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Bills/Dolphins: What Dolphins Fans are Saying

By Brian Galliford

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Is this the last hurrah for Z. Thomas? (Getty Images)

This will be the first installment of a little Friday feature I hope to continue throughout the remainder of this season, barring you all hating it or something bizarre like that. I thought it might be fun to take a look at several prominent Dolphins blogs to see what they're saying both about our Bills and about their Dolphins, then poke a little fun and/or analyze their (usually very good) opinions. It's an experiment, so feel free to a) comment right along with me, or b) leave suggestions to better these posts.

For the record, these sites are places I've visited (reluctantly, to be sure) before, and they're all very consistently well-written and good sources for Dolphins info. I quietly mock from here with full respect for their work - their only downfall is their perplexing love for the Orange and Teal. Ew.

Our good friends from The Phinsider had some interesting things to say about Ted Ginn against the Bills' defense:

When you look at individual matchups in the passing game, it's hard not to get excited about the "Battle of the Buckeyes." Of course I'm referring to Ted Ginn and Bills' cornerback Ashton Youboty. It's likely that these 2 will be matched up all game and I have to say that I'm fairly confident that Teddy will be able to get open relatively often. What I wonder about is how the Bills plan to cover him. Will they bracket cover him with a safety over top? And if so, will it be with another former Buckeye, Donte Whitner, or with Jim Leonhard (who is replacing the injured Ko Simpson)? I would expect it to be Leonhard simply because of how good Whitner is against the run. If so, I think Ginn could be open a few times deep.

Hmm... good points. Good thing it'll be Jabari Greer and George Wilson containing Ginn all day Sunday! Youboty is probable for this contest, but Greer's play has been so consistent that Youboty will likely serve as the fourth corner. Meanwhile, Wilson isn't dropping on the depth chart, either.

Phinaticism, a rare good blog from the Blogspot realm (I love a good Blogspot blog, and this one is very well done), is unimpressed with Joey Porter:

Joey Porter has been a huge disappointment so far. The team forked over $20 million in guaranteed money for this guy, and he is barely outperforming his backup...who has started 6 fewer games. Oh yeah, Porter is also costing the team $3 million more this year than (Donnie) Spragan. No one wanted to see Spragan retain his starting job this season, but his replacement isn't performing any better. There is still absolutely no playmaking potential from the SLB spot, and again Jason Taylor has been forced to deal with double and even triple teams.

Porter's ineptitude is more unfortunate for Taylor than the Dolphins, but yes, that signing screamed "worst FA signing ever" before the ink even dried. That said, Porter still has enough left in the tank to give J.P. Losman a headache or two in a couple of days...

Dave Blake from Phinfever agrees with my sentiment that Zach Thomas is done:

This was not Zach's first concussion as I remember he had a couple earlier in his career due to the fact of not having his mouthguard in his mouth on some hard tackles. Concussions are very serious and nothing to mess around with. At 34 years of age, Zach really needs to consider the extent of this concussion.

In case you hadn't heard, Thomas is out of the Bills game. Blake makes a good point here, likening this head injury to the ones Trent Green has suffered in his career. Thomas has been one of the league's most ferocious inside 'backers for quite some time, but I echo Dave's feelings that Thomas needs to quit while he's ahead.

Cleo Lemon is starting at quarterback. Why not John Beck, the second-round rookie who magically made the Ted Ginn pick look acceptable? Phin Phanatic says it's simple: Beck isn't ready.

The point is that Beck not starting is not because he is a bad QB, it is not because Lemon is better, or that Cameron and Mueller failed. It is because Beck is not ready. He is smart, he is mature, he has the fundamentals. What he doesn't have is the time with the first team units to effectively go out and perform at a level that will not hinder his development.

That time is closing in quickly. Even after the announcement that Lemon would continue to start, Beck still was receiving half of the first team snaps. An indication that Beck is still being prepared for his NFL regular season debut.

I am a Cleo Lemon fan. He's not close to being a very good quarterback, but I like his scrappiness and his solid leadership. That said, his time as an NFL starter is running short - I give him about 3 more quarters. My guess is that we'll see Beck take on the Bills at some point this week.

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