We've now had over a day to digest what went down on Sunday.  We now know that, yes, the Dolphins won in "un-pretty" - sounds better than ugly - fashion.  We also know that the Dolphins now control their own destiny.  Let's discuss further.

A SIGN OF PROGRESS?
The Sun-Sentinel's David Hyde wrote an article that poses an interesting theory.  Basically, Hyde says that these ugly wins - and we've seen 3 in the last 4 weeks - is still a sign of progress.  Here's an excerpt:

Because this was an easy game to sum up, if you want to get away from the over-analysis and over-complimenting coating every NFL game. Chad Pennington was asked if it was as simple as the Rams throwing three interceptions and the Dolphins throwing none.

"A lot of times it's as simple as that,'' Pennington said. "More games are lost than are won. It's not sexy for fantasy football, but for winning football and going home on the plane happy it's what matters."

"More games are lost than are won."  That's really an interesting quote by CP10.

Back in week 10, the Dolphins let the Seahawks hang around - partly thanks to a bad decision by Pennington resulting in an interception return for a TD.  And with 2 minutes left to go, the Seahawks had the ball and only needed to get into field goal range for the win.  The Dolphins, though, held on to win by 2.

The following week saw the Dolphins out-gain the Raiders by 183 yards.  But the Fins surrendered a late TD to the Raiders on a punt return.  It took a Dan Carpenter field goal with under a minute left to pull out this one.

And on Sunday, we all saw that, despite 2 interceptions thrown by Marc Bulger, the Rams had the ball with 2 minutes to go needing a touchdown to win.  Luckily, Bulger forced a pass and Andre Goodman made a play - picking it off and sealing the win.

To a non-Dolphins fan, it would look like the Dolphins are simply "lucking out" and winning games more so because of their opponents' ineptitude rather than their own performance.  Opposing teams, they might say, have been doing more to lose the game than the Dolphins have to win the game.

But us Dolphin fans recognize what we're seeing.  And it is indeed progress - even if the national media doesn't want to recognize it.  Because we all know that the Dolphins lost 6 games by 3 points last year.  And we know that it was just one year ago when the Dolphins were the team losing these kinds of games.  They were the inept team beating themselves.

What a difference a year makes.  So however this season ends a month from now, it's still been a 100% success.

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Hello Toronto Bills fans,

(That just sounds too weird)

Many of you probably know me from our "Around the AFC East" segment that we did before the season.  For those that don't, I'm the guy who runs the Miami Dolphins blog on SB Nation - The Phinsider.

As we prepare for Dolphins/Bills - Round 2 - I wanted to come over here and see if any of you had any Dolphin-related questions for me.

So shoot me some topics and I'll check in from time to time and answer them best I can.

This time last week, all of us Dolphin fans were sitting here in despair, wondering if the Dolphins had just blown their shot at an improbable playoff birth.  One week later, we all feel rejuvenated - even after a classic "ugly" win by the Fins in St. Louis.

IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW YOU WIN
This seems to be a reoccurring theme for the 2008 Miami Dolphins.  Some of their best wins have come in excellent performances against good teams.  But others have come in "different" performances against teams in which the Dolphins were actually heavy favorites.  The Seahawks and Raiders games come to mind.  Well you can also add to that list Sunday's game against the Rams.

The offense struggled.  Against one of the NFL's worst defenses - statistically speaking, the Fins were only able to find the endzone one time.  Chad Pennington was only able to complete 56% of his passes and didn't even top 170 yards through the air.  There were some dropped balls by receivers.  Running backs simply tripped before the line of scrimmage from time to time.  And on one of the most exciting offensive plays, a play that saw Ronnie Brown take a toss, scramble, and throw a completion on the run to David Martin, the end result was a turnover when Martin fumbled the ball away to St. Louis.

Of course, the offense wasn't all bad.  The running game really did get going, with the backs combining for 134 yards on 32 carries.  We also found out that Davone Bess can indeed be a key part of the offense and help take up some of the slack created by Greg Camarillo's knee injury.  Bess made a number of plays, catching 6 balls for 84 yards - including 2 key receptions on 3rd downs.  One converted a 3rd & 9 on Miami's only TD drive - with Ronnie Brown taking it into the endzone just 2 plays later.  The other was on a 3rd & 2 and kept alive a drive that would end with one of Dan Carpenter's field goals.  Let's hope for continued production from Bess.

But it was the defense - despite allowing chunks of yards to Steven Jackson on the ground - that really deserves the credit for Sunday's win.  They exemplified the old "bend but don't break" cliche - never allowing the Rams into the endzone - which includes 2 drives that saw the Rams inside Miami's 20 only to have to settle for 2 field goals.  It wasn't a dominating performance by any means - no matter what the 3 interceptions and 12 points against would lead you to think.  But they did enough in a game where they needed to step up and carry a sluggish offensive unit.

The bottom line?  The Dolphins went on the road, committed 10 penalties, converted just 33% of their 3rd downs, allowed the Rams to convert 50% of their 3rd downs, and lost the time-of-possession battle by 3 minutes.  But they found a way to win.

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**UPDATE**:  Some bad news.  Justin Smiley has a broken right leg and tore all the ligaments in his ankle.  This is a huge hit to Miami's offensive line.  And not only do you have to worry about replacing him this year, but you have to also worry about the potential long-term effect.  Ugh! [end update]

Well it took 3 Marc Bulger interceptions, but the Dolphins are 7-5 - knocking off the Rams 16-12 (damn - that's an ugly score).

Let's be honest, though.  The Dolphins really struggled to win this one.  But a win is a won - especially on the road.

Enjoy the rest of your Football Sunday.

Usual posts should be up later on today and tomorrow.

Oh - and let's go Steelers and Broncos!

Halftime in St. Louis.  Dolphins lead by 1.

That holding call by Ndukwe was a killer.  And Steven Jackson has been just killing the Dolphins.

Another tight 2nd half is in store.

Go Dolphins!!

MIAMI DOLPHINS (6-5)	WEEK 13	ST LOUIS RAMS (2-9)
	AT

Today's Inactives:

• Dolphins - QB John Beck (3rd), FS Jason Allen, OL Al Johnson, G Shawn Murphy, T Nate Garner, TE Joey Haynos, DE Rodrique Wright, DT Paul Soliai
• Rams - QB Brock Berlin, CB Tye Hill, LB Chris Draft, LB Larry Grant, C Corey Withrow, G Roy Schuening, T Anthony Davis, DE Eric Moore

Steven Jackson is active today and is slated for 16 to 17 carries, according to ESPN's John Clayton.  That'll make things a little tougher for the Dolphins.

For the Dolphins, Paul Soliai was suspended.  His time in Miami is probably coming to a close.  Jason Allen is a surprise inactive.  I guess his hand injury is more of a problem then the team let on.  More importantly, though, Jake Long is active and will start.

It's time to start a new winning streak.  As always, being a large favorite in a game worries me.  But I trust Tony Sparano; his boys will be ready to play.

Let's get this "W" and then move on to the next challenge: Toronto.

GO DOLPHINS!!!

It's again time for our predictions.  Above are each team's offensive and defensive rankings.  Below are some "expert" picks:

I'm always worried when everyone likes the Dolphins in a game.  And we've seen 2 times the last 3 weeks that the Dolphins don't usually perform well in games when they are heavily favored.  Let's hope that all changes this week in St. Louis.

This week, I would hope that the Dolphins can finally get a solid running game going - out of their base formation.  Ronnie Brown could use a big game this week as well.

Defensively, I expect the Dolphins to get after the quarterback.  Joey Porter will likely pick up at least another sack, putting him back on top of the league after DeMarcus Ware took the lead from Porter on Thanksgiving.

I'll take the Dolphins, but I don't expect it to be easy.  Dolphins win 27-20.

Your predictions below...

So what's Jake Long listed as?  And what about some of St. Louis' key players?  Find out below...

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As we all continue to come out of our turkey-induced haze, here are just a few quick notes of interest:

JAKE LONG EXPECTED TO PLAY
On Thursday, Jake Long returned to practice - in a limited role - with his ankle taped.  But Long says he'll be fine for Sunday's game:

"I'm getting better," he said. "I'll be good for Sunday."

Offensive coordinator Dan Henning said on Thursday that Long was prepared to practice fully on both Wednesday and Thursday:

"Tony (Sparano) has mentioned to me, we've got to be careful with that guy," Henning said. "This week, he wanted to practice heavy Wednesday and wanted to practice heavy today. But Tony wouldn't let him. We're pleased he's that type of player, but also run the risk of it going the other way."

Ike Ndukwe has been taking some of Long's snaps at left tackle.  But Jake should be ready for Sunday.

Oh - and by the way - this article also says to expect to see Ernest Wilford active on Sunday.  Will he finally earn his large paycheck?

PRO BOWL UPDATE
On Wednesday, the NFL released updated fan voting for the Pro Bowl.  And there are still some Dolphins very much in the mix:

• Ronnie Brown is the leading vote getter for the AFC at running back - 36,000 votes ahead of 2nd place.
• Jake Long leads the vote at left tackle - 12,00 votes ahead of D'Brickashaw Ferguson.
• Joey Porter leads at outside linebacker - 42,000 votes up on 2nd place.
• Patrick Cobbs is currently in 2nd as a special teamer - trailing Anthony Madison by just 4,000 votes. 
• Yeremiah Bell is in 4th place at strong safety, but well behind the leader.
• Dan Carpenter is up to 5th in the AFC at kicker.

Well I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.  Now it's back to work and time to turn our attention to the St. Louis Rams.  And the Rams, despite their 2-9 record, are not a team to be taken lightly.  This is a team that knocked off the Redskins (in Washington) and the Cowboys in back-to-back weeks.  And that Dallas game was also the last time both Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger started together.  Well it seems like the Rams might be healthier than we thought on Sunday - with Bulger, Jackson, and Orlando Pace all back at practice this week.

Onto the burning questions:

How will the Dolphins respond after last week's letdown?
This is the question on everyone's mind.  We all witnessed a total collapse lat week during the final quarter and a half against the Patriots.  We saw fights break out, dumb penalties being committed, dropped passes left and right.  We watched the Dolphins' best defensive player directly disobey his coaches and their most productive wide receiver suffer a torn ACL.  It wasn't a very pretty thing to witness.

And now, with this young team coming off a devastating loss to a division rival in their biggest game of the year, the Dolphins have to head into St. Louis to play a team that, on paper, isn't very good.  Oh, and let's not forget that looming ahead next week is another big game against a division rival in Toronto.

This is a true test for both the coaching staff and the players.  Will they take out their frustrations on a team that is down and out?  Or will they let last week's game linger and cause the team to crumble?

Will the Fins be able to run the ball?
The Dolphins exploded two weeks ago against the Raiders for 200+ yards on the ground.  But last week, the Dolphins only ran the ball 17 times (not including Pennington's scramble) for 59 yards.  And with the season entering the month of December and the Dolphins having some cold-weather games remaining in KC and in NJ, it's going to become more and more important that the Dolphins get back to running the ball effectively...out of their base offense.

Listen - I love the Wildcat.  And I still hope to see it run a few times per game.  But it's getting to the point where this offense has got to be able to simply line up in a normal formation and pound the ball with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.  To do so, the onus falls on the offensive line.  To say I've been disappointed with their play this year would be an understatement.  I had high hopes for an offensive line that I thought we be a bulldozing unit that created running lanes for our backs.  But it hasn't really happened consistently yet.

The Rams are very bad at defending the run - ranking 30th and surrendering 162 yards per game on the ground.  And their 4.9 yards per carry against is the 2nd worst figure in the league.  So this week is the perfect time to get back to the basics and build some momentum on the ground for the rest of the stretch run.

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