It's now time to begin breaking down what are the most pressing needs of the Miami Dolphins as we head into the offseason.  And keep in mind that these are in no particular oder.

So we kick things off with the big guys up front - the offensive line.  It was thought that the offensive line would be an upgrade from '07 to '08.  But injuries really hindered how effective the line could be.

2008 Key Contributors: Jake Long, Justin Smiley, Samson Satele, Ike Ndukwe, Vernon Carey, Andy Alleman, Al Johnson, Donald Thomas

Key Dolphin Free Agents: Vernon Carey, Ike Ndukwe

We all know about Vernon Carey's impending free agency.  And it'll be interesting to see what happens.  We all know he loves playing in Miami.  But he also struggled at times this season as he moved back to right tackle.  And further complicating things is the fact that he played above average in 2007 at left tackle - meaning some desperate team could potentially offer him LT money - which would be tough for Miami to match, if they even want to.

Meanwhile, Ndukwe filled in valiantly at right guard once Donald Thomas went down in week 1.  He's an exclusive rights free agent - meaning the Dolphins have until a certain deadline to offer him a contract and should they decide not to, he'd become an unrestricted free agent.  I'd look for the Dolphins to bring back Ike with a relatively low contract offer.

2008 Performance
The best way to quantify with statistics how an offensive line performed over the course of a season is to use the stats created by Football Outsiders.  You can read the explanations of the stats right here.  I'll do my best to explain them "in a nut shell."

In 2008, the Dolphins' offensive line ranked 12th in the NFL in the statistic "adjusted line yards" per carry - with an average of 4.25 yards.  So what is "adjusted line yards"?  Basically, Football Outsiders assigns a value for every running back carry to the offensive line, attempting to identify how much of the play's success was due to the offensive line.  For example, a run for a loss is credited 120% to the offensive line.  A run for 0 to 4 yards is credited 100% to the OL.  And then these figures are adjusted for things like down and distance, and so on.

While "adjusted line yards" is one key stat, there are others.  The Dolphins had a "power success" rate of 76% - which is terrific.  Basically, the "power success" rate is the percentage of runs on 3rd down and 4th down with two yards to go or less that resulted in a first down or touchdown.  The Dolphins' rate of 76% is good for 5th best in the entire NFL.  And I think Lousaka Polite had a lot to do with that - though the offensive line did show that it could line up and pick up a yard or two when it needed to.

The one other interesting run-blocking stat is the "stuffed" percentage.  Simply put, this measures how often the team is either stopped for no gain or a loss on 1st down as well as how often a team gains less than one-fourth of the yards to go for a first down (on 2nd through 4th downs).  The Fins were stuffed 22% of the time, which ranked them 6th in the NFL.

As far as pass protection goes, the Dolphins allowed 26 sacks, which was the 10th lowest total in the league.  Their "adjusted sack rate" - which is another FO stat, placed the Dolphins 12th, with a rate of 5.7%.  Just so you know, "adjusted sack rate" is simply the percentage of sacks per pass attempt adjusted for things like down and distance.

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Enough already, people.  We get it.  You aren't happy that the Dolphins spent the ninth overall pick on Ted Ginn.  But don't write crap like this one site wrote, in regards to some of the top needs of this team:

A legitimate threat at wide receiver. Ted Ginn was horrible today and his bumbling mishandle of a reverse late in the game squashed Miami's momentum and a scoring threat that would have made it a three point game. He continues to show us nothing. Teddy Ginn needs to be Teddy Gone. (take your family too).

Now I'm not saying I don't agree that the Dolphins need a legitimate #1 receiver.  They most certainly do.

But to call out Teddy like this is ridiculous.  Does he really continue to show nothing?  I guess the writer of this didn't see what I saw.  Because I saw a young wide receiver show more flashes of his potential.  I saw a receiver gel with a quarterback after catching passes from 3 different QBs during his rookie year.  And I saw a player who will make a great #2 wide receiver.

The problem here is that people hold Ginn's draft status, a #9 overall pick, against him.  But here's the thing: IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!  Blame Cam Cameron and Randy Mueller for the pick.  But don't hold it against Teddy for being drafted earlier than he should have.  I know - it's not smart to spend a top 10 pick , or any first rounder, on a player who will likely only become a #2 receiver at this level.  But it isn't Ted's fault.

All I know is that Ginn doubled his TD output from his rookie season, catching 2 and running for 2 more.  And his 2nd year stat line isn't as bad as some make it out to be (56-790-2).  In fact, his first two seasons are very close to the first 2 seasons of another small, fast receiver: Steve Smith.  Like many receivers, Smith broke out in his 3rd year.  The major difference, of course, is each player's draft position.  Smith was a 3rd round pick by the Panthers.  But, again, Ginn's draft position is not his fault.

Ginn's 2nd year production is also very similar to Marvin Harrison's - who caught 73 balls for 866 yards.  And Ginn's first two seasons are also better than the first two seasons of Roddy White, Hines Ward, Donald Driver, and Santana Moss. 

So how about we give the kid some more time before we say things like "Teddy Ginn needs to be Teddy Gone."  And remember, these people who are criticizing him now will love him when he becomes the kind of player I think he is going to become.  But I'm forgiving - I'll let you "fans" back on the bandwagon when that time comes.

But you'll have to apologize to Teddy himself first.

Sure, the loss still stings.  But it's time to shift into offseason mode.  And with that, we'll talk a lot about the top moments from this past season.  I'll have some highlights for you guys as well.  We'll also talk about some of the roster moves that should/shouldn't happen.  And, of course, we'll talk a lot about both free agency and the NFL Draft.

But we'll start out with one major topics that is being talked about right now.

I'd like you to meet somebody.  His name you will learn about later.  But first let me discuss with you his credentials. 

He's spent the past 20 years as the general manager of an NFL team.  During his 20 year tenure, his team won 4 division titles.  His team averaged just under nine wins per season.  And his team never reached a Super Bowl, losing once in the conference title game.  In his 20 years, his team reached the playoffs 8 times - but won just 3 playoff games.

That's right - 3 playoff wins in 20 years.  And recently, he "resigned"  (aka was forced to resign; aka was fired) after his team compiled a 15-33 record.

This mystery man is former Chiefs GM Carl Peterson.  And recent reports indicate that new Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been talking with him.  In fact, Peterson, a longtime friend of Mr. Ross, was at Sunday's Dolphins game, haning out with Ross.  He was even on the sidelines before the game and was seen wearing a Dolphins pin.  The Miami Herald is even reporting that Peterson was overheard referring to the Dolphins as "we" and "we're."

Oh dear God, why would Stephen Ross do this?  Doesn't he realize that the Dolphins already have a top "football guy" named Bill Parcells and a GM, who has been successful in just 1 year, named Jeff Ireland?  Is he really going to risk screwing this thing up?

I have many longtime friends, too.  But if I ran a business, I wouldn't hire them just because I know them.  Hell - half of them I'd keep far away from my business.

So why am I so worried?  Even if Ross isn't thinking about Peterson in a true "football role" with this team, you'd have to think Ross is smart enough to realize that bringing in a guy who likes having total control could potentially create some problems with the regime that's already in place, right?

Something else to keep in mind, too, is that Ireland worked for 4 years as a scout for Peterson in Kansas City.  But you can't imagine Ireland, who has worked his tail off to get the job he has now, would be dumb enough to bring in his former boss, right?

I'll be honest.  I'm worried.  Bringing in Peterson in any capacity is a mistake.  Even if it's as a "business only" position, it's easy to see he and Parcells butting heads.  And if this drives Parcells out of Miami, I will fly down there and kick the crap out of both Ross and Peterson.

Listen to me, and pretty much all Dolphin fans, Mr. Ross - do not hire Carl Peterson.  There's a reason people in KC are celebrating now that "King Carl" is no longer there.

We all knew it was going to be tough this week.  We all knew how good that Ravens' defense is.  And Sunday's loss, while a difficult way to conclude a magical season, shouldn't have come as a shock to anyone.

But what is shocking is just how the game played out and how the Dolphins ended their season: uncharacteristically.

MISTAKES AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES
As good as Baltimore's defense is, I just didn't expect it to go this way.  The Dolphins are a team that simply doesn't turn the ball over.  That's why Sunday's 5 turnovers are so tough to swallow.  And you can't help but to play the "what if" game.

For example, what if the Dolphins get 7 instead of 3 on their opening possession following the fumble recovery?  The Dolphins had two plays from the 1 yard line and couldn't get into the endzone - which goes back to what we talked about this past week.  Settling for 3 inside the redzone is not acceptable against a defense like Baltimore's.  And while some want to question the play-calling, specifically the play-action on 2nd & goal, I see it differently.  One of the biggest problems all season - and again today - has been the Dolphins' inability to pound the rock in for a TD from inside the 5 yard line.

The offensive line has to shoulder some of the blame.  Not only could they not create enough push for a yard, but they routinely failed to open up any running lanes for Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.  Their pass protection was pretty bad as well - with Chad Pennington taking shot after shot on Sunday.

Moving on, the Ed Reed touchdown was obviously a killer - completely changing the game.  But what if a Dolphin, any Dolphin, is able to get to Reed and bring him down.  That would have been a point saver - a potentially big point saver.  If you want to, you can say that if Reed is tackled, even if the Ravens still scored a TD on that drive, they would have eaten up some clock and might not have had a chance for that pre-halftime field goal to put them up 10.

We can go on and on here and find points either left on the field by the Dolphins.  For instance, what if Pennington doesn't throw that pass inside Baltimore's 20 that Reed picks off.  The Dolphins get at least a FG and cut the score to 20-6.  Then on Miami's next possession, on Ronnie's terrific TD catch, the Dolphins' deficit would have been just 7 (if the damn extra point isn't blocked...another mistake).

What makes the "what if" game so painful, though, is that despite all the mistakes, the Dolphins had the ball and the momentum, trailing by 11 with 9 minutes to go.  That's when Pennington and Ted Ginn had their failed exchange on the end-around that killed that drive and essentially ended the game.  Some here will want to blame the play-calling.  I won't.  Did anyone happen to see the lane down the left sideline if Ginn can get a clean exchange from Pennington?  No doubt that's a big gain, or a touchdown, if the hand-off is clean.  But it wasn't - and for that, I blame the offensive line.  The Ravens had 2 guys in the backfield even before Pennington could fake the hand-off to the RB.

Again, uncharacteristic mistakes killed this team.  That end-around is a perfect example of the "what ifs" that will haunt you all offseason long.  If that exchange is clean, a potentially game-changing, season-saving play unfolds.  Instead, the result is a game-ending, season-ending play.

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Leading up to the Dolphins' first playoff game in 7 years, we heard a lot about the architect of this remarkable turnaround, VP of Football Operations Bill Parcells, might decide to leave the Dolphins' organization when Wayne Huizenga sold his remaining shares to new owner Stephen Ross.

However, Huizenga said after the game today that Parcells will be back in Miami:

"Bill's going to stay," Huizenga said. "He told me [Friday] he's going to stay. He said he likes it here."

Considering he has a home in South Florida and enjoys spending time down in South Florida, it was unlikely Bill was ever really considering leaving.  But the national media being what it is, they had to just crap on our parade these past 10 days or so.

But now we can rest easy - knowing that the man whose hiring began this amazing turnaround will be around, at least for one more season.  That makes me even more anxious already for the offseason to get underway.

Hat tip to "oceantracks" for linking to the article in our post-game thread, which is directly below this post.

All good things must come to an end.  The Dolphins had a truly improbable season.  To me, watching a playoff game with our Dolphins in it was just icing on the cake.

So keep this post relatively clean.  Don't go crazy.

Above all, stay classy.  Any trolls come in, just ignore them.

And remember: MIAMI DOLPHINS: 2008 AFC EAST CHAMPIONS!!

No loss can take that away!

End of 3rd quarter.  It's going to take a miracle.

If they don't pull through, it's been a fun ride and a great season.

Whatever you do, stay classy as fans.

GO DOLPHINS!!!

Halftime in Miami.  Ravens 13 - Dolphins 3

Mistakes have proven to be costly.  But now it's time to regroup and get back out there.

Dolphins get the ball to start the 2nd half.  That first drive will be key.

GO DOLPHINS!!!

Dolphins 3 - Ravens 3

Start of 2nd quarter.

GO DOLPHINS!!!