Sep 12, 2005 10:08 am US/Mountain
Dolphins Take Advantage Of Heat
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4/DenverBroncos.com) ―
The Dolphins used their health and the heat to their advantage Sunday.
Miami advanced to a 10-3-1 series record against the Broncos, including a win in seven of their last eight meetings. They are also undefeated against Denver (7-0) in South Florida.
"When the Broncos came in here, it was hot, that was to our advantage," Dolphins' linebacker Zach Thomas said. "I knew if we put it together we could play well."
The Broncos' running backs had an exceptional preseason, rushing for 800 yards on 137 attempts. Mike Anderson left the game in the first quarter with a rib injury and had five yards on four carries. Tatum Bell entered the game as his replacement and finished the game with 47 rushing yards on 13 attempts.
"They have one of the better running schemes in the league," Dolphins' defensive lineman Kevin Carter said. "They'll run the ball, cut back on you and run the ball down hill. They keep you off balance and mix up the run and the pass, you know change up their looks and do a lot of things.
"Basically we had to stop them from making vertical seams in our defense. We had to stop them from being able to run down hill and not just let them wash us down. It was a good plan."
Jake Plummer finished the game 22-of-48 for 251 yards despite not being able to gain one single passing yard in the first quarter.
"They gave us a lot of formations," Dolphins' head coach Nick Saban said. "We really played simple because they were giving themselves formation shifts and motions. I think, philosophically, they really wanted to establish the run. I think the most important thing in the game was that we stopped the run early."
But Plummer used his lithe physique and quick feet that have made him famous as a scrambler to make Miami's defense miss tackles.
"It's tough when you miss tackles," defensive end Jason Taylor said. "You work so hard to get there and you miss him. Jake isn't called 'The Snake' for nothing. He's slippery. A lot of times when I tackle I go for the strip."
Denver's defense allowed 426 total yards on offense and wasn't able to sack Gus Frerotte once, but they did stuff Miami's offense on fourth-down conversions twice.
"I really don't think they knew where it was coming from and I think they were trying to gives us a lot of blitz looks and we were ready for them all," Frerotte said. "We have seen so much from our defense that any they may do to us, it is not a surprise because we go against that everyday."
When the Dolphins weren't being dropped by one of Nick Ferguson's 12 tackles in the game, Frerotte was throwing for 275 yards and rookie running back Ronnie Brown was rushing for 57 yards on 22 attempts.
"They made the plays when they had to," Al Wilson said. "We made the plays, we just didn't make as many as we needed to."
"They deserved to win," Head Coach Mike Shanahan said. "They played much better than we did in all phases."
(Copyright © MMV CBS Television Stations, Inc.)
Stumble It!
