Looks like Daunte Culpepper will have to start looking over his shoulder pretty quick. Culpepper threw two INTs on back to back throws, the final one, a 42 yd interception return for a TD by Joey Porter put the nail in the coffin. That pick for a TD came on the heels of a missed FG by the Steelers and it gave new hope to the Dolphins at the time.
However it was not to be. You have to give it to the Steelers’ defense as they put the clamps on Culpepper and the Dolphins. If Miami is going to compete in the AFC East, they’d better right their offensive ship becasue it looked bad today. Culpepper cannot continue to throw passes like he did tonight or it will be a long season for the fish!
It was not a good night in the Land of the Phinhead. Not at all. :(
This is what Vikings fans saw every time Daunte played last season. He’s a tremendously talented player but when he gets rattled he starts making bad choices and throwing the ball at his receivers’s feet.
The one thing Dolphins fans can hang their hat on is that physically Culpepper looks fully recovered.
ESPN was saying (actually Darren Woodson) that they liked what they saw out of Daunte the first three quarters. I’d agree to a certain degree. He was moving around and making good reads, but his throws were HORRENDOUS. He looked antsy and nervous about making mistakes. 3 plays keyed me in on this before the first INT.
1. He throws to the feet of Marty Booker in the second quarter to stall yet another drive on a very attainable 3rd and 4.
2. 3rd and 1 he flips it back to Ronnie Brown on what should have been a smooth option play and the ball goes about a foot higher than it should have, causing Brown to stall for a second to get it under control.
3. End zone toss to Chris Chambers was about 3 yards over his head and if Ike Taylor had better hands, it’s an automatic INT-Touchback.
Honestly, it seemed like opening night jitters. Miami needs to have an easy game at home (good thing they have two fairly easy home games next vs. Buffalo and Tennessee) for Daunte to settle down and remember that he’s a pro bowl caliber QB.
I posted on the RARN board earlier. That was the Daunte Culpeper that we all knew, you just couldn’t see him eariler, he was underneath all of that preseason hype.
Nathan: I agree with you completely that Daunte needs to settle down and remember how good he is. The problem is, I’m not convinced he’ll do it.
Daunte is a very emotional player. What we saw in Minnesota the last few seasons is that if he can start the season good and get his confidence up, he’ll have a great year. If he starts the season like he did against Tampa Bay and Cincinnati last year, he does terrible. True, it’s just one game but don’t be surprised if you see the effects of last night lingering in his game for the next several weeks.
You’re right about the interceptions too. Last night could easily have been a four or five interception game had the Steeler’s managed to hang onto a couple of those bad passes.
Just wanted to comment on the fact that alot of people (Including Steven Miranda) Did not give the Steelers much of a chance in this game especially with Big Ben out and Charlie Batch taking over the control of the game. Now I can see where you would think Charlie would not be the best guy in this situation but he stepped up his game and all but a few errors helped the Steelers walk away with a win. Now I will also admit that Culpepper’s mistakes near the end of the game were probably the biggest reason the Steelers came away with the victory but with the Steeler ship being banged up they still got the Win on opening night and will be looking forward to another win next week.
I agree with JD. But, I also think Culpepper will be fine; he just ran into a great defense Thursday, such things are expected. What? Yeah, I’m a Steeler fan.