Chad Pennington Nominated for Player of the Week Award

The NFL announced today that Chad Pennington has been nominated for this week’s FedEx Air Player of the Week Award. Fans can vote for Pennington here until Friday at 11:00 a.m. EST at NFL.com/FedEx. This marks Pennington second nomination for the FedEx Air Player of the week, Pennington has yet to win.

If Pennington wins, a $1,000 donation will go to the local Safe Kids coalition in Miami. In particular, the donation could go towards painting crosswalks, installing signs, landscaping near sidewalks and playgrounds, installing bike racks, and developing educational programs and events to teach kids about pedestrian safety.

Official NFL Release…
DOLPHINS QB CHAD PENNINGTON, PACKERS QB AARON RODGERS & TEXANS QB MATT SCHAUB; RAIDERS RB MICHAEL BUSH, CHARGERS RB
LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON & FALCONS RB MICHAEL TURNER CANDIDATES FOR
FEDEX AIR & GROUND® NFL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK HONORS

Fans To Vote For Winners On NFL.com
FedEx To Deliver Funding For Safe Kids Organizations On Behalf of Winning Players In Their Teams’ Markets

Quarterbacks CHAD PENNINGTON of the Miami Dolphins, AARON RODGERS of the Green Bay Packers and MATT SCHAUB of the Houston Texans are the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on December 28, while running backs MICHAEL BUSH of the Oakland Raiders, LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON of the San Diego Chargers and MICHAEL TURNER of the Atlanta Falcons are the finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week honors, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from Monday morning through 6:00 pm ET on Wednesday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Wednesday evening on NFL.com.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. As part of the Air & Ground program for the first time, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids USA – a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children – to deliver safer kids by making weekly $1,000 donations in the winning players’ names. The funding directly benefits local Safe Kids coalitions in that team’s city, to fund pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year. This year, FedEx celebrates its fifth year of the program and will surpass the $1 million mark in funding to create safer communities for children.

New this season, fans can tune into the “FedEx Air & Ground Lowdown” posted only on NFL.com/FedEx starting Wednesday mornings. The show examines the nominees in the Air & Ground categories through exclusive video highlights and expert analysis. NFL Network’s MARSHALL FAULK and TERRELL DAVIS host the weekly five-minute show.

A closer look at the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week finalists:

• Miami’s CHAD PENNINGTON completed 22 of 30 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns and threw no interceptions to lead Miami into the playoffs in the Dolphins’ 24 – 17 win over the New York Jets.

• Green Bay’s AARON RODGERS completed 21 of 31 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns in the Packers’ 31 – 21 win over the NFC North rival Detroit Lions.

• Houston’s MATT SCHAUB completed 27 of 36 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns in the Texans’ 31 – 24 win over the Chicago Bears.

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

• Oakland’s MICHAEL BUSH rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns over 27 carries in the Raiders’ 31 – 24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

• San Diego’s LA DAINIAN TOMLINSON scored three touchdowns and rushed for 96 yards over 14 carries as the Chargers beat the division rival Denver Broncos 52 – 21 to win the AFC West.

• Atlanta’s MICHAEL TURNER totaled 208 yards and one touchdown over 25 carries in the Falcons’ 31 – 27 win over the St. Louis Rams.

FedEx, the premier global provider of transportation, e-commerce and supply-chain management services, is the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl. Through the weekly FedEx Air & Ground Awards, FedEx recognizes those NFL players who represent the same speed, precision and teamwork that their customers have come to expect from the full range of FedEx air, ground, freight and international shipping services, delivering safer kids in the process. With thousands of trucks out on the roads each day, FedEx is committed to improving pedestrian safety for children, by funding education programs and environmental improvements, from signage and crosswalks to pedestrian walkways near schools and playgrounds.

(Submitted by Shannon M.)

Miami Dolphins Win AFC East

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Chad Pennington was in the opposing locker room at the stadium where he spent the first eight years of his career, a big smile peeking out from a gray Miami Dolphins “Division Champions” cap.

“It’s always a sweet feeling to be a champion,” the Dolphins quarterback said after beating the New York Jets 24-17 on Sunday. “That’s what we are: AFC East champions. It’s a great feeling. This organization has been unbelievable. They accepted me from the get-go. This has been an unbelievable ride.”

And an improbable one at that.

Pennington, cut in the offseason by the Jets to make room for an aging Brett Favre, threw two touchdown passes against his former team and helped the Dolphins (11-5) complete a remarkable turnaround.

“It’s not a revenge factor,” Pennington said. “This week, being the 17th week, it was strictly focused on winning the championship, knowing that we controlled our own destiny. It just so happened that it had to come through New York. That’s the only way fate would have it.”

A year after going 1-15, the Dolphins joined the 1999 Indianapolis Colts as the only teams in NFL history to make 10-game improvements. Miami, under first-year coach Tony Sparano, has won five straight and nine of 10 in making the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons and winning its first AFC East title since 2000.

“I don’t think words can describe it,” running back Ronnie Brown said. “Earlier in the season, we could only imagine being in this situation.”

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And now, Miami (11-5) will host Baltimore (11-5) in the first round next Sunday.

“Around this time last year, we were going home with no return,” receiver Ted Ginn Jr. said.

Meanwhile, Favre and the Jets (9-7) were left to wonder what happened to them — and what’s to come.

After an 8-3 start and being mentioned as possible Super Bowl contenders with an NFL-high seven Pro Bowl selections, New York went into a tailspin by losing four of its last five — with Favre looking every bit a 39-year-old quarterback.

“The hardest part is the finality of it,” Favre said, “especially when you expect to go on.”

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Miami wins coldest game in franchise history

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The coldest conditions any Miami team has played in couldn’t stop these history-making Dolphins.

Thriving in mind-numbing frigidity, Chad Pennington threw three touchdown passes Sunday in a 38-31 victory over Kansas City that continued one of the most remarkable comeback seasons in NFL history.

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Dolphins in Top Pro Bowl Fan Voting

The NFL’s unique structure of Pro Bowl voting has always seemed interesting.  The players receive one-third of their votes from the fans, one-third from NFL players and one-third from NFL coaches.  As of Tuesday evening the fan voting portion has officially ended.  Fortunately, the fans have voted three Dolphins at the top (number one) of their positions in total votes.  Those three are linebacker Joey Porter, offensive tackle Jake Long and kicker Dan Carpenter (rookie).  Several other Dolphins were also in the top four voted by fans.  Those were running back Ronnie Brown (second), special teams Patrick Cobb (third) and strong safety Yeremiah Bell (fourth).  The teams will be announced at 4 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Dec. 16 on a special NFL Total Access 2009 NFL Pro Bowl Selection Show on NFL Network. The 2009 NFL Pro Bowl presented by State Farm will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, Feb. 8 and televised by NBC.

Worst to First

Miami Dolphins from worst to first? Nobody believed it could happen and some still don’t. Bottom line is the Miami Dolphins are three wins away from going worst to first. We are winners of six out of our last seven games and our next two opponents combine for less wins than we have, and the last of our remaining opponents has lost two straight games. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not telling you to start looking for hotel room availabilities in Tampa Bay but a Miami Dolphins playoff game is becoming more and more realistic every week.

It would be easy to start breaking down why we are in this situation, but we all know why. Better coaching, better QB play, consistent O-line play, Wildcat, the list can go on. Instead let’s look at the next week and what needs to take place to keep our first playoff spot in 7 seasons secure.

The 49ers present an interesting challenge, they’ve won their last two games and their confidence is as high as it’s been all year. Frank Gore is almost certainly going to go over the 1000yd mark if he plays (ankle) and undrafted Quarterback Shaun Hill has a QB rating of 95.5. Still the 49ers are very vulnerable defensively, giving up over 25pts and 330yds a game. The Dolphins must focus on getting the ground game working, to open up the pass. Nate Clements was hurt last week but Favre couldn’t capitalize because the running game for the Jets was allowing the 49ers to sit back on defense. Miami must run early and often and wear down the D-Line of the Niners, giving Pennington more time to throw and find Ginn, and Bess down the field. I’d love to see us test the 49ers secondary a little bit as well, maybe throwing a few bombs downfield to Ginn and give him a chance to use his speed. Defensively we MUST control Frank Gore. Our defense hasn’t allowed a TD in almost 8 quarters and in order for that to continue keeping Gore under 75yds is imperative. Our secondary is over achieving and keeping Steven Jackson and Marshawn Lynch under 100yds is the reason we have been doing so well. If you look at the last game we got beat, the Patriots threw for over 400yds, no coincidence that they also ran for over 100. It’s pretty cut and dry; we hold down the opponents running game, our secondary plays better, we win. The last aspect to note in this game is special teams. The 49ers are in the top-10 in both KR and PR and we have given up 2 PR touchdowns this year. We can control them defensively but if we allow them to make plays in the special teams, we WILL NOT win this game. Allen Rossum is a dynamic returner and if we fall asleep, he will burn us, along with our control of our destiny.

I’m looking forward to this game, I think it’s a test and I hope we aren’t over looking them. Last home game of the year should get the stands packed out and excited, let’s just hope we come out with intensity and a desire to win!

GO DOLPHINS!!

Ricky Talks

Thoughts on going back to Toronto Well I’m looking forward to it. I really enjoyed my time in Toronto and it will be nice to meet up with some old friends.

Should make for an interesting game.

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