Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida

Time to sit back, insert that IV of your favorite caffeinated beverage and check out some NFL headlines! Happy Monday Morning, my friend!

The Miami Dolphins quite possibly lost out on a big opportunity to host Super Bowl L. Want to know why? The Florida legislature opted not to approve a deal that would publicly fund improvements to aging Sun Life Stadium.

According to NFL.com:

Dolphins CEO Mike Dee said Sunday on Miami’s CBS affiliate that the team will not provide any upgrades to Sun Life Stadium without the help of public funding. The Dolphins have canceled all renovation plans and say stadium improvements cannot be made without public-private partnership.

Dee left the door open that the stadium issue could lead to the Dolphins’ eventual exit from southern Florida.

“The Dolphins are one of the only franchises in the NFL that don’t have a long-term lease with their community,” Dee said, according to The Palm Beach Post. “At some point, somebody’s going to buy the franchise from (Dolphins owner Stephen Ross), and clearly the stadium is the first thing they would need to address.” » Continue reading “Monday Morning Blitz: Miami Stadium Drama And More”

Happy Sunday! It is that time once again for another edition of the Sunday Morning Blitz. Believe it or not, things have quieted down since the NFL Draft last weekend.

One of the more interesting stories to pop up Saturday was that of former wide receiver Terrell Owens. NFL.com reported Owens is now bowling (semi) professionally. (Video at top, as well as at NFL.com link)

Over at Reddit, Brian Billick, the former Baltimore Ravens Head Coach and current FOX NFL Sunday analyst, did an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Friday. He answered a lot of questions. And yes, that includes questions on Kyle Boller, Elvis Grbac and Trent Dilfer.

Speaking of Baltimore, the Ravens hired former Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnulo to be a defensive assistant on the staff.

The Dallas Morning News has a story about a former Rugby cheerleader attending the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders tryouts. The cheerleader was one of hundreds trying out for the team.

Staying in Texas, former Philadelphia Eagles defensive player William Thomas was elected to the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. Thomas playhed for Palo Duro High School in Amarillo.

In Denver, Von Miller has been doing stuff this offseason. The Broncos linebacker purchased chickens for his acreage near Dallas, according to USA Today’s Lindsay H. Jones. Chickens are quite interesting. I don’t know if he has any hens. If he does, you can’t beat those farm fresh eggs.

It was a busy Saturday for Washington’s Chris Cooley and Pierre Garcon. Both were in Winchester, Va. for the Wells Fargo Sports Breakfast Saturday, according to the North Virginia Daily.

Our feature story comes courtesy of the Miami Herald and is about Dolphins first round draft pick Dion Jordan. The story is about the challenges Jordan has faced over time. It is definitely a good read.

Another feature we have comes from Myrtle Beach Online. It’s about former Clemson player Jonathan Willard, who will be at rookie camp for the Tennessee Titans.

Finally, for our shopping item of the day. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, which is a popular drinking holiday, you can purchase these NFL shot glasses online.

Cartoon screencaps, because why not… (Via YouTube)

We’re closing in on the month of April, which means we are just a couple weeks away from the NFL Draft. But for now, let’s just get to the other news.

The Buffalo Bills added a quarterback to their roster Saturday night. They signed former Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb to a two year deal, worth $13 million, according to various media sources. What this means for the quarterback situation, I’m not really sure. We’ll know after the NFL Draft though.

In other free agent news, the Miami Dolphins signed cornerback Brent Grimes to a contract Saturday. Grimes missed the entire season last year after injuring his Achilles tendon in week one.

Of course, the big talk of the weekend has been about Tony Romo’s contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys. If you’re expecting me to comment on namesake’s contract extension, I won’t give you that pleasure. If you want hot sprots takes in regards to Romo, well just go somewhere else for them. » Continue reading “Sunday Morning Blitz: Kolb to Buffalo, Grimes to Miami”

LET THE FREE AGENCY BEGIN!

So what happened on Tuesday, other than rumored malarkey?

The Buffalo Bills cut starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Which you can’t be surprised about, after hearing what Buffalo’s GM Buddy Nix had to say when overheard on this epic prank call with Tampa Bay Bucs GM Mark Dominik. Looks like one Irishman might be hitting the bars a little early this year. Or not, with this terrible QB market.

Speaking of QBs, did you see that the Chiefs signed Chase Daniels as a backup QB? My bet is that the former Missouri star will be right at home in KC, with at least the Jayhawk-hating half of the fan base. Just see the comments on any article about this move!

The Dolphins were pretty busy Tuesday, signing wide-receiver Mike Wallace and and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe. Let’s hope these two like runs on the beach, because that’s what Hard Knocks taught me about the Dolphins preseaon last year.

In what some are calling the best free-market move of the day, the Browns signed linebacker Paul Kruger. It’s also quite the kick-in-the-pants to their division rivals the Ravens.

Paul Kruger: when Googling, try not to be confused by the bodybuilder Paul Krueger. Or be confused, and enjoy.

And to conclude this Wednesday Morning Blitz, I give you the most fun to say names in the free agency: Pouha! Bigby! Beanie! Fozzy! Nnamdi Asomugha!

Oh, and Tony Gonzalez is coming back!!!

Emily Ritter is a contributing writer to Aerys Offsides. If you follow her on Twitter @ebritter2, she might use the word malarkey more often.

There isn’t much to report on Miami’s final game of the season against the Patriots. They were blown out 28-0 to a revived Patriots team, who clinched a playoff-bye with the win.

Ryan Tannehill sacked by defensive end Justin Francis

In his final season as a rookie, quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 20 of 35 for 235 yards. He was sacked a season-high seven times. Runningback Reggie Bush was held to just 26 yards on  8 carries. Brian Hartline led the receiving team with 69 yards.

The Patriots offense controlled the ball most of the game, dominated by QB Tom Brady and the return of tight end Rob Gronkowski.

The Dolphins finished 7-9, with a losing season for the fourth year in a row. Does this mean the Hard Knocks curse continues? You tell me!

The (5-10) Bills were eliminated from the playoffs last week, but the (7-8) Dolphins didn’t learn they were eliminated until a few minutes after their 24-10 win.

The Bills claimed they were playing for pride, but C.J. Spiller was the only player on offense who really showed it. He had 138 yards over 22 carries and a touchdown. His best play of the game was a 62-yard run on the Bills third possession of the game. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick started off well, but hadn’t passed more than 100 yards by the end of the third quarter. He ended the game 20 of 35 for 240 yards and a touchdown. The Bills were hurt by several missed chances. Stevie Johnson lost a fumble and dropped a pass in the end zone.

Buffalo’s most exciting play of the game came from Alex Carrington, who blocked his fourth field goal of the season.

Despite throwing for 13 of 25 and only 130 yards, Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins had a better day by focusing on the Bills woeful run defense. Their offense was led by Reggie Bush, whose three touchdowns were his first of the season. Bush scored on 17 and 12 yard tosses from Tannehill as well as a 1-yard run into the end zone.

Reggie Bush

On defense, Miami forced four turnovers. Safety Reshad Jones recovered two fumbles and made an interception with just seconds left in the game to clinch the win.

In their final games of the season, Miami squares off against the Patriots next week while the Bills face the Jets.

The Dolphins snapped a two-game losing streak and beat their old quarterback Chad Henne in his return to Sun Life Stadium with the Jaguars this Sunday, and reigned victorious, 24-3.

Miami’s new QB, Ryan Tannehill, was 22 of 28 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had a pretty sweet 30-yard run down the field at one point, following teammate Reggie Bush’s lead, who rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries. Tannehill ended up rushing for 52 yards himself. Brian Hartline continued to be Tannehill’s go-to receiver, with 77 yards. With this, he surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the first time.

Photo courtesy of Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Kicker Dan Carpenter continued to put consistent points on the board, kicking three field goals.

The Dolphins defense was sharp, turning back three Jaguar scoring drives. They also got lucky when a Jags touchdown was erased because of an illegal substitution penalty.

This was only the second win in the last seven games, and the half empty stadium reflected the fan’s response. However, Miami is now a more promising 6-8. They face the Bills next Sunday.

The Miami Dolphins couldn’t keep up with the gold-digging, Kaepernick-ing 49ers this Sunday, and fell 27-13 in San Francisco.

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh considered coaching for the Dolphins before signing with the 49ers in January 2011 and was pretty committed to beating the rejected team. And yet, the 49ers didn’t look particularly dominant in the first half of the game. Miami was down only 6-3 going into the half.

Things started heating up in the 4th quarter. Anthony Fasano made a spectacular diving catch from QB Ryan Tannehill in the endzone. But the pressure on Tannehill was constant all game, and it was the only touchdown the Dolphins would see. Their other two scores came from Dan Carpenter field goals in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.

And then things really heated up for the 49ers who had two touchdowns in the 4th, including a 50 yard run by QB Colin Kaepernick. It was like Kaepernick was the motorboat and the Dolphins just couldn’t swim fast enough to catch up.

The Dolphins are now 5-8 and face the Jaguars next Sunday.

The Miami Dolphins lost to the New England Patriots for the 5th consecutive time with their mistake-ridden 23-16 loss on Sunday.

QBs Brady and Tannehill

The Patriots scored their first seventeen points off of Miami mistakes: a fumbled punt snap by Brandon Fields, a roughing the kicker penalty on Jimmy Wilson, and a fumble by QB Ryan Tannehill in his own endzone. Maimi was given life when Rashard Jones intercepted the ball and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. But a illegal block penalty on Reggie Bush negated the score.

The Dolphins defense performed well, and held Tom Brady to one of his worst performances of the season. But Tannehill was also not at his best, completing only 13 of 29 for 186 yards. Tannehill was best on the run game, rushing for 19 yards including a 2-yard touchdown run.

Miami almost made it close in the fourth quarter, but was held back by the Patriots, who were able to clinch the AFC East with the win.

With the loss, the Dolphins dropped to 5-7 on the season. They face the 49ers next Sunday.

The Miami Dolphins rallied past the Seattle Seahawks at Sun Life Stadium, winning 24-21, and while they may not be completely in the playoff picture, December now matters for the come-back Dolphins.

Miami scored 17 points in the final 8:08 of the game to clinch their rally to victory. Rookie QB Ryan Tannehill led an 80 yard drive which ended in a 29-yard pass to Charles Clay to tie up the game at 21-all. Then, with 92 seconds left in the game, Tannehill led the Dolphins 65 yards down the field. This set up the winning field goal, a 43-yard lob by Dan Carpenter (on his 27th birthday!).

Tannehill was 18 of 26 for 253 yards and one touchdown. His one interception was negated by a penalty on the Seahawks. With this game, Tannehill broke the Dolphins rookie record of 2,210 yards passing set by Dan Marino in 1983.

Before their 4th quarter outburst, the Dolphins were rather lack-luster, and the biggest cheers from the fans came from a sprinkler mishap in the third quarter. Luckily, one of our Aerys staff writers was there to document it:

Insert your favorite Buffalo Wild Wings joke here. Courtesy of Aerys Sports’ Miri Diaz.

Reggie Bush led the team in rushing with 87 yards for 14 carries, while Davone Bess led the team in receiving with 129 yards.

With this victory, the Dolphins broke a 3 game losing streak and now have a 5-6 record. They face the Patriots next Sunday.

Follow Emily on Twitter, @ebritter2