5 things I didn't like in loss to Miami

And away we go: Thanks for all your suggestions for the traditional "5 Things" in the comments on the previous blog post. I incorporated some of them into this.

1. Defensive pressure and tackling. The Panthers’ defense gave up three touchdowns to Ricky Williams, who is a good back, yes. But he’s also 32 years old and wasn’t good enough to start in Miami until Ronnie Brown got hurt. Yet Williams was nearly unstoppable and broke off a 46-yard run that was the play of the game with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter. Plus, Carolina never sacked Chad Henne.

2. Offensive playcalling. I know Carolina was behind most of the game, so sure, you’ve got to throw more. But DeAngelo Williams should have rushed for 180-200 yards in this game. Miami could not stop him. And he gets 13 carries?? DeAngelo went for 122 yards – 9.4 a pop – anyway. But it should have been more for the Panthers’ most consistent offensive weapon.

How about this sequence on Carolina’s first offensive series -- first-and-goal at the Miami 7? Incomplete pass. Incomplete pass. Sack. Field goal.
Please.

3. Jake Delhomme. Can’t leave the Panthers’ embattled QB out of this list. He threw 42 times, but never had a completion of 30 or more yards. Steve Smith had 87 yards and a TD but could have had a lot more had Delhomme just not sailed a couple of deep balls over head of an open No.89.
And while that final last-gasp drive had a possibility of greatness, throwing the alley-oop from the Miami 26 (especially at Dwayne Jarrett!) is not a very good idea. Throw a bullet like Brett Favre would, straight at Smith, and let him leap high and win or lose it for you.

4. The pass blocking. Wow, does Jordan Gross ever make a difference. Delhomme was sacked four times. Left tackle Travelle Wharton just couldn’t handle Joey Porter, and there were other leaky spots, too.

5. Special-teams coverage. Yes, Miami's Ted Ginn is a force on kickoffs, but a 42.5 return average is simply not acceptable. Jason Baker also hit a horrible punt that got run back 22 yards to set up Miami’s second touchdown.

Dolphins win 24-17; Fox says "lot of football left"

The Panthers' last-gasp attempt at a comeback fell short Thursday night and Miami beat Carolina, 24-17, to drop the Panthers to 4-6 this season.

The Panthers' Jake Delhomme got one chance to throw it into the end zone from the Miami 26 as time expired. He was under pressure and his lob was batted down, however, sending the home crowd back home disappointed.

Panther coach John Fox said after the game: "It came down to with their opportunities they scored touchdowns and with our opportunities we scored field goals. That was probably the difference in the game.... The reality is we're 4-6. We've still got a lot of football left.... We're still in no way or stretch out of it."

Miami was ahead for most of the game -- 14-3 at halftime and 24-14 in the fourth quarter after Ricky Williams scored his third TD of the game. Carolina then drove for a long field goal, didn't convert an onside kick but then stopped the Dolphins on four downs to get one last chance.

Carolina would have had to go 72 yards in 39 seconds with no timeouts to tie the game. Delhomme got the Panthers 46 yards before running out of time on the final Hail Mary play.

Note: I'll be posting my "5 things I didn't like" about this game around 12:30 or 1 a.m., but feel free to offer suggestions below for what should make the cut.

24-14 Dolphins as Williams scores third TD

The Panthers' death knell in this game likely just sounded as Ricky Williams burst through a hole up the middle and went 46 yards for a TD -- his third of the game -- to increase Miami's lead to 24-14 late in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers had scored on a 27-yard TD pass from Jake Delhomme to Steve Smith just a couple of minutes before, then made the two-point conversion to cut Miami's lead to 17-14.

But the Panther defense couldn't make the key stop -- in fact, it allowed a 59-yard, four-play drive by a Dolphin team that was really just trying to possess the ball, not necessarily score.

Panthers cut Dolphins' lead to 14-6

Carolina just got its second John Kasay field goal of the game with 14:21 to go, but the Panthers still haven't dented the end zone in this entire game.

Miami leads 14-6, meaning Carolina is within a score and a two-point conversion of tying. That may be a tall order for an offense that has been having problems all game with the notable exception of running back DeAngelo Williams, who once again has more than 100 yards rushing.

The Panthers had a shot at scoring in what turned out to be a scoreless third quarter, but Jake Delhomme ended that threat by underthrowing Steve Smith inside the Panther 10 and getting intercepted. It was Delhomme's 14th interception of the season but his first in four games.

On the drive that netted the Panther field goal, Carolina had a first-and-goal at Miami's 8. But a Jonathan Stewart run, an incompletion (Jeff King was open, but Delhomme had Joey Porter wrapped around him again while throwing) and a sack meant Kasay had to trot out for another FG.

Where's offense? Panthers down 14-3 at half

The Panthers are really struggling to move the ball, and they just drew a scattering of boos as they left the field for halftime, down 14-3.

Carolina took a 3-0 lead on its first possession and has done nothing since, while Miami has gotten both a rushing and receiving TD from Ricky Williams.

The Panthers' passing attack has been short-circuited by an inability to get the ball to Steve Smith -- he and Jake Delhomme just keep misfiring -- and three first-half sacks (Travelle Wharton in particular is having a hard time at LT against Joey Porter).

Get this: Delhomme threw 10 times at Smith in the first half, and only three were completed (for a total of 18 yards). Most of the seven that weren't completed were long passes -- No.17 and No.89 just can't get it together so far. And Miami is daring Carolina to throw, allowing Smith on several of those passes one-on-one coverage.

Meanwhile, Miami played a smart second quarter after doing little early. The Dolphins got one long drive -- an 81-yarder -- and then only had to go 29 yards on their second drive after a very poor Jason Baker punt was returned to Carolina's 29.

Miami takes 7-3 lead in 2nd quarter

Miami running back Ricky Williams just scored on a 14-yard pass from Chad Henne, giving the Dolphins a 7-3 lead with 3:57 left in the second quarter.

The drive was a real kick in the face for the Panthers' defense, which up until then had completely held the Dolphins down. But this drive went nine plays for 81 yards and took up 5:28. Perhaps worst of all, Miami managed to get itself out of a second-and-29 hole at one point with a short pass and a draw play. That just shouldn't happen.

The defenses have really dominated most of the first half. Carolina QB Jake Delhomme has been sacked twice. After a drive for three points on the Panthers' first possession, the team punted the next three times in a row. Several deep throws to Steve Smith have gone awry.

The Dolphins punted the first three times they had the ball, too. But on their fourth drive, Henne threw a strike that went 36 yards to Brian Hartline. Miami also converted a third-and-16 draw play -- yes, Dan Henning called that one -- to get the ball inside the Panther 20.

Then, on third-and-9 from the Carolina 14, Henne hit Ricky Williams coming out of the backfield. Na'il Diggs had the only shot at him, at the 5, and Williams shook off that tackle and jogged into the end zone for Miami's 7-3 lead.

Panthers get FG on first drive, lead 3-0

Carolina started briskly on this rare Thursday night with a 12-play, 51-yard drive that eventually stalled inside the Miami 10. A John Kasay FG from 30 yards out has made it 3-0, Carolina, with 9:31 left in the first quarter.

(9 p.m. UPDATE: The game's next 4 drives ended in punts, so early in the second quarter Kasay's field goal still stands as the only scoring).

The big play on the Panthers' first drive was a 21-yard pass from Jake Delhomme to TE Dante Rosario, and some good running was mixed in as well by both backs. It looked like Delhomme called some of the plays from the no-huddle, but the Panthers also huddled some in a modified hurry-up sort of offense.

Carolina's best chance at the TD was when Delhomme had one-on-one coverage on Steve Smith on second-and-goal from the 7. The Panthers tried to run a flanker screen, and if No.89 had caught it he would have had only Miami CB Vontae Davis to beat. However, Delhomme threw it too low and it skipped to Smith, who then had to content himself with jawing with Davis post-play.

Although Smith had a fender-bender on the way to the game, he looks very fired up. He not only got face-to-face with Davis on this drive, he also got in the face of Miami CB Sean Smith on the other side during the drive. No flags, just some obvious trash-talking both ways going on.