EAST RUTHERFORD N.J. -- To be fair, it can’t possibly be fun to be Brandon Marshall right now.
He went from a mediocre team in Denver where he was putting up Pro Bowl numbers to a place where his numbers have dropped and his team is losing in embarrassing fashion.
And it would seem difficult to slam a player who is still his offense’s best player and the target of defensive game plans every week. It’s even more difficult performing when you’re receiving pass from, first, a quarterback you have absolutely not connection with, then second, a backup quarterback who’s clearly a backup for a reason.
Still, Marshall set himself up for this one.
His “play like a monster” rant in which he sort-of promised to get thrown out of the game because he refused harness his emotions made him an obvious target in a Monday Night Football game that otherwise had zero Miami story lines.
Marshall would have been better off getting tossed. Because then we wouldn’t see him for what he really is.
On Monday night, he was less monster, more scared child. Less beast, more bust.
The numbers alone (six catches, 109 yards) would suggest Marshall lived up to his promise to let it all out.
But the actual footage of the game would prove those numbers, like his words, were empty.
More than that, his performance served to further infuriate a frustrated Dolphins fan base that’s masking its anger with the entertaining “Suck for Luck” campaign.
Here’s what Marshall is known for as a wideout: He is an elite possession receiver, which would indicate good hands and serious toughness. He is known for shedding defenders after the catch. He is a sure thing in tight areas.
Well, Monday night he wasn’t any of those things. At least not when the team needed it most.
Among Marshall’s memorable moments was another dropped touchdown pass, which we’re starting to get used to around here.
Granted, the pass was thrown slightly behind Marshall, who was just turning his head around (a step he completely forgot, by the way, on Darrelle Revis’ 100-yard pick-six in the first quarter) when the ball was approaching. But that is exactly the kind of play receivers like him are supposed to make. It’s what makes a guy like him “quarterback friendly,” especially when that quarterback is the backup with his head spinning.
Of course, Marshall could have avoided that whole scenario earlier in the drive had he not pulled a Ted Ginn and drifted out of bounds on a 46-yard pass play (the curse of No. 19 wins again).
After Matt Moore kept the play alive by scrambling to his left, he found Marshall for the big play, and it looked like he only had one defender to beat to reach the end zone.
But Marshall’s balance betrayed him, and he drifted to his left and out of bounds.
Monsters should have no such issues.
Marshall wasn’t done showing a questionable lack of fight — for a monster, that is.
With the game still in question, and Moore once again extending a play by avoiding the rush, Marshall called for the ball Randy Moss-like while streaking down the field, Antonio Cromartie on his back.
Moore did his best, launching a jump ball in Marshall’s general direction.
Monsters win that tussle. Marshall barely put up a fight, letting Cromartie beat him to the ball in the air and break up the play.
And later, just to enrage fans even more, he caught a difficult pass in traffic just to prove what he’s capable of doing but has refused to this season, especially in the end zone.
Conspiracy theorists can hypothesize that Marshall is only helping his own cause in the long run.
Think about it: Would it not help Marshall’s career if he were the top target of a player like Andrew Luck for the entire second half of his career? Of course it would.
So is it a coincidence that Marshall has the dropsies for the first time in his career? Coincidence that a strong wind blew him out of bounds with only one defender between him and a TD? Coincidence that he called for the ball against Cromartie then barely fought him for it?
Of course it’s a coincidence. But it would almost be a more comforting explanation than the admission that this is who Marshall is.
There’s so much more wrong with the Dolphins, that realistically Marshall shouldn’t even make the list.
But when you’re putting yourself under the microscope with a perplexing promise, then vastly under-perform, then you temporarily launch yourself to the top of the Dolphins complaint list, above that porous offensive line, above the defensive with absolutely no pass rush and above the coach and GM combo that can’t do much right.
If that was Marshall’s monster mode, it was scary for all the wrong reasons.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/10/17/2459258/miami-dolphins-brandon-marshall.html#ixzz1b8DkYYiE
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