Ricky Williams Shines As Miami Dolphins Beat Carolina Panthers

NFL News - November 20th, 2009 - Written by Jimmy

Last night, the Miami Dolphins (5-5) took on the Carolina Panthers (4-6) in the second installment of NFL Network's Thursday Night Football. The game didn't appear to be very good on paper, but it was a different story when both teams took the field.

Both the Dolphins and the Panthers desperately needed to win this game to start their run at a possible postseason berth. In the end, it was the Miami Dolphins that came out on top by besting the Panthers by a score of 24 to 17.

Las Vegas oddsmakers didn't think much of the Miami Dolphins heading into this match. The Week 11 NFL Betting Odds had the Dolphins listed anywhere as 3 to 3 1/2 point underdogs. Obviously the Dolphins blew that number away by winning straight up.

Coming into this game, the Miami Dolphins had been delivered the devastating news that RB Ronnie Brown would miss the rest of the season with the foot injury suffered in the win at Tampa Bay last weekend. Brown had been the lead guy of the Dolphins' trademark Wildcat offense, as well as a key cog on traditional offensive plays.

With Brown out of the Wildcat, the Dolphins were expected to turn more to RB Ricky Williams as well as rookie QB Pat White to run the offense, and to rely more on QB Chad Henne to run traditional plays. It ended up being Ricky Williams that shined to the tune of 22 carries for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns. Williams also had 2 receptions for 19 yards including a touchdown on a 14 yard catch and run.

As for Chad Henne, he had another solid performance while playing in the spotlight. The Miami Dolphins offensive line gave Henne plenty of time as they did not allow a sack. That time allowed Henne to complete 17 of 29 passes for 172 and 1 touchdown. Henne did not turn the ball over but did fumble once which was recovered by Miami.

On the opposite side of the ball, it took the Carolina Panthers offense a while to get into rhythm. It wasn't until the 4th quarter that the Carolina offense was finally able to break through and score a touchdown. Previously, the Panthers had been held to 2 John Kasay field goals. For that score, it was WR Steve Smith hooking up with QB Jake Delhomme on a 27 yard pass.

At that point in the game, the Panthers only trailed by a score of 17 to 14, and still had a real chance of winning. That chance would fade quickly as the Dolphins came back down the field on the next possession capping the drive with a 46 yard touchdown run by Ricky Williams. Another Kasay field goal would bring the game back to 1 possession, but the Panthers would not be able to recover the onside kick. When the Panthers got the ball back, they made a late threat, but fell short in pass protection on a play from the 26 with :06 left. What could have been an actual play ended up looking like a 26 yard Hail Mary after the Dolphins' front pressured Delhomme. The pass was batted down ending the game.

Up next for the Miami Dolphins is a trip to Buffalo, NY to play the Bills on November 29th. For the Carolina Panthers, they will be visiting the New York Jets also on November 29th.

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