QUARTERBACK

D | Chad Henne's rating was a terrible 45. He threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, and although Ted Ginn Jr. had the ball bounce off his hands and into the defender's grasp on one, there is still no excusing the second. Henne was also victimized by some drops. After authoring a great comeback against New York, Henne didn't have another one available Sunday.

RUNNING BACK

B | Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown are Miami's best players, and 25 touches between them are not enough. Williams showed good speed and vision on his 68-yard TD run through a crease.

RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS

D | Greg Camarillo said it all: ``If I make a play or another receiver makes a play [in the fourth quarter] we win this game.'' Brian Hartline was Miami's best receiver this day, but his three catches for 94 yards contrasts with a ton of dropped or misplayed passes by Ginn, who was targeted eight times but caught only two passes. Isn't it time to think about taking the wraps off Patrick Turner?

OFFENSIVE LINE

C | The Dolphins gave up two sacks, but at least one happened when Henne held the ball too long. The unit otherwise did good work opening holes in the first half. That prowess diminished in the second half, but it seemed more a problem with the play-calling than execution.

DEFENSIVE LINE

C- | This unit seems to perform in spurts, and that isn't good enough. They were outstanding early, but when New Orleans decided to get serious about running the ball, the Miami front sprung leaks. The Saints finished with a 5.1 yard-per-rush average.

LINEBACKERS

B | Jason Taylor played great, collecting two sacks and forcing two fumbles. Joey Porter was active and had half a sack, although his 15-yard personal foul penalty showed a lack of discipline. Reggie Torbor also was active. Akin Ayodele and Channing Crowder need to improve.

SECONDARY

D | The good news: Yeremiah Bell had 1 ½ sacks, and Tyrone Culver had a key interception. Vontae Davis played well for injured Will Allen, which is good since Allen is gone for a long time. The bad news: Gibril Wilson couldn't tackle Jeremy Shockey and missed another key tackle on Reggie Bush.

SPECIAL TEAMS

C- | So the Dolphins take a 7-0 lead and the special teams give up an 87-yard return on the ensuing kickoff. Then there's confusion on a field-goal try before the end of the first half. Then nobody makes a big play for Miami's return team. It doesn't help the cause.

COACHING

D | The Dolphins were confused when the Saints lined up for a field-goal attempt just before halftime. Miami called timeout, and that gave the Saints an opportunity to go for the TD, which they got. There was also that problem with abandoning the run game in the second half, which is a bad idea for the NFL's leading rushing team.

OVERALL

D | The Dolphins have lost to every good team they have played this season. After a while that trend says you are a playoff pretender rather than a contender.

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@