Miami Dolphins talking points: Welcome back, Anthony Fasano

In its well-respected fantasy rankings, Sports Illustrated listed Anthony Fasano as No. 5 among tight ends prior to the season. Fasano had ranked among the biggest busts among Dolphins prior to last Sunday, when he had his best game of the season. The need for him to keep it going is where we start today’s talking points. 1. Welcome back, Anthony Fasano. Now your team needs you more than ever. Anthony Fasano (Photo by Doug Benc / Getty Images) Fasano had an excellent first season with the Dolphins in 2008, catching 34 passes for 454 yards and tying a club record with eight TD receptions. There was no reason to think he might do as well or more this year, but the 6-foot-4, 255-pounder lost a couple fumbles early, caught only four passes in his first four games and then missed two games due to injury. He bounced back strong upon his return Sunday, however, catching five passes for 74 yards and giving the strong-armed Chad Henne a big target in the middle of the field. Fasano is certainly capable of making big plays, as he did when he caught a 20-yard TD pass from Chad Pennington in last year’s division-clinching victory against the Jets in New York. The Patriots’ pass defense gave up all kinds of scoring opportunities against New Orleans. Fasano and Henne can – and need to – exploit it. 2. Either figure out more plays for the Wildcat or scrap it for this season. It was expected that the Wildcat would struggle after triggerman Ronnie Brown was lost for the season with a foot injury, and it has. In two

games without Brown, Ricky Williams has run eight times out of the Wildcat for 25 yards, a meager 3.1 average. And of course, there was that forgettable pass that Williams had picked off in the Buffalo end zone last week. Williams isn’t likely to throw out of it again, so teams now know when Williams has the ball it means run. Heck, even the end-arounds Williams used to run aren’t available since he has to be the quarterback now. Unless Lex Hilliard is given a role, it’s become as predictable as it can be. The coaching staff seems reluctant to say goodbye to it, but unless they can figure out other ways to exploit the formation, the Wildcat should be shelved for the remainder of 2009. 3. Remember, Tom Brady has not had much success against the Dolphins in South Florida. Brady is only 3-4 against the Dolphins on the road, with one of those wins coming in overtime back in 2003. Brady has said the 2006 game, when he was 12-of-25 with four sacks and a 48.0 passer rating in a 21-0 loss, ranks among the worst performances of his career. Brady was on a roll up until last week, with a career-best five straight 300-yard passing games. But the Saints made his life difficult, intercepting him twice and sacking him once and keeping the Patriots’ offense in check most of the second half. Brady isn’t the type to have a crisis of confidence. But the Dolphins have an opportunity to keep the bad vibes coming for another week.

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Miami Dolphins talking points: Welcome back, Anthony Fasano

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