The Dolphins still are gloating about a 35-year-old accomplishment, and now they are gloating about beating a 4-10 team that is playing out the string. After defeating the Ravens on Sunday for their first victory of the season against 13 losses, the Dolphins made like college kids at Mardi Gras.
When receiver Greg Camarillo turned a catch of a short pass from Cleo Lemon into a 64-yard touchdown and a 22-16 overtime victory, the Miami bench emptied. Camarillo was mobbed in the end zone. Lemon ran for coach Cam Cameron. They hugged, jumped and danced. Linebacker Joey Porter waved a Dolphins flag as the home crowd went crazy. In the locker room, the entire team jumped up and down in unison and chanted, “We rock!”
Defensive tackle Vonnie Holliday compared Camarillo’s play to historic receptions such as “The Catch” by Dwight Clark. Team owner Wayne Huizenga, who has been so frustrated by the deterioration of his franchise that he is discussing selling the Dolphins, said the victory felt like winning the Super Bowl.
The 1972 Dolphins, the only undefeated team in NFL history at least for another two weeks, were honored at halftime. They undoubtedly would have preferred to see the Patriots lose than the Dolphins win, but at least they have a smaller reason to down that champagne.
But Monday morning, the Dolphins will wake up and realize they still are 1-13. They still are the worst team in the league. They will have to share the undefeated spotlight for eternity with the Patriots. Cameron likely will be fired after the season. And there will be a housecleaning in the off-season.
Celebrations are supposed to be for winners. I suppose the Dolphins deserve a moment. Just one moment, though.
LET’S GO TO THE TAPE
*Not only are the Patriots tough to beat, they also make it tough for their opponents to win their next games.
After losing to the Patriots a week ago, the Steelers were beaten by the Jaguars on Sunday even though they were favored by 3 1/2 points at home. It was part of a larger trend. The Patriots’ opponents are 4-9 in their next games.
*Monday will be a good day to avoid special-teams coaches. Their units had an inordinate number of misfires and errors over the weekend.
A bad snap by Ravens long snapper Matt Katula contributed to Matt Stover’s 44-yard miss in overtime against the Dolphins. It was Stover’s first career miss in overtime in six attempts. Earlier, the Ravens’ kick protection broke down to allow Jason Taylor to block another Stover attempt.
Mike Nugent missed a 35-yard attempt with just over two minutes left that could have put the Jets back in their game against the Patriots.
In the same game, the Jets’ Ben Graham had a second-quarter punt blocked by Kelley Washington, and the Patriots took over at the Jets 3-yard line. Two plays later, they scored. Earlier, David Bowens of the Jets blocked a Chris Hanson punt and recovered for a touchdown.
Four field goals were missed in the 49ers-Bengals game Saturday.
Bills punter Brian Moorman couldn’t handle a snap, and he ended up kicking out of his end zone for a Cleveland safety.
And perhaps the most maddening special-teams play of all: Panthers kicker John Kasay’s 37-yard field-goal attempt started to the right of center but screwballed wide left, perhaps with more than a little help from a gust of wind.
*From the What Could He Have Been Thinking? file: On fourth-and-inches on the Miami 1 with 12 seconds left, Ravens coach Brian Billick chose to go for a field goal and play for a tie. The Ravens subsequently lost in overtime.
A couple of points: The Ravens rushed for 163 yards against the Dolphins. Miami came in ranked last in the league in run defense and 25th in defensive fourth-down efficiency.
GAME BALL OFFENSE
Jamal Lewis, Browns
The big running back was the perfect vehicle to get the Browns through the Bills and the blizzard. He put it in four-wheel drive and rushed 33 times for 163 yards, an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
GAME BALL DEFENSE
Antonio Cromartie, Chargers
The takeaway machine kept humming with his 10th interception in nine games, breaking a 46-year-old team record. He also had a fumble recovery on special teams. The takeaways were part of a feeding frenzy by the Chargers, who intercepted Lions quarterback Jon Kitna five times in a 51-14 victory.
GAME BALL SPECIAL TEAMS
Micheal Spurlock, Bucs
Now we can be certain the apocalypse is approaching. Spurlock took a kickoff up the middle, cut to the right and had an easy run to the Falcons end zone. The Bucs had been trying to do that for 32 years. Since they started playing in 1976, they had made 1,864 attempts by 141 players before Spurlock finally scored the first kickoff-return touchdown in team history.
GUY I WANT ON MY TEAM
For all the Dolphins have been through, it would be easy for veteran Jason Taylor to go through the motions. He’s probably going to be traded in the off-season, and he probably feels let down by his organization. But the defensive end played his heart out Sunday. He had two sacks and blocked a field goal that could have been the difference in the game. Taylor remains one of the elite players in the NFL, as well as one of its great warriors.
GRAB SOME BENCH
Obnoxious Patriots fans had no business throwing snow and ice at Jets players. The game had to be temporarily suspended because of this nonsense. Perpetrators should have been tossed out of Gillette Stadium and had their season tickets revoked.
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
*Brian Westbrook helped one team — the Eagles — win but may have caused many fantasy football teams to lose when he went down voluntarily at the Cowboys’ 1-yard line late in a 10-6 victory. Where are his priorities?
*In the most anticipated handshake since Reagan-Gorbachev, Bill Belichick did not use a joy buzzer on Eric Mangini. But it would have made for great theater if he had.
*O.J. Atogwe had two interceptions of Brett Favre. Any chance the Bears could acquire Atogwe before next Sunday?
*At least the Bears won’t have to suffer the indignity of Favre breaking the record for most passing yards in a career against them. Favre did that Sunday, eclipsing Dan Marino’s mark of 61,361. He’s at 61,405.
*Isn’t it fitting that the Browns and the Bills had to play in conditions only a penguin could tolerate? I’m grateful to have avoided that assignment. Playing in it looked like fun. Traveling in it did not.
*The Falcons have come completely undone. They are a team devoid of purpose and discipline. And it says more about them than it does about their former coach.
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dpompei@tribune.com
