A Perfect Tenn....minus four

Two days ago I mentioned I couldn't imagine what would play out at Sun Life Stadium after the Dolphins decided to pull Chad Henne in lieu of Chad Pennington and replace youth with age in other areas as well.  Truth is, I don't think anyone could have imagined what went down, first a loss of not one but two quarterbacks, the loss of our two best players, Jake Long and Cameron Wake, and finally, a convincing 29-17 home win against a really good team in Tennessee.  It was, from all angles, a shocking Sunday.

More shocking things happened, like the Cleveland Browns blowing not one, not two, but three late opportunities to knock off the NY Jets.  How about Pittsburgh's normally steel curtain defense giving up 39 points in a loss to New England.  Hell, even Buffalo won.  

Despite Miami's impressive win, they made up no ground in the division and for now are still not in contention for the playoffs.  With a Thursday night game looming, the loss of Long, Wake, and Henne are potentially devastating.  Wake's only backup is Quentin Moses.  Long would be replaced by Vernon Carey, who we all saw got banged up himself and was laying flat on the ground in the Titans game.  Behind Long and Carey is Lydon Murtha, and newly picked up Matt Kopa.  More than likely, Pat McQuistan or John Jerry would slide over to play Tackle before one of those two got the start.

As for the quarterbacks, there have been preliminary reports that both Pennington and Henne are out for the season, though I would suspect Henne is more of a 3 to 4 week injury.  The Dolphins have reportedly contacted JaMarcus Russell, Daunte Culpepper and Chris Simms.  I know, all three names result in a triumphant groan from football fans, but rest assured, no matter who we sign, Tyler Thigpen is the starter and will remain so until the dust settles.  It is much more likely the Dolphins would bring in QBs they've already worked with.

Next up?  The Chicago Bears on Thursday.  Both teams played yesterday so there is no advantage of rest for either team.  More on that tomorrow but for now, check out this article by Omar Kelly where Cortland Finnegan calls out the Dolphins uninventive coaching staff.