It was evident the Joe Philbin Era had run its course in Miami, but did anyone expect Dolphins interim head coach Dan Campbell to show up for his debut as Vince Lombardi?
The Dolphins ran the ball (Lamar Miller) and sacked Marcus Mariota (Cameron Wake) and resembled the team Stephen Ross and Mike Tannenbaum expected from the get-go.
“When he speaks, he gets in your blood and gets your hairs up,” wide receiver Rishard Matthews said. “You just want to go out there and battle for him.”
Campbell all but turned the Dolphins into The Junction Boys the minute he took over, and they bought in.
“Now,” Campbell said after his Gatorade bath, “they’re going to trust me a little bit more.”
Rex Ryan never put much of a premium on backup quarterbacks with the Jets, but even after consenting to drive Tyrod Taylor to Canton, what sense did it make trading Matt Cassel to the Cowboys and trusting EJ Manuel with the keys to his Bills pickup truck?
This can’t be Deja Idzik all over again with GM Doug Whaley, can it?
Not even Terry Bradshaw had faith third-string quarterback Landry Jones could beat the Cardinals on Sunday. Mike Tomlin has managed to hold the fort until Ben Roethlisberger, likely to miss a fourth straight game, returns, thanks in large part to a young Steelers defense that hasn’t allowed more than 23 points in any of their past five games, and three amigos named Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and Martavis Bryant.
Who Dey who figured Andy Dalton would be an MVP candidate? The Red Rifle threw 3 TD passes and had Mario Williams musing aloud about Ryan dropping him so much in coverage. If they try to take away A.J. Green, Dalton simply turns to Marvin Jones, Tyler Eifert, Gio Bernard or Jeremy Hill.