By GREG COTE
gcote@MiamiHerald.com
ATLANTA -- The best thing about Sunday's football game for the Miami Dolphins? That the team bus was on time leaving the stadium afterward so that this mess of a season opener might begin to recede, fast as possible, in the rearview.
That's the best realistic option -- forgetting this and moving on -- since pretending it never happened probably wouldn't work.
``We didn't do smart things,'' went the synopsis of plain-spoken coach Tony Sparano.
The Dolphins lost here to the Atlanta Falcons by only 19-7, but the final score flattered Miami, whose ineptness on offense was nearly staggering.
The team was facing its first season-starting shutout loss in the club's 44-year history until Ricky Williams' consolation scoring catch with three minutes left.
Five punts, three lost fumbles and one interception is a lot of failure on offense for one day. That's a busy afternoon of self-inflicted wounding.
What struck you was how fundamental the defeat was offensively. How it cut right to the bone of the Dolphins, betraying who they like to think they are. Sparano had said season openers were exciting for a team ``to figure out what you are going to be.'' Sunday he could hardly have recognized what he was seeing.
Last year's Dolphins went 11-5 and ended a six-year playoff drought by being smart, by mastering the fundamental truism that turnovers kill. Miami, led by super-efficient quarterback Chad Pennington, had fewer turnovers than any team in the NFL.
TURNOVERS
Sunday's four included two by Pennington. All last season the man protected the ball as if it were a childhood secret, but he opened this season by spilling.
``At the end of the day, when you turn the ball over four times, your percentage of winning is about 10 percent,'' said math professor Sparano, jaws pounding a wad of chewing gum. ``We don't think turning the ball over is a good thing. We pride ourselves in not doing it. We have to take care of the football. That's our job.''
This defeat wasn't fundamental only for the lack of protect-the-ball fundamentals. It was fundamental because it started with the team's foundation: the offensive line.
That's where Sunday began to collapse.
Sometimes the defeats feel worse, hurt deeper, because they are personal. You know that, in this most macho of worlds, you were just plain beaten, man to man.
This is Miami's $150 million line, the totals of the five starters' contracts led by left tackle Jake Long's as last year's overall No. 1 draft pick. This is supposed to be The Great Wall. Sunday, the wall crumbled. The team's foundation shook.
The line gave up four sacks and many more QB pressures. A holding penalty by tackle Vernon Carey negated a touchdown pass. Long got spun around and run past more than he had in any game as a rookie last year.
Guard Justin Smiley volunteered that $150 million figure, grist of media reports.
``We want to hush the criticism,'' he said. ``It's on our shoulders. We've got to prove our worth.''
The offense was SO ineffective that whispers and questions arose from the stink.
Ronnie Brown, the Pro Bowl running back, had all of four carries in the first half. Hmm.
``We're not into this finger-pointing thing,'' Smiley said. But then he added, ``When you're on the road you need to take it to people and establish the run.''
There also was the glimmer of questioning whether the three Wildcat plays to quarterback Pat White, which came on three different series and netted 1 yard, did more harm than good in throwing askew offensive rhythm.
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