I will make the announcement tomorrow or Wednesday but we have some surprises in store for you guys on Thursday. It will be a big party and we will be raising money for charity and hooking you guys up in the process so get excited for Thursday night football.

And let the football gods shine on Tyler Thigpen. Enjoy the photos from Sunday and double click the slideshow below if you want to save any of the photos.

Personally I cannot understand how we could not stop them from running running back dump off after running back dump off. At some point you would think Mike Nolan would have had someone mirror Rice after we got burned.  I have no idea what happened after we have been playing such good defense of late.
On special teams how could we possibly leave a gunner open and allow a punter to complete a damn pass? It was the only time all game we had forced them to punt and we blew it.

And our offense? Now that was something. After a fantastic drive to open the game we decided that we wouldn’t run the ball again. Dan Henning called one of the worst games of his career. We were empty back field half the game. We through something like 50 times and we didn’t start running play action until we were down by 16 with 2 minutes to go.

And the Dolphins solution to this? Bench Chad Henne. To me this is absurd. Henne missed an easy touchdown and he three 3 interceptions, but honestly two of those weren’t even his fault. Evidently he has 7 interceptions on the year that haven’t been his fault.  That is absurd. With the 8 would be INT’s that our defense has dropped we are talking about a -15 turnover margin caused by drops and miscues.  This team has a lot of problems but in my mind the answer is not benching Chad Henne.

That being said, I do think Chad Pennington can come in and lead this team. Henning’s horrible offense is built for Pennington and I think Marshall is going to love him.  Marshall and Bess are both the type of players you can dump short passes off to and Pennington is just the type of guy to throw to him. I think it will turn this team around.

Of course it will probably be the end of Henne in Miami and Pennington will get injured again or just get too old for this and we will have to start all over again trying to find a new guy when I wasn’t ready to give up on Henne.
And lastly the idea to bench Sean Smith for Jason Allen has turned out even worse than planned. Not only did we have some serious coverage issues with Allen in the game but after he got re demoted evidently he started complaining and asking to be released. So now he is playing for Houston and old man Al Harris is having to learn Mike Nolan’s defense.  I don’t exactly see a 35 year old man being a core four special teamer do you?

Anyway, I am going to stop bitching about this team. I love them and I really think they are going to win a bunch of games in a row starting with the Titans.  Yes, the Titans are coming off a bye but Vince Young is still banged up and Moss could just cause havoc in Tennessee. I really think we are due to win one at home and then our schedule gets a lot easier from here on out. If we can go 6 and 2 maybe we are back in this and I think Pennington if he stays healthy might just be the guy to take us back to the playoffs… but we are going to need some luck.

So, I hope to see everyone out at Third and Long this week. We need a big crowd to keep everyone in this. I don’t want to see the place start to thin out because we have lost a few games.  I know the die hards will be in the back with me, but we need to keep that place packed.

Next Thursday we are going to do some special event for the Thursday night game against the Bears… so put that on your calendar and get excited.

See you guys Sunday. Go Dolphins!

There were plenty of reasons for Miami to pass on Moss, who can be the best player on the field if he’s motivated, and a head-case who doesn’t respect his teammates or coaches and carries far more baggage than he’s worth if he’s disinterested. 

Despite playing for Bill Belichick, one of very few coaches who has earned Moss’s admiration, the wide receiver still found a ticket out of New England after questioning his role in the offense and getting into a spat about Tom Brady’s hair (I don’t actually think that last part is true, but it’s hilarious nonetheless). 

Through his career, Moss has been repeatedly chastised for his lack of effort, failure to finish routes and make blocks, and an alarming attitude in the locker room that largely contributed to his release from Minnesota.

But hate him or love him, Moss is one of the most talented WRs in NFL history, and players of his caliber are hardly ever so readily available.  He’s two and a half years removed from a season in which he recorded nearly 1,500 receiving yards and caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes.   For his career, he ranks second in league history in TDs (153), fourth in receiving yards per game (76.6), fifth in total receiving yards (14,778), and eight in catches (948).  Those skills didn’t suddenly diminish overnight.

Perhaps the Miami coaches didn’t think they could keep him happy in a run-first offense, or didn’t want to deal with the distractions and media circus that surrounds the outspoken and constantly unhappy Moss.  But his off-putting personality aside, the Dolphins sure could’ve used him on the field.

The team ranks 25^th in the league in passing plays of over 20 yards (17) with an anemic average of 6.7 yards per pass attempt.  Miami hasn’t had a true deep threat (at least one who can catch the ball) in years, and Moss would’ve commanded double-teams and opened the field for Brandon Marshall — who publicly lobbied for the acquisition — and slot receiver Davone Bess.

It would’ve been a relatively low-risk and low-cost gamble for the Dolphins, since Moss is owed $3.388 million for the remainder of the season, the final year of his contract.  Even he has to realize that at this point, no team would hesitate to cut him if he continues to exhibit an oversized ego and a poor attitude, and that he could find himself out of a job in the offseason if he burns yet another bridge.  

The Dolphins could’ve gotten a playmaker whose talents could’ve single-handedly brought the division title back to South Beach.  Instead, they’ll have to settle for seeing Moss catch passes only once this year, when the visiting Titans come to Miami on November 14.

I saw Rex Ryan at the bank on Friday and I ran into Darrelle Revis at a nightclub last night. I have yet to try to fight an NFL football player, but if I keep seeing Jets I just might.  I think I have 15lbs on Revis, although my guess is he can outrun me.

I have to give a shout out to my little brother who is a Titans fan. He came out to the game last week and didn’t talk any smack and actually bought shots for Phins fans after the game. I genuinely think he felt bad about beating us.

And lastly congrats to Hoss for winning the autographed Vernon Carey ball. We met Hoss at our first official DolfansNYC event during the draft last April and he has been out pretty much every week.  This year we raised over $300 for the I Will Foundation doing raffles. I hope we can double that up next year.

Enjoy the photos below!

As always, DolfansNYC will be at Third and Long and we can’t wait to see you all there. Since this is the last game before the holiday season kicks into full gear, we figured we’d go all out and raffle off a ton of stuff! We’ve got Dolphins bags, books, photos and footballs, including an awesome one signed by Vernon Carey. The money that we raise will go towards the I Will Foundation and DolfansNYC, so that we can continue to bring the fun every week.

And be sure to check out Third and Long’s website. They’ve posted our logo and made it official that it’s the home of New York City’s Dolphins fan base.

So don’t let the snow keep you away, it will be warm at Third & Long! Can’t wait to cheer with all of you tomorrow!

Go Dolphins!