Dolphins hopeful that the Ronnie-Ricky combo keeps clicking

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Posted 8:45PM on Monday, October 31, 2005

DAVIE, Fla. (AP) Ricky Williams didn't know Monday was Nick Saban's birthday, and Ronnie Brown had trouble thinking of what the Miami Dolphins coach would want as a gift. Here's an idea: combining for 40 carries and 188 yards every week would suit Saban nicely. The Dolphins host Atlanta, one of five teams with an NFC-leading 5-2 record, next Sunday. There was much for Miami to celebrate on Monday. Beating New Orleans in Baton Rouge on Sunday marked Miami's first road win of the season. For the first time since at least 1983, the Dolphins didn't allow an opponent to convert any third-down attempts. And they're now alone in second place in the AFC East. ``The chemistry that this group played with was probably the best we played with all year, in terms of communication and playing together and disguising and executing.'' Saban said, working on his 54th birthday. ``It gave everybody a little better chance to be successful, and it paid off.'' But the brightest sign that emerged in the 21-6 victory over the struggling Saints was how Miami's talented runners put together their finest combined effort of the season, a trend that Saban would obviously like to see continue. ``To have two runners do what these guys do, obviously there's an advantage in doing that,'' Saban said. ``You take 23 carries from one guy and 17 from the other. If one guy had to make those 40 carries, he'd have to be pretty special.'' Brown had 23 carries for 106 yards, Williams 17 for 82 against New Orleans a team that allows 133.9 yards rushing per game, the fifth-highest total in the NFL. Neither reached the end zone Gus Frerotte threw a 12-yard pass to Chris Chambers for Miami's only touchdown but their yeomanlike effort allowed Miami (3-4) to keep the ball for more than 36 minutes and establish a season-high rushing total. ``We really got in a rhythm. And I was in a rhythm, definitely,'' Williams said. ``I was getting more in a groove and I was fresher, and I think Ronnie was fresher late in the game.'' Miami's 47 carries as a team represented its most in a regular-season game since running 56 times against the Jets on Sept. 12, 1982. And the Dolphins hadn't run for 188 yards as a team in nearly three years. Plus, Brown and Williams were the first Miami duo to rush for 80 yards in the same game since Delvin Williams and Larry Csonka against Oakland on Oct. 8, 1979. ``That kind of balance, I think, is critical to us being successful offensively,'' Saban said. Brown and Williams each had three carries that gained at least 11 yards, and both seemed to get stronger throughout the game. Brown, who was stopped for 2 yards or less on 11 of his first 18 carries, got 46 yards off his final five rushes. Williams gained 38 yards on his final six carries, and looked nothing like the player who managed a total of 7 yards on 11 carries in his first two games back from a yearlong retirement and a four-game NFL suspension for violating its substance abuse policy. ``If you go to a symphony or an orchestra, you look at the first chair and the second chair and the third chair, the difference between them is the amount of time that they've played and practiced,'' Williams said. ``As I'm on the field more, I think I'm getting better.'' The next trick for the Dolphins will be trying to pull off a modest two-game winning streak, something Miami has done only once since the end of the 2003 season. ``When we get it right and play at a certain level of intensity, with confidence ... when we get it right, we really play pretty good football,'' Saban said. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)