The Student of the GameGoing Beyond the Stats

It was only a matter of time before we featured QB Tom ‘Golden Boy’ Brady and his Patriots on Monday Night Football as they faced the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. While this divisional matchup was between the 2nd place teams in the AFC East, it wass important to keep from falling 2 games back behind the divisional leading New York Jets after considering division records. In this battle to stay in the race it came down to 27 points in turnovers and special teams plays as the Patriots won 41 - 14

Tonight Dolphins fans had a different answer when posed the question, “What can Brown do for you?” Since Miami RB Ronnie Brown, the captain of the infamous Wildcat Offense, would be missing in the feline foray against the Carolina Panthers due to injury, the answer was ‘nothing’. But despite all the coverage I’ve done over this and seasons past of the Dolphins, I somehow managed to make the same mistake the Panthers did . . .

The buzz in this Monday night Match-up was dominated by talk of the New York Jets’ defense who’ve kept opponents grounded and the SpanAm subject QB Mark Sanchez, the kid they call ‘Sanchize’, as the apparent future and present of the Gangreen franchise. And in fairness the rookie, already ordained superstar by many (me included), had a solid night managing the game throwing 12 completions in 24 attempts for 50% with 172 yards and a TD representing his ‘nation’ well during the NFL’s Hispanic Heritage Night.

Imagine this: You are an NFL QB. As the leader of your team’s offense, you are asked to score more than 20 points a game, week in and week out, in order for your team to have a good chance to win the game. That may sound tough enough, but then someone says, “WAIT! -- you can only have the ball for 14:53 throughout the game . . . oh and JUST to make it interesting, you are without Anthony Gonzalez, your second-best WR”.