When the owner speaks unfortunately we have to listen, despite the fact that most of the Dolphins fan base cringe when Stephen Ross speaks football the fact is that he is the owner and the owner usually gets what he wants.

Earlier this season Stephen Ross was quoted by the Sun Sentinel saying ,  “Ross told the crowd that acquiring a No. 1 wide receiver would be the team’s “top offseason priority” and that they would do “whatever it takes” to land such a player because it would help quarterback Ryan Tannehill. “

Note that Ross’s comments were made before Brian Hartline led the league in receiving although I assume his thoughts remain the same. Miami’s track record of trading for or trading WR’s is not that great, obviously Brandon Marshall and Wes Welker ring a bell.

Next season there are several options to seek out in the draft with a solid group of first round WR talent including, Keenan Allen, Robert Woods, Young and a couple of decent top 2^nd round options as well.

On the free agent side Dwayne Bowe is the most attractive name, and a dinged up but solid vet in Greg Jennings might be an option as well. Wes Welker doesn’t seem likely to return to Miami and to be honest I am not sure how great the option is for the Dolphins either way. Mike Wallace I believe would command too much money especially after his holdout this past season.

While I don’t like when Ross speaks publically as he football mind isn’t really parallel to his business mind. Ross’s comments also hopefully will not have an effect on Brian Hartline and Davone Bess who most likely would not be pleased with the news.

That being said Ross’s comments are both obvious and true the number focus should be finding Tannehill a true number 1 target. Love me some Hartline but a number 1 WR lined up with him would only make him better.

Despite struggling to hold on to the ball, and a general lack of production, Daniel Thomas as still managed to stay in the coaches favor. That being said Daniel Thomas suffered a head injury this past week after recently just getting back into the lineup after suffering a concussion.

Head injuries are no joke to the NFL, and Thomas will have to undergo server test before he is able to get back into the lineup. 

With that being said it might soon be Miller time in Miami. While Reggie Bush is the obvious starter it has become somewhat clear that Reggie does not seem to 100% healthy. Reggie still is very effective when in the game but also does seem to lack that certain bounce and electricity that we are accustom to seeing. 

Lamar Miller who has shown flashes will most likely be given an opportunity to get on the field more and produce. When we have seen Miller on the field he has ran the ball pretty well but the coaching staff doesn't fully trust him in pass protection. With Miller most likely getting increased snaps this will be a true golden opportunity for him to pass Thomas in the depth chart.

Miller has 23 rushes with 126 rushing yards averaging 5.5 yards per carry and a TD.

 

The Dolphins did exactly what they couldn’t do last week; they were able to come away with an underdog road win this week finally finishing a game. The Dolphins once again controlled most of the ball a game but the difference was this week their defense was able to close.

This game was eerily similar to last week’s Cardinals game as the Dolphins still gave the Bengals a chance at the end of the game to comeback.

The win feels great and is great for this team’s confidence and for the overall culture of the organization, that being said there is still a lot of things the Dolphins can clean up.

Before I dish out on where I think the Dolphins need to improve, it is important to note that a key area of concern for the Dolphins the secondary absolutely stepped up their play this week. Despite down a starting cornerback the Phins secondary held one of the league’s best WR’s and a young hot QB in check. Sean Smith continued his path of retribution as his game has improved almost every week. Many were very critical when the Dolphins traded Vontae Davis but now it appears that trade might have been for the best. While the group of corners and safeties still have a long way to go this week’s performance was certainly encouraging.

Randy Starks and Cam Wake continued their dominance however it does seem the pass rush has been effective only sporadically, at time they look dominant while at other times you hold your head wondering how they let the QB have so much time to operate with.

That being said the defense as an overall unit worked together this week and looks like they are getting stronger week in a week out. This much cheaper defense looked clearly superior to the waste of money down in Buffalo.

 

A large area of concern for me this week was Charles Clay and an overall lack of a 3^rd option for Ryan Tannehill. Hopefully Jabar Gaffney will be able to come in next week and contribute but right now it is apparent that Tannehill could use a bit more help. While the offense is able to move the ball and Tannehill has been very impressive when it is time to close ball games and put the pedal to the medal, Tannehill hasn’t had a 3^rd option to turn to.

I will not go into the Dan Carpenter miss because for me it is simply inexcusable, this is now the 3^rd straight game when he has put the Dolphins and their fans with their hands in the air.

This week was encouraging however it was still apparent some of the same issues with the team exist.  The Dolphins get the Rams at home next week which is a solid matchup and presents a nice opportunity to get back to 500 before heading into the bye week.

The Miami Dolphins proved to the football world that their 1-3 start to the season was not an accurate reflection of their competitive play thus far as they leave Cincinnati with a 17-13 upset win over the Bengals. 

The first quarter of the game felt like a movie that Dolphins fans have unfortunately seen many times before, costly turnovers that lead to points for the opposition. It started with a muffed punt by Reshad Jones midway through the opening quarter who ultimately was bailed out by the stout Dolphins defense which held the Bengals to a 42 yard field goal and only a 3-0 lead. Miami followed that up with what looked to be a promising drive for the offense, only for Jorvorskie Lane to fumble in the red zone and kill the Dolphins momentum.

It wasn't until the second quarter that the Dolphins offense began to click. With four minutes to go before the half, running back Daniel Thomas capped an impressive 9 play, 63 yard drive with a one yard touchdown run. The score gave the Dolphins a slim 7-6 lead heading into the half. 

Instead of letting up, the Dolphins came out strong to begin the second half of play. Randy Starks' fourth career interception handed Miami the ball at the Bengals 40 yard line and it was only a matter of time until Bush found the endzone from 13 yards out to extend the Dolphins lead to 14-6. On their next drive, Miami settled for a 46 yard Dan Carpenter field goal to put Miami ahead by a seemingly comfortable 17-6 lead. 

Once the clock hit the seven minute mark of the third quarter, shades of the Dolphins heartbreaking overtime loss at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals took shape. Carpenter's struggles continued as he missed a 53 yard field goal that would have put Miami up by 14 points. Although a kick from that distance is no chip shot, it is well in the range of the usually relaible Carpenter. The missed attempt gave the Bengals life, just as it did against the Cardinals, and Cincinnati took full advantage. Dalton found Green from 2 yards out to cut the Dolphins lead to a mere 4 points. 

However, the 17-13 scoreline was as close as the Bengals would get as Reshad Jones sealed the win with an interception late in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins offense wasn't nearly as electrifying as in the loss to Arizona but they did enough to come away with the upset. Although Ryan Tannehill's numbers of 17-for-26, 223 yards and a 92.3 QB rating didn't break any records, his abililty to make key plays and avoid throwing a costly intereception, put his team in a great position to emerge victorious. The same went for the running game which played the game with grit when the gaping holes closed quickly. This is evident in the stats of Reggie Bush who finished with 48 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown along with Daniel Thomas who wrapped up the game with 29 yards on 10 attempts and a score. The Dolphins nine rush touchdowns in the first five games of a season is the most since 2002.

The story of the game though was the Dolphins defense which ranked 1st in the league in stopping the run entering week 5. This trend continued as the Dolphins held the Bengals featured back Benjarvus Green-Ellis to a mere 14 yards on nine carries. Miami also kept Andy Dalton from finding his groove by keeping consistent pressure on him and dragging Dalton to the turf a total of three times. The play of Miami's corners has gone unnoticed the past several weeks as both Nolan Carroll and Sean Smith stepped up in a big way. Smith has become the top cornerback that the Dolphins need, limiting pro bowl wide recievers Larry Fitzgerald and AJ Green to under 100 yards in back to back weeks. 

The win improves the Dolphins record to 2-3 on the season with a chance of moving to .500 in next week's matchup against the 3-2 St. Louis Rams. Although it wasn't pretty, the Dolphins grit earned them a well deserved victory and proved that Miami can compete with any team in the NFL. If the rest of the AFC East manages to lose this weekend, the Dolphins may find themselves in a tie for first come Tuesday morning. 

In March, the Miami Dolphins preceded to trade away their alpha receiver in Brandon Marshall. This season, the Miami Dolphins have finally made Brian Hartline the receiver he has strived to be and they guy that fans want to see bewilder secondaries on Sundays.

Although his year got off to a rocky start with outsiders wondering if the Dolphins would release or cut him because of his calf injury, Hartline healed and was ready for action by week 1.

Making tough catches has always been Hartline's appeal to the Dolphins. He's a hard worker that works an opposing secondary catching balls when he's not open wherever the ball is thrown.

Last week was Brian Hartline's career game catching 12 balls and 1 TD for 253 yards. Those pundits who screamed at the front office for trading one number 19 for Miami last year, can now trust in number 82 who does nothing but catch the ball.  In all, Hartline has 25 receptions and 455 yards receiving. Remarkably, he performs better in losses (16 REC, 344 YDS) than he does in wins (9 REC, 111 YDS).

His mastery of the new and improved Dolphins West Coast Offense is simply amazing since he missed so much time during training camp. The mere fact that he's become a go to receiver to Tannehill on third and long proves that he's clutch and makes catches when it matters.

Even though the Dolphins failed to win the past two weeks, his reception and run for 80 yards turning on the jets for 6 points shows that Brian Hartline is ready for the big time and the big contract. The expectations are going to rise after last week's performance, but should Hartline stay consistent he'll see a major payday and be a potential Pro Bowler at receiver. 

With Hartline emerging as the star receiver, we'll all soon forget that #15 in Chicago. 

Update: According to The Miami Herald-Hartline and the Dolphins are talking extension.  If Hartline keeps this up, he'll have a bigger contract and be the first Dolphin to exceed 1,389 yards receiving since Mark Clayton.  Hartline is on pace for 1,820 yards this season!