What a difference a day can make. Amidst all the trash talking leading up to today’s Jets-Dolphins game, Dolphins receiver Ted Ginn Jr. was being chewed up and spit out by the media, the fans, and even his own teammates for not playing up to his potential as the 9th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. Former Dolphins offensive lineman Bob Kuechenberg went so far as to call Ted “an embarrassment and a coward”—pretty strong words.
Dropping passes, especially in crucial situations, will do that to you. And talk of a demotion was brewing. In fact, receiver Brian Hartline ended …read more

When I glanced at the second quarter score of the Miami Dolphins vs. New Orleans Saints game this afternoon, I was shocked but convinced the Dolphins—with a 24-3 lead—were for real and had found a way to put the brakes on the NFL’s highest-scoring offense. I reasoned that the Saints were, perhaps, not the same explosive team outside the friendly confines of the New Orleans Superdome. Then I quickly gathered my senses, remembering how quarterback Drew Brees and company rallied for 17 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Buffalo Bills four weeks ago.
So why wouldn’t they do the …read more

Chad Pennington? Who’s Chad Pennington? Miami Dolphins fans have already forgotten who he is. They’re thinking Dan Marino. After all, Fins fans have been looking for the second coming of the legendary Hall of Fame quarterback since he retired ten years ago. And while I’m not about to annoint Chad Henne as that man after just two starts, I will say I think the Dolphins have found their QB of the future. Chad was 20-of-26 for 241 yards and two touchdowns (with no picks) in a thrilling 31-27 win over the N.Y. Jets on Monday Night Football last night.
Said Dolphins …read more

Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington will miss the rest of the 2009 season with a dislocation and torn capsule in his throwing shoulder. Uggh. Chad hurt his shoulder early in the third quarter of yesterday’s 23-13 loss to San Diego. He’ll seek a second opinion from orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews, but according to the team, his season is over. And if he does have surgery, it will be the third operation on his 33-year-old shoulder. Which, translated, means his career could very well be over. Chad’s had enough knocks on his arm strength. This won’t help matters.
This is a …read more

There’s another fake “Twitterer” on the loose, this time pretending to be Miami Dolphins receiver Davone Bess. Davone is charging that someone struggling to fill the hours is impersonating him on a Twitter site under the name LamboWeezy. The page is not accessible, so I couldn’t get a look at it. But Davone intends to prosecute this impostor to the fullest extent of the law.
Fans on a Dolphins message board became suspicious of the statements made on the Twitter site. Apparently, this impostor was answering fan questions. A representative of the Dolphins blog “The Phinsider” brought the Twitter site to …read more

It appears Jason Taylor has not played his final game for the Miami Dolphins. After being traded to the Washington Redskins last season (because — let’s be honest — team Executive VP of Football Ops Bill Parcells didn’t like Jason’s involvement on “Dancing With the Stars”), it was pretty clear Jason’s days in Miami were over. But both sides have since had a change of heart and were able to put their past differences to rest. Jason signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Dolphins today.
Jason was being courted by the New England Patriots. And he turned down $8.5 …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
One day after losing a Wild Card playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith was named the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year. Coach Smith edged Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano by a mere one vote. He explained his team’s process to success:
“I’m honored individually, but more so for our coaching staff and our players. I think we have tried to establish that we’d be very systematic in how we did things, that we were going to have a plan. We laid that plan out from the very …read more

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National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
After suffering through a miserable 1-15 rookie season, Miami Dolphins center Samson Satele and his teammates are enjoying the fruits of their labor as the Dolphins accomplished the biggest single season turnaround in National Football League history. Personally, Samson continued to a current 32-game start streak, the longest in team history for an offensive lineman starting a career. The simple recap — the Dolphins went from being the worst team in the NFL to AFC East champs with a home field Wild Card game this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens. I talked with Samson …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
The opponents for all 2009 regular-season games have been determined and a complete list of each team’s home and away matchups was issued yesterday by the NFL. The scheduling formula implemented in 2002 with realignment guarantees that all teams play each other on a regular, rotating basis. Under the formula, every team within a division plays 16 games as follows:

Home and away against its three division opponents (6 games)
The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games)
The four teams from a division in the other conference on a …read more

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast
I’ll be speaking with Miami Dolphins center Samson Satele for a Wild Card weekend EMQB Interview on New Year’s Day. If you would like to ask Samson a specific question about his career or the Dolphins’ remarkable season as AFC East champs, leave a comment on this post or send me an email before midnight on Wednesday, December 31 and I’ll do my best to ask him for you. Please include your first name, city and state along with your question.
Photo: Newscom