Miami Dolphins 2009

MIAMI (CBS4) ― The Miami Dolphins entered the 2009 regular season as the defending AFC East Champion, but one injury either doomed the Dolphins season, or will provide a spark the team desperately needed after 3 lackluster performances. With Chad Pennington done for the season, the onus of trying to turn around a horrendous passing game now falls on second year quarterback, Chad Henne.

The former Michigan standout was brought in to one day take over the job as starting quarterback of the Dolphins. It turned out the day arrived sooner than anyone expected. Henne has the pedigree to be a good quarterback; he started every game he played from high school through his senior year at Michigan. He likely would have been the starting quarterback for the Dolphins last season had Pennington not become available in the preseason.

During his four-year career at Michigan, Henne threw for 97 hundred yards, 87 touchdowns and 37 interceptions. He had a career passer rating of 133.9 while playing for the Wolverines. Still, in the biggest game of the season for the Wolverines each year, Henne could never beat Ohio State. But, against the vaunted Tim Tebow and Florida, Henne torched the Gators and pulled off an impressive bowl win.

But that was college, this is the NFL and Henne knows it. He was greeted in the second half of the Chargers game with blitzes and threw one interception that he likely knew was picked the second he let go of it. But, that's to be expected from most rookie quarterbacks, and Henne is basically a rookie quarterback when it comes to regular season action.

Still, as evidenced by the success of Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, and Mark Sanchez, it is possible for young quarterbacks to enjoy success. But it starts on the defensive side of the ball.

For the Dolphins to have success with Henne, the defense must finally come around, especially the linebackers and secondary. Every game the Dolphins have played, a linebacker has been getting burned by a tight end, or a safety is getting burned by a receiver or tight end. Indianapolis Colts all-pro Dallas Clark looked like he was playing a Pop Warner defense the way he lit up the Dolphins. Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez looked like he was about 10 years younger than his age as he torched the Dolphins defense throughout the game in week 1. And while Antonio Gates didn't have the game Clark or Gonzalez did, the secondary was still getting lit up by Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson.

Multiple coaches over the years said the key to winning in the NFL is to run the ball well and to stop the run. Well, the Dolphins can run the ball fairly well, ask the Indianapolis Colts. For the most part the Dolphins can stop the run, but the Dolphins defense simply can't stop the pass. It may not be all the secondary's fault as the vaunted tandem of Porter and Taylor are not producing much of a pass rush on opposing quarterbacks, which is the key in a 3-4 scheme. But Dolphins opponents have seen the problems the Fins have covering people and will likely continue to attack the middle of the field until the defense can stop it.

But back to the primary focus of Henne, he can have modest success thanks to Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. The Dolphins will continue to focus on the running game and will likely continue to utilize the Wildcat prominently. What the elevation of Henne to starter also does is allows Pat White to remain second-string quarterback giving the Fins another option, pardon the pun. White can throw the football and would provide the passing option the Wildcat is so desperately missing. Otherwise, defenses are going to line up 9 men in the box to stop the run out of the Wildcat.

Still, Davone Bess has proven to be the Dolphins best receiver while Ted Ginn, Jr. has regressed from his play from last year. Not to mention Anthony Fasano, who has made catching the football look like a game of hot potato. The Dolphins don't have playmakers, at least when Pennington was throwing the football. Henne presents the option of throwing the deep ball consistently, which finally may get Ginn using the speed he has. If Ginn can open up the defenses on the outside, Bess, Greg Camarillo, and Brian Hartline can get open in the middle of the field.

Plus, the key to everything will be the offensive line which will now have to adjust to a new cadence and field general. For Jake Long it will be easy, for the other four linemen, it might be a challenge in the first full game with Henne.

The good news for Dolphins fans is the Buffalo Bills are coming to town this weekend. The Bills seem to be a team in disarray and on the verge of heading south in a hurry. The Bills defense lost starting cornerback Leodis McKelvin for an indefinite period of time which might force the Bills to play more zone defense throughout the game to protect the younger corners.

Henne will have to grow up in a hurry as the powerhouses of the NFL still stand in his way throughout the season, but he has all the tools to be a successful quarterback, which would be something the Dolphins haven't seen since a former University of Pittsburgh quarterback was controlling the Fins offense.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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