Miami Dolphins Could Give Up On Chad Henne After Awful Day
An an impartial observer, I’m growing impatient with Chad Henne’s maturation process — so I can’t imagine how Dolphins fans are feeling in Miami.
Henne’s latest train-wreck included three interceptions, the last of which gave the Cleveland Browns a chip-shot field goal to win the game. The ball was tipped, but had he not thrown two interceptions earlier in the game the Dolphins would not have been frantically trying to get down the field for a field goal of their own.
The Dolphins’ defense did its job. It held the electric Peyton Hillis (who would have thought about writing that this time last season?) to only 57 yards rushing on 18 attempts. The only thing they couldn’t stop was the Jake Delhomme-Ben Watson connection which included 10 receptions for 100 yards and one touchdown.
They also forced nine punts. But time after time, Henne and the offense couldn’t find a way to score. Henne was missing open receivers and forcing the ball into coverage, and even when he did locate the right guy the passes were way off.
On one play, Brian Hartline had beaten rookie corner Joe Haden and had him by at least five yards. But the ball was severely underthrown and Haden was able to recover and make the interception.
It’s just another bad game in a long line of bad games for Henne this season, who currently sits with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. It’s also Henne’s third three-interception game of the season.
With Chad Pennington back on the IR and his career likely over after another season-ending shoulder surgery, the only other option is Tyler Thigpen. That might be enough for the Dolphins to stick with Henne, but Thigpen showed during his time with Kansas City that he can be a spark-plug.
At 6-6, the Dolphins aren’t entirely out of the playoff race, but they’ll have to win all four of their final games if they want a chance to play in January.
That’s a hefty task for any team, but it’s especially difficult when the quarterback is throwing more interceptions than touchdowns on a regular basis.