Hey, a win is a win is a win.  Always.  To me, anytime you win, it's beautiful.  But don't forget for one minute that there is still much work to be done.  There were a lot of mistakes today.  Too many penalties, the offense was limited, and the D got no pass rush at all.  The good news is that we are now 7-5.  All three of the other AFCE teams lost today, tying us with NE, one game back of the first place Je-eehh.  Sorry.  The first place J-ughgh..  Can't say it.  One game back of that Green team.  The division got a lot tighter today, and we need to be focused on getting a victory in Toronto next week.  A few quick points before the Balls...

• On a day when the pass rush didn't show up, the secondary and LB's played terrific in coverage.  Holding Bulger to 149 yards was a big reason why they only put up FG's, and the three INT's didn't hurt either.
• Pennington wasn't bad.  13/23 for 166 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions.  He did enough to get us in position for 3 FG's and the one touchdown run.  He even scrambled and picked up a first down with his legs. 
• Patrick Cobbs just does everything.  He had a couple nice runs for first downs.  He made some big blocks (even flooring a LB with a crackback).  And he's all over the place on special teams.  Typical Parcells guy.
• Joey Thomas stinks.  Never would've thought I would miss Jason Allen, but I found myself wanting some JA after Joey's second pass interference on consecutive plays.  He got beat like a drum today.

No more delays, let's get to the Balls.

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Huge slate of College games on today, and since we're having a good week so far with live threads (every night but Thanksgiving), let's keep it up.  I'll be flipping back and forth all day long, got a bunch of games on this afternoon.  Canes are playing.  Gators are on.  Oklahoma vs Oklahoma St.  Virginia and VATech.  The Bayou Classic.  South Carolina and Clemson.  Georgia and Georgia Tech.  Lot of good games today, lots of good players, and just a day of football to warm up for the Dolphins tomorrow.

Blatantly stole this idea from PTI earlier today, so nobody has to point that out lol.

Since this is the beginning of the holiday season, I wanna take a look back at all the people who have made us laugh, made us angry, or made us just plain thankful that we aren't as stupid as them.  Anybody is eligible, and I'm basically just here to get this topic started.  I can't possibly get everyone, but here's just a sampling.

• Brett Favre - His retirement before the season was a joke.  And dragging it out for 46 months was just annoying. 
• Pacman Jones - He's a Human Suspension.  Can't stay out of trouble, even with bodyguards surrounding him at all times.  However, we did get this heartfelt apology to the bodyguard and the commissioner after his most recent suspension.
• Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson - Changing his name from Johnson to Ocho Cinco was hilarious.  The Bengals being 1-8-1 is even more hilarious.  Chad could win this award every year I swear. 
• Kash Beachamp - Just one of many crazy ass baseball managers.  He blew up during a game, forcing the umpire to smell his armpit (which is awesome).  I'm just using him to cover for any and all coach blowups in baseball this year.
• Matt Light - Obvious choice here.  Anybody who wants to relive the girliest punches ever, go right ahead.  I can't help but laugh at his patheticness.  I don't care if it's not a word, I like it.
• Mike Singletary - Wow.  What a nut.  He goes from doing commercials like this, to dropping his pants during halftime of an NFL game.  Can't make a Turkey post without him.
• Brandon Marshall - Crybaby of the Year, maybe.  After laying an egg and getting shut down by the Dolphins earlier this season, he had this to say regarding Joey Porter.  Strong words from somebody who failed to show up for the actual game.

So that's my list.  No, it's not complete.  No, it's not comprehensive.  But it probably made you laugh.  Now, Phinsider's, go forth and find more Turkey's and make sure to post an accompanying photo or video for everyone to snicker at.  And, Happy Turkey Day to everyone.

OK first of all I think this is complete BS.  There's a fight on the field.  Punches are thrown.  One guy in particular is swinging away at a player who's lost his helmet.  And there's no suspensions?  Really? 

The league has said that it was Crowder who "verbally instigated" the fight.  And that they received equal fines even though it was Crowder who started the whole mess.  What?  Light went after him, Crowder pushed him, and Light grabbed hair and flailed away at Crowder's head.  I'm pissed about this ruling, because it reeks of favoritism from the Commish. 

Light got up and he and Crowder pushed each other in the face. Light then grabbed Crowder's dreadlocks in his left hand and hit him three times on the head with his right.

That's the summary of the incident in ESPN's article.  That alone should tell you everything you need to know.  Matt Light grabbed Crowder's hair and hit him three times in the head.  How can you throw closed-fists into somebody's head and avoid suspensions?  Ridiculous.  Way to go Goodell.  You're a toolbag.  Fine me.  Go for it.  Apparently you can attempt to beat somebody's face in on the field, but HOW DARE YOU criticize the referee's after they blow a call.  This is just another incident in which this commissioner seems to favor the darling team of the NFL.  First was the Spygate garbage.  The Patriots were caught cheating.  Plain and simple.  And the only penalty was a fine.  Brilliant, fine the billionaire, that'll teach him.  No suspensions, no forfeits, no nothing.  And now, one of their key players swings punches DURING THE GAME, and gets a slap on the wrist fine.

Well, this loss kind of brings everybody back down to earth.  The "P" word is still in play, but it will be a much tougher road from here on out.  I won't bore all of you with a "rebuilding year" speech, everybody knows about that already.  What I will say is that I was a bit disappointed in the gameplan from yesterday, rebuilding or not.  The defensive plan played right into NE's hands.  Other than a couple drives where corners and safeties came often, we pretty much sat back, blitzed 4, and waited for Porter or Holliday to provide pressure.  That didn't happen, and Cassel had his second straight 400+ yard day.  But that wasn't the only complaint I had with the defense.  I understand Jason Allen is big and physical and fast, but he's not a lockdown corner.  So he shouldn't be left on an island with the best WR in the league.  And Andre Goodman isn't that guy either, so he should have some safety help as well.  Ugh.  Let's move on to some positives.  Quick notes before the Balls.

• Congratulations to Casey Cramer for his first career touchdown.  Pennington found him in the back of the endzone for what turned out to be a pretty easy catch, but the part of that play I really liked was how Cramer continued to work across the backline while Pennington scrambled.  When you don't quit on a play, good things will happen.
• The new Special Teamer we signed last week, Eric Walden, looks like he will be a boon to our coverage units.  We need more guys that play with that kind of reckless abandon on special teams.  He hit the wedge like it wasn't even there.  No idea why KC let him go, but thanks.
• Ricky Williams made a great diving catch for a touchdown yesterday.  It was a very well-designed play that resulted in Ricky running a wheel route one-on-one with a LB.  Chad put it out there where only Ricky could get it, and Ricky went and got it.  I never realized that he had good hands until this season.
• Pennington celebrating his rushing touchdown.  Hilarious.  I went through about 93 different emotions watching him run for the goal line, including sheer terror and then euphoria.  But we'll get to him later...

Enough of this, BALLS AHOY!

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Vernon Carey was named the Dolphins nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

The award -- won last year by Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, in 1998 by quarterback Dan Marino and in 1985 by center Dwight Stephenson -- honors the combination of excellence on the field and strong community service.

''It caught me off guard. I was kind of wordless,'' Carey said. ``It's like an overwhelming feeling of joy inside.''

Carey grew up during Marino's career and became a teammate of Taylor's when the Dolphins drafted Carey in 2004, completing a climb up the South Florida football ladder -- from Miami Northwestern High to the University of Miami, then to the Dolphins.

He also references his upcoming Free Agency at the end of the column, saying, ''I hope I'm still here'' after stating how he wants to continue with his community service.

I'm not sure if there's a way for us to vote on this, but if anybody finds it, please post, and we'll blow it up.  Congrats to Vernon.

Since we are currently watching the resurgence of one of the greatest franchises in sports, I decided to compare them to the greatest team in Dolphins history, the Undefeated 1972 Squad.  I believe that our team now is being built in the image of the Perfect Season team.  The game has changed a lot since then, but the principles are the same.  Strong defense, strong running game.  And since history repeats itself, let's take a look back so we can see our future.  First part is the Offense; the Defense will come later in the week..

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One year removed from a 1-15 season, Miami has planted itself squarely in a playoff race 11 weeks into the season.  Shows how much I know, seeing as I had us pegged for 5 wins and a top 10 draft pick.  Sometimes it's good to be wrong.  I'm loving what I'm seeing from this team.  Yeah, we would all like to see a blowout, and we all know our team is alot better than the Raiders, but these are the games we ALWAYS lost last season.  Now we've won 2 of them back-to-back.  The close games, when every play seems like it's make or break, good teams make those plays.  And we have players that continue to make those plays.  Some quick notes before we get to the real stuff..

• The Dolphins are 6-4 for the first time since 2003.  The last time we hit that mark?  We finished 10-6.  Good omen.
• Oakland was held under 200 total yards for the second straight game.  Kudos to our defense for holding them to 186 total offensive yards.
• Once again, the kick coverage let us down, and almost lost us the game.  On a boomer of a punt by Brandon Fields, who had a good game booting it, they gave Johnny Lee Higgins (who?) an alleyway that Jake Long could've hit.  93 yards later, Miami was behind in a game that should've already been decided.
• Sebastian Janikowski is a freak of nature.  He missed a 45 yard FG when he hit it off the TOP of the goal post.  Read that again.  It hit about 7/8th's of the way up.  From 45 yards.  That kick is good from 73.  Unbelievable.
• 2 Rushing TD's.  Neither by Ronnie or Ricky.  The FB Counter play to Cobbs was beautiful in it's simplicity.  I've seen that play run in youth leagues and high schools for years now.  It's another play that everybody says can't be run against NFL defense that Miami has used to success.  Add it to the Wildcat and the Jet Sweep, both of which we also saw against Oakland.
• Please read the Turd Sandwich part of this column.  Normally it's a funny way to wrap up, or a place to vent about something that went wrong.  In this edition, however, I'm writing about something with much more importance.  If you never read that part of the column again, at least give a look today.  Thank you.

Now here are my Balls, which were sorely missed last week..

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Woohoo!  My buddy finally got back from Orlando with his laptop, and I immediately punched him in the stomach and hijacked it.  But the better news is that I am now back as a fully functional member of thephinsider.com community!  Great news for me, because I was like a crack addict in rehab, just on the floor shaking all day long wishing I could get my fix.  And I guess it's great news for all my loyal Gameballs readers, because the column will be back with a vengeance next week. 

Also, for anybody interested, a Little Nicky computer update: Pops is currently building a Fort Knox-like setup, Mac and Windows, completely secure, backup hard drives, the works.  So not only am I back for now, I may never leave again lol.  So you guys are stuck with me.  Sorry.  Deal with it. 

Don Banks of SI.com recently ranked all 8 divisions in the NFL, and he notes teams on the move both up and down in the division, playoff bound teams, and best player/best rookie awards for each.  He ranks the AFC East 2nd, behind the NFC East.  He also has 3 teams from our division making the playoffs, with the Dolphins being one of them.  Here's the AFC East paragraph.

2. AFC East

No division has turned it around in 2008 like this one, with four winning teams and a combined 22-14 record through 10 weeks. Last year it was the Perfect Patriots and the Three Stooges. All four teams have winning records at home this season, and Buffalo's 2-3 road record is the division's only blemish in that department. Thursday's Jets at Patriots showdown will give someone the inside track on the division title, but I can still see the AFC East advancing three teams into the playoffs. Keep an eye on the surging Dolphins, who have won three in a row and still have games against losers like Oakland, St. Louis, San Francisco and Kansas City.

Team on the move: Miami.

Team on the slide: Buffalo.

Playoff bound team(s): New England, New York, Miami.

Best player: Chad Pennington, Miami, quarterback.

Best rookie: Jerod Mayo, New England, linebacker.

And here's the link to the rest of the column.  Don Banks Division Rankings

Nice to see positive things being said about the Dolphins.  And I think he's right about us surging up the division.  However, there's no looking ahead, we need to take it one game at a time, blah blah coachspeak blah blah.  Bottom line, we're in the playoff hunt.  Can't ask for much more out of these guys.