The Miami Dolphins edge the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-26 to win their 9th straight pre-season game

The Miami Dolphins’ match-up against the Jacksonville Jaguars started much like last week’s game against Tampa-rain, rain, and a lot more rain. The game was postponed well over an hour-and-a-half from the starting time which was supposed to begin at 7:30pm. Lightning was more of an impeding factor, nevertheless there was still football; and what a game it was.

The Jaguars scored first, on a safety, after the Dolphins were pinned back on the five yard line and Jacksonville took advantage blocking a failed punt attempt by Brandon Fields.

Miami’s offense then came alive, taking the ball down the field on a few clever wildcat plays which ended in a field goal to give the Dolphins a 3-2 advantage. Jacksonville would then head down the field with two big plays, including a 34 yard pass to wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker and another on some nifty footwork by David Garrard, which eventually led the Jags to a 9-3 lead.

The Miami Dolphins would strike back immediately minutes into the second quarter. Dolphins QB Chad Henne threw a 55 yard strike to Anthony Fasano as he took it down the sidelines to give the Dolphins a one-point lead. Early on, it seemed both teams’ defenses couldn’t stop their respective offenses.

Later in the second quarter, Jaguars quarterback David Garrard was shaken up after being tackled on a failed pass attempt. Back-up Luke McCown, who only accumulated two yards last season, filled-in for Garrard who didn’t return to the game.

Miami’s offensive line did a great job in the second quarter, providing Henne with a lot of time to help set up a clean 9-yard reception by Brandon Marshall. Centers Jake Grove and Joe Berger alternated series through the first half for additional evaluation on who would be the starter.

With 6:40 left in the 1st half, Chad Henne completed yet another touchdown pass to Anthony Fasano to spread Miami’s lead to 17-9. Following the score, Jacksonville gained good field position on a 36 yard kick-off return by RB Deji Karim. Miami’s defense would step up, most notably on a quarterback sack by nose tackle Randy Starks. The Jags would eventually score on a field goal by Josh Scobee to bring the Jags within five.

Dolphins back-up QB, Chad Pennington came into the game, late in the second quarter, and threw a 37-yard pass to Brandon Marshall. Pennington hasn’t had a big play like that since going down last season with a shoulder injury after starting just three games. Pennington would finish the drive with a 10-yard TD pass to Ronnie Brown to stretch the lead to 24-12.

Starting the third quarter for the Dolphins was third year QB Tyler Thigpen. He’s expected to be the third QB behind Chad Henne and Chad Pennington which means Pat White would be the odd man out.

The Jaguars first drive of the third quarter ended with a punt after a three and out by Miami. The only highlight for the Jags during the first five minutes of the third was a 19 yard rush up the middle by Rashad Jennings.

A pass interference penalty on Nolan Carroll gave the Jags good field position which led to a Luke McCown 3-yard TD pass to Brock Bolen.

Dolphins’ receiver Marlon Moore shined in the 3rd quarter similar the way he did in last week’s match-up against Tampa. He caught a 17 and 16 yard pass late in the 3rd quarter.

Miami’s defense stepped up early in the fourth quarter with a pass break up by Kevin Hobbs, whom is competing for a spot at cornerback and an interception by strong safety Jonathan Amaya. The Dolphins would stretch their lead to 27-19 on a field goal by Dan Carpenter.

Miami’s defense would falter nearing the end of the game with a strong drive by Luke McCown which led to a rushing TD by FB Brock Bolen to bring the score to 27 to 26. Dolphins outside linebackers Ikaika Alama-Francis and Charlie Anderson heard shouting from Tony Sparano after a few missed tackles and allowed excessive room for McCown to connect on easy passes.

The Dolphins won their 9th straight preseason game by the final of 27-26. Next week they’ll take on Atlanta at home. The game can be seen live on Friday at 7:00pm on CBS affiliate WFOR.

Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars preview

The Miami Dolphins better beware of the Jaguars defense tonight at EverBank field. Miami takes to the field on the road at 7:30p.m. to face Jacksonville in their second pre-season game. The Jaguars have a lot to prove on the defensive side and there are a lot of battles happening including between third year defensive end Derek Harvey and rookie Austen Lane.

Lane has looked good in practice and has the intangibles to be an amazing player for the Jags. His speed, youth, and the ability he has to maneuver on the field with ease to reach the quarterback are just a few of the qualities which have gotten him the attention of Jags coach, Jack Del Rio.

However, Harvey has done an acceptable job his first two seasons, leading his team in quarterback pressures with 49 total. The former Gator defensive end also racked up 104 career tackles and played in all 32 games with the Jags; so he's still young and with a good amount of experience under his belt, is expected to start all year.

Dolphins' lineman John Jerry and Vernon Carey are going to have their hands full with Harvey, who despite all he's accomplished, is still considered to be somewhat of a bust for the Jags because his play didn't elevate the defense as a whole.

Dolphins’ receiver Brandon Marshall may be under a little bit of pressure, considering he dropped some passes in Miami's pre-season opener last weekend and also in this past week's practices.

He showed some frustration on the field during practice this week. For instance, after he dropped a pass, he angrily punted a ball up in the air which led some to speculate that he was having some troubles.

But as some seem to forget, this is just the pre-season and Marshall has to get accustomed to the offense and comfortable with Dolphins QB Chad Henne, who has some development issues of his own. Henne, who had problems with ball control and accuracy last season, has got to get in the mindset that everyone is depending on him and he's the future.

The pressure seemed to be an issue for Henne last year after he went 7-6 when Chad Pennington went down; and although he played better than was expected, he threw some costly interceptions in close games and had 14 picks in total. Winning 7 games though is very good considering he didn't expect to start last season. But with a league which seems to have more quarterbacks who are coming out of the gate winning like Matt Ryan and Mark Sanchez did, much more seems to expected out of second year quarterbacks.

Chad Henne, Brandon Marshall, and the Dolphins offensive line will get a chance to work on their craft against a stingy defense tonight versus the Jags. The game can be seen on CBS affiliate WFOR-TV at 7:30p.m. eastern.