If only it were that simple, right? If only the Dolphins' collapse that lost Sunday's game and set the season sour could be neatly blamed on that one timeout call late in the first half -- as so many fans and media apparently would like to believe.

Even coach Tony Sparano made a point of that one sequence to start his Monday news conference, bringing it up before it could be asked.

``I want my players to do this; I need to do it myself. I have to take ownership of the situation,'' the good soldier said. ``I should have lived with what was out on the field in that situation. It was a poor decision on my part.''

OK, enough with this already.

Yeah, it was a dumb timeout that ended up costing Miami four points. But I'm tired of hearing how that one decision -- which allowed the Saints to score a 1-yard touchdown run instead of settling for the field goal they'd planned -- irrevocably turned the entire game against Miami.

You want to blame the avalanche on one pebble? Go ahead. Not me. That's letting the Dolphins off the hook too easily for the calamity of the second half. It might benefit Sparano to fall on the grenade and imply this loss is on him, because it diverts attention from all of the other reasons and culprits. But it is ludicrous to suppose everything might have been different had New Orleans only gotten a field goal heading into halftime.

Remember that Miami overcame and survived Sparano's admitted gaffe to lead 34-24 entering the fourth quarter, then got outscored 22-0 when it mattered most, the defense getting steamrolled and the offense curling into a fetal position.

Is that one timeout late in the second quarter to blame for all that? Really?

If you want a microcosm for this demoralizing defeat, let Sparano off the hook for a second and look to a more proper goat:

Ted Ginn Jr.

Sparano's mistake was a one-time thing that cost Miami momentum but not the game.

Ginn is the gift that keeps on not giving. He is the 2007 Cam Cameron-regime draft misstep that continues to haunt and hurt Miami.

It is time for Sparano and Bill Parcells to pull the plug on Ginn and at least admit he does not deserve the starting job he continues to be handed and must earn it back.

Ginn, the fastest receiver on the squad but someone unable to consistently get open, had eight passes thrown his way Sunday and caught two for a negligible 16 yards.

It was the damage he did when not catching the ball that killed the Dolphins.

Everybody is obsessing about Sparano's timeout late in the second quarter -- how about Ginn's gaffe early in the third?

`A VERY GOOD THROW'

Third-and-11, Chad Henne throws deep left for Ginn, who sees the ball go off his hands and watches it returned 42 yards for a touchdown by Saint Darren Sharper.

``I thought it was a very good throw,'' Sparano admitted.

In other words, a pass that Ginn should have caught for a huge first down instead was a pick-six for which Henne was blameless, a crushing turnaround.

Ginn had two other drops by my count, and that's not even counting one deep pass that he cowered from rather than fought for. Let's not even get into the time he daintily stepped out of bounds one yard shy of a first down.

Sparano had been asked about Ginn's big drops after the game Sunday and had said, ``Today he had some opportunities. We'll coach the heck out of it and try to get the guy better.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@