For the second consecutive week I felt the need to go back and look at the film. As opposed to Week 1 in Atlanta, however, when I was curious to see what went wrong, I wanted to see which players had the biggest impact in what went right on Friday night against the Panthers.

In particular, I was most intrigued by the turnaround of the running game. When dealing with broadcast film, it’s difficult to analyze things like Chad Henne’s reads or the coverage in the secondary. But we can easily do an in-depth study of the battles in the trenches.

The Dolphins dominated Carolina in the trenches Friday, showcasing a rejuvenated running game led by Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas. Let’s jump into the film to see which players made the difference.

There is a lot of material here, so this time I summed up each play with those that did something positive and those that did something negative, then tallied up a total rating for each player at the end of the post.

- Reggie Bush off right tackle for about a yard: Lousaka Polite, lead blocking for Bush, takes care of the safety going low to make the tackle. Anthony Fasano and Marc Colombo both keep their assignments at bay and out of the play.

Vernon Carey and Mike Pouncey pull out in front of Bush. Pouncey gets up out of stance and outside the tackle quickly, but begins to stumble and doesn’t get a block on anybody.

Carey tries to go low, but whiffs on the outside linebacker who gets to Bush behind the line of scrimmage. Just getting back to the line and gaining a yard is a testament to Bush, who breaks a tackle that would have resulted in about a two-yard loss.

Negative: Vernon Carey, Mike Pouncey
Positive: Anthony Fasano, Marc Colombo, Lousaka Polite, Reggie Bush

- Counter to Daniel Thomas off right tackle for less than a yard: Marc Colombo and Mike Pouncey each provide solid push. Vernon Carey attempts to block second line of defense, but play ends before he gets there. Richie Incognito pulls out in front of Thomas, seemingly laboring to do so. Richie gets a block on the safety, but probably should have chosen to get a body on the corner who assists on the tackle. Davone Bess comes in for a crack-back block, but gets in the way more than anything. Lousaka Polite initially stands up the defensive end, but fails to maintain and lets him shed the block and get in on the tackle.

Negative: Richie Incognito, Davone Bess, Lousaka Polite
Positive: Marc Colombo, Mike Pouncey

- Reggie Bush between the tackles for 17 yards: By design, Reggie begins to run towards the right side of the line, but cuts it back to the left. Mike Pouncey seals off the defensive tackle beautifully, Richie Incognito gets into the second line and removes the outside linebacker from the play, Lydon Murtha manhandles the defensive tackle, and Anthony Fasano keeps the defensive end in check. Reggie explodes into the second level and even breaks a tackle before being brought down.

Negative: none
Positive: Mike Pouncey, Richie Incognito, Lydon Murtha, Anthony Fasano, Reggie Bush

We would like to announce our search for a third blogger here at Phins Phocus. Daniel and I have been hard at work all summer long attempting to cover every angle of Miami Dolphins football. We want to crank our coverage up to another level once the regular season arrives, though, and a third writer is probably in order to do so.

We’re open to any quality assistance we can get. We are looking for someone who can post at least once per week, but we’re very open to a more frequent contributor as well.

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The Dolphins have reportedly signed offensive tackle Tyler Donahue, an undrafted rookie out of Bowling Green that was recently released from St. Louis Rams camp.

All signs are pointing to the Dolphins keeping four offensive tackles on the 53-man roster, but unless Nate Garner is in for a permanent move to center, where he’s been cross training, he’ll be tough to beat for the final roster spot at the position. Donahue is realistically nothing more than a practice squad hopeful. 

Outside of a few penalties, the first-team offensive line came alive against the Panthers on Friday night, creating some solid push up front for Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas to combine for 100 yards on the ground.

Henne was forced to escape the pass rush on a couple occasions, but for the most part, Marc Colombo and Lydon Murtha enabled him to distribute the football from a clean pocket.

The Dolphins’ starting offensive line did all of that without the best offensive lineman in football. Well, they won’t have to play without all-world left tackle Jake Long anymore, as Big Jake was activated off the PUP list today and returned to practice.

The Dolphins may have gotten away with playing without Long against a bottom-feeder team like the Panthers, but when some of the game’s elite defenses line up across from Brian Daboll’s offense, Chad Henne will need his blindside secured.

Jake Long has the ability to completely neutralize any of the league’s premier pass rushers, thus giving Chad Henne a better chance to succeed, thus making the Dolphins’ chances at contending for a playoff spot much more reasonable. 

In the preseason, morale is heavily impacted by what meets the eye when the starting units are in the game.

The Dolphins seemingly did a complete 180 from their struggles a week ago, and the first-team offense and first-team defense put on a show in the first half.

Albeit it was against the team who picked first in the draft and a team that was resting several key starters, but progress was clearly made.

The negatives may seem a little nitpicky considering it was such a sound performance, but nonetheless, here are my top four positives and negatives from last night’s win.

POSITIVES

Interior offensive line coming along: What a difference a week makes I guess. In Atlanta, Mike Pouncey flashed some glimpses but Richie Incognito and Vernon Carey created no push for Daniel Thomas to work with.

With Reggie Bush making his debut and getting the start over Thomas, the Dolphins’ interior offensive line, as well as the tackles Lydon Murtha and Marc Colombo, pushed the Panthers’ front seven around.

I’m not sure we’ve seen running lanes that big since 2009. Let’s remember that the interior O-line may have been the biggest weakness on the entire team a year ago, so it’s been awhile since we’ve seen much success on the ground for the Dolphins.

We saw a lot of good things in the first half, but I’m most encouraged by the progress made up front. Part of me feels that Chad Henne struggled so much a year ago because he didn’t have a respectable running game to lean on.

That’s a tough situation for a young quarterback. He’ll only improve if what we saw last night from the Dolphins’ offensive line is a sign of things to come.

Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas: The holes may have been there, but it was up to Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas to make the most of them. And that they did.

Bush sliced and diced his way to 48 yards on eight carries and had another 20 yards negated by a foolish Brandon Marshall block in the back. He was also obviously a playmaker in the passing game, taking two receptions for 33 yards, as he could develop into Mr. Checkdown’s best friend.

Daniel Thomas got off to a rough start, being stuffed twice on the goal line before getting replaced by Lex Hilliard who eventually ran it in on fourth down. He began to find his groove in the second quarter, though, and finished the night by leading the Dolphins in rushing with 52 yards on 12 carries. He also redeemed himself by finding the end zone for the first time as a pro.

Bush was clearly the more productive runner last night, however. All things the same, Bush may become the offense’s primary back after all. I worry how he’ll hold up with that type of workload combined with all the receptions he figures to have, but if he can stay healthy, big things could be in store for #22.