Dolphins fall to Steelers on Monday night

On a muddy field, the Dolphins lost 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a last minute field goal. This was the sixth game this season where the Dolphins lost by three points or less.

Ricky Williams had an unremarkable return, rushing just 6 times for 16 yards before leaving with an injury. Jesse Chatman didn't fare better, carrying the ball 11 times for 17 yards. In his second start, John Beck completed 14 of 23 passes for 132 yards.

All in all, it was a sloppy game where neither offense got untracked. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, they found themselves on the short end once again.

Beck's debut results in another loss

Second round pick John Beck started his first NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles, but the result was yet another loss, this time by the score of 17-7. Beck completed just 9 of 22 passes for 109 yards. The team's offensive woes were epitomized by its failure to score after a first down at the Eagles' 1-yard line. Four tries, not even one yard. That's bad.

For the Eagles, former Dolphins QB AJ Feeley took over for an injured Donovan McNabb to lead his team to victory. I can't count the number of times this season that former Dolphins have hurt the current team.

There were two bright spots in the game: Ted Ginn returned a punt 87 yards for a touchdown, tying the longest return in team history; and Jason Allen intercepted McNabb twice.

Dolphins win statiscally, lose game

Even when the Miami Dolphins outclass their opponent in every important statistic, they still can't win the game. This time, it was 13-10 to the Buffalo Bills on a last-minute field goal.

The Dolphins controlled time of possession by holding onto the ball for nearly 37 minutes. They outgained the Bills in total yards, 269-214. They converted 9 of 19 third downs while holding Buffalo to 2 in 10 chances. And they didn't turn the ball over at all. Yet it was all for naught.

Miami is the last NFL team this season to win a game, and if they couldn't win today, it's not looking good for them the remaining 7 Sundays.

What is there to play for?

The NFL and the NBA are the two leagues where I feel the outcome of a team's season falls into two categories: playoffs and draft pick. With the Dolphins at 0-8, the 2007 season definitely falls in the latter. Ordinarily, once the playoffs are out of reach, I prefer a team to lose so that they can get a higher draft pick. Going 2-14 and picking first in the draft is preferable to 6-10 and picking 10th, in my humble opinion.

So, aside from professional pride, what should the Dolphins play for in the last 8 games? Here are two goals I have:
1) Not to go 0-16. That would just be embarrassing and should be avoided at all costs. 1-15 will still get you the top pick.
2) Those who aren't familiar with the Dolphins' glorious past may not be aware that the Dolphins are the only current NFL team to have never suffered two consecutive losing seasons while members of the NFL. This year's team will have to win out the rest of the season to preserve this record, but what a remarkable achievement that would be!