(by Rich Rodriguez) The Good The Dolphins running game was dominant. 239 yards on 49 carries (4.9 ypc) and two touchdowns. Ronnie Brown was the initiator of offense in this game, carrying the ball 24 times for 136 yards (5.7 ypc) and both touchdowns. Ricky Williams, the 2nd head of the ground hammer, rushed 19 times for 69 yards (3.6 ypc). The offensive line was spectacular in run blocking and also gave Pennington time to throw.

This goes to prove the argument that when Ronnie Brown gets the rock 20+ times, good things happen for the Dolphins offense.

The kickoff coverage was also excellent today, holding the Colts to 90 return yards on 5 returns (18 yards per return). Lex Hilliard was in on three special teams tackles.

The Bad

The Dolphins linebackers were roasted all night long by Dallas Clark (7 catches, 183 yards, 1 TD). Channing Crowder was the victim of a few of those plays. Akin Ayodele was as well. Both inside linebackers for the Dolphins had nights they wish they would forget.

Gibril Wilson needs to go back to tackling class. On two ocassions, he missed tackles that led to big plays.

The Dolphins pass defense in general allowed Peyton Manning to throw for 303 yards on 23 attempts (13.2 yards per attempt). There was some pressure early in the game, but that went away as Manning adjusted to the Dolphins defense. At times, the middle of the field was a desert bereft of any defender.

Clock management at the end of the game was terrible for the Dolphins. It appears the coaching staff opted to call in the plays instead of letting Chad Pennington run the two minute drill. The Dolphins had three minutes and 2 timeouts and only managed to get to the Colts 30 yard line with 6 seconds left and throw up a prayer that was intercepted.

The Ugly

Ted Ginn had a productive night and showed glimpses of being a guy that could emerge as a go-to target. However, he had two drops in the endzone. Ted Ginn should have finished the night with 13 catches and 2 touchdowns. But because of his inability to bring in two critical passes in the endzone, he only wound up with 11 catches and no touchdowns. Again, a productive night for Ginn, but a disappointing one as well.

Chad Pennington doesn’t look like the same quarterback as last year. His arm seems to have gotten weaker and the ball isn’t coming out as quickly as it did in the past.

The playcalling was creative and exciting early on, but the Dolphins continued doing the same thing, even after the Colts showed adjustments to it. At some point, this offense is going to need to get the ball moving in chunks rather than nibbles, if they want to put up points. Going for a run on 3rd and 6 when the game is tied is called playing not to lose rather than playing to win.

In the 2nd half, the coaching staff was playing not to lose.