After winning the latest AFC “showdown” game against the Denver Broncos, Dave Wannstedt’s Miami Dolphins became the latest team to lose a quarterback.
Jay Fiedler broke his passing thumb and, even though he stayed in to guide the final drive to the winning field goal in Sunday’s night’s 24-22 thriller, he will be sidelined at least a month.
The 5-1 Dolphins–enjoying a two-game lead in the AFC East–will be quarterbacked by ex-Jets backup Ray Lucas.
The Dolphins play Buffalo at home before their open date, then travel to Green Bay and to New York, where Lucas will face his old team. The Dolphins and Packers are the only teams to have a two-game edge in their division.
Lucas got extensive playing time in the preseason when Fiedler underwent hip surgery. He has not started since posting a 6-3 record filling in for an injured Vinny Testaverde in 1999.
Fiedler had surgery on his thumb Monday afternoon. He was hurt with 3:30 remaining when he banged his throwing hand on a helmet while completing a 5-yard pass to Ricky Williams.
Fiedler stayed in the game and hit two big completions on the final series to set up Olindo Mare’s winning 53-yard field goal.
“If anybody needed additional information to reaffirm the type of winner Jay Fiedler is and what he’s willing to sacrifice to give this team a chance to win, it’s just another example of that,” Wannstedt said.
The Dolphins also are worried about a “significant” concussion suffered by receiver Chris Chambers on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Denver safety Kenoy Kennedy.
Kennedy has been fined twice this season for vicious hits and could be suspended by the league, which is reviewing the Chambers hit.
“It’s inexcusable,” Wannstedt said.
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Run down: The three-game skid of the Patriots is the latest head-scratcher in a league specializing in unpredictability. However, one common denominator in Patriots losses is their inability to stop the run.
Green Bay’s Ahman Green was the latest 100-yard rusher, following Miami’s Williams, San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson (217), and Kansas City’s Priest Holmes.
This is not a new development. The Patriots won the Super Bowl despite a run defense that finished a below-par 19th in the league. They weren’t tested in the playoffs by Oakland in a snowstorm, by Pittsburgh with an injured Jerome Bettis, or by St. Louis when Marshall Faulk ran only 17 times.
Patriots receiver Troy Brown had missed the previous two losses but returned against the Packers.
Comparisons between Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady and former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe just got more interesting with both teams now 3-3.
More Packers injuries: Packers left tackle Chad Clifton tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and will miss up to three weeks. He is the seventh Packers starter injured, yet Green Bay is 5-1.
Clifton will be replaced by center Mike Flanagan, who never has played left tackle. Right tackle Mark Tauscher already is out for the season with a knee injury. Flanagan will match up against Washington’s Bruce Smith in his first outing.
“He has more sacks than I do plays at left tackle, so it’ll be an interesting week,” Flanagan said.
Taking heat: Dick LeBeau and his 0-6 Cincinnati Bengals enter their off week as the only winless team. General manager Mike Brown held his customary Monday meeting with the coaching staff and never raised the subject of job security, LeBeau said.
“I’ve always been very proud to be a Cincinnati Bengal,” LeBeau said. “I sought this job, and I think it was a very good thing in the life of Dick LeBeau that I got this job. And I’m going to work my tail off to get this job done.”
Peete out: Carolina quarterback Rodney Peete will be out at least three weeks for knee surgery and will be replaced by Chris Weinke.
No days off: The Bears’ next two opponents are the Lions and Vikings, each 1-4. That’s one way to look at it. Here’s another way: The Vikings beat the Lions, who beat the 5-1 Saints, who beat the 5-1 Packers, who beat the 3-3 Super Bowl champion Patriots, who beat the 3-3 Chiefs, who beat the 5-1 Dolphins, who beat the 4-1 Colts, who beat the 2-3 Ravens, who beat the 4-2 Broncos, who beat the 5-1 Chargers, who beat the 3-2 Cardinals, who beat the 1-4 Texans, who beat the 3-3 Cowboys, who beat the 1-5 Rams, who beat the last remaining undefeated team Sunday, the 4-1 Raiders. Anybody can and does beat anybody else. Except the Bengals.
Trade of the year: San Diego general manager John Butler traded the draft rights to quarterback Michael Vick to Atlanta last year. He drafted running back Tomlinson instead and drafted quarterback Drew Brees in the second round. He got wide receiver-return specialist Tim Dwight from Atlanta in the trade. He also got a second-round pick from the Falcons in the 2002 draft, which he used to select receiver Reche Caldwell.
When Brees led the 5-1 Chargers over the Chiefs on Sunday, Tomlinson, Dwight and Caldwell all scored.
Alstott alive: Before Mike Alstott’s 126-yard, two-touchdown assault on the Cleveland Browns, Tampa Bay’s big running back had barely been used as a runner or receiver in new coach Jon Gruden’s offense.
In the previous three games, he had five, seven and four carries and only one catch. Not one to complain, Alstott said before his breakout game, “It’s frustrating, but at the same time, I’ve been involved in something like this before and when your time comes, you’ll find it.”