OVERALL SUMMARY:

The Dolphins played a very sloppy, mistake-prone, penalty-filled game on Sunday, but nevertheless managed to squeak by the Arizona Cardinals with a 19-16 win. The Dolphins gave up 4 turnovers (and it could have been more) and committed 9 penalties for 81 yards (including 5 that gave up first downs).

On the other hand, the Dolphins did not give up a touchdown to the Arizona offense, got 4 turnovers of their own and limited the Cardinals to under 200 yards of total offense. While the game was sloppy for the Dolphins, it was not a total disaster.

The game started in light rain at 1 PM, but the rain stopped early and the end of the game was played in decent weather. The Dolphins started the game with Kevin Donnalley at right guard and Rich Owens at left defensive end in place of the injured Kenny Mixon, but otherwise the starting lineup was the same as it was against the Broncos.

On the inactive list were RB J.Avery, FB S.Pritchett, LB A.Harris, C G.Ruegamer, DE K.Mixon, WR L.Shannon, and DE D.Underwood. QB Jim Druckenmiller was the emergency inactive quarterback.

The game started with each team trying to run the ball, but neither team got anything going and the Dolphins and Cards both went 3 and out on their first series. The Dolphins' second series was more successful as they moved down to the Cards' 21 yard line before Cecil Collins fumbled the toss from Marino on 3rd and 1. He recovered the football, but the Dolphins had to settle for a field goal and a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinals took the kickoff and drove to the Miami 6, mostly on 2 long passes to Sanders and Moore and a pass interference penalty on Madison. However, on 2nd and goal at the Miami 6, Plummer lofted the ball into the Miami endzone, where Zach Thomas was waiting and picked off the pass to end Arizona's first threat.

The Dolphins moved from their 20 to the Arizona 33 before they stalled, but Cecil Collins had some good runs on this series. At the 33, the Dolphins kicked another field goal and went up 6-0.

The Cards took the Dolphins' kickoff and moved down the field on the Dolphins again, but this time they were aided by 4 Dolphins penalties instead of just 1. An offsides penalty and a very questionable pass interference call on Sam Madison gave the Cardinals two first downs after they had been stopped twice.

Two more offsides penalties on this drive gave the Cardinals ten more yards, but even after all that, the defense stopped the Cards at the Miami 18 and the Cardinals kicked a field goal for a 6-3 score.

On the kickoff, Brock Marion fumbled the ball at the Miami 30, which the Cardinals recovered. Miami then forced the Cards to go 3 and out, limiting them to a long field goal for a 6-6 tie score. Immediately following the kickoff, Marino's first pass was to Rob Konrad, but it was intercepted at the Miami 34 and returned for a touchdown by the Cardinals' R.Fredrickson.

The pass to Konrad may have been tipped at the line of scrimmage and Fredrickson definitely made a great play on the ball, with Marino not seeing him on the coverage.

Now, the Cardinals were ahead 13-6 and this time, after the kickoff to Marion, there were no turnovers. However, the Dolphins went 3 and out on the next series and punted back to the Cardinals, who also promptly went 3 and out.

The Dolphins got the ball back with 2:13 remaining in the first half and Marino engineered one of his patented scoring drives. Marino threw a 28 yarder to OJ McDuffie and Cecil Collins added runs of 6 and 16 yards on this drive, which ended at the Cardinals' 10, where Dan hit Troy Drayton on a perfect down and out route right over the Cardinals goal line.

The score was now tied at 13-13 and the Cardinals knelt down after fielding the kickoff to end the first half.

The second half opened with the Cardinals receiving the kickoff, but after just one first down on their first series, they were forced to punt. The Dolphins' first drive was also cut short when, after a few plays moved the ball to the Miami 33, Marino threw a pass to Cardinals' defensive end Andre Wadsworth at the Miami 44.

This was a terrible pass and it's not clear where Marino was throwing the ball because there was not a white jersey within 5 yards of Wadsworth.

After Wadsworth returned the ball to the Dolphins 21, the Dolphins defense shut down the Cards and the Cardinals were forced to settle for a field goal and a 16-13 lead. On the kickoff, Brock Marion broke out to the outside and raced down the field for a 50 yard return to the Arizona 42. Unfortunately, Miami's offense didn't do much with the ball and after getting just one first down, Miami stalled again when Tim Ruddy was penalized for holding.

Again, this was a terrible call by the officials. It was clear on the replay that Ruddy was well within the rules. But the penalty set the Dolphins' drive back and they were forced to settle for a field goal, which tied the game again at 16-16.

Following the kickoff, Plummer's first pass on the next series was the old flea-flicker, where the halfback took the ball from Plummer and then turned around and lateraled it back to Plummer. However, when Plummer went to throw the ball, it was a little behind Rob Moore and Sam Madison picked it off for his first interception of the game. That gave the Dolphins a first down at the Arizona 22, but after Marino twice threw into heavy coverage for incompletions (both of which were almost picked off), his third pass fell incomplete and the Dolphins were forced to kick a field goal and settle for a 19-16 lead that would last until the end of the game.

The next two series for both teams were 3 and out with each team trying 3 running plays. Neither team was moving the ball on the ground at this point in the game.

The 4th quarter opened with Plummer moving the Cardinals from his 48 to the Miami 15, but after the Cardinals were stuffed once more, they tried a field goal which sailed wide right, leaving the Dolphins in the lead.

On the next series, Miami started at their 23 and after a short run by KAJ, Marino hit OJ McDuffie on the quick out pattern. McDuffie, turned sharply and darted up the sideline as the Cardinals' defensive back slipped off of OJ and missed the tackle. As OJ was running up the sideline for what appeared to be a big gain, he started holding the ball in one hand, as if he thought he could strut into the endzone untouched. However, he was caught from behind by a Cardinals' defensive back and the ball was knocked out of his hands at the Arizona 34.

This play was representative of the Dolphins' offensive play for most of the game. OJ had a big gain that he squandered by not playing smart.

The Cardinals took the ball at their 34 and moved down the field to the Miami 41, mostly on a questionable pass interference penalty on T-Buck. However, at this point, Plummer overthrew Frank Sanders and Sam Madison was there waiting for the ball. He made his second interception of the afternoon and returned it to the Dolphins' 35.

The Dolphins went 3 and out on the next series after a particularly ridiculous set of offsetting penalties on Tony Martin and Corey Chavous. The Cardinals got the ball back with 7:50 remaining, but could only manage one first down on a quick pass before the Dolphins' defense shut them down again and forced them to punt.

With 4:45 remaining, the Dolphins put together a good, time-killing drive from their 24 to the Arizona 25. This drive was based mostly on quick passes to Konrad, Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Troy Drayton, but Karim did run for one first down. Unfortunately, the Dolphins failed to run for a first down on 3rd and 1 and then JJ elected to try a field goal to try and stretch the lead.

Mare' missed his fifth field goal try of the day when the ball sailed wide right and with 1:14 left to play in the game, the Cardinals started at their own 31. The Dolphin defense was more than up to the task, with Jerry Wilson contributing two key plays by tackling Adrian Murrell in bounds to keep the clock running and then knocking down a pass later.

Also, after Sam Madison was penalized for the 3rd time for pass interference, the referees flagged Rob Moore on the next play for offensive pass interference. Trace Armstrong added a crucial sack on 3rd down to force the Cardinals into a 4th and 26 situation and when Plummer lofted the ball high in the air on his last attempt, Brock Marion out-jumped Frank Sanders for the ball and got his first interception of the regular season.

All in all, the Dolphins were very lucky to walk away with a win in this game. They committed way too many mistakes in the form of penalties and turnovers, but managed to hang on until the end of the game.

GOOD STUFF:

Believe it or not, there was some good stuff in this game. First of all, the Dolphins defense was outstanding. They did not give up a touchdown in this game and came away with 4 turnovers. They put pressure on Plummer all day long and reacted well to his improvisations.

The defense also shut down the Cardinals' running game, limiting them to 64 yards on 28 carries. By the end of the afternoon, the Cardinals ended up with a total of just 184 yards of offense, which is very impressive, especially considering the Cardinals were a playoff team last year.

Special teams had a mixed day, but had a good kickoff return of 50 yards from Brock Marion on one play and Olindo Mare' kicked 4 out of 5 field goals - all but one of which were over 40 yards.

The offense was very inconsistent, but put together two very important drives when it counted the most. The first important drive was the touchdown drive at the end of the first half, when the Dolphins drove down to tie the game. The second drive was at the end of the 4th quarter, when the Dolphins were trying to run out the clock. While they didn't run out the clock completely, they did run 3 and a half minutes off the clock and drove deep into Cardinals' territory.

The receivers were also inconsistent, but the play of Troy Drayton stood out as a badly needed boost to the offense. Also, kudos go to offensive coordinator Kippy Brown for not being too thick-headed to throw the ball at the end of the game, even though the Dolphins were head.

THINGS TO WORK ON:

The biggest problem with the game was that the Dolphins were mentally unprepared. Too many simple penalties, especially for "lining up in the neutral zone" (3 times!) were inexcusable. The defense can not give up yardage like that and expect to hold better offenses in check.

The turnovers also showed the problems the Dolphins had with being ready. Dan Marino's two interceptions were almost 4 interceptions. Whether that was his fault or not is unknown, but that can't continue.

Brock Marion's fumble was bad on the kickoff, but far worse (and perhaps symbolic of the offense's performance) was OJ McDuffie's fumble after his catch. He was showboating by holding the ball out in one hand when he was still 35 yards from the endzone. As a result, he blew what could have been a huge play.

The offensive line had a pretty good game, but could not open holes for the running backs, especially at the end of the game. They should have been punching holes through the center of the Arizona defense and they weren't able to consistently do that. Some of that is due to the absence of Mark Dixon after the first quarter, but some of it was just failing to master their assignments.

Mostly, though, the offense needs to focus better if it's going to play up to it's potential.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

Dan Marino had a poor game. He did complete 21 of 35 for 221 yards with a touchdown to Troy Drayton, but he also threw 2 interceptions and almost threw 2 others. His QB rating was just 64.1 and his mental errors were costly.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar started at tailback and ran well, especially late in the game when he picked up 2 first downs on the final drive. He carried the ball 9 times for 33 yards (a 3.7 ypc average) and caught 3 passes for 18 yards. He did have one drop, however.

Rob Konrad had a pretty good game, running 3 times for 3 yards and getting a first down on 4th and 1. However, at the end of the game, he couldn't pick up the first down on 3rd and 1. He also caught 2 passes for 12 yards.

Cecil Collins got his first carries of the regular season and generally played well, especially on the last drive of the first half where he had 2 carries for 6 and 16 yards respectively. However, he got stuffed several times for no gain, including once on third and 1. He did a good job picking up blitzes in the backfield.

JJ Johnson was the designated 3rd down back and didn't have a particularly good game. He ran 3 times for just 4 yards and caught 1 pass for 5 yards and he almost had a fumble, but was lucky that it was ruled an incomplete pass.

Troy Drayton led all receivers by catching 5 passes for 50 yards and the only touchdown. He looked excellent for most of the game, getting open and catching the ball well with his hands.

OJ McDuffie had the most yardage while catching 4 passes for 85 yards, but dropped at least 2 easily catchable passes and had that terrible fumble that should have been a big play late in the game. He was very inconsistent.

Tony Martin only caught 2 passes for 32 yards, but was well covered by Aeneas Williams for most of the game. He did have one particularly nice catch and run where he dodged two different defensive backs to get a first down after a short throw.

Oronde Gadsden caught 2 passes for 11 yards, but was otherwise invisible.

Yatil Green made 1 catch for 7 yards and Hunter Goodwin caught one pass for 1 yard, neither of which were significant.

The offensive line didn't do a particularly good job opening holes for running for most of the game, except at the end of the first half. Some of that may have to do with Mark Dixon being out for most of the game. However, their pass protection was very good - Marino was not sacked and rarely hit, despite numerous blitzes.

To no one's surprise, Zach Thomas led the team in tackles with a total of 10 and had an interception in the endzone to prevent a touchdown. He blitzed effectively and knocked Plummer to the ground a number of times.

Daryl Gardener was second in tackles with 7, of which 3 went for no gain or minus yardage. He was in the Cardinals' backfield all day long and was a major reason the Cardinals' offense was so well contained.

Brock Marion had 5 solo tackles, an interception at the end of the game and a pass knocked down. He wasn't burned deep that I saw and he also had a kickoff return for 50 yards. However, he did fumble another kickoff return that resulted in 3 points for the Cardinals.

Terrell Buckley had several pass interference penalties, most of which were very close calls and was in on 5 tackles. He did knock down one pass that would have been a touchdown if he had misplayed it, but didn't come away with any picks. He and Rob Moore were battling most of the day with Buckley getting the best of it.

Patrick Surtain had 4 tackles and put some pressure on Jake Plummer on cornerback blitzes, but was otherwise quiet.

Robert Jones had 3 tackles, including one especially nice stop at the line of scrimmage.

Jerry Wilson had 3 tackles also, one of which was a sack on a corner blitz where Wilson ran through an attempted block by Adrian Murrell. Wilson also almost had an interception at the end of the game and a nice stop of Murrell on a short pass to keep him inbounds late in the game.

Jason Taylor had 3 tackles and no sacks, but put a lot of pressure on Plummer and was all over the field.

Trace Armstrong had 2 tackles and a crucial sack late in the game. The late sack is beginning to be his trademark.

Sam Madison had at least 3 defensive pass interference penalties. However, he also had 2 interceptions and covered opposing receivers like a blanket all day.

Tim Bowens only recorded one tackle, but he was a rock in the middle of the line that was impenetrable.

Calvin Jackson started at strong safety, but only had 1 tackle in this game and was not seen much otherwise.

Rich Owens started in place of the injured Kenny Mixon and did a good, if unspectacular, job. He got 1 tackle and no sacks, but did put pressure on Plummer on more than one occasion.

Olindo Mare' made 4 field goals of 51, 39, 44 and 46 yards. However, he missed one from 42 that would have made a lot of people breathe easier at the end of the game. Of his 6 kickoffs, 2 were touchbacks. He also had to punt, which he did once for 36 yards.

Brent Bartholomew was injured late in the game, but before he went out he had kicked 3 times for 44.7 yards per kick.

INJURIES:

Mark Dixon suffered a groin strain early in the game and did not play after the first quarter. The extent of his injury is still not fully known, but he will have the next two weeks to rest before the Buffalo game.

Brent Bartholomew wrenched his knee on punt coverage and it looks like he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He will probably miss the rest of the season.

My Comments:

This was a very dangerous game for the Dolphins, following the big win over Denver and the distractions of Hurricane Floyd. The combination of the short preparation time and the continuous questions about the Monday night victory distracted the team and undoubtedly made some players overconfident or unfocused - or both.

It showed glaringly on Sunday when the Dolphins made mistake after mistake and almost gave away the game. Fortunately, enough of their players were on the ball to keep from dropping a game that they should have won convincingly.

In any case, a win is a win and no one but us diehard Dolphins fans will remember in January how close this game was.

Now the team has a week off to prepare for the Bills on Monday night. This next 3 game streak coming up is crucial for the Dolphins. They face 3 division opponents - 2 of them on the road. How they come out of that streak will set them up for the middle of the season.

Related Info:

• Sun-Sentinel: Q & A with J.J.
• Official NFL Web Site of the Miami Dolphins: Press Box
• TSN: Team Report
• Palm Beach Post: Photo gallery - Miami Dolphins vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Palm Beach Post: Snake - Four picks too much poison
• Palm Beach Post: Mare keeps busy
• Palm Beach Post: Flags fine with Dolphins
• Palm Beach Post: 4 INTs - That's a fact, Jake
• Miami Herald: ZACH ATTACK
• Miami Herald: Dolphins pick off Cards' Plummer 4 times to win
• Miami Herald: KEY MATCHUPS TO THE GAME
• Miami Herald: With freedom to fail, defense allowed to soar
• Miami Herald: Team expects Bartholomew to miss season
• Miami Herald: Plummer - No excuses
• Miami Herald: PENALTY POX
• Miami Herald: The Dolphins' `Ice Man' kicketh
• Miami Herald: Madison, Buckley living on the edge
• Miami Herald: Wadsworth's unhappy return
• Miami Herald: To Dolphins, all that matters is bottom line
• Miami Herald: TURNOVER TALES
• Sun-Sentinel: Photo template
• Sun-Sentinel: FROM THE LOCKERROOM
• ESPN.com: TJ's Take - Patriotic display
• ESPN.com: Week 2 infirmary report
• ESPN.com: Week 2 wrap-ups
• Sun-Sentinel: Game 2 wrapup
• Sun-Sentinel: Officials flag down thump-n-run defense
• Sun-Sentinel: RBs don't distinguish themselves
• Sun-Sentinel: Game 2 - Dolphins 19, Arizona 16
• Miami Herald: Dolphins 19, Cardinals 16
• ESPN.com: Arizona Cardinals/Miami Dolphins NFL recap on ESPN