Dolphins Lose Finale

The 2007 season has mercifully come to an end to the Miami Dolphins, who lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 38-25 this afternoon. Not that this loss means much of anything. It drops us to 1-15, but luckily the Dolphins avoided the ignominy of a winless season.

As expected, they couldn't do much to stop a struggling Carson Palmer and his group of wide receivers. Aside from a bad call in the first half that gave Chad Johnson a touchdown, the Dolphins were simply outplayed in this one. Oh well.

Cleo Lemon left the game with a hip injury, giving the fans a surprise chance to see John Beck in action. True to form, he fumbled his first snap and it was taken back for a touchdown. After that, Beck had a very nice outing, completing 13 of 21 passes for nearly 150 yards and a TD. That's good news considering the Big Tuna was up in the skybox keeping a close eye on his new team.

I think Beck has proven enough to warrant using the #1 overall pick on a position other than quarterback. What he hasn't proven is that he is good enough to avoid picking a quarterback altogether. Parcells better make sure he selects one in the 3rd-5th round to make sure Beck has some competition next season. Heck, in a season where Matt Moore and Todd Collins are effective, why not?

Speaking of Parcells, I think he's got a lot of work ahead of him. Undoubtedly he was up there evaluating whats left of this injury plagued roster and seeing what needs to stay and what needs to go. This a was a 53 man audition for a job next year. Ted Ginn showed some promise. Hagan too. So there is a glimmer of hope, even if it's incredibly faint.

In the next week or so I plan on writing a few entries on my personal evaluations of our roster, man by man, and who I think needs to be let go and who needs to come back next season. I'll also provide more thoughts about the draft and maybe at some point do my best Mel Kiper impression and do a mock 1st round and mock 7 round Dolphins draft.