Dolphins melt down against Saints

For most of the first half against New Orleans, the Dolphins played their finest football of the young season.

Miami held the high-powered Saints to just one first down through the first 22 minutes of play, harrassed Drew Brees into three interceptions, and dominated the clock with the Wildcat en route to a 24-3 lead.

Jason Taylor looked like the J.T. of old for the first time in 2009, sacking Brees twice and forcing two fumbles.

As a team, the Dolphins recorded five sacks on Brees, the second-best performance of the season.

Backup safety Tyrone Culver also proved he deserves more playing time, as he made a big play with an interception in the first half.

But then the Dolphins committed a costly turnover, as Davone Bess lost a questionable fumble at midfield late in the first half.

Brees marched the Saints to the Miami 1-yardline with five seconds left. New Orleans could have kicked a field goal and gone into the locker room down 18.

But, Coach Sean Payton rolled the dice, and called Brees' number on a quarterback sneak.

He scored with no time left, and the Saints went into the locker room down by just 14 points despite being completely outplayed in the first half.

As expected, New Orleans turned it on in the second half, and the Dolphins could not stop the offensive barrage.

A Ted Ginn bobble turned into a Darren Sharper 42-yard interception return for TD, and Brees followed with a TD pass to Marques Colston to cut the deficit to 27-24.

Poor play in the Dolphins' secondary again ruled the day, as Jeremy Shockey caught four passes for 105 yards -- all in the second half -- and his 66-yard catch and run set the Saints up to take the lead for the first time Sunday.

Shockey got open because of a blown defensive assignment, and he broke a Vontae Davis tackle, then played paddy-cake with safety Gibril Wilson for another 40 yards before Wilson suddenly remembered the best way to tackle a behemoth like Shockey is to go low.

That set up one of the most spectacular TDs of the season, a 10-yard double reverse to Reggie Bush, who launched himself the last six yards for the score.

Brees played a bad game by his standards, hitting on 22-of-38 passes for 298 yards, but he made the big plays when his team needed him most.

In the second half, the Wildcats stalled, and the Dolphins were forced to rely to heavily on quarterback Chad Henne, who had 37 pass attempts.

Saints defensive back Tracy Porter clinched the game when a blitz forced Henne into a bad throw.

Porter made the pick, and went 54-yards to cap a 22-point fourth quarter, and sent the Dolphins to 2-4.

Miami wasted a superb day by Ricky Williams, who ran nine times for 80 yards and scored three TDs, with a 68-yard run being the longest TD of his career.

Miami now falls to 2 1/2 games behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East, and the Fins also lost veteran cornerback Will Allen for the season due to a torn ACL.

Sean Smith and Davis will now have to shoulder the load at cornerback. So far, the rookies have played well enough that there shouldn't be a severe drop-off at the position.

This marks the second time in a month the Dolphins have had a premiere team on the ropes, and just as they did against Indianapolis, the Dolphins couldn't finish off the effort.

Those two games could come back to haunt them as they try and make a playoff run.

(Photo: Yahoo Images)

High-scoring Saints march into Miami

The Miami Dolphins come out of their bye week and into the fire, as they host the undefeated New Orleans Saints at Land Shark Stadium. Kickoff is at 4:15.

To say the Saints are a high-scoring outfit is an understatement. Through five games, New Orleans is averaging 38.4 points and 430 yards of total ofense per game.

Last week, Drew Brees and Company eviscerated the then-No. 1 defense in the NFL, the New York Giants, for 493 total yards and 48 points in the Saints' 48-27 drubbing.

Brees was at his best, completing 23-of-30 passes for 369 yards and four touchdowns, and Marques Colston caught eight passes for 166 yards and a TD.

These two teams met in the preseason, but Brees and many of the offensive starters did not play in Miami's 10-7 victory.

For Miami to win, the Dolphins must employ the same strategy they almost executed against the Colts and Peyton Manning back in a Week 2 loss: Control the ball with the running game, and limit Brees' opportunities offensively.

The problem that week was that Manning made the most of every chance he got, and led the Colts to a 27-23 win despite having possession of the ball for only 14 minutes and 53 seconds.

The Saints present a variety of problems, as they have playmakers at every offensive position, and are even fifth in the NFL in rushing offense.

Colston will be a handful for the secondary, though Sean Smith and his 6-foot-3 frame should have some opportunities against him.

The bigger problems may be Jeremy Shockey and Reggie Bush out of the backfield.

The Dolphins have had problems all season with elite tight ends. In Weeks 1-3, Tony Gonzalez, Dallas Clark and Antonio Gates had their way with Dolphins linebackers and the secondary.

Not coincidentally, in this two-game winning streak they managed to shut down Derek Fine of the Bills and Dustin Keller of the Jets.

Shockey is banged up, but if he plays, he should see a lot of passes from Brees.

The Dolphins' pass rush, which has been largely nonexistent this season, may not have much of a chance Sunday, as Brees gets the ball off so quickly, teams can barely get to him.

The Saints have allowed just four sacks all year, fourth in the NFL, and the Giants' great pass rush did not drop him once in last week's victory.

Dolphins enter with balanced attack
The Dolphins are coming off their best offensive performance of the season.

In a 31-27 win over the Jets on Monday Night Football two weeks ago, Chad Henne had the finest day of his young career, completing 20-of-26 throws for 241 yards and two TDs.

Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams spearheaded a 151-yard rushing effort out of the Wildcat, and Ted Ginn made his first big play of the season, when he beat a Jets triple-team for a 53-yard TD catch.

Now, the Dolphins must find a way to penetrate a Saints defense that has been surprisiingly good this year.

New Orleans ranks ninth in the NFL in total defense -- just one spot ahead of the Dolphins -- and last week the Saints held Eli Manning to his worst day of the season, with just 14 completions in 31 attempts for 178 yards and an interception.

Darren Sharper is the quarterback of the defensive backfield, and he is a master at reading a passer's eyes.

Sharper has five interceptions through five games, and he had a sixth last week that was called back due to a penalty.

He is exactly the type of crafty safety Henne should be wary of.

Other than Sharper, the New Orleans defense is largely the same outfit that has been a sieve the past few seasons.

What has changed is the addition of Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator.

His imaginative schemes and aggressive tactics have transformed the New Orleans defense, and the big men up front -- led by Charles Grant and Will Smith -- have formed a brick wall for opposing running backs, as the Saints rank fifth in the league against the run.

The Saints have too many weapons, and though I think the Dolphins will be able to move the ball on them -- particularly on the ground -- I see the Saints slipping by with a 31-24 score.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Dolphins D faces stiff test

They've been bend-but-don't break the entire preseason, but Thursday night the Dolphins defense must play at a high level to contain the red-hot Drew Brees and his New Orleans Saints offense.

Brees is coming off a season in which he passed for the second-most yards in history, joining Dolphins Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino as the only qwuarterbacks to top 5,000 yards in a season.

And last week against the hapless Oakland Raiders, Brees put on a passing clinic, hitting on 14-of-17 throws for 179 yards and two TDs in one half of action.

In three games, Brees has tossed four TDs, no interceptions, and has an astounding QB rating of 132.7.

The Saints rang up a 38-0 halftime lead on the way to a 45-7 blowout.

The overall numbers from the game are staggering, even for preseason.

The Saints tallied an incredible 31 first downs and 536 yards of total offense -- without starting running backs Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush.

According to the Saints Web site, Thomas will not play due to a sprained MCL, while Bush is questionable with a calf injury.

Still, as the Saints proved last week, they have plenty of weapons in their offensive repertoire.

Third receiver Robert Meachem caught a 71-yard pass, and Devery Henderson added three catches for 69 yards, including a 40-yard TD. There was also a Jeremy Shockey sighting, as the tight end caught four passes for 48 yards on the day.

New Orleans is 3-0 and ranks first in the league in preseason in points per game (33), total yards (424) and most surprisingly, the Saints are second in rushing, averaging 163.7 yards per game.

Defensively, the Saints have been shockingly stingy, ranking third in the NFL allowing an average of only 9.3 points per game. The Dolphins are right behind the Saints with a 10.7 average.

With Will Smith and new addition Paul Spicer beefing up the defensive line, the Saints have ranked first in rush defense, holding opponents to 70.7 yards per game.

That will make it tough on a Dolphins running game that has yet to heat up this preseason. Miami ranks 14th in the league with an average of 112.7 yards per game.

The first unit has especially struggled, as Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown have combined for 33 carries for 123 yards and no TDs, as the offensive line has not been able to open any holes inside.

The problems haven't been confined running the ball, as Miami ranks 24th in points (16.3), and 29th in total yards (276.7) and passing (164).

Thursday, the Dolphins will have to step up the tempo to keep pace with the Saints' high octane attack.

The Dolphins defense has been solid overall, though Byron Leftwich had a good day throwing the football last week, and it would have been better had he not missed three open receivers.

Rookie corners Sean Smith and Vontae Davis should again be on the hot seat Thursday, and fans will get a better idea of how ready they are for the regular season in this final tune-up.

The starters don't figure to play much for either team, but the Dolphins' first unit defense will still have its hands full.

Also, the Miami special teams must improve against the Saints, particularly on punt returns, where the Fins are giving up an average of 12.3 yards per runback.

These are just some of the things to watch Thursday.

(Photo: Yahoo images)