G16: New England 28, Dolphins 0 (Final): Key mistakes doom Miami as Pats remind who's boss

Name biggest Miami sports story of 2012: Top vote-getter so far is what you'd expect, but there's a fierce three-way battle for second place. Voting continues in blogpost directly below this.

[1) It is SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30. No Duh: Butch Davis rep says Der Butcher won't be next coach at FIU. No Duh II: ESPN reporting Jets will fire offensive coordinator Tony Sparano. 2) Join us on Twitter @gregcote]

Season-finale Dolfan Satisfaction Meter tonight beginning at 8:15: The latest DSM -- and last of 2012 -- will appear in a separate blogpost directly tonight beginning at 8:15 sharp. Watch for it and vote based on today's game but with an emphasis on the season as a whole.

G16: DOLPHINS @ NEW ENGLAND: Final: Key mistakes hurt badly. A Tannehill pick. A Bush fumble. Two big Binns drops. But let's not kid ourselves. Miami didn't lose because of mistakes. Miami lost because it played a (clearly) better team. ..... 4Q: Would have like to have seen a late timeout to give Reggie Bush one last shot at 1,000 yards. Oh well. ... It's officially a rout/embarrassment at 28-0 as Brady hits Rob Gronkowski for 23-yard scoring pass. ... Armon "Goat" Binns with another big drop, this on 4th down. ..... 3Q: Review that went against MIA negating Clemons' fumble-recovery TD was the right call. Pass was incomplete. ... And a third big mistake plunders Miami, this one Reggie Bush's muffed handoff and fumble inside Pats' 10. Handoff looked a tad high, but one Bush should have corraled. ..... Half: I feel like two mistakes turned this half: Tannehill's pick when the game was scoreless. And Binn's dropped pass that could have pulled Miami within 14-7. ..... 2Q: Pats 21-0 on Ridley 2-yard TD run. ... Nate Kaeding hooks a 41-yard FG try wide left to end a series in which Armon Binns dropped what should have been a TD pass inside the 5-yardline. Binns = Goat! ... NE up 14-0 with Stevan Ridley's 1-yard run on 4th down. Pats pound Miami for a 92-yard scoring drive. ..... 1Q: A taut first quarter busts open as Ryan Tannehill suffers first interception in five games, and a few plasy later Tom Brady hits Wes Welker for 9-yard scoring pass and 7-0 Pats lead. .... Pregame: No playoff stakes for Miami, but the chance to finish at .500 with a nice road victory over your division's kingpin gives the Dolphins much to play for. Then again a loss would have its pragmatic value by bumping Miami's draft-selection order up a few spots. Ten NFL teams have between 6 and 8 wins, so results today could shuffle the middle of the round pretty noticably. Today's Dolphins performance also could shape personnel decisions related to key free agents such as Reggie Bush and Jake Long, and solidify the mapping of plans for the offseason and the draft. To the game itself, Miami played the Pats tough in the first meeting (a 23-16 loss) and should again, although expected frigid and perhaps snowy conditions favor New England distinctly. So does the home team still seeking a first- round playoff bye and therefore needing the win. The weather and the Pats' takeaway-inclined defense will severely test Ryan Tannehill's ability to extend his four-game interception-less streak. Pictured left: One more look at Miami's supposed-but-not-official new logo showing a sleeker, stylized dolphin sans helmet. Sadly, it reminds that no matter what you do, it's just tough to make a leaping dolphin look menacing. My pick: Patriots, 27-20.

Radio, then blog: We'll be yakking Dolphins on the 790 The Ticket pregame show today starting at 1 p.m., then be right back here with our Live Boutique Blog at kickoff. Your participation in both is invited.

Comments

[the shadow knows]

HOW COME...

the ravens and bengals are playing for the divsional title, yet we get the texans and colts, which i don't think is for the divisonal title? i could be wrong, but the only thing the texans are playing for is a bye in the first round.

[FZB]

I don't care about draft position this year since we got our QB, winning is more important for Tannehill'sdevelopment..

chances are the Dolphins will lose today but I'm still hoping for a win.

[Russell]

Vontae Davis with a great interception, sh*t where was that with the Dolphins!

[Russell]

And far from a hater but with that said, Luck is years ahead of Tannehill

[Naples Jack]

Shadow- I think the Ravens have there division won already.

[Mr. Woodcock]

You need to get Directv, Shadow. You sound like OC.

[Mr. Woodcock]

Oye FZ, donde carajo esta OC? He must have gotten stuck in the theater watching that troll movie.

[Aleksander Spektor]

No more of that silly new logo please.

[Bill Belichick]

Do I really have to play these stiffs?

[Jeffy Poo]

Michael Egnew > TY Hilton.

[David]

Vonte + TY Hilton-another inditement of Ireland-let's not forget Gronkowski picked 2 after our pick

[FZB]

woodcock,

I have it on good authority that OC has gone underground and is working on an ultra secret, Manhattan project type new Dolphins logo design.

either that or he's still at the theater watching the "Hobbit" for the tenth time..hehe

Oye OC, come out and defiendete bro..

alright its almost game time..

Dolphins 75 Patsies 3

[kmo859]

Greg, take Sparano to the Tony Bennett concert, he will have plenty of time on his hands

[the shadow knows]

Naples jack,

right you are; the ravens were the divisional champs no matter what happened today.

[the shadow knows]

Mr. Woodcock,

wew had direct.tv, but switched to dish which has a better picture and much better sound. directtv. had a high def picture, buta muffled mono sound on dolphin broadcasts, while dis has a beautiful picture and very very high fidelity stereo sound. dish is also a little cheaper and i can get whatever game i want on sirius and i am a bigtime radiocast fan. time to see if bill king, the greatest radio play-by-play man is still going strong. thanks for the advice, but we are happy with dish

[the shadow knows]

Mr. Woodcock,

wikipedia says bill king died in 2005, but it seems to me he was doing baseball until recently.

[OC Dolphin]

Wrote a basic primer for logo design, but somehow, Greg Cote's Ultra Homeland Security Filtration System prevents me from posting. Let me try cutting it down into three separate posts to see what happens.

---------
Decoder ring for those looking to understand design, or produce better designs.

Tenets and Guidelines:

• CONTEXTUALISM.
- Perhaps the most elemental rule in design. Contextualism pretty much mandates that "setting," and any surrounding designs, be strongly considered. Perhaps even more to the point, it should significantly lend to the formation of any new design. In the case of the Dolphins' logo, even more so, given that the Dolphins exist within a house of teams.

- Looking at current NFL logos (Link #A), one can observe: a) logos featuring animals, e.g., Ravens, Panthers, Jaguars, Seahawks, are all displayed in angry mode. Even our passive mammal gets the mean treatment. This is appropriate since the game of football is aggressive in nature. b) a preference towards large, clear imagery versus small detailed-loaded designs, Bears, Bengals, Chargers, Colts are all good examples of the first, while the Dolphins, Redskins and Raiders point to the last.

Link #A: http://shelbymoulden.com/media/blog/nfl_logos.gif

[OC Dolphin]

• SIMPLICITY
- Our current culture responds best to simple things. One can blame it on our short attention span, our ever shrinking schedule, the pace and amount of information hurled at us, whatever. It is what it is, and we no sooner wish to spend time dissecting any subtleties, or complexities found in elaborate, overly ornate designs.

- Current NFL teams who need makeovers are: Redskins, Raiders, Dolphins, Vikings. All too detailed, all look old and out of touch with today's era. (perhaps a reflection and preference to past successes. To living in the past).

- Take a look at these new logo refinements under Link #B. These are all companies that chose to simplify their already simple designs. New solutions will continue to be based on the same trends.

• MEANING
- A logo is a visual "shorthand" for what an organization represents. Along with the organization's name, it reveals information about such things as: its personality (fun and playful vs no-nonsense and straightforward, what it stands for, or dismisses (see current Redskins politically incorrect discussions, flamed even more so by its current imagery).

- The more meaning the better. As is the case with creative endeavors, the more multivalence a design carries the richer, the more rewarding the results.

The new streamlined Dolphins' logo fails on many levels. While I would agree with those who say that a new upgrade is in needed and warranted, this new version adds very little by-way-of the points I addressed above. It does eliminate some detail. Unfortunately, it strips any personality the original design has (attitude of expression, playful helmet). It also fails to keep within its context, appearing more appropriate to that of a corporate stadium or transit bus service than that of a football team.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/did-you-notice-these-company-logo-changes-in-2012/

[OC Dolphin]

It worked.

[Brilar]

I see new england has house rules today , get to interfere with our fair catch and no flag , be nice if we ever played a fair officiating game

[OC Dolphin]

Brilar, it's not serious until the snow plow is brought out into the sidelines.

[Brilar]

Yeah or Belacheat has our locke room miked up , this team knows no bounds when it comes to cheating.

[Bertsot]

Nothing changes with this team. We suck and look clueless out there just about every game. And that moron Ireland will be back.

[Brilar]

And Brady has been pampered by the officials for years, you can t look at this Nancy without drawing a flag

[OC Dolphin]

Belichick just files all those under - "competitive edge."

[Brilar]

That they see cause it benefits the patsies , but running into our guy they were blind it`s bullshit!!!!!

[LouSanis]

So glad the Suck for Luck game that Indy played last year didn't work out for them.
One player turned them into a playoff threat. One player.

[TubeSalvation]

More "Rebuilding" to Come Fins getting "complacent"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI9zeQyUi3g

[Berticot]

No one's interested in your fairy tales tubesalvation, stop posting your garbage all over sports pages.

[Brilar]

And that new Logo looks like it should be on a box of Douche , they`ve got to be kidding!!

[Bertsot]

Our chance of wining this game? ZERO

[Brilar]

Indy was already a playoff caliber team , they just chose to lose games to get their QB , they ain t stupid and waiting 20 yrs like this organization, until Ireland is gone this team will be a losing franchise , should of loaded up on receivers and given Moore someone to throw the ball too , but instead another project QB that wont work out

[Kurt from Boca]

FZB,

Good call on your prediction, dude. Have you no shame or no sense?

[Bertsot]

Not with the coaching decisions today. On third down we keep rushing 3 and put no pressure on Brady. My 11 year old daughter could coach a better game.

[the shadow knows]

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DOLPHIN RUN DEFENSE?

woodhead, vereen, ridley... all getting big yards as ridley just scores his second. maybe karlos dansby ought to keep his trap shut and concentrate on tackling.

[OC Dolphin]

Speaking of predictions...

Jumping the gun a bit here, but we all know today's outcome, right?

Anyway, let me be the first to congratulate (the real) david in los angeles for accurately predicting this year's season record. Congrats, Dave!

As posted on September 9th:

9-7: Big Baby
8-8: FZB
7-9: (the real) david in los angeles
5-11: Jimbo, duke, Tom, the shadow knows, OC Dolphin
4-12: Anti-Christ, Naples Jack, Rawpimple, redsky, mike1
2-14: Mr. Woodcock
0-16: Noel

[Aleksander Spektor]

we need new defensive linemen and linebackers (not to mention players for the offense). So much for the crappy new logo. What a disgrace.

[I am Kazaam]

N/A: I am Kazaam

Nailed it. Wins and losses don't matter, Tannehill showed enough to keep hope alive through another offseason under the worst GM in the NFL.

[I am Kazaam]

Tannehill looks cold.

[OC Dolphin]

They are going to finish 7-9, along with Car, NO, TB, and SD. The Dolphins did not play against any of them, hence, no Head to Head draft positioning. The next qualifier I believe is Division record, of which they will be last among them with a 2-4.

So if my calculations hold, the team will draft #11. Not that it's going to matter a hill of beans with genius doing the picking.

[Mr. Woodcock]

You're killing me OC. I sure hope it looks better than the two lightning bolts that you painted on my living room wall.

[FZB]

Oye, you people need to stop with all your hate.

the team IS HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, we have ourselves a very good young QB that we can now build the team around, our rookie HC did a nice job and our GM has accumulated a bunch of picks and we have a ton of cap room, of course you infidels won't give him any credit for it.

Kazaam, he is not the worst GM in football, far from it he is a very good talent evaluator, I read the article by LeBatard, is right on the money, its all perception versus reality, I said it here many times, Belichick gets a pass because he luck into a once in a lifetime player in the six round, if it wasn't for that Belichick would be a defensive coordinator somewhere.

Now, today's game, Tannehill didn't have much help out there, he had no time to throw and no running game and his receivers had a bunch of drops but the kid didn't quit, he is a keeper.

OC, if we get the 11th pick we would be in a good position to get a good player or trade back..

[Sgt. Carter]

FZB, you prove the old saying about what happens when you play with yourself too much.
"the team IS HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION"
Blahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa