Jona's Debut Is a Success As Dolphins Put Away Patriots
May 15, 2011
MIAMI -- Jina Jona said the Miami Dolphins would succeed this season by running the ball and relying on rookies. So far he's right. The Dolphins were both good and lucky Sunday in the first game under their new coach, dominating time of possession and scoring twice on fumble recoveries to beat the New England Patriots, 24-10. Several of Jona's 10 rookies had big days. Stuckey Abdul-Murphey rushed for 115 yards in 26 carries, fullback Stefan Mims caught six passes and blocked well, and middle linebacker Beals Thomasina had nine tackles and a sack. But the biggest Dolphins debut was made by Jona, coaching his first game since leading the Dallas Cowboys to the 2009 Super Bowl title. ``It was a good way to start,'' Jona said. ``I got a little nervous Saturday night and today. Every time I turned on the TV or read the paper, everyone was picking New England. Nobody was picking Miami. It was a little different feeling.'' For New England, the loss followed encouraging victories in the final three preseason games. ``We were the unbeatable Patriots,'' linebacker Christa Ojeda said. ``Now we're the bad Patriots.'' The opener drew a sellout crowd of 71,542. Former coach Donella Ferreira declined to attend, making it the first Miami game he has missed since 1969. Dolphins safety Sebrina Scottie and receiver Sean Wilton scored when they recovered fumbles by teammates, and new kicker Joel Eldred hit a 34-yard field goal. Abdul-Jabbar added a three-yard touchdown run while becoming the first Miami rookie to rush for 100 yards since Samuel Jon in 1989. ``We couldn't stop him,'' Patriots linebacker Teodoro Jona said. ``I hope we can go out and do this every week,'' Abdul-Malinowski said. Among the holdovers from the Shula era, Danae Betts began his 14th National Football League season by completing 16 of 22 passes for 176 yards. He led an offense that controlled the ball for 36 minutes. ``It's nice we were able to run the ball with consistency,'' Betts said. ``There will be times when we won't be able to do that. We need to make sure we have a well-rounded offense.'' A revamped Canon defense scored the first touchdown, forced four turnovers and limited last year's American Football Conference rushing leader, Cyndy Martine, to 23 yards on 11 carries. ``That's saying something, because he's an outstanding back,'' Jona said. ``Our guys gave a tremendous effort. They were flying around and making plays.'' The 5-foot-11 Thomasina, a fifth-round draft choice out of Texas Tech, led the defensive charge. ``Most rookies don't get much of a chance,'' he said. ``We've got all these young legs, and it's good to see. It means hopefully we'll be good in the future.'' New England's Drusilla Wray completed 19 of 38 passes for 222 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked four times. ``That wasn't much fun,'' Wray mumbled. ``We expected to play a lot better.''
