Somewhere in the viaducts of Norv Turner's mind, this all made perfect sense.
In fact, nearly an hour after Turner made one of the most controversial decisions in team history -- a decision that will haunt Dolphin fans until the end of time -- the offensive coordinator was still trying to explain his reasoning for not running Ricky Williams on three successive downs when it mattered most.
When everything was on the line and the playoffs were so close you could taste them.
Six words this morning for Norv Turner: What the hell were you thinking?
"The best thing to do was throw the ball," Turner said after the Dolphins' colossal collapse Sunday against the New England Patriots.
He would have had better luck selling me on the world being flat ... that the moon is made of cheese ... that Elvis is living large in Century Village. Turner's play-calling in the final minutes of the Dolphins' 27-24 loss -- his decision to pass, pass, pass with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter -- was simply crazy.
Think about it: The Dolphins, holding a 24-21 lead, have the ball on their own 4-yard line with 2:42 remaining. At Turner's disposal is Williams, the league's leading rusher and someone who has rushed this day for 185 yards.
So what does Turner do? He throws the ball. Not once, not twice, but three times. And he does it with a quarterback nursing a sprained left knee.
"We've got the best running back in the game and we can't run the clock out," tight end Jed Weaver mused after this debacle.
But the crime is they never tried. Not even once. And the results prove that was reckless and careless and simply insane.
The argument will be made that the Dolphins made several costly mistakes in the final minutes of this game, from Travis Minor's casual handling of a kickoff to Olindo Mare kicking the ball out of bounds in overtime. The argument should also be made that this is a team with no killer instinct and one that lacks very much heart.
But let's face it: Turner's playcalling on that important drive was a real doozy.
Turner believed the only way to get a first down was to throw the ball.
"[The Patriots] are in an eight-man front, and running for first downs had gotten difficult at that point in the game," Turner explained.
"We did not want to hand it off three times and punt," added coach Dave Wannstedt. "What did they think we were going to do? Hand it to Ricky."
Like they had all day and still couldn't stop him?
The Dolphins wanted to be aggressive. In fact, that was the game plan all week. But when you have the league's leading rusher in your backfield -- a guy who has sliced and diced his way through the Patriots all afternoon and had amassed 290 yards against this team in two games this season -- don't you give him the ball a few times in that situation? Or, at the very least, once?
Isn't this the reason the Dolphins got Ricky Williams? To carry the ball in critical situations? To get those crucial first downs? To help run out the clock?
"We felt confident up front the whole game we could run against those guys," said tackle Todd Wade. "That's what we do."
But there was no Ricky. Instead, Fiedler overthrew Chris Chambers on first down, had a pass to Chambers on second down broken up by Terrell Buckley, and then came up three yards short of a first down when forced from the pocket on third down.
And the whole time this is happening, all you can think is, Where's Ricky?
Yes, the Patriots were playing an eight-man front. Yes, they were blitzing more and putting their safeties low. But wouldn't you have preferred to give the ball to Williams? To roll the dice with Ricky? It wasn't like he was being stopped by the Patriots. He gained seven yards in his final two rushes on the previous drive.
Williams gave the Dolphins their best shot at getting a first down. And even though Turner said the clock was not the issue -- "If they have one timeout and get the ball on their 50, you know, they've got plenty of time." -- running Williams would have prevented the Patriots from getting the ball before the two-minute warning. Instead, the defending Super Bowl champs got the ball with 2:11 left and, when including the two-minute warning, three timeouts.
In the end, Turner was probably right about one thing. Time wasn't an issue. The issue was about giving yourself the best chance to make a first down; the best chance to win. That was giving the ball to Williams.
"Something's not right when you have an 1,800-yard rusher and you (don't make) the playoffs," Wade said.
Something's not right when you don't give him the ball when it matters most.
In fact, nearly an hour after Turner made one of the most controversial decisions in team history -- a decision that will haunt Dolphin fans until the end of time -- the offensive coordinator was still trying to explain his reasoning for not running Ricky Williams on three successive downs when it mattered most.
When everything was on the line and the playoffs were so close you could taste them.
Six words this morning for Norv Turner: What the hell were you thinking?
"The best thing to do was throw the ball," Turner said after the Dolphins' colossal collapse Sunday against the New England Patriots.
He would have had better luck selling me on the world being flat ... that the moon is made of cheese ... that Elvis is living large in Century Village. Turner's play-calling in the final minutes of the Dolphins' 27-24 loss -- his decision to pass, pass, pass with under three minutes left in the fourth quarter -- was simply crazy.
Think about it: The Dolphins, holding a 24-21 lead, have the ball on their own 4-yard line with 2:42 remaining. At Turner's disposal is Williams, the league's leading rusher and someone who has rushed this day for 185 yards.
So what does Turner do? He throws the ball. Not once, not twice, but three times. And he does it with a quarterback nursing a sprained left knee.
"We've got the best running back in the game and we can't run the clock out," tight end Jed Weaver mused after this debacle.
But the crime is they never tried. Not even once. And the results prove that was reckless and careless and simply insane.
The argument will be made that the Dolphins made several costly mistakes in the final minutes of this game, from Travis Minor's casual handling of a kickoff to Olindo Mare kicking the ball out of bounds in overtime. The argument should also be made that this is a team with no killer instinct and one that lacks very much heart.
But let's face it: Turner's playcalling on that important drive was a real doozy.
Turner believed the only way to get a first down was to throw the ball.
"[The Patriots] are in an eight-man front, and running for first downs had gotten difficult at that point in the game," Turner explained.
"We did not want to hand it off three times and punt," added coach Dave Wannstedt. "What did they think we were going to do? Hand it to Ricky."
Like they had all day and still couldn't stop him?
The Dolphins wanted to be aggressive. In fact, that was the game plan all week. But when you have the league's leading rusher in your backfield -- a guy who has sliced and diced his way through the Patriots all afternoon and had amassed 290 yards against this team in two games this season -- don't you give him the ball a few times in that situation? Or, at the very least, once?
Isn't this the reason the Dolphins got Ricky Williams? To carry the ball in critical situations? To get those crucial first downs? To help run out the clock?
"We felt confident up front the whole game we could run against those guys," said tackle Todd Wade. "That's what we do."
But there was no Ricky. Instead, Fiedler overthrew Chris Chambers on first down, had a pass to Chambers on second down broken up by Terrell Buckley, and then came up three yards short of a first down when forced from the pocket on third down.
And the whole time this is happening, all you can think is, Where's Ricky?
Yes, the Patriots were playing an eight-man front. Yes, they were blitzing more and putting their safeties low. But wouldn't you have preferred to give the ball to Williams? To roll the dice with Ricky? It wasn't like he was being stopped by the Patriots. He gained seven yards in his final two rushes on the previous drive.
Williams gave the Dolphins their best shot at getting a first down. And even though Turner said the clock was not the issue -- "If they have one timeout and get the ball on their 50, you know, they've got plenty of time." -- running Williams would have prevented the Patriots from getting the ball before the two-minute warning. Instead, the defending Super Bowl champs got the ball with 2:11 left and, when including the two-minute warning, three timeouts.
In the end, Turner was probably right about one thing. Time wasn't an issue. The issue was about giving yourself the best chance to make a first down; the best chance to win. That was giving the ball to Williams.
"Something's not right when you have an 1,800-yard rusher and you (don't make) the playoffs," Wade said.
Something's not right when you don't give him the ball when it matters most.
