and we get the ball back. We just go back and forth punting for the next couple of possessions.
We get the ball with a little over a minute to go in the half. QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 21 yard pass. Then he hits FL- Rosenthal on a 16 yard pass and we call a timeout. Then Bush hits Rosenthal again for 17 yards and after a false start we have a 1st and goal at the Buffalo 14 yard line. But QB- Bush then throws an interception in the endzone to end the threat. We had a chance to cut the lead to 7 at halftime but Bush blew it. We trail 14-0 at halftime.
I pull most of my offensive starters for the second half. No need to get them hurt.
Buffalo gets the ball to start the second half. After 3 plays and a 1st down, they fumble the ball and DT- Oliver recovers it 8 yards to their 40 yard line.
I put QB- Raven in the game. He starts out with an incomplete pass then hits two passes for 10 and 11 yards. After a 9 yard run and an incomplete pass we have a 3rd and 1 at the 10 yard line. We run for no gain and now have a 4th and 1 at the 10. Trailing by 2 TD I tell the coach to go for it. Let’s get the one yard and the 1st down. We don’t get it. I felt we needed a TD not a FG. Maybe it was a bad call on my part.
Buffalo takes the opportunity and moves the ball again on our defense. They mix up the pass and run well and get to our 30 yard line and have a 4th and 9. They punt the ball. Huh? Why not kick a 47 yard FG. It’s a touchback. I don’t understand that one.
We don’t take advantage though and only gain 4 yards on 3 plays and have to punt it right back.
On the kickoff, Buffalo is called for a hold and they are backed up to their 7 yard line. After a 3 yard pass play, they are called for offensive holding. They LB- Leclair intercepts a pass at their 9 yard line and returns it 9 yards for a TD. We cut the lead 14-7.
Buffalo goes 3 and out on their next drive and that ends the 3rd quarter. Maybe we can turn the momentum around.
We get one 1st down and then QB- Raven throws an interception at the Buffalo 34 which is returned 25 yards. Just when we get back in the game we commit a blunder like that.
Our defense is helped by another offensive holding call on Buffalo. They go backwards and have to punt. It is downed at our 6 yard line.
We only gain 4 yards and have to punt.
Buffalo gets two 1st downs and then our defense gets a sack. Then S- Benson intercepts a pass at our 27 yard line and returns it 73 yards and a TD. We tie the score 14-14 on defense.
Buffalo gets the ball with 7:06 to play in the game. On their 1st play, CB- Lyle intercepts a pass and he returns it 25 yards and a TD. We now lead 21-14. We have 3 TD on interception returns. Unbelievable. Their QB started on fire but now we have stopped him cold.
Buffalo gets two 1st downs but have to punt. The punt goes to our 2 yard line.
We continue to both go 3 plays and out until about 2 minutes to go and CB- Hoskins intercepts a pass at our 42 and returns it to the Buffalo 11 yard line. What, no TD on the interception. There must be something wrong.
We end up getting a 20 yard FG out of it and now lead 24-14.
Buffalo has the ball with 1:08 to go and no timeouts. They move the ball a little but they run out of time. We win 24-14. Our defense stepped it up in the second half. LB- Leclair was the player of the game.

Stats on the game:

Their QB was eating us up until our defense showed up. He was 33/53 for 305 yards with 1 TD and 4 INT. We score 21 points on 3 interceptions for TD. All 24 of our points came off turnovers. We were 3/14 on 3rd downs. We lost the T.O.P. 34 to 26 minutes. P- Peterson had 7 punts for a 45.8 average. K- Stanton was 1/3 on FG and 3/3 on PAT. He just about sealed his fate with this awful performance. He probably will be looking for a job come next season. DT- Meidinger had 7 tackles, .5 sacks and 1 pass block. LB- Leclair had 4 tackles, 1 sacks, 1 interception for a TD and 1 pass defended.

Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Leclair
Offensive player of the week: QB- Alonzo Bennett- Tennessee was 26/43 for 244 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Josh Lukes- Arizona had 5 tackles, 1 assist and 4.5 sacks.

Injuries in the game:

We did suffer 2 injuries in the game, despite my trying to not play everyone all game. FB- Lowe has a sprained knee and is questionable for about 2 weeks. Good thing we have a bye week. But with his past injury problems, this bothers me. CB- Riekens is still about 1 week away from full strength. He should be fine after the week off. DE- Franklin is out for the year. He has a herniated disk. That is a big loss for us. He is our sack leader and will be hard to replace.

Notes:

We win 8 of our last 9 to finish the season at 11-5. We are the AFC East Champions for the 2nd straight year. Now we wait to see who we play in the playoffs.

Next: Final season stats and playoffs for 2004

DolphinFan1 · 04-08-2003, 04:26 PM

2004 Miami Dolphins Regular Season Stats:

Record:...11-5......1st in AFC East..............................We are a #2 seed in the AFC

Team stats offense..................Rank..........................Team stats defense................Rank

94.7 rushing yards a game.....30th in the league.....121 rushing yards a game.......24th in the league
184.1 passing yards a game...28th in the league.....198.4 passing yards a game.......15th in the league
18.4 points per game............T- 16th in the league...14.8 points per game..............T- 2nd in the league
36.4% 3rd down conversions..11th in the league.....58 sacks...................T- 3rd in the league
+ 15 turnover ratio .................2nd in the league.......We were 4th in the league in penalties against

Individual Stats:

QB- Bush........242/423......57.2%............2714 yards...............14 TD..........13 INT
RB- Eriksen.....275 rushes........................884 yards (3.2)..........8 TD..........................4 Fumbles
RB- Gamroth...112 rushes........................305 yards (2.7)..........5 TD..........................1 Fumble
SE- Carlson......53 catches........................683 yards..................2 TD
FL- Rosenthal..51 catches.........................648 yards..................1 TD
FL- Lowe.........44 catches.........................664 yards..................4 TD
TE- Talley........24 catches.........................213 yards..................2 TD

PR- Riekens....10.3, KR- Rosenthal...25.2, KR- Lowe...22.9
P- Peterson had a 42.3 average which was 10th in the league.
K- Stanton was 11/20 with a long of 50 and 20/21 on PAT

Team Stats:

Sacks:.........DE- Franklin 10.5, DE- Dix 9.0, LB- Leclair 5.5
Tackles:.......LB- Bruce 68, S- Benson 67, LB- Leclair and CB- Lyle had 56 each
Interceptions:..S- Benson 6, CB- Riekens 4, CB- Lyle and S- Reilly had 3 each
Passes defended:.CB- Riekens 11, LB- Bruce 9, CB- Lyle and LB- Leclair had 6 each
Run Blocks:.......C- Malone 31/95 with 8 sacks allowed
...................... LT- Graham 29/99 with 5 sacks allowed. He was one short of his 30 for a voidable year on his contract.
......................G- Rodriguez 16/90 with 7 sacks allowed.

2004 Season Analysis

Our running game struggled with the injuries to FB- Lowe and RB- Bradley. Our PR game is much better this season as is our KR game. We really turned it around after a 1-3 start to finish at 11-5. Our offense is last or close to it in most categories. So, our success is largely due to our defense which played excellent. QB- Bush had his best season in his three years here.

Next: The Rookie Report.

DolphinFan1 · 04-08-2003, 04:33 PM

2004 Season Analysis

Our running game struggled with the injuries to FB- Lowe and RB- Bradley. Our PR game is much better this season as is our KR game. We really turned it around after a 1-3 start to finish at 11-5. Our offense is last or close to it in most categories. So, our success is largely due to our defense which played excellent. QB- Bush had his best season in his three years here.

................................................................2004 Rookie Report:.................................................Final Grade:

2nd round pick: DT- Meidinger................Improved during the 2nd half of the season.
.................................................................Could be a good player in the future................................B+

2nd round pick: FL- Rosenthal.................Had a great rookie season. He was 2nd on the
.................................................................team in catches and 3rd in receiving yards........................A

3rd round pick: LB- Parker.......................A good rookie draft pick. Helped our OLB
.................................................................problems............................................................................A-

4th round pick: FS- Reilly........................A good rookie season. Needs more big plays....................B

4th round pick: SS- Wansley....................Played ok in a backup role after his injury........................C+

5th round pick: LB- Leclair......................He had an excellent rookie season at OLB........................A

5th round pick: P- Peterson.......................A top 10 punter in the league...........................................A

6th round pick: OT- Berchin....................Really struggled in a backup role. He gave up
.................................................................a couple of key sacks in crucial situations........................D

7th round pick: LB- Lake.........................Backing up. Ok for a 7th round pick...................................C

................................................................Undrafted Rookies:...................................................Final Grade:

RB- Gamroth...........................................Production tailed off the 2nd half of the
.................................................................season...............................................................................C-

TE- Lyon.................................................Mostly backed up. May be worth a second
.................................................................look next season. If the price is right................................C

DE- Franklin............................................A great find as an undrafted rookie. Leads the
.................................................................team in sacks. Hopefully he can return to form
.................................................................after his back injury..........................................................A

FS- Kiselak.............................................Was only backing up when he went down with
.................................................................his vision impairment injury. Probably won’t be
.................................................................back next season...............................................................C-

Next: the 2004 playoffs

DolphinFan1 · 04-09-2003, 04:39 PM

2004 Playoffs

1st round:

AFC- #1 Seed: Cincinnati (11-5), #2 Seed: Miami (11-5) Bye week.
NFC- #1 Seed: Philadelphia (10-6), #2 Seed: St. Louis (10-6) Bye week

AFC- #6 Denver (9-6-1) @ #3 Kansas City (10-6) Kansas City wins 20-7
AFC- #5 Cleveland (11-5) @ #4 Tennessee (9-7) Cleveland wins 41-14

NFC- #6 Arizona (9-7) @ #3 Chicago (10-6) Chicago wins 22-17
NFC- #5 Detroit (9-7) @ #4 Tampa Bay (8-7-1) Tampa Bay wins 20-9

2nd round:

AFC- #5 Cleveland (12-5) @ #1 Cincinnati (11-5) Cincinnati wins 18-13
AFC- #3 Kansas City (11-6) @ #2 Miami (11-5) See game summary

NFC- #4 Tampa Bay (9-7-1) @ #1 Philadelphia (10-6) Philadelphia wins 20-14
NFC- #3 Chicago (11-6) @ #2 St. Louis (10-6) Chicago wins 14-10

Next: Kansas City comes to our place in the Conference Semifinal.

DolphinFan1 · 04-09-2003, 04:40 PM

Conference Semifinal - AFC

Kansas City (11-6) @ Miami (11-5) Point Spread: Miami -4

Injury report: FS- Kiselak - Out, DE- Franklin - Out, RB- Bradley - Out, FB- Lowe - Probable

Kansas City receives the ball first. They return the kickoff 33 yards to start at their 40 yard line. They proceed to methodically go down the field in 6 plays and score a TD. This is an ominous start by our defense without our leading sacker DE- Franklin.
We proceed to go 3 and out on offense.
Thankfully our defense plays a little better and we stop them on three plays.
Our next drive is better. We mix up the run and pass quite well. We are also helped by a K.C. offsides call on a short 3rd down to give us a 1st down. RB- Eriksen plows into the endzone from 3 yards out and we tie the score at 7. We go 81 yards in 13 plays and take 6:39 off the clock.
K.C. starts out their next drive with an offensive holding penalty. After an incomplete pass, LB- Bruce gets a sack which gives K.C. a 3rd and 27 at their 14 yard line. That’s the end of the 1st quarter. K.C. starts the second quarter with a false start and then an incomplete pass. They have to punt. It’s a short punt which we field at their 32 yard line.
We have great field position but proceed to get sacked for a 6 yard loss on 1st down. Then QB- Bush throws 2 interceptions on 2nd and 3rd down. We punt because 55 yards is out of K- Stanton’s range. What an awful drive. We get the ball at their 32 and lose 6 yards on the drive. Not good.
K.C. proceeds to make us pay for not doing anything with the ball. They go right down the field and we finally stop them at our 19 yard line. They get a 36 yard FG and now lead 10-7. The drive was 12 plays, 61 yards and took 7:08.
Our next drive starts ok, with QB- Bush hitting a key 3rd down completion for a 1st down. But then on his next 3rd down pass, he throws an interception that is returned to our 42 yard line.
K.C. starts the drive and 2 plays later it’s the 2 minute warning in the 1st half. They proceed to continue after the timeout and score a TD and take a 17-7 lead. Our defense couldn’t stop them. We trail at the half 17-7.
We start with the ball in the 2nd half. We move the ball well and get a couple of key 3rd down conversions on the drive. But QB- Bush throws another interception at th K.C. 22 yard line to end the threat. That’s two key turnovers by Bush.
K.C. starts the drive following the turnover with a false start and 2 straight incomplete passes. But on 3rd down and 15, they get a 1st down on a 36 yard run. After another 1st down on an 18 yard pass, our defense finally holds them to a 47 yard FG try. They hit it and now lead 20-7.
We proceed to go 3 and out on our next drive, but thankfully so does K.C.
Our next drive we move the ball better. FB- Lowe gets a key 3rd down run for a 1st down. At the end of the 3rd quarter we have a 1st and goal at the K.C. 9 yard line trailing 20-7. We end up getting a TD on a 2 yard run by RB- Gamroth and we cut the K.C. lead to 20-14. Is there another comeback in this team?
On the ensuing kickoff, K.C. is called for holding. So, they start at their 5 yard line. Our defense holds them to only 3 plays.
CB- Riekens fumbles the PR, but LB- Brim is there to save it. He returns it to the K.C. 41 and we have great field position again. We proceed to get -2 yards on 3 plays. That’s twice we have had the ball on the other side of the 50 and have done nothing with it.
K.C. gets one 1st down but has to punt. We go 3 and out on our next drive. We are still trailing 20-14 and it’s getting late in the game.
On the PR, K.C. fumbles the punt and RB- Wheeler recovers it for us at our 48 yard line. There is 6:41 to play in the game. We start out with 1 yard on 2 plays. Then on 3rd and 9, QB- Bush hits FL- Rosenthal on a 10 yard pass for a 1st down. Rosenthal fumbles the ball after the catch, but SE- Blassingame is there to recover and advance it 13 yards to the K.C. 28 yard line. After another 1st down pass and 2 runs for 1 yard, we have a 3rd and 9 at the K.C. 17 yard line. QB- Bush gets sacked for a 9 yard loss on 3rd down, but he fumbles the ball and K.C. recovers it at their 26 yard line. Another turnover by Bush. We were going in to try and take the lead.
There is 3:10 to play and our defense has to stop them again. They get two 1st downs which kills our timeouts. But DE- Dix gets a big sack on a 3rd down to make K.C. punt and give us one last chance to win.
We get the ball with 1:55 to play and no timeouts. 1st down is a false start. Then QB- Bush throws up a prayer to SE- Carlson on a deep out route, it falls incomplete. But wait a minute, there is a flag on the play. Yes, K.C. is called for defensive pass interference and we have a 1st down at our 40 yard line with 1:42 to play. Our next play is an incomplete pass. Then QB- Bush completes a pass for a 9 yard gain. We have a 3rd and 1 at the 49 yard line. We try to run for the 1st down, but get stuffed for a 1 yard loss. We now have a 4th and 2 and we have to go for it. QB- Bush completes a screen pass that doesn’t fool anyone and we lose a yard and the ball goes back to K.C. They run out the clock and we lose 20-14.

Stats on the game:

Our defense had 5 sacks, but our OL gave up 5 sacks. We lost the turnover battle 3-1. All three turnovers were by Bush. RB- Eriksen had 20 rushes for 70 yards and a TD. QB- Bush was 20/33 for 177 yards with 0 TD and 2 INT and 1 Fumble. FL- Rosenthal had 7 catches for 79 yards. C- Malone was 4/9 on run blocks with 0 sacks allowed. We were beat by a backup QB. K.C. starting QB was out.

Notes:

Even as bad as Bush played, we still had a chance to win the game. Our key losses was our leading sacker DE- Franklin who got hurt in the regular season finale. Still our defense played well despite it all. We had the ball in good field position most of the day and couldn’t convert. This is a disappointing end to our season, but we did start 1-3 and still won the AFC East after our key injuries. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board.

Next: The rest of the 2004 playoffs.

DolphinFan1 · 04-09-2003, 04:42 PM

Conference Finals

AFC- Kansas City (12-6) @ Cincinnati (12-5) Kansas City wins on the road in an upset 22-20.
NFC- Chicago (12-6) @ Philadelphia (11-6) Philadelphia wins 24-21.

Front Office Bowl 2004

Kansas City (13-6) @ Philadelphia (12-6) Philadelphia wins a defensive struggle 7-6.

My end of year rating: Performance 86, Value 52, Profit 69, Roster 76 for a final score of: 66

Three of our players made the seasons awards list:

LT- Graham made 1st string , C- Malone make 2nd string and S- Benson made 2nd string.

Let’s see what 2005 brings.

Next: The 2005 Season. Look for the new thread: FOF4: Miami Dolphins 2005. Coming Soon.

03-12-2003, 06:17 PM	#7
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	I decided to change my game reporting to full game results. I want my readers to feel the game winning drives or defeats. Hope you enjoy. It took longer than I thought to type up each game. Week 1: Miami @ New England We are 4-0 lifetime (2 seasons) vs. N.E. Let’s try to keep that trend up. We are 5 point underdogs this week. SE- Kosderka and RB- Jordan are deactivated for this game due to injury. CB- Riekens and QB- Raven are active at less than 100%. FB- Lowe returns from missing the final 3 preseason games. We win the toss and receive. We start with an incomplete pass. On our 2nd play from scrimmage, QB- Bush throws an interception. Not a good way to start for our team or Bush. Raven is waiting in the wings for too many mistakes to be made. CB- Riekens bails us out on N.E. first snap with an interception of his own and we are back in business. But we can’t do anything with it and have to punt after a 3 and out. N.E. goes right down the field and gets a 40 yard FG and take the early lead 3-0. We both have to punt on our next drive. Then we get a couple first downs but still have to punt. N.E. takes the ball to our 24 where we hold them. They miss a 41 yard FG and the lead is still just 3-0. We finally get a drive going. We go 69 yards on 15 plays in 6:51 and get a TD. We lead 7-3. RB- Gamroth punched it in from 1 yard out. We hold them and get a good PR by Riekens. We have the ball at our 33 with 56 ticks to go in the 1st half and 2 timeouts. We go down the field in 6 plays and 54 yards and are at the N.E. 13. With only a couple seconds left we have to try a FG. K- Cousino hits it from 30 yards out and we go in at halftime leading 10-3. QB- Bush has recovered from that early interception. They open the second half and our defense holds on 1st and 2nd downs. On third down, rookie DT- Meidinger knocks the ball loose and CB- Lyle recovers the ball at N.E. 30 yard line. We take the ball and get a first down and are in sure FG range and QB- Bush throws another interception. They have the ball and their RB rips a run for 62 yards and they get a FG from 26 yards after the turnover. Our lead is cut to 10-6. We can’t answer and have to punt after a 1st down. N.E. is chewing on our defense as they go right down the field and get a TD and they lead 13-10. They have 209 yards on the ground. We answer with a nice drive. However, we stall at their 45 and have to punt. Our rookie punter, Peterson, booms it into the endzone for a touchback. That could be a problem this year. He has great distance and hang time, but almost no talent for directional punting. He will be able to get us out of trouble if we are pinned deep, but we probably won’t be pinning anyone else deep this year. But, when I drafted him I knew this. I just think it is more important to be able to get the ball out from deep in your own territory. After the punt, N.E. rips through our defense again for a TD. They now lead 20-10. Our defense can’t stop them. Our next drive is ended when QB- Bush throws his 3rd interception of the day. I’ve seen enough of him. Raven will try even though he still isn’t 100% after his broken toe. But we have nothing to lose. We are getting clobbered as N.E. takes the turnover and gets another TD and now lead 27-10. QB- Raven has a shaky beginning as he throws an interception on his 2nd play. Our defense finally holds them. But at 27-10, does it matter. Raven takes us down the field on a nice drive. We get to the N.E. 1 yard line and time runs out. We lose 27-10. This was a tough loss to swallow. We lead 10-3 at the half in their stadium. Then they turn it over on their 1st drive of the 2nd half deep in their own territory. We proceed to give it right back to them. Stats on the game: We only had 62 yards on 25 carries rushing. They had 237 yards rushing and a 6.5 average. Rookie FL- Rosenthal had 8 receptions for 101 yards. Not a bad debut. FA pickup, FL- Lowe had 4 receptions for 73 yards. LB- Bruce had 8 tackles, 3 assists, 2 sacks and 1 pass defended. QB- Bush was 17/29 for 143 yards with 3 INT. QB- Raven was 7/12 for 120 yards with 1 INT. He wasn’t 100%, still suffering from the broken toe. P- Peterson had a 43.6 average. Miami player of the week nominees: LB- Bruce and FL- Rosenthal. Offensive player of the week: QB- Kindrick Hamilton- Atlanta was 24/37 for 292 yards with 3 TD and 0 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Pat Barham- San Francisco had 6 tackles, 2 assists, 3.5 sacks and 1 INT. Injuries in the game: DE- Lynch strained a hamstring and is probable. No return date. FB- Lowe has a high ankle sprain and is out about 12 weeks. RG- Brosseau has a bruised sternum and is probable for about 3 weeks. SS- Wansley has a strained adductor muscle and is out for about 7 weeks. CB- Riekens is still suffering from his broken hand. SE- Kosderka is still suffering from his sprained thumb. FB- Lowe, SS- Wansley and SE- Kosderka will be deactive due to their injuries. DE- Lynch, RG- Brosseau and CB- Riekens will try to play. Notes: There will be some changes for next week’s game. QB- Raven is 100% and will start. QB- Bush struggled last week and we need to see if Raven can play. FB- Lowe is a RFA after this season. He made the second team award list last season as a rookie and was a definite signing for next year. But he has been injury prone so far. He missed 2 games last year and the last 3 preseason games this year. Now this latest injury is for about 12 weeks. When he returns, I will have to evaluate his talent ratings. I may have to look for another FB in FA or the draft. For now, FB- Jalove gets his job back. Maybe he can step it up. Next: We try to rebound against S.F. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-13-2003, 05:00 PM	#8
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 2: San Francisco (1-0) @ Miami (0-1) Point spread: Miami -1 We have never faced San Francisco yet. Let’s see if we can rebound from last week’s loss. QB- Raven gets his first start of his career. We win the toss and receive. We quickly go 3 and out. Our 1st defensive play is a sack by a blitzing LB- Parker and a forced fumble recovered by DE- Dix at the S.F. 38. We proceed to get -2 yards on 2 runs and an incomplete pass on 3rd down. We squandered a good opportunity for some early points. Peterson punts the ball to their 9 yard line. They go on a 91 yard TD drive and take a 7-0 lead. They had 2 big plays on the drive. One was a 49 yard run and also an illegal contact penalty on 3rd down to keep the drive alive. We answer with one 1st down then have to punt. Peterson booms another kick, this one for 66 yards to their 3 yard line. We hold them on 3 downs. The end of the 1st quarter has S.F. leading 7-0. The start of the second quarter has S.F. punting and CB- Riekens returns the ball 20 yards to our 49. Our 1st play, QB- Raven is sacked for a 10 yard loss and he fumbles the ball. Fortunately, QB- Bradley is there to recover and goes 20 yards down to their 39 yard line. We only get 6 more yards on 3 plays and have a 4th and 4 at their 33 yard line. I elect to try a FG. K- Cousino hits it from 50 yards out and we cut the S.F. lead to 7-3. On their next drive they get one 1st down. Then our defense steps up on the next 3rd down play and we get a sack. But, wait a minute, there’s a flag on the play. It’s a defensive holding call on us that gives S.F. a 1st down. They end up turning the drive into a TD and a 14-3 lead. We get a drive going, helped by a couple of penalties on S.F. We stall at their 31 with a 4th and 6. We try a 48 yarder. K- Cousino misses it wide left and the score is still S.F. 14, Miami 3. They get one 1st down on their next drive. Then CB- Lyle steps in front of a receiver and intercepts a pass for a 63 yard TD. We cut the S.F. lead to 14-10. Our defense made a play and put us back in the game. But, they go right down the field just before halftime and get a 34 yard FG. Now the lead is up to 17-10. That’s the score at the half. Our 1st defensive play of the second half is a sack by DE- Dix and LB- Parker. Then we hold them to a 3 and out and they punt. We do nothing and go 3 and out for -8 yards. QB- Raven got injured early in the game, but I thought it wasn’t serious. Now I see that he isn’t well enough to play. Our offense is anemic. I will have to put Bush in there. We punt and they return it 59 yards for a TD and a 24-10 lead. Can it get any worse? We get a couple of 1st downs with Bush in there, but have to punt from our 40 yard line. We each get the ball 2 more times in the 3rd quarter, but neither team can do anything with it. The 3rd quarter ends with S.F. leading 24-10. They start out the 4th quarter with a drive to our 36 and they have a 4th down. They elect to punt instead of trying a long FG. I elect to try to block the punt to make something happen. We do, and recover it at our 48 with 12:27 to go. That’s the spark we needed as we go right down the field in 6 plays and get a TD. RB- Eriksen punches it in from 3 yards out. But we miss the extra point and trail by 8, 24-16. Our defense now has to stop them. On 1st down, S.F. gets called for holding which puts the ball at their 7 yard line. Then on 3rd and 3, LB- Brim intercepts a pass and returns it to their 10 yard line. Now we are in business. There’s 7:36 to go and we only trail 24-16. Our 1st down is and incomplete pass. 2nd down is an incomplete pass. 3rd down is an incomplete pass. What is our offensive coordinator doing? Why isn’t he running the ball? We have to settle for a 27 yard FG and the lead is cut to 24-19. But we should have tried to punch it in from the 10 yard line. What a lost opportunity. S.F. answers by going right down the field on our tired defense. We finally stop them at our 22. They try a 39 yard FG. They miss it. We still have a chance. We are only down 5 with 2:32 to go and 2 timeouts. The ball is at our 29 yard line. Our 1st 3 plays net us -2 yards. On 4th and 12 at our 27 we have to go for it with only 1:50 to go. The pass is incomplete. They get a first down and run out the clock. S.F. wins 24-19 and we fall to 0-2. Stats on the game: We were outplayed on offense, 350 yards to 133. We gave up 229 yards on the ground. That’s the second straight game that our defense has given up over 200 yards on the ground. Our rushing game isn’t too good so far. We only had 52 yards and a 2.3 average. QB- Raven was 5/15 for 28 yards. QB- Bush was 9/19 for 79 yards. K- Cousino was 2/3 of FG and 1 for 2 on PAT. RG- Brosseau allowed 3 sacks. It’s clear that his injury is hampering him. He will sit out next week’s game. Rookie LB- Parker had 6 tackles, 2 assists and 1.5 sacks. Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Parker. Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland was 22/25 for 255 yards with 3 TD. Defensive player of the week: DT- Antonio Ellard- N.Y. Jets had 6 tackles and 4 sacks. Injuries in the game: QB- Raven re-injured his toe and is questionable for about 3 weeks. Bush will start. RG- Brosseau is still nursing a bruised sternum and struggled this week. He will sit. SE- Kosderka is almost 100% and will play this week. DE- Lynch is probable with his strained hamstring and will play. CB- Riekens’ broken hand isn’t healing very fast, but he has been playing. He should play. FB- Lowe and SS- Wansley are still out. Notes: Well, Raven clearly wasn’t 100%. He didn’t have a very good 1st start. Now I will let him heal fully before he starts again. Bush had better play better. He has a chance to show he can play with Raven out. N.E. leads the AFC East with a 2-0 record. Buffalo and the Jets are 1-1 and we are 0-2. Not a good start. Our defense is getting shredded on the ground. It’s time for a change. Rookie DT- Meidinger will start in place of DT- Cooper. Cooper just hasn’t returned to form after his injury. Meidinger has shown some flashes in a backup role. He is a better run stopper, so let’s see what he can do. Rookie- LB- Parker is playing well in two games so far. Let’s try to get it going at Houston next week. Next: We travel to Houston and try to get our 1st win of the year. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-14-2003, 08:35 PM	#9
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 3: Miami (0-2) @ Houston (1-1) Point spread: Houston -2 Houston wins the toss and gets the ball first. On their 1st play, CB- Lyle intercepts a pass @ Houston’s 47 yard line. We get a good drive by our offense. We get all the way to their 4 yard line and have to settle for a FG try. K- Cousino misses a chip shot from 21 yards. What a wasted turnover. So far this year, that’s the way it has gone. Our defense let’s them go right down the field. We finally hold them @ our 2 yard line. They get a 19 yard FG and an early 3-0 lead. We answer their score with a drive only to our 39 yard line and have to punt. But it’s not all bad news, QB- Bush is playing well so far. He is 4/5 for 53 yards. Maybe benching him and letting Raven start one week helped. The first quarter ends with Houston leading 3-0. Houston’s next drive rips through our defense until we manage to tighten up @ our 12 yard line and they have to settle for a 29 yard FG try. They hit it for a 6-0 lead. We get a big pass play on our next drive for 25 yards. On the next play, RB- Eriksen runs for 4 yards. But on the play we get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. TE- Talley was ejected for excessive arguing with the head linesman. A couple of plays later, QB- Bush throws an interception that is returned to our 10 yard line. On the next play, our defense strips the ball and we recover it to our 21 yard line. DT- Meidinger forced the fumble and DT- Oliver recovered. The rookie DT- Meidinger is already helping where DT- Cooper wasn’t playing so well this year. We finally get the offense going after the turnover. We go 79 yards in 9 plays and get a TD for a 7-6 lead. RB- Bradley punched it in from 1 yard out. Houston has a drive which puts them in FG range, but a holding penalty moves them back and they have to punt. The ball is downed @ our 8 after the punt. With only 14 seconds remaining in the half and a 7-6 lead on the road, I tell the coach to have Bush take a knee. We start the 2nd half with the ball. We get a drive going, but it stalls @ our 47. QB- Bush is having a good day so far. He is 9/13 for 126 yards and 1 INT. Houston takes the ball after the punt from their 11 yard line and they go 89 yards in 8 plays. They get a 44 yard TD bomb on a blown coverage. With a successful 2 point conversion, they lead 14-7. After a couple more short drives by both teams, the 3rd quarter ends with that score. We go back and forth punting for most of the 4th quarter. We are pinned deep for most of the possessions. Houston has the ball with 4:11 to play and a 14-7 lead. We need a stop if we are going to have any chance at all at winning. We stop them and they punt. Once again we are pinned deep @ our 9 yard line. With 2:05 to go and no timeouts, we have our work cut out for us. 1st and 10 from our 9: 15 yard pass play to SE- Carlson. Timeout for the 2 minute warning. 1st and 10 from our 24: Another 15 yard pass play to SE- Carlson. 1st and 10 from our 39: Bush is on target again, this time to SE- Blassingame for 20 yards. Ball is on Houston’s 41 with 1:34 to go. 1st and 10 from their 41: Incomplete pass. 2nd and 10 from their 41: A 15 yard pass play to FL- Rosenthal. Ball is at Houston’s 26 with 1:13 to go. 1st and 10 from their 26: Incomplete pass. 2nd and 10 from their 26: Incomplete pass. 3rd and 10 from their 26: 11 yard pass play to SE- Carlson and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Houston puts the ball at Houston’s 8 yard line with 36 seconds to go. 1st and goal at the 8 yard line: An 8 yard TD pass to FL- Lowe. The PAT is good. We tie the game at 14. What a drive by Bush. He was 6/9 for 84 yards and a TD on the drive. We are going to overtime. We get the ball 1st in O.T. We go 3 and out. Houston has a 3rd and 1 on their drive and we hold them and they punt. We go 3 and out again. Houston has the ball @ their 17. Their 1st down play, we stuff for no gain. DT- Oliver knocks the ball loose on the play. CB- Riekens recovers the ball @ their 17. I tell the coach to play it safe and call 3 running plays and let K- Cousino make up for his earlier miss. Our 1st two runs go for a total of 2 yards. On 3rd and 8 from the Houston 15, we run a safe play up the middle. RB- Gamroth breaks it for a 15 yard TD and the win. We win 20-14 in O.T. Stats on the game: QB- Bush was 21/44 for 281 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Our defense was better against the run this week. We only allowed 102 yards and a 3.5 average. We won the turnover battle 3-1. We were 8/19 on 3rd downs and we had 4 sacks on defense. Our OL didn’t allow a sack. RB- Gamroth had 7 carries for 36 yards and the one TD which was the game winner. RB- Eriksen and Bradley had an unimpressive 3.1 and 2.5 yards per carry average. SE- Carlson had 6 catches for 81 yards. FL- Rosenthal had 4 catches for 70 yards and a TD. P- Peterson had a 43.8 average. He’s looking good. LB- Parker is another one of our shining rookies. He had 8 tackles, 2 assists and 1 sack. We were 3/4 in the redzone. Miami player of the week nominee: QB Bush. Offensive player of the week: QB- Bobby Speer- N.O. 33/53 for 215 yards with 2 TD. Defensive player of the week: DE- J.C. Durham- Detroit 6 tackles and 3 sacks. Injuries: Thankfully we had no new injuries in the game. FB- Lowe is still out for about 10 more weeks. SS- Wansley is still out for about 5 more weeks. QB- Raven is about 2 weeks from full strength. CB- Riekens is still suffering with the broken hand. He has been playing well with it, but it’s not healing. I will have to rest him some this week. I will start CB- Franz and play Riekens sparingly so he can heal. RG- Brosseau is almost 100% and DE- Lynch is still playing with a strained hamstring. Notes: CB- Lyle had an interception. That’s his 2nd of the year. He had a voidable year contract if he got 2 interceptions, so his 3rd year on his contract should be voided. I only gave him such a low incentive because I wanted to sign him cheap and save some cap money. We still have him through 2005. N.E. won again and are 3-0. The Jets are 2-1, while Buffalo and us are 1-2. We play in Cincinnati next week and they are 3-0. Next: Let's try to make it 2 in a row in Cincinnati. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-17-2003, 08:59 AM	#10
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 4: Miami (1-2) @ Cincinnati (3-0) Point spread: Cincinnati -2 We win the toss and receive. We get 8 yards on 3 plays and have to punt. Cincinnati’s 1st possession nets one 1st down, then we stop them and they punt. Our next drive starts out promising. We get two 1st down’s before QB- Bush throws and interception. Cincinnati returns it to our 8 yard line. Our defense steps up and forces them to kick a FG. They lead 3-0. We each get another short possession before the first quarter ends with Cincinnati leading 3-0. We start the second quarter continuing the possession we started when the first quarter ended. We get a 3 yard TD run by RB- Eriksen for a 7-3 lead. The drive was 13 plays and 61 yards with 5:19 taken off the clock. One negative point, on the drive RB- Bradley was seriously hurt. Our defense holds them on their next drive and we get to their 40 on our next drive. We have a 4th and 2 and I tell the coach to go for it. We won’t gain much by punting. We don’t get it and Cincinnati takes over at their 40. Bad call on my part. Cincinnati drives right down the field in 4 plays and takes the lead 10-7. The half ends a little later with that same score. The first 6 possessions of the 3rd quarter are uneventful as both teams barely move the ball. Cincinnati takes the last possession of the 3rd quarter to our 12 yard line with a 1st down and still leading 10-7. They start the 4th quarter and finish the drive with a TD. Now the lead is 17-7. They go 75 yards in 14 plays. Their SE- Ramsey has 8 catches for 115 yards and I have him double covered most of the time. We need a drive fast. We only get to the 45 and have to punt. Our defense holds them on 3 plays. On our next drive we only get to our 36 and have to punt. We are running out of chances. On the punt return, RB- Eriksen knocks the ball loose and recovers it himself for a 44 yard TD. We are back in the game only trailing 17-14 with 4:43 to play. Great special teams play by Eriksen. Now we just have to hold them. With 3 timeouts left there is plenty of time. Unfortunately, Cincinnati drives down the field and our defense can do nothing. They run out the clock and hold on for a 17-14 win. We fall to 1-3 on the year. Stats on the game: We gave up 157 yards on the ground. Our defense had 6 sacks, but our OL allowed 4 sacks. We were 8/17 on 3rd downs. We had 6 penalties for 60 yards. Our running game struggled again. We really miss our bruising FB- Lowe. RB- Eriksen had 13 carries for 37 yards and 1 TD. RB- Jordan had 7 carries for 10 yards. RB- Bradley had 6 carries for 15 yards before he was injured. QB- Bush was 17/30 for 181 yards and 1 INT. SE- Carlson had 6 receptions for 94 yards. Miami player of the week nominee: SE- Carlson Offensive player of the week: QB- Donavan Harney- San Diego 23/31 for 202 yards and 3 TD. Defensive player of the week: DE- Lionel Heffernan- N.Y. Jets 7 tackles and 3 sacks. Injuries in the game: DE- Wingfield will be out about 3 weeks with a hyperextended knee. RB- Bradley will be out for the year with a torn knee ligament. CB- Riekens and QB- Raven are still not 100%. Notes: RB- Bradley won’t be back until next season. I hope he can come back close to his current ratings. I just gave him a long term, high priced contract. I don’t want to have to eat it. I put him on IR. The FA market is pretty thin in talent at RB or FB. We only have $980,000 in cap money to spend on a new player. I find a RB, Sammy Wheeler. He played for Philadelphia for 2 seasons. Nothing outstanding, but maybe a help to our receiving out of the backfield. He does have fumbling problems. He wanted a contract for $230,000 in bonus money and $850,000 for the salary. That is more than we can afford. I offer him $200,000 in bonus money and a $700,000 salary. He accepts. We are just being decimated by injuries this season. We are 1-3 at the bottom of the AFC East with Buffalo. N.E. still leads with a 4-0 record with the Jets at 3-1. We need to start winning soon. Buffalo comes to our place next week. We need this win in the division badly. Let’s get it going. Next: We need a win to stay alive this early in the season. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-17-2003, 08:09 PM	#11
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Trading Deadline With our team sitting at the bottom of the AFC East at 1-3, I look to make a trade to see if I can generate a spark. I decided to try to trade QB- Raven. He has a strong conflict with two of our team leaders. Maybe that’s the reason he hasn’t played well when he has had the chance. Also, my scout is poor at evaluating QB’s. Maybe he is wrong on Raven’s potential. I contact Washington, who are looking for a QB. I offered them Raven, our 4th and 7th round picks in 2005 for their 1st and 5th round pick next year. The Washington GM says we are very close to a deal. But he won’t tell me what I need more to offer him. I feel he is pulling my leg, since Raven is largely unproven. I try G.B. to see if asking around will change the Washington GM’s mind when he sees I am serious about a deal. G.B. won’t even accept Raven for their 1st round pick, where Washington said I was close on that offer. After a couple other failures and not being able to get the deal closed with Washington, I give up. I will stick with what we have. Next: Buffalo comes to town in a must win for us. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-08-2003, 08:41 PM	#2
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Miami Dolphins 2004 Off-Season Just before the start of the 2004 off-season, the commissioner of the league schedules a meeting with all 32 GM’s about some rule changes. Rule #1: When we are renegotiating contracts, we may not offer less than 50% of the current salary per year. Rule #2: Bonuses can not be more than the total salary for the life of the contract unless the player asks for the high bonus in negotiations. Rule #3: We may not hire a new coach or scout unless we have a losing season or their contract is up. He also tells us that the ratings of the first two season of this NFL are good. People are watching. He said that he wants to have a live draft starting with the 2005 season. They want to interview all the GM’s during the draft. Sometimes I forget I’m playing a game when I see the replay of the games on TV. Well it’s time for another off-season scramble to make our team better. Finishing 12-4 and losing in the Conference Finals was a step forward after our 1st season of not making the playoffs. But with 21 open spots on the roster, I have my work cut out for me. We only have 18 million in cap room. With 9 draft picks we will have about 15 million left to sign 12 players. Not an easy task. Looking at our roster, I see two problems. After DT- Cooper’s injury plagued season, (he only played in 5 games last year), he has a severe drop in ratings. K- Cousino also had a slight drop in his ratings after his injury. I will be looking @ DL and K in the draft. We also need help at the receiving positions. Here is my estimation of our needs this year: 1- DL- We need one or two quality run stoppers and pass rushers. 2- WR- We need at least one starter and some young talent. 3- LB- We need two run stoppers and maybe a good backup. 4- S- All 4 of our safeties are FA, we need some people here. 5- P/K- Our P is a FA and our K is questionable after his injury, we need help here. Our schedule isn’t an easy one after being division champs. We play 4 non-division opponents who made the playoffs last season. Plus the 2 games against division rival N.E. who also made the playoffs. I put in a stadium request. I ask to renovate from 74,900 to 80,000 seats. This is adding 800 club seats and 5 luxury boxes. Also to renovate the parking lot which is in fair condition. Using a high-quality construction firm, this will cost 121 million dollars. I will have the team contribute half of this. Let’s see if we can get the public to vote yes on this. We need more seats. We sold out almost all of our games last year and the parking lot will only get worse. Due to the new rules imposed by the commissioner, I will not be changing my coach or scout. Our scout stays the same in his ratings, except for 2 categories. He drops in rec. from good to average and sec. from very good to good. Our coach only drops in offensive play calling from very good to good. Next: 2004 FA period __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-09-2003, 02:36 PM	#3
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	FA week 1: With 24 FA, I have to decide who to offer contracts to. RB- Bradley really stepped it up after the Stephenson trade. He was an undrafted rookie and did well for us. Unfortunately, he wants a 6 year, 58 million dollar deal. We can’t afford that. Too bad, because he showed he can run. QB- Bush is a FA. I don’t think Raven is ready to start yet. But Bush wants 2 years and 3.58 million dollars. I will wait to see if we have the cap room later. LB- O’Neal, CB- Franz and S- Benson all want 1 year deals. Here are my FA signings and offerings in week 1: FB- Jalove- signed him to a 2 year deal. Lowe is clearly the starter and head and shoulders above Jalove, but I need a veteran backup. He came in with a price in our budget. CB- Lyle wants a 3 year, 13 million dollar deal. I offer him a 3 year, 10.2 million dollar deal with a voidable year with 2 interceptions. He has 9 interceptions in 2 years, so he should have no problem reaching that. I needed to save some money and still keep some of our good starters. He accepts our offer. CB- Franz- I gave him his one year deal to add depth to our CB position. I offered a free agent, FL- D.J.Lowe a contract. He played with K.C. for 2 seasons. I offered him a 3 year, 5 million dollar deal with a voidable year for 500 receiving yards. Again, this is reachable. I need to offer less to save cap room. He is also a veteran we need to help our receiving crew. We have 3 FA at the WR position. That’s all my moves for week 1. FA week 2: Not much to report this week. These are the FA I will be letting go: RB- Wolf, FB- Blanchard, TE- Wilson, RT- Crisp, DE- Robbins, DT- Schoeder, LB- Shadade, S- Henry and S- Morabito. I may invite some of these players to training camp to try and earn a spot like last year. I have to see how many spots I have left and what’s left in the FA market. I am looking at our other FA to see what we can offer them money wise. We still have 18 spots to fill. FA week 3: I signed S- Benson to a one year deal. He came in with a reasonable price. I also do a little tweaking with the numbers and offer RB- Bradley a 6 year, 38 million dollar deal which includes a 7 million dollar signing bonus and an incentive for 1000 rushing yards. This offer is down from his 58 million he wanted, but I offered him a little more bonus money than he asked for. He accepts our offer. It will cost us some cap money, but we have too many holes to fill to need a RB in the draft. This leaves us just under 6 million left to spend before the draft. That’s taking out what we need to save for the draft. FA week 4: FL- D.J.Lowe signed with us on our offer. That gives us a veteran receiver and makes one of ours expendable. I sign SE- Blassingame to a 3 year, 2.91 million dollar deal, which is what he asked for. He was solid for us the last two years. FA week 5: QB- Bush still wants a 2 year, 3.26 million dollar deal. I offer him 2 years and 2.75 million. He accepts. I need QB- Raven to learn one more year. Then maybe he can take over. FA week 6-9: I didn’t make any moves. With only 2.7 million left in cap money and 13 spots left to fill, I think I will wait until the draft and undrafted rookies who are left. The guys I have left aren’t really game breakers anyway. FA week 10: Our former K- Blake Stanfield was signed by Indianapolis. He spent the entire 2003 campaign on the FA wire. FA week 11-19: I didn’t make any moves. FA week 20: FL- Webster still wants a 2 year, 3.73 million dollar deal. I will not offer him a contract at this time. DT- Clifton wants a 2 year, 2.7 million dollar deal. I will decline for now. LB- Bradford wants a 2 year, 2.1 million dollar deal. I also decline this. These were the only other players on my roster that I deliberated on signing. I will wait until after the draft to see what my needs are. Next: The 2004 Amateur Draft __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-09-2003, 09:22 PM	#4
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Amateur Draft We pick 30th in the draft. We also have some picks at 21st from the Stephenson trade to Washington. The first 3 picks in the draft were OT. Here are our draft picks: Round 2..Bucky Meidinger.......DT...........Ohio Round 2..Kelvin Rosenthal......FL............Texas EL- Paso Round 3..Shaun Parker..........OLB..........Indiana Round 4..Bob Reilly.................FS............Wisconsin Round 4..Duane Wansley.......SS............Wisconsin Round 5..Keith Leclair............OLB...........Arkansas Round 5..Rodney Peterson......P.............Arkansas State Round 6..Marty Berchin..........OT............Utah State Round 7..Ray Lake.................ILB............Southern Methodist Analysis of the draft: Well, I got almost all our holes filled with our draft picks. If these guys pan out, we could have a solid young group of guys. I drafted a punter high because I wanted better than we have. If I had waited until the 6th or 7th round, this guy would have been gone. He was the best in the draft. My scout rates him at a 77 potential. McKnight just wasn’t getting it done. He was too inconsistent. I got a solid FL if he can learn the game. He has a lot of potential. Let’s see how these guys fare after training camp. After the draft, I received this e-mail from the county government: Your proposal for stadium renovation was submitted to the voters of your county for a decision. The issue failed. We hope that you do not view this as a referendum on the viability of football in Miami, but we understand that you are now free to seek a new stadium elsewhere. Please try again next year, however. You may find the voters more amendable. Here’s the final vote tally: Rejected:..610,412.....50.4% In Favor:...598,118.....49.5% We didn’t lose the vote by much. We needed an upgrade. I guess we will have to try again next year. We get two trade offers. One is for QB- Bush from St. Louis for their 4th round draft pick in 2005. I decline. Bush may be worth more than that if he has a solid year. The other offer is for our other QB- Raven. This one is from Carolina and their 4th round pick. He was a 1st round pick. I decline. I want to see what he can do. He may earn a starting job this year. I sign 4 undrafted rookie FA after the draft to fill some holes: DE- Randal Franklin- Texas Tech FS- Johnnie Kiselak- Kansas State RB- Adrian Gamroth- Georgia TE- Andre Lyon- Kansas I invite SE- Kosderka to training camp and preseason to try and earn a spot from SE- Farrell. I invite K- Kadanoff also to try and earn a spot from K- Cousino. I signed DT- Clifton and release DT- Merrell. After his injury in 2002, he didn’t return to form in 2003. Time to head to training camp to see which of our players is a breakout player or bust. After training camp, we get a couple more trade offers. K.C. offers me a 2nd round draft pick in 2005 for QB- Raven. I decline. Cleveland offers me a 4th round pick in 2005 and their FB- Mickey Buchhalter for my 3rd round pick this year, OLB- Shaun Parker. I decline that as well. I need to see how these guys shape up. We sold 73,200 season tickets out of a capacity of 74,900. That’s down 200 from last year. After camp I see that QB- Bush has learned 2 new formations. Also that QB- Raven has learned 1 new formation. I will give them both ample time in preseason to earn the starting job. Since our passing attack was dead last, someone had better show me something. As for our rookies, our scout has rated them again after training camp. DE- Randal Franklin who was an undrafted FA, has improved 10 points higher than my scout’s initial assessment of his future potential. RB- Adrian Gamroth, also an undrafted rookie FA, has a 4 point increase in his future potential. Our two 2nd round picks, DT- Bucky Meidinger and FL- Kelvin Rosenthal have only lost 1 and 2 future potential ratings points respectively. Rosenthal is already a fan favorite and he has some great talent. If he can develop, he could be a star. Our 3rd round pick, OLB- Shaun Parker, has dropped 8 points in his future estimate of his potential. He still looks solid on paper. He should be an instant starter. Our 2 4th round picks, FS- Bob Reilly and SS- Duane Wansley, look good and will challenge FS- Benson for a starting job. Our 5th round picks, OLB- Keith Leclair and P- Rodney Peterson, look to be good also. Leclair should start outside with Parker. We needed an upgrade at LB and if these guys develop, we should have a solid LB crew. Our 6th round pick, OT- Marty Berchin, is ok for a 6th round pick. But he isn’t starting material. He may develop and surprise people, but I doubt it. He should be a solid backup to give our starters a rest. Our 7th round pick, ILB- Ray Lake, won’t get the starting nod either. But again he may be a help to rest a starter. Our other 2 undrafted FA will be backups unless they have a breakout preseason. Next: the 2004 preseason __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-10-2003, 05:28 PM	#5
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Miami Dolphins preseason schedule Week 1: Bye week Week 2: New Orleans W 34-24 Week 3: @ Washington W 12-3 Week 4: Tampa Bay W 36-13 Week 5: @ N.Y.Giants L 24-10 Week 2: Overall we had a good game. Our defense struggled in the 1st half, allowing N.O. to score on their 1st four possessions (1 TD, 3 FG). RB- Jordan fumbled for a N.O. score was our only turnover. He made up for it later with a 47 yard TD run. We had 5 rushing TD’s on the day. Undrafted rookie RB- Gamroth had 6 carries for 100 yards and 2 TD runs of 33 and 64. That was 97 of his 100 yards. RB- Jordan had 10 carries for 75 yards. We were 8/12 on 3rd downs. QB- Bush was 11/16 for 109 yards. QB- Raven was 9/10 for 88 yards. On the receiving side, newly acquired free agent FL- Lowe had 5 catches for 48 yards. Rookie FL- Rosenthal had only 2 catches for 13 yards, but he had a good day returning kickoffs. P- Peterson had 4 punts for a 44.5 average. A good first game for our rookies overall. We had a few lapses on defense. But we have a lot of new people and it will take time to mesh. Injuries in the game: FB- Lowe pulled a groin and is doubtful. I will probably sit him for the rest of the preseason. His job isn’t in jeopardy. I need him in there during the season. CB- Franz is out for 2 weeks with a strained adductor muscle. De- Wingfield has a bad cold but should play some. Week 3: K- Kadanoff was the star as he scored all of our points. He was 4/5 on FG, his only miss from 39 yards. Tough call on a kicker. K- Cousino has a chance to shine against T.B. next week. We didn’t have any turnovers. RB- Gamroth had 12 rushes for 77 yards. The QB battle is tight. Both Raven and Bush played well. Raven was 9/17 for 109 yards, while Bush was 7/10 for 58 yards. Our negatives in the game were that we had 11 penalties. Also, on defense we are not causing any turnovers. We have 0 turnovers in the first two preseason games. Other than that our young defense is playing well. Injuries in the game: Only one new injury, RB- Jordan separated his shoulder and will miss the final two games of the preseason. CB- Franz and FB- Lowe should only need one more week to heal. Then they will get a little playing time in the preseason finale. There are some interesting battles going on for roster spots and starting jobs. SE- Farrell and Se- Kosderka are playing this week for all intents and purposes a roster spot. Both kickers are playing well. QB- Raven and QB- Bush are neck and neck for the start on opening day. If it stays this way, I have some tough decisions to make. Week 4: Our defense finally stepped up and caused some turnovers. We had 4 and a blocked punt. We also recorded 5 sacks. K- Cousino, in a battle for his job, was 3/3 of FG and 3/4 on PAT. In his defense on the PAT miss, it was a torrential downpour. The rookies are playing well. RB- Bradley and RB- Gamroth had good days. They combined for 110 yards on 15 carries and 1 TD. RB- Eriksen struggled as he had only 8 yards on 9 carries and a TD. Rookie punter, Peterson, had 4/7 punts inside the 20 and a 49.2 average. We only had a couple points to worry about. We were only 2/13 on 3rd downs and we also had a punt blocked for a TD. Injuries in the game: QB- Raven broke his toe and will sit out the preseason finale. FB- Lowe is almost 100% and may play some. RB- Jordan is still a couple weeks away. CB- Franz is 100%. SE- Kosderka has all but assured himself a roster spot with 3 catches for 22 yards and a TD. SE- Farrell just hasn’t shown anything in preseason. The QB situation is muddled with Raven’s injury. Bush will start the year and Raven will just have to take any opportunities he gets to try and win the job. The kicking job will come down to our preseason finale. Kadanoff will have to have another good day to uproot Cousino who has looked good in preseason. Week 5: There were some positives and negatives in this game. We had 6 sacks by our defense. The rookies played well today on defense. We turned the ball over 4 times and had 13 penalties for 94 yards. We also lost the T.O.P. battle 34 minutes to 26 minutes. We didn’t have a good day running the ball. As a team we only had 66 yards on 23 carries. QB- Bush played a half and was 11/21 for 117 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT. Bryant, our 3rd QB, got some playing time with the injury to Raven last week. He was ok, 8/13 for 128 yards with 1 INT. Rookie FL- Rosenthal had 5 catches for 81 yards. P- Peterson had a 45.6 average. K- Kadanoff was 1/1 on FG and 1/1 on PAT. We finished the preseason at 3-1. Injuries in the game: SE- Kosderka sprained his thumb. He is probable for about 4 weeks. CB- Riekens broke his hand and is probable for about 2 weeks. QB- Raven is still recovering and is about 1 week from 100%. RB- Jordan is still suffering from his separated shoulder and will return in 1 week. We get FB- Lowe back from his groin injury. Next: Final cuts and the 2004 regular season. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-11-2003, 08:59 PM	#6
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Miami Dolphins regular season Before the first game, I have some decisions to make. SE- Kosderka played well in preseason and took the job from SE- Farrell. I shopped Farrell around, but no one was interested. I cut him. The other cut was K- Kadanoff. I decided to keep Cousino even though since the injury, Kadanoff has better ratings according to my scout. It was a tough decision because both had a good preseason. But Cousino has shown in the past that he can kick under pressure. If he doesn’t do the job, I may have to draft or find a FA next year. Those two cuts put us at the 53 man limit. After the releases we have $720,000 in cap money left. Not much if we have any serious injuries and have to sign somebody. But we lost $8.1 million in cap money from players released or traded in the past two years with the bonus money. Now for your Miami Dolphins 2004 starting lineup: QB- Bush starts the year. Raven suffered that broken toe in preseason and set him back a little. After he heals he may start a few games if Bush struggles. Bryant is once again the 3rd QB on our roster. RB- Eriksen and Bradley will both get their share of playing time and starts. Both have incentive goals to try to reach. Eriksen needs 1400 yards this year to become a FA. If not he is with us through 2005. Bradley has the new 6 year contract we signed and needs 1000 yards to become a FA one year early. Rookie undrafted FA Gamroth and Jordan will alternate being inactive and also back up Eriksen and Bradley. Gamroth has shown some speed to the outside. We will have to use that and Jordan will try to rebound and once again be our short yardage runner. FB- Lowe returns from his excellent rookie year to start. He missed the final 3 preseason games with a pulled groin. Hopefully this won’t hamper him. Jalove will back him up again. He had a decent preseason. TE- We have 3 TE on the roster and none are star players. Talley will start with Hansen and undrafted rookie FA Lyon backing up. This may turn out to be a rotation spot as no one has shown any breakout potential in preseason. It may also be something to look at next off-season. FL- The rookie Rosenthal looked good in preseason and will start over our FA signing D.J. Lowe. This was a big upgrade over last year’s starting FL. SE- Carlson starts again with Blassingame and Kosderka backing up. Not a great crew talent wise, but it will have to do. Kosderka and TE- Lyon will alternate being inactive. LT/RT- Graham starts at LT for the 3rd year with Heath at RT. Knight and the rookie Berchin will alternate being inactive and backup. LG/RG- Rodriguez and Brosseau start at LG/RG respectively. Both had a decent year last season. Let’s see if they can improve. Dodge and Moore will alternate being inactive and backup. C- This position remains unchanged this season with Malone coming off his second all-league season in a row. He starts with Isbell backing up. P/K- Our new punter, Peterson, had a great preseason with a 45 yard average. He struggles with the directional punting but is a big upgrade from last year. Cousino returns after a neck and neck battle with Kadanoff in preseason. Let’s see if he can make my decision to keep him a good one. DE- Dix and Lynch start at the DE positions. Undrafted rookie Franklin looked good in preseason and will backup and be a designated pass rusher with Dix. Wingfield will also backup. DT- Oliver and Cooper return to start. Cooper’s ratings have dropped off significantly since last season’s injury. But he’s going to start to see how he does. If he struggles, our second round pick, Meidinger will be there to take his place. Clifton backs up also. Oliver and Meidinger will be pass rushers. OLB- This will raise some eyebrows around the league. I am starting our two draft picks at OLB this year. Leclair and Parker played well in preseason and get rewarded with starting jobs. Burton returns in a backup role with Brim also available. Burton and Brim will alternate being inactive. The decision to start the rookies was because we needed help against the run at OLB and they have better current and future potential at those catergories. Burton may not like his reduced role, but he has to show something to get his job back. ILB- A change in the starter this year. Bruce starts over Stanton this season. He played better in preseason and Stanton didn’t have a great year last season anyway. Stanton and the rookie Lake will backup and alternate being inactive. Lake looks like nothing more than a backup. He may surprise some people but I don’t think so. CB- Riekens returns after a stellar year and a big upgrade to our punt return game. Lyle starts at the other corner and Franz is the nickel back. Valle returns from missing the entire year to injury to see if he can play. Hoskins is the 5th CB if needed. This looks to be our deepest position. FS/SS- Benson keeps his starting job barely beating out the rookie Wansley for the job. Reilly is the other starter with Kiselak backing up and alternating being inactive with Hoskins. Benson has to keep playing well because the rookie is right on his heels. This is your 2004 Miami Dolphins roster and starting lineup. I will be running a 4-3 defense again this year. Let’s start out on a good note. We play N.E. at their place in the 1st game of the year. Let’s take over the division in week 1. Next: Opening Day in N.E. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-20-2003, 03:38 AM	#12
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Just wanted to let my readers know that I am still hear. I just have been really busy working 12 hour days. I will post more on this dynasty this weekend. Thanks. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-21-2003, 06:46 PM	#13
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 5: Buffalo (1-3) @ Miami (1-3) Point spread: Miami -7 Buffalo wins the toss and receives. We stop them on the first 3 plays. But we are offsides on the punt which makes it a 4th and 1. They then fake the punt and get the first down. But our defense holds them on the next 3 plays and this time they do punt. We get a nice first drive going. We get to the Buffalo 5 yard line with a 4th and 1. I tell the coach to go for it. I want a TD. We need to get this team going early. We get the 1st down on a run by RB- Jordan. The next play QB- Bush gets sacked for a 6 yard loss. I’m thinking that if this doesn’t work, maybe I should have tried the FG. Then QB- Bush finds FB- Jalove open for a 9 yard TD pass and we have the early 7-0 lead. The drive was 17 plays for 90 yards and chewed up 8:10 off the clock. It’s about time we have a drive like that this season. On Buffalo’s ensuing drive, they get a 1st down and fumble. CB- Lyle recovers the ball, but wait a minute, we were offsides. Another penalty when we should have the ball. But our defense makes up for it by stopping them on the next three plays. The 1st quarter ends with us leading 7-0 and Buffalo with a 4th and 8 at their 39 yard line. The second quarter starts with a Buffalo punt and then both teams going 3 and out. Our next drive, we have a 3rd and 5 @ our 31 and QB- Bush hits newly acquired RB- Wheeler for a 49 yard pass play. But it’s called back because of an illegal shift. Another costly penalty. Bush responds with a pass to TE- Hansen for a 1st down. But we only gain 6 yards on our next 3 plays and have to punt. Our defense stops them on 3 plays, but our offense can’t get a 1st down either and we have to give it back to them. They go right down the field on 4 big pass plays to our 15 yard line. Then we hold them to a FG try from 26 yards. They hit it to cut our lead to 7-3. We have just over 2 minutes to go in the half. We get a couple of quick 1st downs, but stall at the Buffalo 47 and have to punt with 21 seconds to go. We go in at halftime leading 7-3. QB- Bush is playing well. He is 9/13 for 74 yards and a TD in the 1st half. We start the 3rd quarter with a 3 and out. But P- Peterson get us out of trouble with a booming 52 yard punt to Buffalo’s 10 yard line. We hold them after one 1st down. On our next drive QB- Bush gets sacked on the first play and fumbles. Buffalo recovers at our 38. Our defense steps up again and holds them to only one 1st down. But they get a 46 yard FG to cut our lead to 7-6. We answer with a good drive. But we stall at their 23 with a 4th and 2. I deliberate on going for it, but ultimately decide to take the points. K- Cousino misses a 40 yarder wide left. I think we may look for a better kicker in the off-season. Our 1st defensive play after the missed FG is an offsides call. Then we stuff their RB for only a 1 yard gain. The next play, rookie LB- Leclair intercepts a pass and returns it 39 yards to Buffalo’s 10 yard line. Our 1st play following the turnover, QB- Bush hits FL- Lowe for a 9 yard TD and we now have a 14-6 lead. Our defense holds Buffalo to a three and out. The 3rd quarter ends a couple of plays later with us leading 14-6 and our ball with a 1st and 10 at the 50 yard line. We get to the 34 with a 4th and 6. I am a little nervous about letting Cousino trying a long FG. If he misses, Buffalo gets good field position with us only up by 8. But Cousino has been better at the longer FG in his short career. So, I let him try a 51 yarder. He hits it and we now lead 17-6 with 13 minutes to go in the game. Buffalo starts the next drive with 2 big pass plays and are moving the ball quickly. Then, SS- Benson intercepts a pass @ our 38 to end the threat. We only get 9 yards though and have to punt. Buffalo gets a couple of key 3rd down conversions before our defense stops them yet again. We have the ball at our 29 with 4:10 to go and a 17-6 lead. We only get one 1st down, but that forces Buffalo to use all their timeouts on defense. We punt and Buffalo has the ball at their 33 with 2:05 to play needing 2 scores. They can’t get more than one 1st down and we take a knee after the turnover on downs and the game is over. We win 17-6. Big win for this team. Stats on the game: We had 7 sacks on defense. We won the turnover battle 2-1. We were 7/17 on 3rd downs. We had a 33 to 27 minute T.O.P. edge. RB- Eriksen 22/73, RB- Gamroth 9/34 and RB- Wheeler 3/14. QB- Bush was 14/23 for 118 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. SE- Carlson had 3 dropped passes. P- Peterson had a 49.4 punting average. K- Cousino was 1 for 2 on FG. He hit a 51 yarder, but missed from 40. Miami players of the week nominees: S- Benson had 3 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 INT., LB- Leclair had 4 tackles, 1 sack and 1 INT., T- Graham was 5/11 on key run blocks with 0 sacks allowed. Offensive player of the week: QB- Donavan Harney- San Diego was 22/31 for 204 yards and 1 TD. Defensive player of the week: DE- Ray Schneider- Chicago had 4 tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks. Injuries in the game: We didn’t suffer any new injuries in the game. That’s the good news. The bad news is that my team has come down with the flu. 11 of my players have it. I will have to try to play some as I am already thin in some areas as it is. Here are the players who have the flu or past injuries not 100%: FB- Jalove, SE- Kosderka, LT- Graham, LG- Moore, DT- Oliver, DT- Cooper, RT- Heath, QB- Raven, K- Cousino, LB- Lake and RT- Berchin all have the flu. Most have to play some, because I don’t have any other choice. CB- Riekens broken hand is almost 100%. About 1 more week for him. DE- Wingfield is about 2 weeks from returning from his hyperextended knee. FB- Lowe is still about 8 weeks from returning. SS- Wansley is still about 4 weeks from returning. Notes: This was a big win for us. Baltimore upset N.E. so now they and the Jets are tied atop the AFC East with a 4-1 record. We sit at 2-3 and Buffalo falls to 1-4. Maybe we can get back in this thing. We have a tough road game next week at Cleveland who are 4-1. It figures that my team has to pick this week to come down with the flu. Well, let’s see if we can suck it up. Next: Big win, but a mountain next week in Cleveland with a depleted roster. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-22-2003, 11:04 AM	#14
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 6: Miami (2-3) @ Cleveland (4-1) Point spread: Cleveland -8 Cleveland wins the toss and receives. Their 1st play goes for 23 yards through the air and I’m thinking that this could be a long day with half of my starters suffering from the flu. But our defense stops them on the next three plays and they punt. We start at our 6 yard line after a good punt by Cleveland. We get a grand total of -1 yard on 3 plays and have to punt from deep in our endzone. Not a good start. Cleveland, with good field position, only manage one 1st down and have to settle for a 43 yard FG and a 3-0 lead. Our next drive starts out promising with 2 quick pass plays from QB- Bush to FL- Rosenthal for 17 yards and then to FL- Lowe for 16 yards. We then bog down at the Cleveland 41 yard line. We each get one more possession before the 1st quarter ends with Cleveland leading 3-0. We stop Cleveland on 3 plays to start the 2nd quarter. I take over the play calling. I’m not happy with our run to pass ratio. We get a 14 play, 72 yard drive, which eats up 6:57 off the clock. QB- Bush hits FL- Lowe on a 14 yard strike and we lead 7-3. On the ensuing kickoff, holding is called on Cleveland. They are backed up to their 3 yard line. We stop them on 3 plays. I decide to try to block the punt. We don’t get to the punter, but we do get good field position at Cleveland’s 44. Our 1st play is an 11 yard pass to TE- Talley. Then we only gain 8 yards. We have a 4th and 2 at Cleveland’s 25 yard line. K- Cousino hits the 42 yard FG and we lead 10-3. There is 2:22 to go in the 1st half. Cleveland goes into hurry-up mode. DE- Dix gets a sack on their 1st play. Then they go right down on our defense. They have 4 straight plays of 10 yards or more. With 11 seconds to go and no timeouts, Cleveland elects to try a 34 yard FG. They miss it wide left and we go in at halftime leading 10-3. We start the 2nd half with 3 running plays. On the 3rd and 1 play, FB- Jalove gets the 1st down but fumbles the ball and Cleveland recovers at our 32. They get 2 plays and a 1st down. Then rookie FS- Reilly intercepts a pass in the endzone to end the threat and we hold onto a 10-3 lead. We go down the field on a nice drive. QB- Bush hit a couple of 3rd down passes for 1st downs. But we stall at the 7 with a 4th and 3. No question about whether or not to go for it here. We are leading by 7 on the road. We will take the points. K- Cousino hits the 24 yard FG and we lead 13-3. The drive was 73 yards in 10 plays and took 5:58 off the clock. Cleveland gets one 1st down but then a sack puts them in a long 3rd down situation. We stop them. My team may be suffering from the flu, but they are giving it 110%. But our offense only gains 9 yards and we have to punt. After 2 Cleveland plays, that’s the end of the 3rd quarter with us leading 13-3. Cleveland drives the ball to our 3 yard line and have a 4th and goal. They take the 20 yard FG and our lead is cut back to 7 at 13-6 with 10:10 to play. We try a big pass play on 1st down, but it backfires as QB- Bush is off target and it is picked off. Cleveland returns the ball to our 45. Now our defense is tired and back on the field. They get to our 19 yard line, when somehow we stop them. They try a 36 yard FG. They miss it and we still lead 13-6. We dodged a bullet there. We have the ball with 5:49 to go. But we only get 9 yards and have to punt. Our defense steps up again with another sack by DE- Dix and then an interception by SS- Benson. He returns it to Cleveland’s 10 yard line. Our 1st play goes for 8 yards to TE- Lyon. Then we lose 3 on a run. But RB- Wheeler punches it in from 5 yards out for the 20-6 lead with 2:30 to go. That will just about put the game away. SS- Benson intercepts another pass on Cleveland’s next drive. He is having a game. I’m glad I resigned him in the off-season. K- Cousino misses a 39 yard FG later. Cleveland drives to our 1 yard line as time expires and we win 20-6. SS- Benson was the player of the game. Stats on the game: Our OL allowed 0 sacks. We only had 4 penalties. RB- Eriksen 15/44, RB- Gamroth 10/34, RB- Wheeler 4/18 and 1 TD. QB- Bush 14/21 for 134 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. K- Cousino was 2/3 on FG. C- Malone was 4/5 on run blocks. DE- Dix had 3 tackles, 1 assist and 2 sacks. SS- Benson had 5 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack and 2 INT. One negative stat: Cleveland’s SE- Stephenson had 6 catches for 121 yards. Miami players of the week nominees: DE- Dix and SS- Benson. Offensive player of the week: QB- Bucky Randle-EL- N.E. was 26/40 for 246 yards and 3 TD. Defensive player of the week: DE- Ralph Hojnacki- Oakland had 4 tackles and 3 sacks. Injuries in the game: Only one new injury, LB- Leclair is suffering from knee bursitis, he should play. We still have about 6 players suffering from the flu. De- Wingfield is about 1 week away from returning from his hyperextended knee. SS- Wansley is about 3 weeks away. FB- Lowe isn’t healing very fast as he is still 8 weeks away. CB- Riekens is finally 100%. Notes: N.E. played the Jets and won. The AFC East standings: N.E. 5-1, Jets 4-2, Miami 3-3 and Buffaol 1-5. We are now 1 game out of the wildcard spot. Jets and Cleveland are 1 game ahead of us and we just beat Cleveland and still have 2 to play with the Jets. We are back in this thing. We play Pittsburgh at home next week. They are also 3-3. Next: Let's try to keep it going against Pittsburgh. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-23-2003, 01:48 PM	#15
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 7: Pittsburgh (3-3) @ Miami (3-3) Point spread: Miami -4 Pittsburgh wins the toss and receives. Their 1st play is a false start. On the next play, LB- Leclair gets a sack on a blitz and DE- Dix recovers a fumble to Pittsburgh’s 2 yard line. We run the ball from the 2 yard line three times and gain a total of -1 yards. We have to settle for a 20 yard FG. We couldn’t gain 2 yards for a TD. That’s disappointing. Pittsburgh answers with a good drive. They move down the field at will on our defense. We finally hold at our 3 and they also get a 20 yard FG to tie the game at 3. We did stop them on a 3rd and goal at our 1 yard line. Our next drive, RB- Eriksen runs for 5 yards. Then we get a 7 yard pass play to SE- Blassingame for a 1st down. Then after a false start, QB- Bush hits SE- Blassingame again, this time for a 60 yard bomb for a TD. We take the lead 10-3. We hold Pittsburgh on 3 plays. Off the short punt, CB- Riekens returns it 16 yards to Pittsburgh’s 30 yard line. We only gain 2 yards on 3 plays and have to try a 45 yard FG. K- Cousino misses it as he slipped on the wet field. The score is still 10-3 Miami. Pittsburgh gets 5 plays before the 1st quarter ends. They start the 2nd quarter with a punt. We start our next drive promising enough. QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson for a 16 yard pass on the first play. But we can’t gain another 1st down and have to punt. Pittsburgh doesn’t do anything however, and have to punt. Another short punt and CB- Riekens returns it 16 yards again to Pittsburgh’s 38. We get a 1 yard run by RB- Eriksen, a 2 yard run by RB- Gamroth and an 11 yard run by RB- Wheeler on a 3rd down draw play. But we don’t get another 1st down and have to settle for another FG try. K- Cousino misses another one, this time from 41 yards. We still only lead 10-3. Pittsburgh goes on a good drive towards the end of the 1st half. They move right down the field and get down to our 1 yard line. That is where LB- Parker knocks the ball loose and CB- Riekens recovers at our 1 yard line. A great play to save the lead. With the ball at our 1 with 1:21 to go, I tell the coach to play it safe. We call 3 running plays and punt and that ends the half. We start the 2nd half with a drive that only gains one 1st down. But our defense is playing well as we force Pittsburgh to punt after only 3 plays. Again we only gain one 1st down and punt. Pittsburgh has the ball 2 more times in the 3rd quarter and us once, but neither team is moving the ball very well. The 3rd quarter ends with us still leading 10-3. We have the ball on our 5 yard line with 13:43 to go in the game. We go -2 yards on 2 running plays, then QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 15 yard pass play for a 1st down. Then Pittsburgh commits 2 defensive penalties to give us first downs. After a couple of running plays and 2 false starts, we have a 3rd and 10. QB- Bush makes an ill-advised pass which is intercepted at Pittsburgh’s 47 yard line. Pittsburgh doesn’t take long to make us pay for the turnover. They go 2 plays and get a 42 yard TD pass to tie the game at 10. FL- Rosenthal pumps up the team with a 32 yard kickoff return to our 46 with 7:57 to go. We get a 6 yard pass to RB- Wheeler to start the drive. Then a 10 yard pass to FL- Rosenthal to get a 1st down. After a run for no gain and a Pittsburgh offsides call, we get another run for -1 yards. Our rushing game is struggling. Then QB- Bush gets sacked on the 3rd down play and we have a 4th and 12 at Pittsburgh’s 40 yard line. K- Cousino has been erratic today and I don’t think he has the leg for a 57 yard FG anyway. So, I tell the coach to punt and let our defense hold them. Good punt, downed at the 7 yard line. There is 4:23 to go. Pittsburgh starts our with 2 big pass plays of 18 and 16 yards and are already out to the 41 yard line. They get a couple of runs and another big play for 19 yards and eventually have a 4th and 5 at our 22 with 46 seconds to go. I call a timeout to save as much time as I can in case they hit the FG. It’s from 39 yards out and they hit it to lead 13-10. We have the ball after the kickoff at our 24 with 35 seconds to go. After a sack, QB- Bush throws 3 incomplete passes and the game is over. We lose 13-10. Stats on the game: There weren’t many positives in the game. We only allowed 13 points on defense, but 10 came on Pittsburgh’s final 2 possessions. We didn’t score any points after our 1st two drives. We had 52 rushing yards on 25 attempts. That is pitiful. We were 3/14 on 3rd down conversions and we only had 195 yards of total offense. SE- Blassingame had a decent game with 3 catches for 71 yards and a TD. LB- Leclair had a good game defensively with 8 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks. QB- Bush is struggling with a 13/23 for 143 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT day. K- Cousino also is struggling with a 1 for 3 day. Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Leclair. Offensive player of the week: QB- Terrance Markovich- K.C. was 28/44 for 273 yards with 2 TD Defensive player of the week: DE- Riddick Kieffer- G.B. had 9 tackles, 2 assists and 2.5 sacks. Injuries in the game: Only one new injury, CB- Franz has a pulled groin and will be out up to three weeks. With our bye week this week, everyone else should recover nicely. Notes: This was a tough loss. We had a lot of missed opportunities. We only got a FG after that 1st turnover by Pittsburgh at their 2 yard line. Also the 2 missed FG by Cousino. He should have hit them. I will be looking for a kicker in the off-season. I will take a quick look at the FA wire now, but I don’t think there is much to choose from. With the loss, we fall further back in the playoff race. N.E. won again, and are 6-1. The Jets lost and are 4-3. We are 3-4 and Buffalo lost also and are 1-6. We play N.E. after our bye week. Next: N.E. comes to town after our bye week. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-23-2003, 01:50 PM	#16
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 8: Bye Week Offensive player of the week: QB- Wade Lyons- Buffalo was 28/49 for 330 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Conrad Soria- Tennessee had 5 tackles, 2 assists and 4 sacks. On the injury front: We only have three injuries still on the list, not counting RB- Bradley who is on IR. FB- Lowe is doubtful and is expected back to full strength in about 6 weeks. SS- Wansley is probable and should be back to full strength in about 1 week. He is a rookie who only played part of the 1st game of the season. CB- Franz is questionable with his pulled groin and will be 100% in about 2 weeks. FB- Lowe and CB- Franz will sit. SS- Wansley will try to play some. Notes: N.E. lost to Cleveland to fall to 6-2. The Jets won and are one game back at 5-3. We are 3-4 and Buffalo lost to the Jets to fall to 1-7. We play N.E. and need a win. QB- Raven is healthy and may play if QB- Bush struggles. But he has a serious chemistry problem with some of our leaders as I talked about a few weeks ago. I haven’t decided what to do about it yet. I made a move in the kicking department. I released Cousino and signed an undrafted FA, Clay Stanton out of Oklahoma State. He has better potential in kicking accuracy, power and hangtime. He has a little drop off in kickoff distance. But that wasn’t a problem. Let’s see if he can help us. If not, it’s plan B in the off-season, get a kicker in the draft. Next: Let's try to turn it around against N.E. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-24-2003, 05:40 PM	#17
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 9: N.E. (6-2) @ Miami (3-4) Point spread: N.E. -3 Before the game, I look at the injury report. N.E. star QB- Bucky Randle El is out with torn knee cartilage. That will certainly help us as their backup is not 100%. Also their starting TE- is out. Glad to see we aren’t the only team with injury problems. On with the game. N.E. wins the toss and receives. They quickly go 3 plays and punt. We also go 3 and out. On N.E. next drive, they get an 8 yard run on 1st down. Then our defense holds them to 1 yard on 2 plays. They go for it from their 41 with a 4th and 1. We stop them for no gain. I don’t know if I would have done that so early in the game. We have the ball in great field position after the turnover on downs. Our 1st three plays are 3 runs for 11 yards and a 1st down. Then RB- Eriksen runs 10 yards, but fumbles the ball. Thankfully FL- Rosenthal is there to save the day. He recovers it to N.E. 14 yard line. Another 5 yard run and then QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 9 yard TD pass for a 7-0 lead. N.E. goes 3 and out again. Our defense is playing well. N.E. has no 1st downs and 22 total yards on their 1st three possessions. The punt is returned by CB- Riekens 22 yards to our 48 yard line. We start our next drive with 2 runs of 4 and 10 yards. Then a couple of incomplete passes and a run for -1 yard. We have a 4th and 11 at N.E. 39 yard line. Let’s get our new kicker’s feet wet. We try a 56 yarder and it is short. Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Now N.E. has good field position at their own 46 yard line. They get a 1st down before the 1st quarter ends. They continue the drive into the 2nd quarter with a 14 yard pass play. But we hold them on the next two plays. They have a 3rd and 13 and we get a sack and they fumble the ball. But they recover it at our 32 yard line and have a 4th down. They try a 49 yard FG and miss it short. We still lead 7-0. Our next drive is a short one as we get 2 yards on a run and then QB- Bush gets sacked and fumbles the ball. N.E. recovers it at our 37 yard line. N.E. only gains 1 yard in 3 plays. They have a 4th and 9 at our 36 and they try a 53 yard FG. Another miss short. We get a good drive going following the missed FG. But it stalls at the N.E. 37 yard line. I go to the well again and try a long FG. K- Stanton is short again, this time from 54 yards. The score is still 7-0. They drive again down the field. Our defense gets a sack on a key third down which puts them at our 31 on 4th down. They try a 48 yard FG. It’s short again. Unbelievable, 5 FG tried and all are short. We start at our 38 yard line. We get two 1st downs but a sack puts us at a 4th and 14 from their 42. I tell the coach to punt this time. There is 1:02 to go in the half. I don’t want them to have a short field again. We punt to the 6 yard line. N.E. is content to go in at halftime only down 7-0 on the road. They run the ball 4 times and the half is over, mercifully. There were 5 missed FG in the half. We start the second half with the ball. RB- Eriksen is running the ball well today. He has a couple of nice runs on the drive and we get to N.E. 33 yard line with a 4th and 5. Although I am a little nervous about trying another long FG, we need to get some points sooner or later. This time K- Stanton hits the 50 yard FG and we extend the lead to 10-0. The next 4 drives are 3 plays and out. Then N.E. gets a couple of 1st downs before the 3rd quarter ends with the score still Miami 10-0. The 4th quarter starts with N.E. punting. We go three plays and punt. We are letting N.E. stay in the game. That’s how we lost to Pittsburgh two week’s ago. We need to put this game away. N.E. gets a couple of 1st downs and have a 4th and 3 at our 36 yard line. Would you believe they are short on another kick. That’s 4 missed FG by N.E. today. That’s the only reason we still lead this game 10-0. We only get one 1st down on our next drive and have to punt. Thankfully N.E. offense is struggling also as they only get one 1st down themselves. We have the ball at our 11 yard line with 7:15 to go in the game still leading 10-0. We only get 9 yards on 3 plays and have to punt. N.E. gets a 21 yard PR to our 44, but they fumble the ball. TE- Talley recovers the ball for us at their 47 yard line. But of course we can do nothing with it and have to punt after only 3 plays. N.E. has the ball at their 18 yard line with 3:16 to go. On their 1st play we sack the QB for a 7 yard loss. Then they throw an incomplete pass. Then on 3rd down we get a 10 yard sack. They have a 4th an 27 at their 1 yard line. I tell the coach to try to block the punt. We don’t get to it, but the punt isn’t very good as CB- Riekens calls a fair catch at N.E. 35 yard line. There is 2:26 to play. We get one 1st down and a few more yards. But we stall at their 13 yard line and have to try the dreaded FG. K- Stanton hits it from 30 yards out and we lead 13-0 with just under a minute to go. N.E. has the ball at their 42 yard line after the kickoff with 45 seconds to go. On the first play, SS- Benson intercepts a pass at N.E. 47 yard line and the game is over. We win 13-0. Stats on the game: We held N.E. to 189 total yards. But we only gained 214 yards ourselves, thankfully 143 were on the ground. We had 6 sacks by our defense, but allowed 4 sacks. We had a 34 to 26 minute edge in T.O.P. RB- Eriksen had his 1st 100 yard rushing game of the year as he had 27 carries for 116 yards. QB- Bush was ok as he was 11/20 for 71 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. New K- Stanton was 2/4 with a long of 50 yards on FG. LT- Graham was 5/13 on run blocks with 1 sack allowed. RT- Heath was 4/6 and TE- Lyon was 3/3 run blocking. There were 6 missed FG in the game and all were short. Miami players of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen, LT- Graham and DE- Franklin had 3 tackles and 2 sacks. Offensive player of the week: QB- Bobby Speer- N.O. was 22/31 for 215 yards with 2 TD. Defensive player of the week: DE- Mike Cobb- Seattle had 5 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks. Injuries in the game: We didn’t suffer any new injuries in the game. But we do have a relapse of the flu epidemic again. Ten players have it, some new and some have caught it again. CB- Franz is about 1 week away from returning from his groin pull. FB- Lowe is questionable and about 5 weeks away from returning. We need him, but I want him to heal first. Notes: We are 4-4 at the halfway point in the season. We play Baltimore at home next week. They are 3-5. We need to keep winning to stay in the playoff hunt. N.E. still leads the AFC East with a 6-3 record. The Jets are also 6-3. We are 4-4 and Buffalo is 2-7. The Jets and Cincinnati are the wildcards right now with 6-3 and 5-3 records respectively. We are one game off the pace at 4-4, but we are tied with 6 other teams with the same record. It looks to be a mad scramble for a playoff spot. Time to look at our mid-season stats and rookie report through 8 games. Next: Big win but we have a long way to go. Mid-season report coming up next. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-26-2003, 02:07 AM	#18
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	To all my readers. There will be a delay in this dynasty for a few days. My grandfather passed away tonight. I will try to continue it sometime this weekend. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-29-2003, 05:55 AM	#19
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Miami Dolphins Mid-Season Report Record: 4-4......3rd in the AFC East..................................We are tied with 6 teams with a 4-4 record 1 ½ games out.................................1 game out of a wildcard spot. Team Stats Offense:........Rank:................Team Stats Defense:................Rank: 93.1 rushing yards a game.........29th in the league...........131.5 rushing yards.........29th in the league 162.2 passing yards a game...30th in the league....200.3 passing yards.....17th in the league 15.5 Points per game..............28th in the league....13.3 Points per game..3rd in the league 36.2% 3rd down conversions........T- 11th in the league......33 sacks...............T- 2nd in the league + 7 Turnover ratio........................T- 6th in the league........We are T- 6th in the league in penalties against Individual Stats: QB- Bush 116/209....55.5%.....1150 yards..........6 TD......7 INT RB- Eriksen.......124 rushes........393 yards (3.1)..2 TD.............1 Fumble FL- Lowe......20 catches.............233 yards...........3 TD FL- Rosenthal..22 catches..........270 yards SE- Blassingame 14 catches.......217 yards...........1 TD SE- Carlson.........31 catches........345 yards..........1 TD TE- Talley...........11 catches...........93 yards PR- Riekens has a 12.6 average............ KR- Lowe has a 23.6 average......KR- Rosenthal has a 22.7 average P- Peterson has a 43.1 average which is T- 8th in the league K- Stanton is our new kicker with only 1 game under his belt. He is 2.4 with a long of 50 yards. Team Stats: Sacks: DE- Dix and DE- Franklin have 5.0 each. LB- Parker and LB- Leclair have 3.5 each. Tackles: LB- Bruce has 36, LB- Parker has 34 and S- Benson has 32. Interceptions: S- Benson has 4 and CB- Lyle has 2. Passes Defended: LB- Bruce has 5, CB- Riekens has 4, S- Benson, CB- Lyle and CB- Valle have 3 each. Run Blocks: LT- Graham 19/54 with 1 sack allowed, C- Malone 13/41 with 4 sacks allowed and G- Rodriguez 10/52 with 2 sacks allowed. 1st Half Analysis With the loss of our big blocking FB- Lowe to injury in week one, our running game has struggled. We are only rushing for 2.88 yards per carry which is last in the league. Our PR continues to shine. As does our new punter. We do need more depth at the RB/FB positions. Also a good solid kicker. I’m not sure recently signed K- Stanton is the answer. I will address these issues during the off-season. With our injuries we’ve had, I guess 4-4 isn’t all that bad. It’s just disappointing because we won the division last season with a 12-4 record. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-29-2003, 06:09 AM	#20
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	.................................................................Rookie Report:......................................................1st half grade: 2nd round pick: DT- Meidinger................Playing ok, learning the game. He has improved .................................................................in the last couple of games................................................B- 2nd round pick: FL- Rosenthal.................Starting and playing well. A big help to our KR .................................................................game. He could be a star someday.....................................B+ 3rd round pick: LB- Parker.......................Excellent value for the pick. A big help to our .................................................................OLB problems we’ve had..................................................A- 4th round pick: FS- Reilly........................Playing ok, not having as big an impact as I would ................................................................Have liked..........................................................................C+ 4th round pick: SS- Wansley....................Got hurt in week one. Just came back from injury. ..........................................................................................................................................................N/A 5th round pick: LB- Leclair......................Another great value for the pick. The other side of ..................................................................our rookie OLB crew........................................................A- 5th round pick: P- Peterson......................A big upgrade to our punting game. In top 10 in the .................................................................league.................................................................................A 6th round pick: OT- Berchin....................Mainly a backup for now. Unsure if he will start..............C 7th round pick: LB- Lake.........................Backup LB. Probably won’t be a starter in this league......C ................................................................Undrafted Rookies:.................................................1st half grade: RB- Gamroth..............................Not a bad runner to the outside. Ok for an undrafted ....................................................rookie..............................................................................................C+ TE- Lyon....................................He is backing up. Had a couple of good games..............................C DE- Franklin..............................A great addition to our DL. Leads team with 5 sacks.....................A- FS- Kiselak................................A backup, nothing more...................................................................C

03-30-2003, 10:13 PM	#21
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Miami Dolphins second half of the season weekly wrapup Week 10: Baltimore (3-5) @ Miami (4-4) Point spread: Miaim -4 Baltimore wins the toss and receives. They get two 1st downs and we finally stop them. But wait a minute, there is an unnecessary roughness penalty called on us. That gives Baltimore a 1st down. They get to our 16 yard line on a 3rd and 9 when LB- Parker intercepts a pass and returns it to their 49 yard line. A great play to stop a good drive by Baltimore. We have a false start penalty called on us on our 1st offensive play. Not a good way to start. But we get a 1st down on a big 3rd down pass play by QB- Bush. After 2 more plays, we have a 3rd and 2 at Baltimore’s 30 yard line. QB- Bush finds SE- Carlson on a 30 yard pass play for the TD. We lead 7-0. We both go 3 and out on our next drive. Baltimore then gets two 1st downs and that ends the 1st quarter. We still lead 7-0. Baltimore gets to our 41 and have to punt. The ball is downed at our 7 yard line. We proceed to go backwards to our 1 yard line and have to punt from there. We only get a 37 yard punt and Baltimore has great field position. Our defense steps up and only allows Baltimore 2 yards and they decide to punt rather than try a 53 yard FG. A good choice by them as their punter puts it out of bounds at our 1 yard line. We are backed up again. We get a couple of big 1st downs and move the ball to Baltimore’s 47 yard line. But we have to punt with a 4th and 4. At least we changed the field position. There is 3:55 to play in the 1st half. Baltimore gets a 1st down and then on the next play CB- Hoskins intercepts a pass at their 34 and returns it to their 23. We have 2:38 to work with. We start out good with a 19 yard pass play that puts the ball at Baltimore’s 4 yard line and a 1st and goal. We get 2 yards on a run and then a delay of game penalty. After a 2 yard loss on a run, QB- Bush gets sacked and we now have a 4th and goal at their 14. We are going backwards after the big pass play. We try a 31 yard FG. K- Stanton misses it. We still only lead 7-0. We should have been able to punch that in. Baltimore is content to run out the clock and go in at halftime only down 7-0 on the road. We start the second half with the ball. We get an 8 yard run and then a sack. QB- Bush fumbled the ball on the sack, but SE- Kosderka recovered it 7 yards to give us a 3rd and 2. He saved the turnover. We get the 1st down, but ultimately have to punt. Baltimore goes 3 and out. We get a couple of nice runs by RB- Eriksen on our next drive, but have to settle for a 32 yard FG try. K- Stanton hits it and we now lead 10-0. Our defense is playing well today. On Baltimore’s next possession, we get a stop on a run for -1 yard, a 4 yard loss on a sack and an interception by S- Kiselak at Baltimore’s 30 yard line. We don’t waste any time and get a 15 yard TD pass from QB- Bush to FL- Rosenthal after a 3 play drive and take a 17-0 lead. Baltimore finally gets a drive going at the end of the 3rd quarter. They get to our 45 yard line and have a 1st and 10 as the 3rd quarter ends. We still lead 17-0. They continue the drive into the 4th quarter and we hold them at the 28 yard line. They have to settle for a 45 yard FG and our lead is cut to 17-3. We only get one 1st down and Baltimore has the ball right back. They get a 33 yard pass play on their 1st play and go right down the field and score a TD. Our lead is now 17-10. This is getting too close. We have dominated this game. We need to put it away. We don’t start so well with a 5 yard run and an incomplete pass gives us a 3rd and 5. Our coach calls a draw play with backup RB- Wheeler. He breaks it for 44 yards and a 1st down. We get 0 yards on our next 2 runs and have a 3rd and 10. QB- Bush’s pass on 3rd down is incomplete, but there is a pass interference call on Baltimore and that gives us a 1st down at their 5 yard line. We get a 2 yard run and then RB- Eriksen punches it in from 3 yards out for the TD and the 24-10 lead with 3:34 to go. Nice answer to Baltimore’s drive. Baltimore can’t get anything done and that’s the final score. We win 24-10. Stats on the game: We had 174 rushing yards. We won the turnover battle 3-0. We did have 7 penalties for 45 yards. RB- Eriksen had 26 rushes for 79 yards and a TD. RB- Wheeler had 2 rushes for 43 yards. RB- Gamroth had 11 rushes for 52 yards. QB- Bush was 12/15 for 133 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. This was his best game from an efficiency standpoint of his career. K- Stanton continues to struggle as he was 1 for 2 on FG, but the miss was from 31 yards. DE- Dix had 5 tackles, 5 assists, 1 sack and 2 hurries. C- Malone was 4/10 on run blocks. DE- Franklin had 3 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack and 3 hurries. CB- Valle had 6 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Miami player of the week nominee: CB- Valle Offensive player of the week: QB- Rufus Craig- St. Louis was 21/27 for 236 yards with 1 TD. Defensive player of the week: CB- Malcolm Duncan- S.D. had 7 tackles, 1 assist, 2 interceptions and 2 passes defended. Injuries in the game: We had 3 new injuries, but none look serious. FL- Lowe had a bruised shoulder and should play next week. DT- Cooper has shoulder tendinitis and he should play. DE- Franklin had knee bursitis but should play. FB- Lowe is still questionable for about 4 weeks with his high ankle sprain. We have 8 players still suffering from the flu. I will try to rest as many as I can. Notes: Here are the AFC East standing: Jets 6-3, N.E. 6-4, Miami 5-4 and Buffalo 3-7. We have climbed back into the race. We play the Jets this week at their place for a share of the AFC East lead. N.E. has a bye week. So, there could be a 3 way tie atop the division. It’s too bad FB- Lowe isn’t healthy. I would pound the ball down their throats. But we will have to make do with what we have. We have been fighting back all season long. Also with a lot of our players suffering from the flu, it will be that much harder. But I think we can win. Next: Let's beat those pesky Jets and earn a share of the AFC East lead. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-31-2003, 12:06 AM	#22
lytic College Benchwarmer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: back in Nebraska (for a couple years)	Go pats! __________________ Hattrick stuff: SouthPark Cows' General Manager (Est Season 16) U20 South Korea Trainer (Season 19-22) Hattrick Moderator (since Season 22) Evil Gargs' Hater (since Season 18) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-- My Pro Soccer Story

03-31-2003, 09:40 AM	#23
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 11: Miami (5-4) @ N.Y. Jets (6-3) Point spread: Jets -4 The Jets win the toss and receive. They start out with a 3 and out and off the punt so do we. The Jets get a couple of 1st downs on their next possession to change the field position. When they punt we are backed up. We proceed to help them and go 3 and out again. The Jets get a good punt return to set them up in good field position. They start out with 2 runs of 16 and 14 yards. After a couple of negative plays they get a 13 yard TD pass to take a 7-0 lead. The 1st quarter ends a couple of short possessions later with the same score. The 2nd quarter starts out much like the 1st did, with both teams going 3 plays and out. On our next drive, we do manage one 1st down but ultimately have to punt. Our defense helps our cause and stops them on 3 plays with a sack thrown in. After a short punt, we have good field position at the Jets 41. We start the drive with a 13 yard pass to FL- Rosenthal, but it’s called back because he pushed off and is called for offensive pass interference. After an incomplete pass, QB- Bush hits FL- Rosenthal again, this time for 31 yards and a 1st down. This time it counts. We get all the way down to the Jets 1 yard line and have a 4th and goal. I hate kicking FG inside the 5 yard line, so I tell the coach to go for it. Let’s punch it in. RB- Gamroth explodes into the endzone for the 1 yard TD run and we tie the score at 7-7. The Jets next drive is stalled with 2 penalties on them and they have to punt. But the punt goes to our 2 yard line and we are backed up. We manage to go backwards 1 yard and have a 4th and 11 at our 1 yard line. We have to punt from our endzone. The punt is only 33 yards and the Jets have great field position. There is also a fair catch interference call on us, so the Jets good field position just got better. They start at our 19 yard line. The only thing in our favor is there are only 22 seconds to play in the 1st half. They start out with a run for no gain and call a timeout. Then they get a 16 yard run and call a timeout. They are at our 3 yard line, but there are only 5 seconds to play. Not wanting to risk running out of time, they take the 20 yard FG and go in at halftime with the lead 10-7. We start the second half with 2 plays for 6 yards. Then on 3rd down, QB- Bush is sacked and loses the football. The Jets recover at our 23 yard line. Our defense rises to the occasion and holds them to just 3 yards on 3 plays. The Jets have to settle for a 37 yard FG, but they now lead 13-7. We don’t start so well on our next drive as we run twice for 0 yards. Then we run a draw play on 3rd and 10 and get 11 yards and a 1st down. After another 1st down, we get to their 28 a couple of plays later. We have a 4th and 1. Not sure if K- Stanton can hit a 45 yarder, I tell the coach to go for it. We run for 3 yards and a 1st down. But we can’t get another 1st down and have a 4th and 4 at their 19 yard line. Not wanting to press my luck on another 4th down call, we take the 36 yard FG. K- Stanton hits it to cut the Jets lead to 13-10. The Jets help our cause by answering with a drive of 3 plays and punt. Our offense continues where our last drive ended with a nice couple of plays. The Jets help with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to give us a 1st and 10 at their 24 yard line. We get another 1st down and then have a 3rd and goal at the Jets 5 yard line. QB- Bush hits SE- Kosderka for a 5 yard TD pass and we take the lead 17-13. We go 73 yards in 10 plays and take 4:31 off the clock. There is 14:16 to play in the game. The Jets answer right back with a good drive of their own. Our defense which was playing well, looks tired on this drive. The Jets get to our 24 before we stop them. They hit a 41 yard FG and cut the lead to 17-16 with 8:58 to play. We don’t do anything to answer and proceed to punt after 3 plays. We start out with a good defensive play on the Jets next drive. We sack their QB for a 7 yard loss. After an incomplete pass on 2nd down, the Jets are called again for unsportsmanlike conduct. This puts them at their 10 yard line with a 3rd and 26. Their 3rd down play is incomplete, but we get called for a defensive holding call and that gives them an automatic 1st down. On 3rd and 26 they get a gift call. That’s bull. They get another quick 1st down, but our defense holds and they have to punt. We get the ball at our 33 with 3:10 to play and a 17-16 lead. Let’s run out the clock. The Jets use their timeouts on defense as we run the ball and try to end the game. We only get one 1st down and have to punt from the Jets 45. The ball goes to the Jets 17 and they only have 1:08 to work with and no timeouts. They start out with an incomplete pass on 1st down. Then they get a 36 yard pass to give them a 1st down at our 47. This is getting dicey. They spike the ball to stop the clock. Then on 2nd and 3rd down, they throw 2 incomplete passes. So, now the situation is this: The Jets have a 4th and 10 at our 47 yard line, trailing 17-16 with 15 seconds to go and no timeouts. We need a stop here. Let’s not lose another one on a last second FG. The ball is snapped and the pass is away. It falls incomplete and we take over on downs with 7 seconds remaining. We take a knee and we win 17-16. Big win on the road and a division game. Stats on the game: Our rushing game was anemic again. We only had 62 yards on 35 carries. We also allowed 146 yards to the Jets running game. They helped our cause by committing 10 penalties. QB- Bush carried the team and had a decent day from the numbers point of view. He was 20/28 for 178 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. But he did have that one fumble which resulted in a Jets FG. FL- Rosenthal had 5 catches for 53 yards. SE- Carlson had 4 catches for 46 yards. RT- Heath was 3/5 on run blocks. K- Stanton hit his only FG attempt and was 2/2 on PAT. Miami player of the week nominees: None. That’s ok, it was a team win. Offensive player of the week: QB- Lamar Pringle- Houston was 23/33 for 249 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Rich Crawford- Baltimore had 9 tackles and 3 sacks. Injuries in the game: QB- Bush has knee bursitis and is probable for about 2 weeks. He will play next week unless it is bothering him. It he struggles I will have no choice but to play Raven. S- Kiselak is out until further notice. He has impaired vision. The doctors aren’t sure when he’ll be back. He’s a backup anyway. FL- Rosenthal is the only player still suffering from the flu. FL- Lowe will start in his place. Rosenthal will play some. FB- Lowe has been upgraded to probable and should be 100% in about 3 weeks. I will sit him at least one more week. RB- Bradley is on IR and that is all the injuries at the moment. Everyone is healthy. Notes: We have really turned our season around. We started 1-3 and have won 5 of 6 to take over the division lead with a 6-4 record. The Jets and N.E. are also 6-4, but we have the better division record right now at 3-1. Buffalo is 3-7. It looks to be a dog fight the last 6 games in the AFC East race. We travel to Arizona next week who are 5-5. They are on a hot streak also, they have won 2 in a row and 3 of 4. Let’s keep it going. Next: We go to Arizona and try to stay on top of the AFC East. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-31-2003, 10:16 AM	#24
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	go fins! __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

03-31-2003, 03:02 PM	#25
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Thanks Fritz, It looked bleak for awhile but we have turned it around. Keep reading to find out what happens. Thanks for the reply. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

03-31-2003, 03:05 PM	#26
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 12: Miami (6-4) @ Arizona (5-5) Point spread: Miami -3 Arizona wins the toss and receives. Our defense starts out hot and forces a punt after 3 plays. The next 4 possessions in the game are 3 and outs. We are 1st to record a 1st down in the game on our 3rd possession. We gain 2 more 1st downs, but ultimately have to punt. Arizona’s next drive was killed by two penalties called on them. Our next drive starts out real bad with an incomplete pass on 1st down and a sack for a 5 yard loss on 2nd down. But QB- Bush completes a pass for 16 yards and a 1st down. After another completed pass, this time for 30 yards, that’s the end of the 1st quarter. It is scoreless, but we have a 1st and 10 at the Arizona 16 yard line. We start out the 2nd quarter with a run for 1 yard and another run for 5 yards. Then Bush completes a pass to the 1 yard line for a 1st and goal. We lose a yard on 1st down, but RB- Eriksen powers his way into the endzone from 2 yards out and we lead 7-0. Our drive took 9 plays and went 57 yards and ate up 4:22 off the clock. Arizona answers our drive with a good one of their own. But an offensive holding and a delay of game penalty pushes them back from a 1st and 10 at our 12, to a 4th and forever at our 24. They try a 41 yard FG and miss it. We still lead 7-0. We move the ball well again on our next drive. Our running game is struggling, but Bush is on fire. He completes a couple of key 3rd down passes to convert and keep the drive alive. We have a 1st and goal at the Arizona 7 and run into trouble. We get 0 yards on a run. Then on 2nd down, Bush’s pass is incomplete. On 3rd down, our OL allows a sack and we lose 11 yards. We had a 1st and goal at the 7 and now are at the 18 and have to try a 35 yard FG. K- Stanton hits it though and we lead 10-0. But we should have had a TD. The drive was 10 plays and went 51 yards in 5:03. Arizona gets the ball with 28 seconds to play in the 1st half. They start out with an 18 yard pass play, but after another offensive holding penalty and a sack, they have a long 3rd down. The pass is incomplete and time runs out on the 1st half. We go in on the road with a 10-0 lead. We get the ball to start the 2nd half. On the kickoff return, FL- Lowe fumbles the ball. Thankfully, SE- Blassingame is there to recover it to save a turnover. But we only gain 2 yards and have to punt after 3 plays. Arizona gets a long 44 yard pass play on their next drive and eventually get to our 10 yard line and our defense holds them. They try a 27 yard FG and miss it again. We still lead 10-0. On our next drive, RB- Eriksen fumbles the ball on our 2nd play, but G- Rodriguez is there to save us. That’s twice we dodged a bullet. We can’t gain a 1st down however and have to punt. Arizona only gets one 1st down on their next drive and punt. We finally get a good drive going in the 2nd half. A couple of nice passes by Bush, along with a couple of key Arizona penalties get us to the Arizona 35. They RB- Eriksen runs for 2 yards and fumbles and this time Arizona is there to recover. A good drive killed by a turnover. The 3rd quarter ends with Arizona driving but we still lead 10-0. They continue the drive in the 4th quarter and end up getting a TD to cut our lead to 10-7. They turned our mistake into points. We should be running away with this game with the missed FGs by Arizona and the drive we just fumbled away. But instead we are in a nailbiter. After a short kickoff, we return it 33 yards to Arizona’s 48 yard line. It takes just 3 plays for us to answer Arizona’s TD. Bush completes two passes for 40 and 7 yards and RB- Eriksen makes up for his fumble with a 1 yard TD run. His second TD of the day. We now have 17-7 lead with 10 minutes to play. Arizona is not giving up however, as they move right down the field on our defense. They get to our 28 yard line and then throw 3 incomplete passes. They then miss a 45 yard FG. That’s their 3rd miss of the day. We still lead 17-7. We have the ball with 6:40 to play. Bush completes a couple of passes for 1st downs and we get to Arizona’s 20 with a 4th and 4. We try a 37 yard FG which is blocked. Arizona returns it to our 49. We needed that FG. This is getting too close. Arizona has to hurry as there is only 2:47 to play. They get a 7 yard pass on 1st down. Then on 2nd down, CB- Riekens intercepts a pass in the endzone. That should seal the deal. Riekens with a key turnover to save a possible score by Arizona. That could have made it a 3 point game and it would have been too close for my taste. We run out most of the clock and Arizona’s last possession is inconsequential. We win 17-7. QB- Bush is the game MVP. Stats on the game: We only gained 34 yards on 26 carries on the ground. QB- Bush carried the team again as he was 20/27 for 291 yards and no INT. Our OL gave up 5 sacks. Arizona helped our cause by committing 12 penalties for 75 yards. We only had 3 penalties. RB- Eriksen has a forgettable day in yardage with 27 yards on 17 carries, but he did have our 2 TD’s to help us win. FL- Rosenthal had 7 catches for 61 yards and FL- Lowe had 115 yards on 5 catches. Miami player of the week nominees: QB- Bush and FL- Lowe. Offensive player of the week: QB- Bucky Randle EL- N.E. was 27/42 for 236 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT. Defensive player of the week: LB- Vincent Monty- Dallas had 8 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks. Injuries in the game: Thankfully we didn’t suffer any new injuries. Everyone is recovered from the flu, again. QB- Bush is still suffering from knee bursitis, but it didn’t seem to hamper his performance any. FB- Lowe is almost ready to return. I will sit him out at least one more week. S- Kiselak is still out from impaired vision. Everyone else is healthy. Notes: N.E. won so we are both tied atop the AFC East with 7-4 records. The Jets are 6-5 and Buffalo is 3-8. We are on a 4 game winning streak. Oakland comes to town next week. They are 5-6 and have won their last 2 games. We need to keep winning, our division is tough. The defensive player of the week this week, LB- Vincent Monty, was someone who was on my draft board this year. But Dallas took him in the 1st round. But I guess I can’t complain. We have a couple of good rookie OLB starting and playing well for us, Leclair and Parker. Next: Let's try to keep it going against Oakland. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-01-2003, 05:58 PM	#27
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 13: Oakland (5-6) @ Miami (7-4) Point spread: Miami - 4 Oakland wins the toss and receives. They start out with an incomplete pass and a run for a 3 yard loss. Then on 3rd and 13, DE- Franklin gets a sack and the ball comes loose and he recovers at the Oakland 12 yard line. We only take 3 plays to convert it into points. QB- Bush hits TE- Lyon on a 7 yard TD pass and we take the early 7-0 lead. Now that’s the way to start a game. A defensive play for a turnover and a quick strike on offense. On Oakland’s next drive they get a 16 yard run on 1st down. Then we get another sack, this time by LB- Burton on a blitz. The ball comes loose again. DE- Dix is there for the recovery at the Oakland 47 yard line. We squander an opportunity as Bush is sacked twice and we go backwards 12 yards on a short 3 play drive. P- Peterson booms a punt for 59 yards and a touchback. Oakland starts with a 20 yard pass on 1st down. Then we get another sack by DE- Franklin. This time their QB hangs on to the ball. We stop them on 2nd and 3rd down however. They punt and it goes 62 yards down to our 1 yard line. We have our backs against the wall. We start out with 2 runs for 5 yards. Then Bush completes a pass for 14 yards and a 1st down. RB- Eriksen then takes over with a run for 19 yards. Then 3 plays later he rips another run for 34 yards. After 2 more runs, we have a 3rd and 3 at the 8 yard line. Bush hits RB- Eriksen for an 8 yard TD pass and we have a 13-0 lead. The PAT was blocked. We started that drive on our 1 yard line. We went 99 yards in 10 plays to score. We each have the ball one more time in the 1st quarter and both go 3 plays and out. The 2nd quarter starts out uneventful as Oakland and then we can’t do much with the ball. After a 2nd Oakland 3 and out, we have the ball at the 50. We don’t start the drive so well, with a run for no gain and a false start. Then Bush completes a pass for 21 yards and a 1st down. Another pass for 14 yards and a 6 yard run gives us a 2nd and 4 at the 14 yard line. After an incomplete pass, RB- Eriksen rips through Oakland’s line for a 14 yard TD run. We lead 20-0. Eriksen is running well today. We each have a couple more possessions with no points scored. The 1st half ends with us leading 20-0. We dominated the 1st half. We lead in 1st downs: 12 - 3. We have a total yardage edge of: 204 to 30. Let’s keep it going into the 2nd half. We start the 2nd half with one 1st down and then have to punt. Oakland doesn’t take long to get back in the game. They move right down the field on our defense in 7 plays and get an 18 yard TD run and now our lead is cut 20-7. We are not helping our cause any, as we have to punt after not gaining a 1st down. Oakland again goes down the field. This time our defense holds at the 10 yard line. But that’s good enough for an Oakland FG from 27 yards and now our lead is ten at 20-10. We need to get a drive going. We start out with a run for -2 yards and then an incomplete pass. We have a 3rd and 12 and Bush completes a pass for 15 yards and a 1st down. Then we have an incomplete pass and then an offensive holding call. We are just killing ourselves. Bush gets sacked 2 plays later for a loss of 6 yards. He fumbled the ball on the sack, but SE- Blassingame was there to save the turnover. We still have to punt. Oakland runs 4 plays to end the 3rd quarter with us leading 20-10, but they are on the move again. They start out the 4th quarter like they ended the 3rd. They get 2 more 1st downs and then a 3 yard TD run to cut our lead to 20-17. Oakland has scored 17 points on their 1st three possessions of the 2nd half. Our defense hasn’t been able to stop them in the second half. We need to do something fast. We start to move the ball and gain a couple of 1st downs. But we stall at the Oakland 38 with a 4th and 10. This is no man’s land. It’s too far to kick a FG, too many yards for a 1st down and too close to punt. I chose to punt as the lesser of the potential negative plays that can happen. It is a touchback. Now Oakland has the ball again with 7:06 to play and only trailing by 3. They get two 1st downs and our defense finally holds them. We have the ball with 3:02 to play. We get -3 yards on our 1st play. Oakland calls a timeout. Then we get a 5 yard run and Oakland calls their 2nd timeout. We have a 3rd and 8 and need a 1st down. I tell the coach to not play it safe and get the 1st down with a pass. It falls incomplete and we have to punt. The punt is downed at Oakland’s 38. We need another defensive stop. There is 2:35 to play and Oakland has only 1 timeout left. They start out with an offensive holding penalty. Then after 3 plays for 2 yards, they have a 4th and 18. S- Rielly intercepts a pass at our 49 yard line. We needed that on defense. We of course can’t get a 1st down. Oakland uses it’s last timeout and it’s just enough to make us punt. Oakland has the ball at their 11 yard line with 14 seconds to go. They get a 23 yard pass on 1st down. But the next play is a hail mary pass for an incomplete pass and the game is over. We win 20-17. We hang on. DE- Franklin is the player of the game. Stats on the game: Our defense had 6 sacks. We were 8/19 on 3rd downs. We had a 33 to 27 minute T.O.P edge. RB- Eriksen had 110 yards on 20 carries and a TD. QB- Bush was 16/31 for 145 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. DE- Franklin had 5 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 hurries and a fumble recovery. CB- Franz had 5 tackles, 1 assist, 1.5 sacks and 1 pass defended. We were 3/3 on TD’s in the red zone. Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen, CB- Franz and DE- Franklin. Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland was 28/39 for 320 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Randal Franklin- Miami. That’s our 1st player of the week during the regular season ever. Injuries in the game: We didn’t suffer any injuries again. It’s about time. If we can stay healthy I think we can beat anyone. QB- Bush is still having problems with knee bursitis. He is probable and should be 100% in about 1 week. He has been playing with the injury just fine. If fact, the last 3 games have been the best 3 game stint in his career. S- Kiselak is still out with vision impairment. FB- Lowe is almost 100% and will start next week. He has played a couple plays a game on special teams the last few weeks to get ready. Let’s hope he can stay healthy this time. Notes: We have now won 5 in a row and have a 1 game lead in the AFC East. N.E. lost and are 7-5. The Jets are 6-6 and Buffalo is 3-9. We lead the league in fewest points allowed with 157. We play a tough game at home next week against St. Louis. They are 9-3 and lead their division. Next: Can we keep it going against St. Louis __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-03-2003, 03:53 PM	#28
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 14: St. Louis (9-3) @ Miami (8-4) Point spread: Miami -1 St. Louis wins the toss and receives. I don’t think we have won a toss all season. They get their first 1st down on a defensive holding call. Then they run for one 1st down. Then they get 2 passes for 1st downs. We are not stopping them at all. They have a good offense. After an incomplete pass, our defense finally steps up. Rookie S- Reilly intercepts a pass at our 12 and returns it to our 46. We got a big play on defense. We start out with a run for -1 yard and an 18 yard pass play. Then QB- Bush throws 3 incomplete passes. We have a 4th and 10 at St. Louis’ 37 yard line. We will go for it. It’s no man’s land. Bush gets an 11 yard completion and we have a 1st down. We only gain 4 more yards however, and we have a 4th and 6 at St. Louis’ 22 yard line. This is in K- Stanton’s range, so I tell the coach to kick the FG. Stanton hits the 39 yarder and we lead 3-0. St. Louis starts out their next possession and throws another interception. This time LB- Parker pulls it in at St. Louis’ 27 yard line. We only take 3 plays to make the turnover hurt on a 2 yard TD run by RB- Eriksen. We now lead 10-0. St. Louis starts their next drive with a purpose. Their 1st three plays go for 13,26 and 10 yards. We catch a break on their next play when they are called for offensive holding. But it doesn’t matter as 3 plays later they get a 14 yard TD pass to cut our lead to 10-7. Our defense looked slow on that drive. We start our next drive and run 2 plays and that ends the 1st quarter. We continue the drive into the 2nd with a couple of key 3rd down passes by QB- Bush. But after a sack and 2 incomplete passes we have a 4th and 15 at the St. Louis 19 yard line. We will try the FG. K- Stanton hits it and we lead 13-7. We stop St. Louis on their next drive on 3 plays. CB- Riekens returns the punt 20 yards to our 47 and we have great field position to start our next drive. We only get two 1st downs, but a 23 yard pass gets us close enough to try another FG. It’s a 25 yard attempt and K- Stanton hits his 3rd of the day and we extend our lead to 16-7. St. Louis shows why they are in the top 5 in most offensive categories on their next drive. They get a 47 yard pass play and after a false start a 12 yard pass along with a few runs and shorter passes. Then they get a 9 yard TD pass and cut our lead to 16-14. We get the ball with 2 minutes to go and 3 timeouts. We get 2 yards on a run and then a false start. They QB- Bush completes a 23 yard pass and we call a timeout. After an incomplete pass, Bush completes another for 35 yards and we are getting close to scoring. Unfortunately, Bush throws an interception on his next pass at the St. Louis 5 yard line. We lost a good opportunity to score some points. St. Louis runs two plays and that ends the 1st half with us leading 16-14. We start the 2nd half with the ball. RB- Eriksen runs for 5 yards on the first play but he fumbles the ball. St. Louis recovers at our 35 yard line. Not the way I wanted to start the 2nd half. We make it worse with an offsides call on 1st down. They then run the ball 4 straight times for 9 more yards. They have a 3rd and 8 at our 21 yard line. They get a 21 yard TD run, but it is called back for an illegal block below the waist. We caught a break. On the next play, DT- Oliver gets a sack for 9 yards that takes them out of FG range. That was a great defensive stand after the turnover. We start our next drive at our 6 yard line after the punt. We only get 5 yards and have to punt. The punt is 41 yards, but it is returned 12 yards to our 40 yard line. They start fast again with an 18 yard pass and a 14 yard run. After 2 more yards on a run, they get a 6 yard TD pass called back because of offensive holding. That is key because we hold them out of the endzone and they have to settle for a 25 yard FG try. They hit it and take the lead 17-16. We only get one 1st down and have to punt. But the punt is a good one to the St. Louis 5 yard line. Now let’s see if we can hold them and get the ball back. They only get 5 yards on their 1st two plays and then get the 5 needed for a 1st down on 3rd down. They fumble but recover. We get a sack and then an incomplete pass, but we have defensive holding called against us to give them another 1st down. Another penalty, encroachment, on 3rd down gives them another 1st down. After a 1 yard gain, that’s the end of the 3rd quarter. They have a 2nd and 9 at their own 27 yard line leading 17-16. They get one more 1st down and we finally stop them and they punt. But it is downed at our 7 yard line. We start with a 19 yard run by RB- Eriksen. After 2 incomplete passes, QB- Bush completes two passes for 21 and 16 yards. After one more 1st down and two runs of 4 yards, we have a 3rd and 2 at their 16 yard line. But we have a false start called and now it’s a 3rd and 7 at the 21. We give up a sack for a 12 yard loss that puts us back at the 33. The sack was allowed by rookie RT- Berchin. It’s a big sack because it makes the potential go ahead FG a 50 yarder. K- Stanton misses the FG and we still trail 17-16 with 6:26 to play in the game. Our defense comes up big with a stop on 3 and out with a sack thrown in. We get the ball at our 22 yard line with 4:07 to play and trailing by 1 point. We start out with an incomplete pass and then a 2 yard run. On 3rd and 8 QB- Bush completes a pass for 11 yards and a 1st down. Then Bush throws 2 more incomplete passes and we have a 3rd and 10. He then completes a 15 yard pass for another key 3rd down conversion. One more incomplete pass and then a 34 yard completion to take us to the 2 minute warning. We have a 1st and 10 at the 16 yard line. We try to run and get nothing and then an incomplete pass makes us have a 3rd and 10 from the 16 yard line. I tell the coach to play it safe and run and kick the FG to take the lead. There shouldn’t be that much time left for St. Louis to come back. RB- Eriksen breaks the draw play for a 16 yard TD run. We have a 22-17 lead. We go for 2 to try to make it a 7 point game. We don’t get it. We still lead by 5 with 1:10 to go. St. Louis starts at their 22 with 3 timeouts. Their 1st two plays are incomplete passes. Then a 4 yard scramble by their QB and they call a timeout. They get a 6 yard run on 4th down to get the 1st down, but they fumble the ball. DT- Cooper recovers it at their 32 with 36 seconds to go in the game. We run it 3 times and St. Louis uses their timeouts. But we run out the clock to win 22-17. A good come from behind victory. QB- Bush had a nice game-winning drive. FL- Lowe is the player of the game. Stats on the game: We blew leads of 10-0 and 16-7. We were 7/15 on 3rd down conversions. RB- Eriksen had 23 rushes for 87 yards with 2 TD and he fumbled once. QB- Bush was 17/36 for 289 yards with 1 INT. FL- Lowe had 6 catches for 121 yards. FL- Rosenthal had 3 catches for 66 yards. K- Stanton was 3/4 on FG and 1/1 on PAT. His miss was from 50 yards. We scored on our 1st four possessions (3 FG and 1 TD). C- Malone was 4/7 on run blocks with 0 sacks allowed. Miami players of the week nominees: QB- Bush, RB- Eriksen, FL- Lowe and C- Malone. Offensive player of the week: QB- Dennis Wells- Dallas was 24/37 for 274 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Pat Barham- San Francisco had 6 tackles, 2 assists and 4 sacks. Injuries in the game: We suffered no new injuries in the game. Everyone is healthy except, RB- Bradley who is on IR and S- Kiselak who is still suffering from vision impairment. Notes: We have now won 6 in a row to run our record to 9-4. N.E. lost and are 7-6 as are the Jets. Buffalo is 3-10. We play the Jets this week at home. We beat them 4 weeks ago and won a close one 17-16. FB- Lowe was ok in his 1st start since his injury. At least he didn’t get injured again. FL- Lowe has reached his voidable option on his contract for 500 receiving yards. LT- Graham has 23 key run blocks this season. He needs 7 over the last 3 games to reach his voidable option on his contract. Next: Those pesky Jets come to town. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-06-2003, 03:49 PM	#29
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 15: N.Y. Jets (7-6) @ Miami (9-4) Point spread: Miami -5 We finally win a toss and receive the ball first. After 2 runs of only gaining 2 yards, QB- Bush completes 2 passes of 12 and 23 yards. But on the next play we have an offensive holding call and then a false start that pushes us back. That forces us into a long 3rd down play which we can’t convert. We have a 4th and 20 at the Jets 43 yard line. That’s too far for a FG so we punt. It’s a touchback. The Jets just march down the field on our defense. They take 14 plays and go 80 yards in 7:28 and take the early 7-0 lead. We start our next drive and move the ball well. We are at the Jets 36 yard line when the 1st quarter ends. It is a fast 1st quarter. We continue the drive into the 2nd quarter and are still moving the ball well. We get to the Jets’ 1 yard line and have a 1st and goal. We get a run for no gain and then a false start. After an incomplete pass we have a 3rd and goal at the Jets’ 6 yard line. QB- Bush hits FL- Lowe on a 6 yard TD pass and we tie the game at 7. The drive was 69 yards in 14 plays and took 7:08. Our defense does better on the Jets’ next drive only allowing them one 1st down. We get two 1st downs and have a 4th and 2 at the Jets’ 33 yard line. I tell the coach to try the long FG. K- Stanton misses it short and the score is still 7-7. The Jets move the ball a little and then we hold them at our 38 yard line. They try a 55 yard FG and it’s short. We can’t take advantage of the good field position however, and have to punt after gaining only 3 yards on 3 plays. The punt is a good one to the Jets’ 10 yard line. They go 3 and out and we have the ball right back. But we only have 1:06 to go in the 1st half. We move the ball quickly, but ultimately run out of time. The 1st half ends with the score 7-7. The Jets get the ball to start the 2nd half. They get a 24 yard pass on the 1st play. After 2 incomplete passes, they get two 11 yard passes. Then 4 plays later they have a 3rd and 4 at our 8 yard line. They get an 8 yard TD pass and take the lead 14-7. They march down the field in 10 plays and 70 yards and take only 4:49 to do it. FL- Rosenthal returns the kickoff 36 yards to our 48 to give us good field position. We try a long bomb to SE- Carlson on 1st down which falls incomplete. But the Jets commit a pass interference penalty which gives us a 1st down at their 18 yard line. We try to run but only gain 2 yards and an encroachment penalty against the Jets. We have to settle for a 28 yard FG try. K- Stanton hits it to cut the Jets’ lead to 14-10. On the Jets’ 1st play they are called for an ineligible receiver and then on the next play, DT- Meidinger gets an 8 yard sack. On the play the QB- fumbles and DT- Oliver recovers it at the Jets’ 7 yard line. We don’t wait to score as QB- Bush finds TE- Talley in the endzone for a 7 yard TD pass and we take the 17-14 lead. The Jets’ move right down the field again on their next drive. We finally hold them at our 19 yard line and they have to try to tie the game with a 36 yard FG. They miss it and we still lead 17-14. We start the next drive with a 5 yard run and then a 15 yard pass to FB- Lowe for a 1st down. Good to see him back in the game making plays. We run 4 more plays and that is the end of the 3rd quarter. We have a 2nd and 8 at the Jets’ 41 yard line. We start out the 4th with a 7 yard run and then an offsides call on the Jets give us a 1st down. We can’t gain another 1st down however and we have a 4th and 2 at the Jets’ 21 yard line. We try a 38 yard FG which K- Stanton misses. The score is still 17-14. We can’t pull away. The Jets’ only get one 1st down and then we hold them. They have a 4th and 3 at our 48 yard line and they punt. We block the punt. LB- Burton blocks it and DE- Franklin recovers it at the Jets’ 39 yard line and returns it to the Jets’ 28. Our 1st play is a 23 yard strike to FL- Rosenthal. Then next play RB- Gamroth plunges in the endzone on the 5 yard TD run. We now extend the lead to 24-14. The Jets get two 1st downs before CB- Riekens steps in front of a receiver an intercepts a pass at our 44 and returns it 1 yard. What a great play to stop a potential scoring threat. We only manage one 1st down and have a 4th and 2 at the Jets’ 29 yard line. K- Stanton hits the 46 yard FG and we now lead 27-14. The Jets only have 3:15 to score 2 TD. After their 1st pass falls incomplete, they get 2 runs of 11 and 12 yards. Two plays later it’s the 2 minute warning. On 3rd down, CB- Valle sacks the QB for a 9 yard loss. They now have a 4th and 17 at their own 36 yard line. Would you believe they get the 1st down on a 22 yard pass. CB- Franz gets a sack on the next play however. Then after another incomplete pass, S- Benson intercepts a pass at our 1 yard line and returns it 29 yards. There is only 57 seconds to go in the game. We are able to run out the clock and we win 27-14. QB- Bush is the player of the game. Stats on the game: We trailed 14-7 after the 1st drive of the 2nd half. We then outscored the Jets 20-0. Our OL only allowed 1 sack. We won the turnover battle 3-0. We only had 4 penalties against us. QB- Bush had another good game as he was 19/29 for 213 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT. 8 different receivers caught passes. K- Stanton was 2/4 on FG and 3/3 on PAT. S- Benson had 9 tackles, 1 assist and 1 INT. LT- Graham was 4/7 on run blocks with 0 sacks allowed. He is 3 away from 30. Miami player of the week nominee: QB- Bush. Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland was 26/37 for 337 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT. Defensive player of the week: S- Don Burks- San Diego had 11 tackles, 4 assists and 2 sacks. Injuries in the game: We didn’t suffer any new injuries in the game. But QB- Raven has a viral infection and will be questionable for about 2 weeks. Notes: We have won 7 in a row and 9 of our last 10 games. QB- Bush has really stepped it up in the last 7 games. He has 8 TD and only 1 INT. With the win we go to 10-4. N.E. lost and fall to 7-7 like the Jets. Buffalo beat N.E. to go to 4-10. With N.E. losing we clinch the AFC East for the second straight year. We play Seattle at their place next week. They are 4-10 and have nothing to lose. We have to be careful, we are playing for a 1st round bye. Next: Let's go to Seattle and put them out of their misery. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-07-2003, 02:40 AM	#30
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 16: Miami (10-4) @ Seattle (4-10) Point spread: Miami -10 We win the toss for the second straight week and receive. Our 1st play is a run for 2 yards. Then QB- Bush makes a poor decision and is intercepted at our 34 and it’s returned to our 22. Not the way I wanted to start against a 4-10 team Seattle doesn’t waste time and take only 5 plays to make the turnover hurt. They get a 3 yard TD run and take the early 7-0 lead. We are doing a good imitation of role reversal as we look like the 4-10 team. We fail to get a 1st down and only gain 4 yards on 3 plays. Then to make matters worse, our punt is blocked. Seattle gets the ball at our 10. It takes them 3 plays and suddenly they have a 14-0 lead. We need to wake up soon. We start our next drive and get 5 free yards thanks to a Seattle offsides call. QB- Bush finally wakes up and throws 3 passes on the drive over 15 yards. The last one was an 18 yard TD pass to TE- Talley and we are back in the game trailing only 14-7. We go 93 yards in 7 plays. That was a nice answer drive. Our defense plays a little better on Seattle’s next possession when they don’t have their back against the wall. Their 1st two drives started at our 22 and 10 yard line. The defense doesn’t stand much of a chance. After they get one 1st down, CB- Riekens intercepts a pass at Seattle’s 42 yard line. Now our offense is clicking on all cylinders as we end the 1st quarter after moving the ball to Seattle’s 7 yard line in 5 plays. We have a 1st and goal at the 7 to start the 2nd quarter. We don’t start the 2nd so well as we get -1 yard on a run and then a sack for a 5 yard loss. Rookie RT- Berchin allowed the sack again. On the sack, Bush fumbled but thankfully RB- Eriksen was there to recover and he goes 10 yards to Seattle’s 3 yard line. We caught a break. RB- Gamroth punches it in from 3 yards out and we are now all even at 14. It’s about time we wake up. We are 10 point favorites against a 4-10 team. Now our defense is playing like a 10-4 team. They gain 9 yards on the 1st two plays of their next drive. Then on 3rd and 1, DE- Dix gets a big sack which forces them to punt. We don’t take advantage however, as we also allow a sack on a 3rd and 2 and have to punt after only 3 plays. Seattle starts their next drive with a 19 yard pass play. Then after an incomplete pass they get a run for 16 yards. They are moving the ball again. Then they have a false start, incomplete pass and a delay of game penalty which pushes them back to a 2nd and 20 at our 36 yard line. They get a 36 yard TD pass on the next play, but it’s called back because of offensive holding. We caught another break. They have a 2nd and 30 at our 46. They throw 2 more incomplete passes and have to punt. We were lucky for the penalties on that drive. We only gain one 1st down on our next drive, so Seattle has the ball right back. But Seattle returns the favor by only gaining one 1st down themselves and have to punt. The punt however goes to our 3 yard line. There is 2:20 to play in the 1st half. After an incomplete pass, QB- Bush throws his 2nd interception of the day at our 14 yard line. Seattle runs the ball 6 straight times and gets a 2 yard TD run for a 21-14 lead. That’s the 3rd time we’ve given them a short field of less than 25 yards and all three times they have made us pay. This is a 4-10 team we are playing. We should be beating them into oblivion. We get the ball with only about 30 seconds to play in the half. We can’t do anything and QB- Bush throws his 3rd interception of the day to end the 1st half. Seattle starts the 2nd half with the ball and gets one 1st down and they have to punt. We start out with a false start and then a 5 yard pass play. Then QB- Bush finally goes downfield and hits FL- Lowe on a 30 yard pass. We get one more 1st down and then we give up a big sack for a loss of 11 yards which we can’t recover from. We have to punt. Bad news on the punt, Seattle returns it 88 yards for a TD and they now lead 28-14. We get the ball and QB- Bush throws an incomplete pass and then his 4th interception of the day which Seattle returns to our 7 yard line. It’s time to pull him, but QB- Raven is suffering from a viral infection. So, I guess QB- Bryant will play some. Seattle wastes little time in making us pay for another Bush mistake. They get a 7 yard TD pass on the 1st play and we now trail 35-14. This just keeps getting worse. QB- Bryant gets in there and actually does ok for himself. He completes passes for 18,11 and 21 before he throws an interception at the 1 yard line which Seattle returns to the 36. QB- Bryant got us to the 12 yard line before the turnover. Seattle can’t get a 1st down thanks to an offensive holding call and have to punt. On the punt, DE- Dix blocks it and CB- Hoskins recovers it 28 yards for a TD. We now trail only 35-21. That’s the end of the 3rd quarter with Seattle leading 35-21. Seattle can’t get a 1st down and have to punt. I decide to put Bush back in the game. Maybe he’ll wake up after I benched him for a series. We can’t gain a 1st down and have to punt. At least he didn’t throw another interception. Seattle gets one 1st down and has to punt. We get the ball and only gain one 1st down and have to punt it right back to them. We are running out of time. Seattle only gets one 1st down again thanks to another offensive holding call and have to punt. We have the ball at our 39 yard line with only 3:09 to play and trailing by 2 TD. We have to hurry. We start with a 9 yard pass and then a sack for a loss of 6 yards. After an incomplete pass we have a 4th and 7 at our 42. We have to go for it. The pass falls incomplete and we turn it over on downs. We use our timeouts and Seattle has to try a 51 yard FG. They miss it wide left, but they still lead by 14. We have the ball with 1:47 to play and QB- Bush throws 4 straight incomplete passes to end his horrible day. We lose 35-21. Our 7 game winning streak is over. Stats on the game: Our OL allowed 5 sacks. We turned it over 5 times. We were 3/12 on 3rd down conversions. QB- Bush was horrible as he was 13/31 for 181 yards with 1 TD and 4 INT. We fell behind 14-0 and fought back to tie it at 14, but then we went home. We actually outgained them in yardage because most of Seattle’s TD drives were short ones because of the turnovers. We played like the team that was 4-10 and out of the playoffs. Miami player of the week nominee: None, and rightfully so. Offensive player of the week: QB- Gary Nieuwstadt- Detroit was 29/47 for 344 yards with 4 TD and 1 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Grady Gains- Green Bay had 6 tackles and 4 sacks. Injuries in the game: CB- Riekens has knee bursitis, but he should be well enough to play. QB- Raven is still suffering from the viral infection. S- Kiselak is still out with impaired vision. Notes: We are 10-5, N.E. is 8-7 as are the Jets and Buffalo is 4-11. We have locked up a #2 seed. We can’t get the #1 seed because Cincinnati is 11-5, (they had an early game) and they beat us in week 4. But we can rest some of our starters this week. They will only play about a half. Our final game of the regular season is at Buffalo. We beat them in week 5 by a score of 17-6. Next: The final regular season game of 2004 __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-07-2003, 03:57 PM	#31
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Week 17: Miami (10-5) @ Buffalo (4-11) Point spread: Miami -10 We win the toss and receive. We only get 3 yards and have to punt. We start out with a sack on the first play on defense. It’s all downhill from there. They just rip through our defense on this drive. They go 67 yards in 7 plays and take a 7-0 lead. We seem to be having trouble with these teams that are out of the playoffs. We start out our second drive running the ball fairly well. We gain 22 yards on 4 straight running plays. Then we get called for offensive holding. But we get the 1st down on a big 3rd down pass by QB- Bush. But our drive stalls at the Buffalo 34 with a 4th and 7. We try a 51 yard FG. K- Stanton misses it wide right. The score is still Buffalo 7-0. Buffalo starts their next drive like they ended the 1st one. They rip through our defense. They have a 2nd and 7 at our 29 yard line when the 1st quarter ends. They continue into the 2nd quarter and finish the drive with a 1 yard TD run and take a 14-0 lead. Their QB is on fire as he is 9/9 for 103 yards and 1 TD. We get a promising start on our next drive when FL- Rosenthal returns the kickoff 40 yards to our 43. Then QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 35 yard pass play. But we only gain 1 yard on our next 3 plays and have a 4th and 9 at the Buffalo 21 yard line. We try a 38 yard FG which K- Stanton misses wide right again. I am definitely looking for a kicker in the off-season. Our defense finally holds them on 3 plays and we get the ball back. We just go back and forth punting for the next couple of possessions. We get the ball with a little over a minute to go in the half. QB- Bush hits SE- Carlson on a 21 yard pass. Then he hits FL- Rosenthal on a 16 yard pass and we call a timeout. Then Bush hits Rosenthal again for 17 yards and after a false start we have a 1st and goal at the Buffalo 14 yard line. But QB- Bush then throws an interception in the endzone to end the threat. We had a chance to cut the lead to 7 at halftime but Bush blew it. We trail 14-0 at halftime. I pull most of my offensive starters for the second half. No need to get them hurt. Buffalo gets the ball to start the second half. After 3 plays and a 1st down, they fumble the ball and DT- Oliver recovers it 8 yards to their 40 yard line. I put QB- Raven in the game. He starts out with an incomplete pass then hits two passes for 10 and 11 yards. After a 9 yard run and an incomplete pass we have a 3rd and 1 at the 10 yard line. We run for no gain and now have a 4th and 1 at the 10. Trailing by 2 TD I tell the coach to go for it. Let’s get the one yard and the 1st down. We don’t get it. I felt we needed a TD not a FG. Maybe it was a bad call on my part. Buffalo takes the opportunity and moves the ball again on our defense. They mix up the pass and run well and get to our 30 yard line and have a 4th and 9. They punt the ball. Huh? Why not kick a 47 yard FG. It’s a touchback. I don’t understand that one. We don’t take advantage though and only gain 4 yards on 3 plays and have to punt it right back. On the kickoff, Buffalo is called for a hold and they are backed up to their 7 yard line. After a 3 yard pass play, they are called for offensive holding. They LB- Leclair intercepts a pass at their 9 yard line and returns it 9 yards for a TD. We cut the lead 14-7. Buffalo goes 3 and out on their next drive and that ends the 3rd quarter. Maybe we can turn the momentum around. We get one 1st down and then QB- Raven throws an interception at the Buffalo 34 which is returned 25 yards. Just when we get back in the game we commit a blunder like that. Our defense is helped by another offensive holding call on Buffalo. They go backwards and have to punt. It is downed at our 6 yard line. We only gain 4 yards and have to punt. Buffalo gets two 1st downs and then our defense gets a sack. Then S- Benson intercepts a pass at our 27 yard line and returns it 73 yards and a TD. We tie the score 14-14 on defense. Buffalo gets the ball with 7:06 to play in the game. On their 1st play, CB- Lyle intercepts a pass and he returns it 25 yards and a TD. We now lead 21-14. We have 3 TD on interception returns. Unbelievable. Their QB started on fire but now we have stopped him cold. Buffalo gets two 1st downs but have to punt. The punt goes to our 2 yard line. We continue to both go 3 plays and out until about 2 minutes to go and CB- Hoskins intercepts a pass at our 42 and returns it to the Buffalo 11 yard line. What, no TD on the interception. There must be something wrong. We end up getting a 20 yard FG out of it and now lead 24-14. Buffalo has the ball with 1:08 to go and no timeouts. They move the ball a little but they run out of time. We win 24-14. Our defense stepped it up in the second half. LB- Leclair was the player of the game. Stats on the game: Their QB was eating us up until our defense showed up. He was 33/53 for 305 yards with 1 TD and 4 INT. We score 21 points on 3 interceptions for TD. All 24 of our points came off turnovers. We were 3/14 on 3rd downs. We lost the T.O.P. 34 to 26 minutes. P- Peterson had 7 punts for a 45.8 average. K- Stanton was 1/3 on FG and 3/3 on PAT. He just about sealed his fate with this awful performance. He probably will be looking for a job come next season. DT- Meidinger had 7 tackles, .5 sacks and 1 pass block. LB- Leclair had 4 tackles, 1 sacks, 1 interception for a TD and 1 pass defended. Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Leclair Offensive player of the week: QB- Alonzo Bennett- Tennessee was 26/43 for 244 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT. Defensive player of the week: DE- Josh Lukes- Arizona had 5 tackles, 1 assist and 4.5 sacks. Injuries in the game: We did suffer 2 injuries in the game, despite my trying to not play everyone all game. FB- Lowe has a sprained knee and is questionable for about 2 weeks. Good thing we have a bye week. But with his past injury problems, this bothers me. CB- Riekens is still about 1 week away from full strength. He should be fine after the week off. DE- Franklin is out for the year. He has a herniated disk. That is a big loss for us. He is our sack leader and will be hard to replace. Notes: We win 8 of our last 9 to finish the season at 11-5. We are the AFC East Champions for the 2nd straight year. Now we wait to see who we play in the playoffs. Next: Final season stats and playoffs for 2004 __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-08-2003, 04:26 PM	#32
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Miami Dolphins Regular Season Stats: Record:...11-5......1st in AFC East..............................We are a #2 seed in the AFC Team stats offense..................Rank..........................Team stats defense................Rank 94.7 rushing yards a game.....30th in the league.....121 rushing yards a game.......24th in the league 184.1 passing yards a game...28th in the league.....198.4 passing yards a game.......15th in the league 18.4 points per game............T- 16th in the league...14.8 points per game..............T- 2nd in the league 36.4% 3rd down conversions..11th in the league.....58 sacks...................T- 3rd in the league + 15 turnover ratio .................2nd in the league.......We were 4th in the league in penalties against Individual Stats: QB- Bush........242/423......57.2%............2714 yards...............14 TD..........13 INT RB- Eriksen.....275 rushes........................884 yards (3.2)..........8 TD..........................4 Fumbles RB- Gamroth...112 rushes........................305 yards (2.7)..........5 TD..........................1 Fumble SE- Carlson......53 catches........................683 yards..................2 TD FL- Rosenthal..51 catches.........................648 yards..................1 TD FL- Lowe.........44 catches.........................664 yards..................4 TD TE- Talley........24 catches.........................213 yards..................2 TD PR- Riekens....10.3, KR- Rosenthal...25.2, KR- Lowe...22.9 P- Peterson had a 42.3 average which was 10th in the league. K- Stanton was 11/20 with a long of 50 and 20/21 on PAT Team Stats: Sacks:.........DE- Franklin 10.5, DE- Dix 9.0, LB- Leclair 5.5 Tackles:.......LB- Bruce 68, S- Benson 67, LB- Leclair and CB- Lyle had 56 each Interceptions:..S- Benson 6, CB- Riekens 4, CB- Lyle and S- Reilly had 3 each Passes defended:.CB- Riekens 11, LB- Bruce 9, CB- Lyle and LB- Leclair had 6 each Run Blocks:.......C- Malone 31/95 with 8 sacks allowed ...................... LT- Graham 29/99 with 5 sacks allowed. He was one short of his 30 for a voidable year on his contract. ......................G- Rodriguez 16/90 with 7 sacks allowed. 2004 Season Analysis Our running game struggled with the injuries to FB- Lowe and RB- Bradley. Our PR game is much better this season as is our KR game. We really turned it around after a 1-3 start to finish at 11-5. Our offense is last or close to it in most categories. So, our success is largely due to our defense which played excellent. QB- Bush had his best season in his three years here. Next: The Rookie Report. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-08-2003, 04:33 PM	#33
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Season Analysis Our running game struggled with the injuries to FB- Lowe and RB- Bradley. Our PR game is much better this season as is our KR game. We really turned it around after a 1-3 start to finish at 11-5. Our offense is last or close to it in most categories. So, our success is largely due to our defense which played excellent. QB- Bush had his best season in his three years here. ................................................................2004 Rookie Report:.................................................Final Grade: 2nd round pick: DT- Meidinger................Improved during the 2nd half of the season. .................................................................Could be a good player in the future................................B+ 2nd round pick: FL- Rosenthal.................Had a great rookie season. He was 2nd on the .................................................................team in catches and 3rd in receiving yards........................A 3rd round pick: LB- Parker.......................A good rookie draft pick. Helped our OLB .................................................................problems............................................................................A- 4th round pick: FS- Reilly........................A good rookie season. Needs more big plays....................B 4th round pick: SS- Wansley....................Played ok in a backup role after his injury........................C+ 5th round pick: LB- Leclair......................He had an excellent rookie season at OLB........................A 5th round pick: P- Peterson.......................A top 10 punter in the league...........................................A 6th round pick: OT- Berchin....................Really struggled in a backup role. He gave up .................................................................a couple of key sacks in crucial situations........................D 7th round pick: LB- Lake.........................Backing up. Ok for a 7th round pick...................................C ................................................................Undrafted Rookies:...................................................Final Grade: RB- Gamroth...........................................Production tailed off the 2nd half of the .................................................................season...............................................................................C- TE- Lyon.................................................Mostly backed up. May be worth a second .................................................................look next season. If the price is right................................C DE- Franklin............................................A great find as an undrafted rookie. Leads the .................................................................team in sacks. Hopefully he can return to form .................................................................after his back injury..........................................................A FS- Kiselak.............................................Was only backing up when he went down with .................................................................his vision impairment injury. Probably won’t be .................................................................back next season...............................................................C- Next: the 2004 playoffs __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-09-2003, 04:39 PM	#34
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	2004 Playoffs 1st round: AFC- #1 Seed: Cincinnati (11-5), #2 Seed: Miami (11-5) Bye week. NFC- #1 Seed: Philadelphia (10-6), #2 Seed: St. Louis (10-6) Bye week AFC- #6 Denver (9-6-1) @ #3 Kansas City (10-6) Kansas City wins 20-7 AFC- #5 Cleveland (11-5) @ #4 Tennessee (9-7) Cleveland wins 41-14 NFC- #6 Arizona (9-7) @ #3 Chicago (10-6) Chicago wins 22-17 NFC- #5 Detroit (9-7) @ #4 Tampa Bay (8-7-1) Tampa Bay wins 20-9 2nd round: AFC- #5 Cleveland (12-5) @ #1 Cincinnati (11-5) Cincinnati wins 18-13 AFC- #3 Kansas City (11-6) @ #2 Miami (11-5) See game summary NFC- #4 Tampa Bay (9-7-1) @ #1 Philadelphia (10-6) Philadelphia wins 20-14 NFC- #3 Chicago (11-6) @ #2 St. Louis (10-6) Chicago wins 14-10 Next: Kansas City comes to our place in the Conference Semifinal. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-09-2003, 04:40 PM	#35
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Conference Semifinal - AFC Kansas City (11-6) @ Miami (11-5) Point Spread: Miami -4 Injury report: FS- Kiselak - Out, DE- Franklin - Out, RB- Bradley - Out, FB- Lowe - Probable Kansas City receives the ball first. They return the kickoff 33 yards to start at their 40 yard line. They proceed to methodically go down the field in 6 plays and score a TD. This is an ominous start by our defense without our leading sacker DE- Franklin. We proceed to go 3 and out on offense. Thankfully our defense plays a little better and we stop them on three plays. Our next drive is better. We mix up the run and pass quite well. We are also helped by a K.C. offsides call on a short 3rd down to give us a 1st down. RB- Eriksen plows into the endzone from 3 yards out and we tie the score at 7. We go 81 yards in 13 plays and take 6:39 off the clock. K.C. starts out their next drive with an offensive holding penalty. After an incomplete pass, LB- Bruce gets a sack which gives K.C. a 3rd and 27 at their 14 yard line. That’s the end of the 1st quarter. K.C. starts the second quarter with a false start and then an incomplete pass. They have to punt. It’s a short punt which we field at their 32 yard line. We have great field position but proceed to get sacked for a 6 yard loss on 1st down. Then QB- Bush throws 2 interceptions on 2nd and 3rd down. We punt because 55 yards is out of K- Stanton’s range. What an awful drive. We get the ball at their 32 and lose 6 yards on the drive. Not good. K.C. proceeds to make us pay for not doing anything with the ball. They go right down the field and we finally stop them at our 19 yard line. They get a 36 yard FG and now lead 10-7. The drive was 12 plays, 61 yards and took 7:08. Our next drive starts ok, with QB- Bush hitting a key 3rd down completion for a 1st down. But then on his next 3rd down pass, he throws an interception that is returned to our 42 yard line. K.C. starts the drive and 2 plays later it’s the 2 minute warning in the 1st half. They proceed to continue after the timeout and score a TD and take a 17-7 lead. Our defense couldn’t stop them. We trail at the half 17-7. We start with the ball in the 2nd half. We move the ball well and get a couple of key 3rd down conversions on the drive. But QB- Bush throws another interception at th K.C. 22 yard line to end the threat. That’s two key turnovers by Bush. K.C. starts the drive following the turnover with a false start and 2 straight incomplete passes. But on 3rd down and 15, they get a 1st down on a 36 yard run. After another 1st down on an 18 yard pass, our defense finally holds them to a 47 yard FG try. They hit it and now lead 20-7. We proceed to go 3 and out on our next drive, but thankfully so does K.C. Our next drive we move the ball better. FB- Lowe gets a key 3rd down run for a 1st down. At the end of the 3rd quarter we have a 1st and goal at the K.C. 9 yard line trailing 20-7. We end up getting a TD on a 2 yard run by RB- Gamroth and we cut the K.C. lead to 20-14. Is there another comeback in this team? On the ensuing kickoff, K.C. is called for holding. So, they start at their 5 yard line. Our defense holds them to only 3 plays. CB- Riekens fumbles the PR, but LB- Brim is there to save it. He returns it to the K.C. 41 and we have great field position again. We proceed to get -2 yards on 3 plays. That’s twice we have had the ball on the other side of the 50 and have done nothing with it. K.C. gets one 1st down but has to punt. We go 3 and out on our next drive. We are still trailing 20-14 and it’s getting late in the game. On the PR, K.C. fumbles the punt and RB- Wheeler recovers it for us at our 48 yard line. There is 6:41 to play in the game. We start out with 1 yard on 2 plays. Then on 3rd and 9, QB- Bush hits FL- Rosenthal on a 10 yard pass for a 1st down. Rosenthal fumbles the ball after the catch, but SE- Blassingame is there to recover and advance it 13 yards to the K.C. 28 yard line. After another 1st down pass and 2 runs for 1 yard, we have a 3rd and 9 at the K.C. 17 yard line. QB- Bush gets sacked for a 9 yard loss on 3rd down, but he fumbles the ball and K.C. recovers it at their 26 yard line. Another turnover by Bush. We were going in to try and take the lead. There is 3:10 to play and our defense has to stop them again. They get two 1st downs which kills our timeouts. But DE- Dix gets a big sack on a 3rd down to make K.C. punt and give us one last chance to win. We get the ball with 1:55 to play and no timeouts. 1st down is a false start. Then QB- Bush throws up a prayer to SE- Carlson on a deep out route, it falls incomplete. But wait a minute, there is a flag on the play. Yes, K.C. is called for defensive pass interference and we have a 1st down at our 40 yard line with 1:42 to play. Our next play is an incomplete pass. Then QB- Bush completes a pass for a 9 yard gain. We have a 3rd and 1 at the 49 yard line. We try to run for the 1st down, but get stuffed for a 1 yard loss. We now have a 4th and 2 and we have to go for it. QB- Bush completes a screen pass that doesn’t fool anyone and we lose a yard and the ball goes back to K.C. They run out the clock and we lose 20-14. Stats on the game: Our defense had 5 sacks, but our OL gave up 5 sacks. We lost the turnover battle 3-1. All three turnovers were by Bush. RB- Eriksen had 20 rushes for 70 yards and a TD. QB- Bush was 20/33 for 177 yards with 0 TD and 2 INT and 1 Fumble. FL- Rosenthal had 7 catches for 79 yards. C- Malone was 4/9 on run blocks with 0 sacks allowed. We were beat by a backup QB. K.C. starting QB was out. Notes: Even as bad as Bush played, we still had a chance to win the game. Our key losses was our leading sacker DE- Franklin who got hurt in the regular season finale. Still our defense played well despite it all. We had the ball in good field position most of the day and couldn’t convert. This is a disappointing end to our season, but we did start 1-3 and still won the AFC East after our key injuries. Looks like it’s back to the drawing board. Next: The rest of the 2004 playoffs. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty

04-09-2003, 04:42 PM	#36
DolphinFan1 College Benchwarmer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Connecticut	Conference Finals AFC- Kansas City (12-6) @ Cincinnati (12-5) Kansas City wins on the road in an upset 22-20. NFC- Chicago (12-6) @ Philadelphia (11-6) Philadelphia wins 24-21. Front Office Bowl 2004 Kansas City (13-6) @ Philadelphia (12-6) Philadelphia wins a defensive struggle 7-6. My end of year rating: Performance 86, Value 52, Profit 69, Roster 76 for a final score of: 66 Three of our players made the seasons awards list: LT- Graham made 1st string , C- Malone make 2nd string and S- Benson made 2nd string. Let’s see what 2005 brings. Next: The 2005 Season. Look for the new thread: FOF4: Miami Dolphins 2005. Coming Soon. __________________ GM of the Milwaukee Muscle Men of the ZFL. The 1st team in ZFL history to have a perfect losing season. I am on a quest to show that the Dolphins can win the Super Bowl. Or should I say Front Office Bowl, with FOF2K7. The revival of an old favorite, FOFC Wrestling Dynasty