Ten MNF Thoughts for Colts-Dolphins

> With eight seconds left in the first half, the Fish allowed Peyton Manning to complete a 20 yard out with a clock stop, setting up a bank shot from Adam Vinatieri to tie the game. And in that moment, I'm pretty sure every Dolphin Fan knew they weren't really going to win this game, because that's just not the kind of thing you can allow and win, really. (Besides, the Colts have been pulling Houdini acts like this one for years now, especially on the road.)

> Hey, Andy Reid. Despite not pulling this one out, the Dolphins blueprint for this game would have been a lot more interesting than what you tried against the Saints. It's actually fun to punch the other team in the mouth, even if you are going to do lots of The Tricksy. Try it sometime. Like, say, next week.

> The Dolphins were 11 for their first 15 on third down. This, with Chad Pennington at QB, and a collection of wide receivers that stretch the meaning of the word "serviceable." If you think the Colts defense has limited evidence of vertebrae without Bob Sanders, you'd be absolutely right.

> On his fourth quarter tying touchdown run, Donald Brown showed exactly why fantasy honks salivate over the idea of him taking over the timeshare from nominal starter Joe Addai. Man's got a burst, and if Addai's not hearing footsteps, he's deaf.

> Dallas Clark owners, and I am one, this was a fantastic game for you. And if you've got a dumb owner in your league, it's time to move him in a trade, because there's too many ownable TEs out there, and a lot of his yards go away if Anthony Gonzalez ever gets healthy and/or productive. He's not getting 183 yards and a touchdown again. (Der.)

> Miami's ownership finds it fun to bring in local celebrity owners like the Williams sisters, Jimmy Buffet and others. I'm wondering why more teams don't do this, really; it's not like you really give up anything of consequence, and it gives tabloid television the juice it needs to get your club some PR. So long as your celebs aren't ridiculous, it's a win.

> At some point as a society, we're going to be nostalgic about games where the teams had to deal with baseball infield dirt, right? (And, um, seriously. It's 2009. All the money the NFL has, they can't figure out a way to put grass down for the game?)

> Down 4 with 3:18 left, the Fish called a draw (tackled in bounds), then huddled, then called time out. Forty two seconds of time for that running play. Then another run, inside, for a tackle in bounds, leading to a shotgun third down call where Pennington could not get the play off before the two minute warning. It all lead to Hail Mary throws despite third down conversions in the last 30 seconds, and me being highly overjoyed at the knowledge that there *is* a worse clock management team than my Eagles! I feel so relieved!

> The Colts had the lowest time of possession for a winning team in 32 years. And Miami, you deserve it, because you make the world watch Ted Ginn, and because your clock management at the end of this game was so bad, I expected you to huddle up on clock kills. But the Colts have Real Problems on defense, at least until they get Sanders back.

> I don't mean to complain, really. I have a crew of people who actually focus on the game at hand, and nothing they said tonight made me want to smash my head with a claw hammer. But, um, Jon Gruden? You really don't need to over-emphasize obvious points, anymore than Ron Jaworski needs to say National Foot Ball League. We're all fans here, and we've all watched football before. Dial it up a notch, OK?