Dolphins Outlast Bucs

It was a sloppy night for football at Raymond James Stadium, on Thursday night. Rain storms followed by lightning moved in on the stadium, typical Florida weather. As I sat at the stadium with my throwback Dan Marino jersey on, rain dripping down my face, here is what I saw:

First Quarter-

Chad Pennington and the offense came out very sloppy in the first quarter, the conditions not helping very much. The offense seemed very much out of rhythm, going three and out the first few series. Pennington throws were a little off target, but drops by some wide receivers did not help. Also a long pass to rookie Brian Hartline was called back due to a questionable offensive pass interference call. The defense didn't play great , but well enough to limiting Tampa Bay to a Mike Nugent field goal.

Second Quarter-

Another field goal for the Bucs, as the weather was getting much worse. Lightining scattered through the sky, causing the officials to delay the game. After about a fifteen minute delay, the teams took back to the field. The Dolphin offense still sputtered, not able to get a rushing game going at all. The defense was able to put pressure on Bucs QB Luke McCown, sacking him a few times. Pennington stayed in the game, and with about two minutes left orchestrated a drive that ended up in a Dan Carpenter field goal. The Bucs lead 6-3 at half.

Third Quarter-

The Dolphins wasted no time as Pennington hit Hartline for a 54 yard reception. A couple plays later he hit a wide open Anthony Fasano on a play-action pass, for a 2 yard touchdown. Chad Henne relieved Pennington, but was inaccurate and unimpressive. There was no other scoring and the Dolphins were up 10-6.

Fourth Quarter-

The rain completely let up and it actually turned into quite a nice night. Again another very defensive quarter, although the Dolphins had a chance to score early. Henne hit Greg Camarillo for a 52 yard play, although it looked like Camarillo would have scored if he did not make a cut back to the middle of the field. A couple plays later in the red zone, Henne threw a bad pass and was picked off. Bad mistake by a young QB, but I am not worried this is just part of the learning process. Defense holds and the Dolphins win 10-6, an ugly win but a win none the less.

Other Notes-

First round pick Vontae Davis was active and had 6 tackles on the night.

Free agent pickup Gibril Wilson led the team with 8 tackles.

It was nice to see Jason Taylor making plays in a Dolphins uniform again.

Hartline final stats 3 rec for 79 yards, really making a case to be thrown into the receiver discussion for the season.