(by Rich Rodriguez) Rich breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly in Miami’s 19-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Unfortunately there was more bad and ugly than good for the Miami Dolphins.

(by Tony Simmons) I will get a chance to take in Miami’s opening game of the season, a 1:00 battle between teams that had huge turnaronds from abysmal seasons in 2007. Both teams finished up the 2008 season with 11-5 records and both lost there 1st playoff game, the Falcons to eventual Super Bowl runner-up Arizona and Miami to AFC runner-up Baltimore. The turnaround earned Mike Smith the NFL Coach of theYear in a tight battle with Tony Sparano.

(by David Grotefend) Ask yourself an honest question… Do the Dolphins have a realistic chance in 2009? Take the first thing that pops into your head. No way? I have to tell you, I am starting to believe that we can make a legitimate push THIS season. Earlier this camp I said I thought we’d be 10-6 and a #5 WC or so. I still believe that is the more likely scenario than either a deep playoff run OR a 7or 8 win regression.

(By Rich Rodriguez) There was a little bit more dazzle to this one. The Dolphins pulled out a few old tricks to help win against the Panthers. Literally. The Dolphins ran the same 4 Wildcat plays they ran all of last year, including the double reverse QB pass (I honestly don’t even know what to call it) from Pennington to Cobbs. Additionally, the tone was set by the Dolphins offensive line early. The Dolphins were able to gash the Panthers defensive front seven using Ronnie Brown, and later Ricky Williams, to run the rock against Carolina. A big part of that was Donald Thomas’s ability to pull. It now appears (though things can change quickly), that Thomas is winning the competition at right guard. Though it has been nice to see Murphy show considerable improvement, which may lead to quality depth, Thomas is taking the job by the horns.

They came right out of the gate drilling what looked like 9-9. There was some running and throwing mixed, but since these drills were being conducted on the opposite field, it was very difficult to see everything. For the most part however, the QB’s all looked decent. The drill only lasted about 5 minutes, so there wasn’t very much to see in terms of real action. After it ended, they went into their normal warm up’s…

I believe there are a few big areas and questions about the 2009 Miami Dolphins that will need to be answered to know for sure if this team can take the next step and continue there upward surge that started in 2008. We all know this team came from 1-15 to 11-5, which gave the Dolphins the AFC East Championship. We also know that last year was the beginning of a major rebuilding project, a project in which youth, size and talent was infused into the orginization via the draft and smart moves in free agency. While much was remarkably accomplished in one year, there were certain areas of concerns that crystalized during the season, areas that have to be addressed if this team is to go further than just the 1st round of the playoffs or even makes the playoffs again.

I do not know what I would do without the reports that I get from the Florida media. They report information to us on a daily basis based on their ability to get close to the team even though practices are closed. Then you have good writers putting their thoughts to the reports. To me, I find it easier to report the news rather than add my thoughts to it, so, I applaud those writers.

Jason Taylor’s agent, Gary Wichard, said that JT just signed a 1 year, $1.5 million contract to play for the Dolphins this year. That is a huge drop-off from the $8.5 million he was to make with the Redskins. I imagine that for a man who has millions in the bank, being happy was more important for him at this stage of his career.