Dolphins RB Ricky Williams ran for two touchdowns and caught another to pave the way to a 24-17 victory in Charlotte.
Four days after being deactivated, Dolphins LB Joey Porter had two sacks and eight tackles.
Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said fear of getting the kick blocked led to him choosing to pass on a field goal from the 28 with less than a minute to play.
DE Randy Starks had a sack on a key third down in the Dolphins red zone to help hold the Panthers to a field goal.
Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News writes that Chad Henne's efficient performance makes you think he can be a franchise quarterback for the Dolphins.
Panthers QB Jake Delhomme's three game interception-less streak ended when he was picked off at the Dolphins four-yard-line.
Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com thought the Panthers sounded like a team that has thrown in the towel following the game.
Panthers DE Julius Peppers was again limited by a broken hand and picked up a neutral zone infraction penalty to boot.
T Travelle Wharton, replacing the injured Jordan Gross, was responsible for two of the four sacks allowed by the Panthers.
Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams picked up 122 yards on 13 carries and added a two-point conversion.
Dolphins-Panthers one-liners
Posted by Josh Alper on November 20, 2009 9:44 AM ET
"Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News writes that Chad Henne's efficient performance makes you think he can be a franchise quarterback for the Dolphins."
As the winning continues...more people out there will notice this quarterback and how much better this Miami team is with Henne behind center. This guy is a couple Ted Ginn Jr drops away from potentially being 7-0.
Jeez, seriously, what have the Panthers gotten for Peppers? He's costing them a fortune, not given great (or even good?) production and tied them up salary cap wise. Not that he's doing himself any favors, either - he can forget about a Haynesworth size deal next year.
I was just happy to see us able to win missing our star player. the injuries suffered from this game will hurt though.
I feel for the panthers - hope they draft a QB next year
Tony Sparano is an embarrassment even to the Phin.
How does a guy like Deangelo Williams only get 13 carries in a game that's only a seven point margin?
That's criminal.
And John Fox doesn't understand why they keep losing games?
They even benched Williams for the final series!!! Why? Presumably because he dropped a pass. Lets lose the game because of it, yeah, that'll teach him to have better hands.
Fox is done. That franchise needs to clean house from Management right down to QB. If they don't they're going to squander the best years of Williams' career.
You gotta love when the Plainthers put the ball in Craphommes hands and he can't come thru!
HaHA CAR blows!
"Lost says:
November 20, 2009 10:52 AM
Tony Sparano is an embarrassment even to the Phin."
care to qualify that statement? all sparano's done is win a division title and keep this team competitive in the face of many injuries and with a serious lack of talent.
this year we're .500 after losing our starting QB, starting RB, starting DB...... should i go on?
i think he's doing just fine.
"Lost says:
November 20, 2009 10:52 AM
Tony Sparano is an embarrassment even to the Phin.
"
Why do you say that? Because he opted not to kick a field goal? Let's see, we had our 3rd player at center with other lineman injured. The person playing center hadn't played the position since Junior high. The kick is not a gimmie and you risk the chance of a block. I liked the decision to go for it. Beason came up and made a good play on Hilliard. Regardless, the Panthers had to go 72 Yards in like 30 seconds. The only TD they had was an amazing catch by Steve Smith. The Dolphin Pass Defense and rush had been doing a good job so the call wasn't a bad one.
The only embarassment is that you have no clue when it comes to football strategy or coaching.
Sparano has gotten the most out of the Fins' players. Let's be realistic, we don't have a lot of talent on the team.
Lost...
What is wrong with you? Did your mom not hug you enough? Did you always get picked last in kickball? Are you sleep deprived?
Go play in traffic... I'll stick with Sparano
Florio, what's the deal? Do these Thursday games not get Morning Aftermath's?
Craphommes?... Plainthers?...
Alright, it is time to put a stop to this. Everyone who changes team/player name to something like this is borderline retarded. Just stop it already.
Travelle Wharton (I think) also got away with quite a few holds. (Not complaining, that stuff happens in the trenches, but...) There were 2 or 3 pressures by Joey that should have been sacks if not for holding.
Where are all the Joey haters, by the way?
I was fine with the Phins not going for a FG on 4th down. I am still curious why Ricky wasn't in there for the final series? I gather he may have been dinged up, but I haven't seen anything concrete said. I personally would have tried to pass for the first down on the 4th down play. Maybe something quick to Bess since he was catching most everything thrown his way.
I still believe in the team. I was getting concerned with all the injuries though. If Ferguson is gone for an extended period, then that will be a big blow. Thought I saw Grove back in the game at the end, so I am not too concerned about him. I think the Phins need a big time receiver and a decent NT either through the draft or free agency. We may have to think about RB as well since Ricky is getting way up there and Ronnie has gotten hurt in 2 of the last 3 seasons.
The Pats game will be huge. If they can win that, they have a chance. The Phins may be able to lose one more. I think 2 more losses would do them in.
*TheDPR
You have it right my friend. Fox should be fired this morning. DeAngelo was averaging 9.4 yards per carry. The team was blindly subbing in Stewart no matter the situation.
I counted at least three times where DeAngelo had a long run, then he would be removed on third and short to have Stewart gain no yards. Drive KILLERS! I mean its ok to have a RB tandem but DeAngelo is on fire right now, and when you are trailing the entire game, your guy that's on fire should probably touch the ball more than 15 times in the game (13 rush, 2 rec). HELLOOOO, he is averaging almost a first down a carry you might want to get him the ball more than 3.5 times per quarter.
How the Dolphins used Ricky Williams, versus how the Panthers used DeAngelo was absolutely mind boggling and clearly the single biggest reason they lost the game.
Hope you enjoy fishing Mr. Fox you just earned an early retirement. Cowher is going to like your old office.
Man, both of those coaches were punting on fourth down last night, Sporano and Fox clearly have no confidence in their offense.......oh wait, that only works with Belichick......sorry
BC's Chin, you didn't watch the game did you? Miami showed confidence in both their offense and defense.
And, really, trying to flip it so that you have no confidence in the offense by not going for it? Really? So sad.
@speedy
Yes, from what was said down here on the sports talk radio show, he was with the trainer.
It's amazing the comments some people make. Are you guys really that ignorant?
Really, Sparano an embarrassment? Can you provide ANY information as to why? I can tell u why not. 1st year as a coach winning an AFC EAST championship, with basically Ronnie Brown as your most skilled player. Helping your team battle back from a HORRIBLE start and some heart breaking losses to actually be at 5-5 and in the Wildcard and maybe even the AFC EAST Champs again. And doing all this with basically NO GREAT TALENT other than ronnie.
On top of that we've dealt with the loss of our starting QB, our starting CB, now our starting RB. and possible your starting tackle.
please, shut your ignorant mouth. read,watch,learn... THEN you can talk