FOF4: C.J.Wolf and the Miami Dolphins 2003

[DolphinFan1]

Almost ready to start the 2003 season. Just wanted to send an update on my progress.

[DolphinFan1]

Miami Dolphins 2003 Off-Season

I, C.J. Wolf, have returned for my 2nd season, (3rd if you count the 1980 season before I was cloned and frozen for 20 years), at the helm of the Miami Dolphins. I still have a hard time believing it. But I am here and I have no other explanation for it. So, I guess it will have to do. Let's try to do better than our 9-7 season last year.

Looking at our coach and scouts, I don’t see much better in the way of scouts. Our scout isn’t great, but he will have to do for now. I see a couple coaches on the market that might improve our team. T.B. coach is available. He is a little better in quite a few categories. I offer him a contract. He resigns with T.B. I do land a coach who is better than we have. Adrian James is better in most ratings. Nothing to write home about, but we needed an upgrade in player development.
Getting ready to head into FA, we need to free up some cap room. We are currently almost 4 million over the cap.
I was able to renegotiate quite a few of our player contracts. QB- Bryant was willing to renegotiate and saved us about 2.5 million in cap money. He may be a bust, but to release him would have cost too much money. RB- Stephenson’s was disappointing. I reworked his contract. RB- Eriksen had a better than expected year. I gave him a raise with a voidable year for 1400 yards. There were nine others I renegotiated with. Now we have 14 million in cap room.
We have 10 FA this year. QB- Mahoney, RB- Wolf, FB- Blanchard, SE- Carlson, LT- Knight, RG- Vrabel, K- Stanfield, MLB- Stanton, CB- Benson and DT- Blackwell. I will try to resign Carlson, Knight, Stanton and maybe Blackwell or Blanchard. The rest I will let go. I will also be looking to find a better K and return men.

I signed Carlson, Knight and Stanton. I will not offer Blackwell a contract. After the draft I will invite our other FA to training camp to try to get their job back. Since I will have about 6 openings after the draft, I might as well use them.

Draft day: We pick 17th in the draft
I trade my 2nd round pick to Seattle for their 3rd and 5th round picks this year. We and almost the whole league lost our 3rd round picks this year for being over the cap. Seattle still had their’s. Now I have it.
1.............QB- Mike Raven........Nevada..............Could be a starter for us in the future. High intelligence.
2.............None
3.............RB- D.J.Jordan................Central Florida..............Hopefully a help to our running game.
4.............OG- Arnold Brosseau ........Kansas.......Possible starter.
5.............CB- Ed Riekens........Okla. St.......Future starter and a immediate help in our return game.
5..............K- Lance Cousino.....Hawaii...........Probable starter over Stanfield. Better KO and potential.
6.............FB- Les Lowe...........San Jose St............Will challenge Jalove for the starting job.
7.............OG- Patrick Isbell........Idaho.............Long shot to make the team.

Now it’s off to training camp to see how these rookies pan out.
After training camp:

Looks like our 6th round pick may be a player we got lucky on. He seems to be better than last year’s starter, FB- Jalove. I moved our 7th round pick, Isbell to C and released last year’s backup, Kirk. We look to be solid at OL this year. 5th round pick, Riekens looks to be a good draft pick. He may start. Going into preseason we look stronger than last year. Let’s see if we can make it happen.

We sold 73,400 season tickets out of a capacity of 74,900. Tennessee offers me a trade. They want QB- Bush for a not so good DE and a 4th round draft pick. I decline. I want to make sure Raven isn’t a bust. If he doesn’t fair well, Bush is the best we have.

[DolphinFan1]

Miami Dolphins 2003 Exhibition Season

Week 1 Bye
Week 2 @ New Orleans.......W 37-6
Week 3 VS. Washington.......L 17-9
Week 4 VS. Carolina.............L 10-3
Week 5 @ Dallas..................W 23-20

Week 2:
I let QB- Bush and most of our starters play the 1st half. The second half I let some of the rookies play. We had some pleasant surprises. Both Bush and Raven looked good. Bush was 8/11 for 60 yards and a TD. Raven was 9/14 for 137 yards. Our RB situation may be complicated also. Eriksen was 15/39, Stephenson was 11/58 and the rookie Jordan was 15/63 and all three had a rushing TD. Eriksen was penciled in as the starter, but if this keeps up it may be running back by committee. At least that may solve my endurance at RB problem. FL- Webster was stellar with 5 catches for 118 yards. Rookie FB- Lowe was good with 5/9 on key run blocks and only 1 sack allowed. Rookie CB- Riekens will be helping in the return game this year. That was a real problem area last year. He had one KO return for 31 yards. Not bad. I let Stanfield kick FG in this game. He is fighting for his job. He was 3/3 with a long of 42 and 4/4 on PAT. Overall a nice start. We suffered a couple injuries in the game. CB- Riekens broke his thumb and will probably miss the rest of the preseason. A tough break, but he will still make the team. LB- Bradford and
DE- Wingfield suffered a bruised sternum and knee tendinitis respectively. The should still be able to play some.

Week 3:
What a difference a week makes. Last week our offense couldn’t be stopped. This week we couldn’t do anything. The good thing is our defense only allowed 17 points. No one was impressive at RB this week. QB- Bush was 6/13 for 45 yards while Raven was 10/20 for 93 yards. K- Cousino was 3/3 on FG with a long of 42 yards. If I had to pick right now, I would have to flip a coin. On the injury front, TE- Hansen strained his quadriceps muscle and will miss about 3 weeks. DE- Wingfield has fully recovered. LB- Bradford is still not 100% but can play. CB- Riekens will sit again this week. I don’t want to risk losing him for a long period of time. He looks to be a potential star.

Week 4:
Our offense is struggling. I’m not sure why yet. QB- Raven looks good. He was 14/26 for 145 yards. I think I will start Bush to start the season. Just to let Raven learn some more. But he will see some playing time. Just when I think I have a decent RB, he let’s me down. Jordan fumbled twice. So did FL- Webster. That was part of the reason we lost. The defense looks ok in preseason. K- Stanfield was 1 for 2 on FG. He hit a 40 yarder, but missed from 48 yards out. We had 9 penalties. We suffered 2 more injuries. CB- Franz has a deep thigh bruise but it doesn’t seem serious. CB- Valle tore a biceps muscle and will be out for most of the season. I will put him on IR. CB- Riekens is well enough to play, although he isn’t 100%. Well the last preseason game is next. This will tell who makes the team.

Week 5:
What a show of heart by this team. Down almost the whole game, we came back to win with a 26 yard FG by Cousino to win the game. He was 3/4 with his only miss from 51, which was short. Raven played a half and was sharp. He was 9/17 for 94 yards and 2 TD. This game helped some make the team and made some become unemployed. The cuts in a minute. DT- Cooper suffered a hip pointer and is expected to miss the first 6 weeks of the season. CB- Lyle bruised his shoulder but will play. CB- Riekens is almost 100% and will play in the opener.


Next: Final cuts and 2003 starting lineup.

[DolphinFan1]

Here are the cuts:
QB- Mahoney, RB-Benton, RG- Vrabel, K-Stanfield and CB- Beamon. With CB-Valle on IR, that gave me room to keep one more player. He won’t see much playing time due to our depth at RB/FB, but Blanchard is still on the team. The decision to cut Benton and keep Wolf was due to two fumbles in the preseason finale. Given the chance to play, he choked. K- Stanfield was a tough choice. He actually stepped it up in preseason, but I liked Cousino’s poise in making the game winning kick in the finale preseason game. Let’s hope he can do it during the season.

This will be our team for 2003:
QB- Bush will start, with Raven learning and getting some snaps. Bryant is the 3rd QB.
RB- Eriksen will start, but Stephenson and Jordan will play quite a bit. It will be RB by committee until someone steps up. Wolf will be the 4th back.
FB- Lowe showed some promise and will start. Jalove will get some playing time to try and take the job. Blanchard will be the 3rd FB.
TE- Talley is still the starter with Hansen and Wilson behind him.
FL- Only Webster is the true flanker on the roster. He has to cut down on the fumbles.
SE- Carlson will start, Blassingame will back him up. In the 3 and 4 WR set, Kosderka and Farrell will play.
LT- Graham will start and Knight will backup and start some at RT.
LG- Rodriguez will start and Dodge will backup.
C- Malone starts again with the rookie Isbell backing up.
RG- Brosseau will start with Moore backing up.
RT- Heath will start with Crisp backing up.
P- McKnight returns.
K- Cousino uprooted Stanfield to make the team.
DE- Dix and Wingfield will start. Dix and Robbins will be pass rushers. Lynch will backup.
DT- Oliver and Cooper will start and will also pass rush. Clifton and Merrell will backup.
OLB- Bradford and Burton will start. O’Neal and Brim will backup.
ILB- Stanton starts with Bruce and Shadade behind him.
CB- Riekens will start at LCB and Lyle starts at RCB. Franz will play nickel and Hoskins is our 4th corner. Valle is on IR.
SS- Sanford will start with Morabito backing up.
FS- Benson starts with Henry backing up.

Our KR are Riekens and Jordan. Our PR are Eriksen and Riekens.

We are running a 4-3 defense. We should be a better running team this year. We have a power blocking FB and 3 RB to pound away at the defense.

Inactives rotated:

RB/FB- Wolf/Blanchard
TE/WR- Wilson/Farrell
OT- Heath/Crisp
OG- Dodge/Moore
OLB- O’Neal/Brim
ILB- Bruce/Shadade
SS/FS- Morabito/Henry

We have 3 rookies starting and 2 waiting to make an impact. A rookie K who looks promising and a better backup center. I think our 7 draft picks might make a big splash. Let’s do better than last year.


Next: 2003 regular season

[DolphinFan1]

2003 Miami Dolphins Regular Season

Week 1:..........Buffalo @ Miami...............Final Score: Miami 17 Buffalo 7

Game highlights: We had 7 sacks on defense. K- Cousino was 1 for 2 on FG. He hit a 24 yarder and was short on a 50 yarder. I don’t mind because between preseason and this week he has only had 2 misses and they were both short. He’s been accurate at least. QB- Bush was decent as he was 15/25 for 103 yards and no INT. RB- Eriksen had 20 carries for 58 yards. CB- Lyle had a 30 yard interception return for a TD. LB- O’Neal recovered one of Riekens fumbled PR for a 73 yard TD. We had 2 TD and none on offense.

Lowlights: SE- Carlson only caught 1 pass with 6 targeted at him. He had 2 drops. We only had 208 yards of offense. CB- Riekens fumbled 2 punts.

Game notes: Defense played well. DT- Oliver sprained an ankle and is questionable. With Cooper still out, we are thin at DL. I may have to make a move soon.

Miami player of the week nominees: LB- Burton 7 tackles, 2 assists and 1 sack.
CB- Lyle 4 tackles, 1 assist and 1 INT for a TD
Offensive player of the week: QB- Burt Lake- Houston 20/29 for 203 yards with 2 TD
Defensive player of the week: DE- Bart Samuel- Indianapolis 4 tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks

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

[DolphinFan1]

Week 2:....Miami @ Dallas..................Final Score:...Miami 24 Dallas 21

Game highlights: Trailing 21-17 with 2:12 to go and no timeouts, we go on a 10 play, 80 yard drive and win the game 24-21. QB- Bush had his best game of his career. He was 21/33 for 301 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. RB- Eriksen had 71 rushes on 14 carries and 1 TD. SE- Carlson made up for last game with a career game. He had 7 receptions for 156 yards and no drops. We were 7/14 on 3rd downs and 3/3 in the redzone ( 3 TD’s).

Lowlights: After taking a 14-7 lead at half-time, we let Dallas score 2 TD’s on their 1st two possessions of the second half and they take a 21-14 lead. We had 8 penalties for 70 yards and only had 2 sacks. K- Cousino was 1/3 on FG. He missed wide on a 50 and 52 yarder. He made a 49 yarder.

Game notes: Running game is struggling so far. SE- Blassingame broke his hand in the game. He is out for at least 3 weeks. Rookie RG- Brosseau strained an elbow tendon and will miss about 2 weeks. DT- Cooper is still about 4 weeks from returning. DT- Oliver is not 100%, but will play some next week. We are too thin at DL to sit him.

Miami player of the week nominees: QB- Bush and SE- Carlson
Offensive player of the week: QB- Dexter Porter- S.F. 26/36 for 290 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Wayne Torrence- T.B. 5 tackles, 1 assist and 4.5 sacks.

Next: 2-0 going for 3 in a row in Pittsburgh

[DolphinFan1]

Week 3:...Miami @ Pittsburgh.........................Final Score:....Miami 18 Pittsburgh 17

Game highlights: We were down 17-10 with 3:36 to go. We go down the field on a 6 play 65 yard drive to score a TD. Then, our coach calls a 2 point conversion. We get it, thankfully. I don’t know what he was thinking. I guess he didn’t want to tie and go into overtime. He’s lucky it worked. Pittsburgh drives to our 35 with 1:44 to go. Then SS- Sanford intercepts a pass at our 24 to save the game. Our defense had 5 sacks. QB- Bush was 18/38 for 237 yards with 2 TD and 2 INT. FL- Webster had 8 catches for 120 yards and a TD. LB- Brim had 5 tackles, 1 assist and 2 sacks.

Lowlights: We had 11 penalties for 95 yards. We were 4/14 on 3rd downs and we lost the turnover battle 3-1.

Game notes: Back to back games, Bush stepped it up on a game winning drive. We had one new injury. LT- Graham is out for about 3 weeks with a strained patellar tendon. DT- Cooper is still about 3 weeks away with his hip pointer. DT- Oliver and RG- Brosseau are not 100% but well enough to play. SE- Blassingame is a couple weeks from returning.

Miami player of the week nominees: QB- Bush and FL- Webster.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Carlton Flannery- Arizona was 24/40 for 261 yards with 0 TD and 0 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Dana Connell - Minnesota had 4 tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks.

Next: Big division matchup in New England. Let's take command of the division.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 4:..Miami @ New England.................Final Score:....Miami 24 New England 13

Game highlights: In our 3rd out of 4 road games in a row, we come in at 3-0 and N.E. is 2-1. An important division game with the lead on the line. I’m not happy about our schedule this year. 4 road games in a row isn’t fair. We didn’t even win our division. We spot N.E. a 13-0 lead. They are moving the ball at will on their 1st 3 drives. Then our defense shows up and we outscore them 24-0. We had 7 sacks by our defense and won the turnover battle 6-3. CB- Riekens had 3 punt returns for 37 yards, a 12.3 average.

Lowlights: QB- Bush was erratic. He was 13/25 for 127 yards with 0 TD’s and 2 INT. K- Cousino was 1 for 3 on FG. He hit a 37 yarder, but missed from 31 and 51. RB- Stephenson fumbled twice. He recovered one for a TD. We have to stop turning the ball over.

Game notes: Bush got us in a hole early with an INT on our 1st drive. We are now 4-0 and have a 2 game lead in our division. We had 2 more injuries. LB- Brim will be out for about 4 weeks with a strained patellar tendon. CB- Riekens has a strained hamstring, but he will be well enough to play. SE- Blassingame is about one week away and DT- Cooper and LT- Graham are about 2 weeks away.

Miami player of the week nominees: CB- Franz had 4 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack and 1 pass defended.
FS- Benson had 9 tackles, 3 assists, 1 INT and 1 pass defended.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Alonzo Bennett- Tennessee was 26/34 for 266 yards with 3 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Billy Owens- Baltimore had 6 tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks.

Next: 4-0 and heading to Jacksonville, can we keep it going?

[DolphinFan1]

Trading Deadline

Before the trading deadline, I engineer a trade. RB- Stephenson has been a disappointment again so far this year. With 6 fumbles last year and his two last week, that’s not acceptable. Plus, he wasn’t rushing for anything extraordinary. So, I trade him to Washington, our 1st round pick in 2004 and our 5th round pick in 2005. We get 5 draft picks in the trade. 2004 draft picks, 2nd round, 4th round and 5th round. 2005 draft pick, 6th round. 2006 draft pick, 3rd round. We will take a large cap hit because of his 4 year deal and bonus money, but we can’t afford to turn the ball over and I can’t put a guy like that on the bench every game. Not eating up that much cap room. Plus we have 20+ RFA next year. I can’t sign them all, so we will have some holes to fill. Now we will have 9 picks next year.
After the trade I go shopping for a backup RB. I find an undrafted rookie FA no one picked up, Lewis Bradley. He looks good on paper. Let’s see if he can help Eriksen and Jordan.

Next: Let's see how my team responds to the trade.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 5:...Miami @ Jacksonville...............Final Score: Read the game summary

I decided to change my weekly update for this week only. I was curious to see how my team responded to me trading away a 1st round pick who used to start.
We are 7 point favorites and we come in at 4-0 while Jacksonville is 2-2. RB- Eriksen, perhaps feeling threatened for his job by the trade and signing of Bradley, breaks the first play for a 30 yard run. Our 1st drive goes 6 plays, 80 yards in 2:50 and a TD. QB- Bush was 3/3 for 35 yards and a TD pass, RB- Eriksen had 3 rushes for 45 yards and FL- Webster had 3 catches for 35 yards and a TD. We lead 7-0. Now that’s a nice start. So far it looks as if Eriksen feels that if I traded a former 1st round pick, that he better perform because I could get rid of anyone. Good, I hope these guys realize that I want to win and will do what it takes to achieve that.
Jacksonville answers our drive with an impressive one of their own. But our defense tightens inside the redzone and they have to settle for a 34 yard FG. We lead 7-3.
RB- Eriksen is a man possessed. He rips another run for 21 yards on the next drive. Then our rookie FB- Lowe gets a 59 yard TD run to give us a 14-3 lead.
But once again our defense struggles to hold. This time Jacksonville gets a TD on 5 plays. We lead 14-10.
Our next drive looks promising as we march down the field. But, two negative thing happen on this drive. First, Eriksen goes down with an injury and newly acquired RB- Bradley has to take over. Then QB- Bush throws and INT at Jacksonville’s 11. RB- Eriksen had 9 rushes for 96 yards before his injury.
Our defense finally stops them on three and out.
RB- Bradley picks up where Eriksen left off with a 17 yard run. But we stall at their 44 yard line and have to punt.
Our defense is playing better now and on Jacksonville’s next drive they fumble after a 1st down reception. LB- Bruce recovers at the 50 yard line and we are in business.
We drive to the Jacksonville 3 yard line and have a 4th and 1. I deliberate and tell the coach to go for it. We have too much talent in the power rushing department to settle for FG’s inside the 5 yard line. RB- Jordan powers his way for 2 yards and a 1st and goal at the 1. After a 1st down run loses a yard, RB- Bradley gets in for a 2 yard TD run and we have a 21-10 lead. Bradley has 11 rushes for 59 yards now. Not a bad debut.
They drive down the field with just under 2 minutes to go in the half. They try a 51 yard FG and miss it wide right.
We take over at our 41 with 13 seconds left in the half and a 21-10 lead on the road. I tell QB- Bush to take a knee. Not a bad half by our team. Our defense was a little shaky on a couple drives, but the offense has played well minus Bush’s INT. I wasn’t sure how the team would respond after the trade, but so far it looks good. Let’s see if we can keep it going.
The first two drives of the second half are uneventful as they and then we go three and out. Then on Jacksonville’s next drive they go right down the field and get a TD. Our lead is cut to 21-17.
A couple more three and out’s and I decide to play the rookie QB- Raven. After that 1st drive, Bush hasn’t really done anything and we haven’t moved the ball at all in the second half. We need a spark. TE- Talley was also ejected on our last drive for kicking an opponent.
Our defense responds by getting two sacks and forcing a three and out. But we can’t capitalize and have to punt. On the next play, LB- Bradford gets an INT at the Jacksonville 26. Now we are in business.
We go 3 plays and get a 13 yard TD run by backup RB- Wolf. We lead 28-17 with 12:09 to go in the game.
We each go three and out again. Then on their next drive, we stop them on three and out again but commit an unsportsmanlike penalty to give them a 1st down. On the next play, CB- Lyle bails us out with an INT at our 48 with 7:17 to go and a 28-17 lead.
We go down and get a FG and lead 31-17. That turns out to be the final score. We win 31-17. A great team effort. Our defense was shaky at times, but they stepped it up when they had to. Here are some stats on the game:
We rushed 46 times for 281 yards for a 6.1 yard average. We won the turnover battle 3-1. Our defense had 9 sacks and our OL didn’t allow a sack. We had a 33 to 27 minute T.O.P. edge. A negative stat was that we committed 8 penalties for 57 yards.
RB- Eriksen had 9 rushes for 96 yards.
RB- Bradley had 18 rushes for 73 yards and a TD.
FB- Lowe had 7 rushes for 79 yards and a TD.
QB- Bush was 8/16 for 70 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
QB- Raven was 3/8 for 35 yards.
Run Blocks: LG- Rodriguez 6/11, LT- Knight 5/11, C- Malone 4/8.

Game notes: Well, it looks as if my team responded positively to the trade. Maybe they feel now that I am serious about winning. The injury to RB- Eriksen will sideline him for one or two weeks. He has a hyper extended elbow. That means more carries for RB’s, Bradley, Jordan and Wolf. LT- Graham is not 100%, but will play. DT- Cooper also will play as he is almost 100%. LB- Brim is still about 3 weeks away from full strength. We are 5-0 and play at home against Tennessee who are 3-2.

Miami players of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen, LG- Rodriguez and CB- Franz had 8 tackles, 1 assist and 1.5 sacks.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Steve Hamilton- Denver 26/33 for 233 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DT- Colin Peters- Baltimore had 7 tackles, 2 assists and 2 sacks.


Next: Tennesse comes to town as we try to extend our 5 game winning streak. Can we keep it going?

[DolphinFan1]

Week 6:...Tennessee @ Miami..................Final Score: Miami 34 Tennessee 6

Game highlights: In a game where I wasn’t sure how we would play after being on the road for over a month, we responded with a great defensive effort. We had 6 sacks, we won the turnover battle 7-2 with 24 points off turnovers and we were 7/16 on 3rd down conversions. RB- Bradley had a nice game filling in for the injured Eriksen. He had 19 rushes for 87 yards and 2 TD. P- McKnight had 7 punts for a 42.4 average with 3 inside the 20. K- Cousino was 2/2 on FG and 4/4 on PAT. We blocked a punt in the endzone for a TD. CB- Lyle had 3 forced fumbles.

Lowlights: QB- Bush was responsible for our 2 turnovers. He fumbled the ball to Tennessee after they fumbled the opening kickoff. On our 2nd drive, he killed a nice drive by throwing an INT in the endzone.

Game notes: We start 6-0 and have a 2 ½ game lead in the division. FL- Webster was injured in the game. He is doubtful with a hip pointer and will miss up to 5 weeks. That’s a huge loss. RB- Eriksen is almost 100% and will play if needed. LB- Brim is 2 weeks away from full strength.

Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Bradley, LB- Bradford had 4 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 interception and 1 pass defended, FS- Benson had 9 tackles, 3 assists, 2 sacks and 1 INT.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Gary Nieuwstadt- Detroit 32/46 for 340 yards with 3 TD and 2 INT.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Corwin O’Malley- Denver 6 tackles, 1 assist and 3.5 sacks.

Next: 6-0 we head to Buffalo in an AFC East matchup.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 7:....Miami @ Buffalo.................Final Score: Miami 28 Buffalo 0

Game highlights: We had 6 sacks by the defense. Our OL allowed 0 sacks. We won the turnover battle 5-1. We were 3/3 in the redzone. RB- Bradley had another good game with a 24 rush, 105 yard and 1 TD performance. QB- Bush also had a decent game as he was 12/23 for 70 yards with 2 TD. He had 0 turnovers which was very important.

Lowlights: We had some key penalties in crucial situations. RB- Jordan fumbled.

Game notes: We were able to rest RB- Eriksen with Bradley playing well. He is now 100%. New injuries: LT- Graham has a strained patellar tendon and is questionable. CB- Franz has a hyper extended knee and is doubtful for about 2 weeks. K- Cousino has a broken nose but should be able to kick. As for FL- Webster, he is still out and LB- Brim is almost 100%. After this next game is our bye week and we should be almost totally healthy. Good news there. We are 7-0 and have a 2 ½ game lead over N.E. who are 4-2.

Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Bradley, DT- Cooper had 4 tackles, 1 assist and 1 sack, CB- Franz had 3 tackles, 1 assist and 1 interception for a TD and also a fumble recovery.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Gary Nieuwstadt- Detroit 20/33 for 215 yards with 3 TD and 0 INT for the second week in a row he is player of the week.
Defensive player of the week: OLB- Moe Sphar- Carolina 8 tackles, 3 assists, 2 sacks, 1 INT and 1 pass defended.

Next: 7-0, Indy comes to town as we try to go 8-0 before the bye week.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 8:..Indianapolis @ Miami........................Final Score: Miami 16 Indianapolis 2

Game highlights: Great defensive effort. We stopped Indy on 3 and outs on their first 6 drives. DE- Dix had a good day with 4 tackles, 1 assist, 2 sacks, 2 pass blocks and 3 hurries. SS- Sanford had 3 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack and 6 passes defended. We stopped Indy on 3rd and 4th and goal from the 2 yard line. QB- Bush was efficient as he was 10/16 for 78 yards and 0 INT. K- Cousino was 3/4 on FG. His miss was from 38 but he hit 3 over 40 (50,43,50). We had a 36 to 24 minute possession edge. RB- Eriksen was good returning from injury, 23/94 and 1 TD.

Lowlights: We were 1/15 on 3rd downs. We kept Indy in the game by going in at halftime only leading 16-0 and then not scoring again. QB- Bush fumbled the ball after a sack.

Game notes: We start the season at 8-0 and have our bye week this week. We will have almost everyone healthy after the bye. Only FL- Webster will be less than 100%. We still have a 2 ½ game lead in our division.

Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen, DE- Dix and SS- Sanford.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Bucky Randle EL- N.E. 28/48 for 248 yards with 1 TD and 0 INT
Defensive player of the week: OLB- Richard Moss- Pitts 6 tackles, 2 assists, 1 sack and 2 INT.

Next: We are 8-0 heading into our bye week. Mid-season report up next

[DolphinFan1]

Week 9: Bye week

Offensive player of the week: RB- Sam Sheldon- Philadelphia 23 rushes for 160 yards.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Ralph Hojnacki- Oakland 5 tackles, 4 assists and 3.5 sacks.

2003 Miami Dolphins Mid-Season Report

Record:.....8-0 .....1st in the AFC East............Currently we are the # 1 seed in the AFC

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

148 rushing yards a game....1st in the league.........93.6 rushing yards a game.........4th in the league
143 passing yards a game....31st in the league......173 passing yards a game.......8th in the league
24 points per game ............2nd in the league.........10.3 points per game...............3rd in the league
32.8% 3rd down conversions...14th in the league....46 sacks......................................1st in the league
+12 turnover margin................1st in the league.............We are 15th in the league in penalties against

Individual Stats:

QB- Bush 111/200 55.5% 1105 yards 7 TD 7 INT
RB- Eriksen 92 rushes 422 yards (4.5) 2 TD
RB- Bradley 76 rushes 301 yards (3.9) 4 TD
FB- Lowe 35 rushes 232 yards (6.6) 1 TD 16 rec. 86 yards receiving
RB- Jordan 65 rushes 144 yards (2.2) 1 TD
SE- Carlson 21 catches 323 yards
FL- Webster 21 catches 287 yards 2 TD
TE- Talley 20 catches 148 yards 2 TD

PR- Riekens 7.4 KR- Eriksen 23.2 KR- Riekens 21.2
K- Cousino 10/16 FG with a long of 50 and 22/22 on PAT
P- McKnight has a 39.0 average which is in the middle of the league

Team leaders:

Sacks: DE- Dix 6.0 LB- Bradford 4.5 DE- Lynch 4.5
Tackles: FS- Benson 34 CB- Lyle 31 LB- Stanton 29
Interceptions: LB- Bradford, CB- Lyle, CB- Franz, FS- Benson all have 3
Passes defended: SS- Sanford 7 CB- Lyle, FS- Benson, CB- Riekens all have 5
Run blocks: G- Rodriguez 20/57 2 sacks allowed
C- Malone 18/55 0 sacks allowed
G- Brosseau 8/34 3 sacks allowed
Forced fumbles: CB- Lyle 5


1st half analysis

We have a definite improvement in our power running game. RB- Eriksen, RB- Bradley, FB- Lowe and RB- Jordan are all doing well in their respective assignments. PR/KR has greatly improved with the addition of CB- Riekens. The other major improvement over last year is our turnover margin which is +12 through 8 games. That’s one of the main reasons we are 8-0. One area of disappointment is our passing game which ranks next to last. Bush will continue to start as long as we can run the ball and keep winning. But it looks clear that he isn’t going to be able to carry the team when we can’t run. So, Raven will continue to learn the system and eventually he will get a shot to show what he can do.

1st half rookie report

1st round pick: QB- Raven has only seen a few plays and was 3/9 for 35 yards. Will play more later in year.
3rd round pick: RB- Jordan has a deceiving yards per carry because he is used primarily to get the 1st down in a short yardage situation. He is doing what is asked of him.
4th round pick: G- Brosseau is starting and going through some struggles with sacks allowed. Still a solid player for us.
5th round pick: CB- Riekens is an excellent pick. He is a contributor to our secondary and return games.
5th round pick: K- Cousino is an improvement over last year’s kicker but has struggled with the shorter kicks.
6th round pick: FB- Lowe is a power FB and starting. He has really upgraded our running game.
7th round pick: C- Isbell is backing up Malone and is ok for a 7th round pick.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 10:....Miami @ Houston..............................Final Score:.....Houston 10 Miami 3

Game highlights: Our defense played great with 10 sacks. Defense also held Houston to no points on two Riekens PR fumbles. The OL only allowed 1 sack. K- Cousino hit his only FG attempt. LB- Bradford had a good day with 6 tackles, 3 assists, 2 sacks, 1 pass defended and 2 forced fumbles.

Lowlights: Our running game was stuffed by Houston’s defense. QB- Bush was bad with 11/25 for 60 yards and an INT. His interception went for the only TD of the game and it turned out to be the game winner. I think the bye week hurt our momentum. We lost the turnover battle 3-1. We had a chance to tie the game with a final drive with 2:10 to go and 1 timeout. But Bush couldn’t get a first down.

Game notes: This is a testament to what I was saying in my 1st half analysis about Bush not being able to carry the team when our running game struggles. I think I will let Raven see what he can do next time our running game is having trouble generating offense. We had one serious injury, SE- Carlson hyperextended his knee and will be out about 4 weeks. He went down early in the game and with Webster still nursing a hip pointer, Bush had a depleted receiving crew to throw to. Not that I will accept that as an excuse. He has been erratic in his 1 ½ years here. With N.E. winning and us losing, our lead in the AFC East is down to one game. We are playing a division game against the Jets next week. With the loss of Carlson, Webster will have to play at less than 100%. He is almost there so hopefully he can help us. Those are the only two injuries at the moment.

Miami player of the week nominee: LB- Bradford
Offensive player of the week: RB- Vince Boyd- Seattle 20 rushes for 186 yards and 2 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Donald Brewster- Jacksonville 5 tackles and 3 sacks.

Next: We try to start another winning streak in N.Y. against the Jets.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 11:....Miami @ N.Y.Jets..............................Final Score:....Jets 38 Miami 13

Game highlights: We started out with a FG and a TD on our 1st two drives. QB- Bush started out sharp as he was 7/9 for 110 yards. We only committed 2 penalties. QB- Raven was good in relief, 13/18 for 93 yards. FL- Webster caught 5 balls for 79 yards in his return from injury. K- Cousino was 2/2 on FG and P- McKnight had 3 out of 5 punts inside the 20 with a 39.8 average.

Lowlights: After our 1st two drives, Bush was terrible. He was 2/8 for 11 yards and 2 INT after his great start. Our rushing game was stuffed for the second straight game. We only had 66 yards on 20 carries. OL allowed 7 sacks. We lost the turnover battle 3-0.

Game notes: After our good start we had trouble generating any offense. QB- Raven did ok and may play more. QB- Bush better show something soon. We still have a one game lead because Buffalo beat N.E. We play Philadelphia next week. They are 6-4 and we need a win after losing two in a row after the bye week. We had one serious injury in the game. DT- Cooper was lost for the year with a torn lateral knee ligament. That’s a big loss as he is a starter. I put him on IR and signed a FA. DT- Blaine Schroeder played for Cleveland last year. He had 39 tackles, 14 assists and 3 sacks. SE- Carlson is still about 3 weeks away from returning.

Miami player of the week nominee: None
Offensive player of the week: QB- Martin Lester- Washington 22/36 for 210 yards with 2 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Rex Kelly- Tampa Bay 4 tackles, 1 assist and 3 sacks.


Next: We started 8-0 and are now 8-2. We need to win against Philly next week.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 12:...Philadelphia @ Miami........................Final Score:...Miami 21 Philadelphia 6

Game highlights: Our defense played well. We had 2 interceptions returned for TD’s (LB- Bradford, CB- Franz) which gave us 2 of our 3 TD. We won the turnover battle 4-1. RB- Eriksen had 25 rushes for 101 yards. QB- Bush was nothing to right home about with a 9/15 for 63 yard performance but no interceptions.

Lowlights: RB- Eriksen fumbled. We had 4 offensive holding calls which helped in our dismal 199 yard offensive production. LT- Graham allowed 3 sacks for the 2nd straight game. RB- Bradley in trying to spell Eriksen a rest in the game only gained 12 yards on 11 carries.

Game notes: N.E. won, so at 9-2 we still have a one game lead in the division. We had 3 serious injuries in the game. SE- Blassingame hyperextended his elbow and will be out for about 3 weeks. FB- Lowe is suffering from the same injury and will also miss about 3 weeks. RG- Brosseau has a hyperextended knee and will be out also for about 3 weeks. SE- Carlson is listed questionable for 2 more weeks, but with the injury to Blassingame he has to play if he can. We only have 3 healthy receivers. The injuries are starting to mount. We play Kansas City this week at home. They are 2-9 and we have to be careful. We lost to a 2 win team last year that ended up costing us the playoffs.

Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen and CB- Franz with 4 tackles, 2 assists and 1 INT.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Nate Newhart- Cleveland 20/28 for 210 yards and 3 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Ralph Hojnacki- Oakland 6 tackles, 1 assist and 4.5 sacks.

Next: We try to keep it going against Kansas City.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 13:....Kansas City @ Miami ..................................Final Score:...Miami 16 Kansas City 13

Game highlights: Another defensive struggle. Our defense had 5 sacks while our OL gave up none. There were no turnovers in the game. We had a 36 to 24 minute T.O.P edge. That was largely due to a 20 play, 83 yard, 11:25 drive for a TD in the 1st half. RB- Eriksen had 14 carries for 67 yards in the 1st half. He finished with 88 yards on 28 carries. QB- Bush was decent with a 15/25 for 96 yards and 1 TD performance. Two games without a INT. He must have understood after I took him out a couple games ago. K- Cousino was 3/3 on FG with a long of 49.

Lowlights: Our offense is still struggling as we amassed a grand total of 201 yards. That’s a whole 2 yards more than last week. K.C. almost tied the game in the final minute, but a delay of game penalty made the FG attempt 57 yards which was short. We were 14 point favorites and we played like we were 2-9.

Game notes: N.E. won again. We play them in 2 weeks, but first it’s the NFC East leaders, the N.Y.Giants. They are 9-3. We had 2 more injuries. LB- O’Neal is out up to 5 weeks with a strained back. C- Malone has a deep thigh bruise but should play. SE- Carlson is probable, but he played this week so he should be ok. SE- Blassingame is questionable and I will sit him one more week. Same goes for FB- Lowe and RG- Brosseau. I want them as close to 100% for the showdown against N.E. in 2 weeks.

Miami players of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen and LT- Graham 5/10 on run blocks and 0 sacks.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Percy Watson- Dallas 22/29 for 244 yards with 2 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Mike Carpenter- Philadelphia 10 tackles, 4 assists and 2.5 sacks.

Next: We head to New York to face the Giants.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 14:....Miami @ N.Y.Giants....................................Final Score:...Giants 13 Miami 10

Game highlights: We were 6/13 on 3rd down conversions. RB- Eriksen had 23 carries for 113 yards. QB- Bush was good at 17/22 for 133 yards and 1 TD. P- McKnight had 3 out of 4 punts inside the 20 and a 45.5 average.

Lowlights: We struggled in the second half after the score was 10-10. RB- Eriksen fumbled twice. The first one was our 1st possession of the second half and led to the FG that ultimately turned out to be the game winner. The second was on our final possession with about 3 minutes to go trailing 13-10. We got to their 9 yard line and Eriksen turned it over. We could have tied or maybe punched it in for a TD.

Game notes: N.E. lost so we have a 1 game lead and N.E. comes to town for an AFC East showdown. We beat them earlier this year, so if we win with 2 games to go we will win the division. We suffered another injury. FL- Webster is doubtful with a pulled groin. LB- O’Neal is still out and RG- Brosseau is questionable. SE- Blassingame, C- Malone and FB- Lowe are probable and should play.

Miami player of the week nominee: RB- Eriksen
Offensive player of the week: QB- Bucky Randle EL- N.E. 28/45 for 316 yards with 3 TD and 2 INT.
Defensive player of the week: LB- Shawn Schulz- Philadelphia 7 tackles, 7 assists and 2 INT.

N.E. QB comes in hot, but last time the rookie faced us he threw 4 interceptions.

Next: We are 10-3 and N.E. comes to town for the big AFC East showdown. We need to win to take this thing.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 15:...New England @ Miami...................Final Score: Miami 20 New England 19

Game highlights: OL allowed no sacks. RB- Eriksen and RB- Bradley rushed for 12/65 and 12/66 respectively. Bradley had a rushing TD. QB- Bush was 14/27 for 126 yards with 1 TD and 2 INT. K- Cousino was 2/2 of FG with a long of 47 and the game winner with no time remaining from 39.

Lowlights: We only had 1 sack. We were 3/11 on 3rd downs. RB- Jordan fumbled on our 1st drive on a 3rd and short. We blew a 14-0 lead and almost lost the game.

Game notes: We won a big game for the AFC east title. But our work is not done as I would like a 1st round bye to heal some injuries. We have 2 regular season games to go and they’re at home against Washington (8-6) and the Jets (5-9). K- Cousino hit a big FG under pressure. We didn’t suffer any more injuries. FL- Webster is questionable and I will sit him for this week. LB- O’Neal is still out and RG- Brosseau is almost 100% and should play. I will begin to look at my free agents to see if they are worth signing. I will have a report in a couple weeks.

Miami player of the week nominee: None.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Glenn Hutton- Tampa Bay 24/34 for 247 yards and 2 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Dale Norris- Washington 7 tackles, 3 assists and 3 sacks.


Next: Washington comes to town as we try to wrap up a 1st round bye.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 16:....Washington @ Miami...........................Final Score: Washington 10 Miami 3

Game highlights: Our defense played well, only allowing 10 points. QB- Bush was ok at 24/39 for 196 yards and 1 INT. We were 8/17 on 3rd downs. We had a 36 to 24 minute T.O.P. edge. SE- Carlson had 9 catches for 89 yards.

Lowlights: We had 3 turnovers and 2 were in the redzone. RB- Eriksen fumbled inside the 20 when we were going in for the tie at the end of the game. He did that 2 weeks ago. He had better correct that problem fast. K- Cousino missed 3 FG. Our running game struggled as RB- Bradley went down early with an injury.

Game notes: Even with the loss we have a chance at the #2 seed in the AFC. We need to win or a Houston loss. They beat us earlier this year, so they have the tiebreaking edge. We could use the extra week off to heal some of our players. We suffered 2 new injuries. LT- Graham is out with a high ankle sprain. It is unknown if he can play in the playoffs. Certainly a week off will help. RB- Bradley is questionable with a strained patellar tendon. LB- O’Neal still is not ready. But he should be for the playoffs. FL- Webster is still less than 100% but well enough to play. Let’s beat the Jets and get a bye week. I don’t want to have to scoreboard watch.

Miami player of the week nominees: SE- Carlson, LB- Bradford 5 tackles, 2 assists and 1.5 sacks.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Terrance Markovich- Kansas City 29/40 for 266 yards with 1 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Warren Naeole- Tennessee 6 tackles and 3 sacks.

Next: Those pesky Jets come to town as we try to get the #2 seed and a 1st round bye.

[DolphinFan1]

Week 17:....N.Y.Jets @ Miami................................Final Score: Miami 24 Jets 16

Game highlights: OL only gave up 1 sack. We won the turnover battle 2-1. We were 6/12 on 3rd downs. We only had 3 penalties. RB- Eriksen had 120 yards on 23 carries and a TD. RB- Jordan had 71 yards on 13 carries and a TD. QB- Bush was efficient at 11/14 for 99 yards and a TD. C- Malone had 7 out of 14 run blocks and 0 sacks allowed.

Lowlights: K- Cousino was 1 for 2 on FG. RB- Wolf fumbled the ball late in the game when we had a 15 point lead trying to run out the clock. That led to a Jets TD and made the game closer than it should have been.

Game notes: Houston had an early game and won. So we knew going in that we had to tie or win to get the #2 seed in the AFC. I wanted to rest some of our starters, but couldn’t after Houston won. So, we are the #2 seed and Oakland is the #1 seed with a 15-1 record. Thankfully, we only suffered one new injury in the game. LB- Stanton has a bruised ribcage, but with the bye week he should be close to 100%.

Miami player of the week nominees: RB- Eriksen and C- Malone.
Offensive player of the week: QB- Reggie Meadows- Oakland 24/32 for 213 yards and 1 TD.
Defensive player of the week: DE- Moe Witt- Houston 5 tackles, 3 assists and 3 sacks.

Next: End of season 2003 stats and the 2003 playoffs. Can we win it all?

[DolphinFan1]

Miami Dolphins 2003 End of year stats:

Record: 12-4 1st in the AFC East.........................We are a #2 seed in the AFC

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

136.6 rushing yards a game...1st in the league.....102.4 rushing yards a game...9th in the league
132.9 passing yards a game...32nd in the league......174.4 passing yards a game...6th in the league
18.8 points per game....8th in the league.....13.0 points per game...2nd in the league
35.6% 3rd down conversions...9th in the league....74 sacks...................1st in the league
+10 turnover ratio.........T- 3rd in the league......We were 2nd in the league in penalties against

Individual Stats:

QB- Bush 221/383 57.7% 1999 yards 11 TD 13 INT
RB- Eriksen 244 rushes 1023 yards (4.1) 3 TD 8 fumbles
RB- Bradley 140 rushes 506 yards (3.6) 7 TD 0 fumbles
RB- Jordan 110 rushes 280 yards (2.5) 2 TD 3 fumbles
FL- Webster 40 catches 478 yards 2 TD
SE- Carlson 41 catches 546 yards 2 TD
SE- Koserdka 22 catches 170 yards 1 TD
TE- Talley 49 catches 356 yards 3 TD
FB- Lowe 29 catches 156 yards 0 TD

PR- Riekens 7.3 KR- Riekens 22.7 KR- Eriksen 22.7
P- McKnight had a 39.1 average
K- Cousino was 21/33 with a long of 50 and 33/33 on PAT

Team Stats:

Sacks: DE- Dix 10.0 LB- Bradford 8.0 DE- Lynch 5.5
Tackles: LB- Bradford 62 CB- Lyle 62 S- Benson 59
Interceptions: CB- Franz 5 LB- Bradford, CB- Lyle and S- Benson had 4
Passes Defended CB- Lyle 11, S- Benson 9, CB- Franz 8, S- Sanford 8 and CB- Riekens 7
Run Blocks: C- Malone 40/119 with 3 sacks allowed
G- Rodriguez 36/106 with 5 sacks allowed
T- Graham 16/70 with 9 sacks allowed
T- Heath 16/59 with 3 sacks allowed
FB- Lowe 15/44 with 1 sack allowed


End of 2003 regular season notes:

As we head into the playoffs, let’s look at some improvements over last year. Our rushing game went from 8th to 1st in the league. Our PPG went from 14th to 8th. Our defense PPG went from 14th to 2nd. Our sacks went from 66 to 74 to lead the league. And our biggest improvement why we are 12-4 and AFC East Champions is our turnover ratio. Last year we were at -10, this year we are at +10. We went from 28th to T- 3rd.
Our passing game struggled. Looks like that is an area we will have to address in the offseason.

Rookie report:

QB- Raven He didn’t see much playing time this year. But with Bush a free agent, he may start next year.
RB- Jordan He was used in 3rd downs and short yardage situations. He did ok in his role.
OG- Brosseau 11/48 run blocks and 3 sacks allowed. He has to develop and could be an excellent pass protector. Great potential at pass protection.
CB- Riekens He upgraded our return game. Also played solid on the corner.
K- Cousino He missed some easy kicks, but he also hit some clutch game winners.
FB- Lowe Excellent short yardage power runner. Good blocker.
C- Isbell He didn’t see much playing time as Malone had a great year. But he could be a decent player.


Next: The 2003 playoffs

[DolphinFan1]

1st round of the 2003 playoffs:

Detroit 20 Arizona 3,........Baltimore 38 New England 31
Tampa Bay 13 Philadelphia 7........Tennessee 28 Houston 10

1st round byes: N.Y. Giants, Chicago, Oakland and Miami

2nd round of the 2003 playoffs:

N.Y. Giants 31 Detroit 19,........Oakland 27 Tennessee 13
Chicago 13 Tampa Bay 6

Baltimore (10-5-1) @ Miami (12-4):

Injuries: LT- Graham is still out with his high ankle sprain. LB- Stanton is almost 100% and will play. LB- O’Neal is 100%.
We win the toss and receive. Our 1st play is a negative one as QB- Bush gets sacked for a 6 yard loss. Then RB- Eriksen runs for 11 yards to set up a 3rd and 5. Bush completes a pass for 13 yards and a 1st down. Eriksen then rips two runs for 11 and 10. A couple more 1st downs and then Bush hits SE- Blassingame for a 9 yard TD pass and we are on the board 7-0. The drive was 11 plays for 71 yards and took 5:37.
Baltimore’s 1st possessions starts out good for them. They get a couple of 1st downs and then our defense steps up. We get 2 sacks on 2nd and 3rd down and they have to punt.
We can’t move the ball however and have to punt after a 3 and out.
After Baltimore gets a 1st down, we get 2 more sacks. On the second sack, CB- Lyle knocks the ball loose and DE- Robbins recovers the ball and brings it to the Baltimore 26 yard line.
After a couple plays that’s the end of the 1st quarter. The ball is at the Baltimore 4 and we have a 1st and goal and lead 7-0. On the 1st play of the 2nd quarter, Bush gets a 4 yard TD pass to TE- Talley and we lead 14-0.
Baltimore does nothing on their next drive as they go 3 and out. We record another sack, that’s 5 on the day. Our defense is swarming.
On the punt, CB- Riekens returns it 61 yards for a TD. That’s our 1st PR for a TD this year. We miss the extra point and we lead 20-0.
On Baltimore’s next drive, they fumble again after a couple of 1st downs. CB- Lyle knocks the ball loose again and Riekens recovers 27 yards and a TD. We lead 27-0. What a day for Riekens and Lyle.
We both go 3 and out on our next possessions.
They drive to our 31 and have to settle for a 48 yard FG try. They miss it and it’s still 27-0.
That’s the way the first half ends, 27-0 Miami.
We lost FL- Webster in the 1st half. I don’t know how serious it is yet.
The second half, Baltimore starts out well with a 10 play, 77 yard TD drive to cut the lead to 27-7.
We answer with a 6 play, 64 yard TD run from RB- Bradley. He rushed 2 times on the drive, 20 and 28 yards for the TD. We lead 34-7.
On the ensuing kickoff, our K- Cousino was injured seriously. The next few drives by both teams are 3 and outs.
We get the ball to their 27 and have a 4th and 5. With Cousino out I deliberate on kicking a long FG. With the big lead I figure to let McKnight try. Just in case he is needed in a close game someday. He misses it from 44 yards. It was short. We still lead 34-7 with 14 minutes to go in the game.
They go 3 and out and we get another sack. We have 7 on the day.
The rest of the game is just running out the clock. We win 34-7. Now it’s off to Oakland in the Conference Finals.

Notes on the game:

We had 7 sacks by the defense. We won the turnover battle 2-0. RB- Eriksen/Bradley combined for 22 rushes for 113 yards and a TD. QB- Bush was good as he was 14/19 for 104 yards and 2 TD. PR- Riekens had 3 PR for 90 yards and 1 TD. P- McKnight had 4/7 punts inside the 20 with a 43.5 average. LB- Bradford who was named player of the game had 5 tackles, 3 assists and 2 sacks.

We suffered some major injuries in the game. We lost FL- Webster for the year with a hyper extended knee. That will hurt. LT- Graham is still out. LB- Bradford has a sprained thumb but will play. K- Cousino has ACL damage to his knee and will miss the rest of the year. That hurts also. I won’t make a move to replace Webster. We will use the receivers we have. I think we can win with our running game. But losing our kicker is a big blow. I will look at the FA and see what we have.

A couple more notes: FL- Webster is a FA. I will have to see how he rates after the injury to see if he is worth resigning. K- Cousino is a promising rookie. Hopefully he can fully recover. Although I will have to be ready to replace them next year if they aren’t back to form.

Next: The Conference Finals 2003

[DolphinFan1]

2003 Conference Finals:

N.Y. Giants beat the defending Front Office Bowl Champion Chicago Bears 28-19.

After looking over the FA wire, I sign a kicker with some experience. Michael Kadanoff played for Philadelphia last year. He was 24/31 with a long of 53 and was 29/29 on PAT. Let’s hope he can help us. He may even challenge Cousino for his job next year, you never know.

Miami @ Oakland:

Oakland wins the toss and receives. They drive right down the field. Our defense hold @ our 33 and Oakland has to settle for a 50 yard FG and a 3-0 lead.
Our first drive starts out promising. RB- Eriksen rips runs of 17, 12 and then a 8 yard pass play. Then Eriksen runs 2 more times and one more pass play. We are in the red zone. Then QB- Bush throws and INT in the endzone. A great drive killed by a turnover. Eriksen was good on the drive, 4 rushes for 45 yards.
Oakland drives down the field again on our defense. They are at our 32 before we get 2 consecutive sacks on 2nd and 3rd down. That puts the ball @ our 47 and they have to punt.
Eriksen continues to run well on our 2nd drive. He has runs of 2, 42 and 4 with a pass play in between. But on his last run, he fumbles @ the Oakland 22. He has 7 rushes for 93 yards. It’s too bad he fumbled.
The 1st quarter ends a couple plays later with Oakland leading 3-0 and the ball @ their 44. They continue the drive in the 2nd quarter with a 7 play, 78 yard TD drive. They now lead 10-0.
Neither us nor Oakland does much on our next drive. Then we get the ball @ our 47. Eriksen continues to run well. He rushes for 3,4,20 and 4 and has 12 rushes for 127 yards. But he is tired and has to come out for a while. Bradley takes over and rushes for 5,2 and a 3 yard TD run. We go 10 plays, 53 yards in 5:07 to cut the Oakland lead to 10-7.
We stop them on 3 and out on their next drive. We get the ball at our 45 with 1:37 to go and 1 timeout. RB- Bradley gets injured on the drive. We get to Oakland’s 23 with 8 seconds to go. We try a 40 yard FG with our new kicker, Kadanoff. He misses it. Maybe that’s why Philly released him. Can’t hit a clutch FG. That would have tied the game. Instead we go in at halftime trailing 10-7. With the 2 turnovers earlier deep in Oakland territory, we cost ourselves a chance to have a lead at halftime.
We get the ball to start the second half. We move the ball a little but still have to punt. Oakland has the ball at their 40.
They go right down the field and get a TD in 10 plays and 60 yards and now lead 17-7.
We drive the ball a little on our next possession. We get to Oakland’s 38 and have a 4th and 5. It’s too long for a FG and too close to punt. After deliberating I decide to try to fool them with a fake FG. It doesn’t fool anyone. Shortly after, that’s the end of the 3rd quarter with Oakland leading 17-7.
They first half of the 4th quarter we trade a couple punts. Then they drive down the field and get another TD. They now lead 24-7 with 2:45 to go. It’s just about over now.
We go into hurry up mode. We get a quick TD in 5 plays and go 71 yards. We now trail 24-14 with 1:30 to go. Then we try an onside kick. We recover! The ball is at our 42 and we go 6 plays and 58 yards and another TD. With the extra point we now trail 24-21. There are 15 seconds to go. We need another onside kick and a prayer. We try it but this time they recover and the game is over. Oakland wins 24-21.
We almost pulled off a miracle. But we probably wouldn’t have been in that situation if we didn’t turn the ball over on our 1st two drives. Also we missed that FG. It might have been a different game. But Oakland showed why they went 15-1 in the regular season.

Notes on the game:

We almost came back, but it goes back to what I was saying all along, you can’t turn the ball over. We had 5 sacks. RB- Eriksen had 19 rushes for 137 yards but one costly fumble. QB- Bush was 25/36 for 274 yards with 2 TD and 1 INT. Most of his yards came during the frantic drives at the end of the game. The interception was costly. SE- Carlson had 6 catches for 93 yards. SE- Blassingame had 7 catches for 73 yards and 1 TD. K- Kadanoff missed his only FG attempt.

Other notes:

Well, our season is over. We certainly improved on last year’s performance. But it sucks to get so close and lose. I will be evaluating our FA and see who we will try to resign.

Oakland wins the Front Office Bowl 2003 by beating the N.Y. Giants by a score of 21-3.

My end of year rating: Performance 83, Value 45, Profit 70 and Roster 74 for a final score of: 63.

Three of our players made the seasons awards list:

G- Rodriguez made the 1st team list. FB- Lowe and C- Malone made the second team list.

Next: Look for the next season coming soon. It will be titled: FOF4: Miami Dolphins 2004