The Miami Dolphins laid a huge egg yesterday, as they suffered their worst home loss since 1968, losing to the woeful Tennessee Titans 37-3.  Nothing went well, and everything that could go wrong went wrong.  The Fins committed four turnovers, including three interceptions by rookie QB Ryan Tannehill, who resembled a deer staring into the headlights of a car.  Reggie Bush fumbled in the first quarter, and was unceremoniously benched for the remainder of the first half.  The team doesn’t have a lot of time to soak in this embarrassing loss, as they play the Bills in Buffalo on Thursday night at 8:20 pm.  The game will be televised on the NFL Network on your cable or satellite system.  

Forty years later, the Miami Dolphins 1972 perfect season lives on.  The last unbeaten team in the NFL this season, the Atlanta Falcons, fell to the surging New Orleans Saints yesterday 31-27.  The Saints lost their first four games of the season, but have now won four out of their last five.  The Falcons are now 8-1.  

In the rest of the NFL yesterday, a day full of surprises:

Cincinnati Bengals 31 New York Giants 13 Cin +4

Andy Dalton threw four touchdown passes

Minnesota Vikings 34 Detroit Lions 24 Min +1

Adrian Peterson ran for 171 yards on 27 carries

Tampa Bay Bucs 34 San Diego Chargers 24 TB -3

The Bucs have won three in a row and 4 out of their last 5

NE Patriots 37 Buffalo Bills 31 NE -11

The Bills comeback fell short when Devin McCourty’s interception in the end zone allowed the Patriots to hold on

Denver Broncos 36 Carolina Panthers 14 Car +4

Peyton Manning threw for 301 yards in the win

Baltimore Ravens 55 Oakland Raiders 20 Bal -7.5

Joe Flacco threw three touchdown passes 

Seattle Seahawks 28 NY Jets 7 Sea -6

Marshawn Lynch ran for 124 yards and a touchdown, Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes

Dallas Cowboys 38 Philadelphia Eagles 23 Phi +1

Tony Romo completed 19 of 26 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns

St. Louis Rams 24 San Francisco 49ers 24 (ot) SF -11

The first tie in the NFL since November 16, 2008.  Both teams’ kickers missed field goals in the overtime period.

Houston Texans 13 Chicago Bears 6 Chi -1

We got the defensive slugfest we expected in Chicago.  Matt Schaub threw the game’s lone touchdown to Arian Foster, who also ran for 102 yards on 29 carries.

TONIGHT

Kansas City Chiefs @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Pit -11.5 8:30 pm ESPN

Bye week for the Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, Washington Redskins 

The Miami Heat won the first game of their six-game road trip on Friday, beating the Atlanta Hawks 95-89.  Last night, they were trounced by the Memphis Grizzlies 104-86.  Memphis connected on 14 three-point baskets.  Chris Bosh led the Heat with 22 points, while LeBron James had 20 points and 10 rebounds.  The Heat are in Houston, where they take on the Rockets tonight at 8:00 pm.  You can watch the game on Sun Sports on your cable or satellite system.  In the rest of the NBA yesterday,

Brooklyn Nets 82 Orlando 74

Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Deron Williams added 17.

LA Clippers 89 Atlanta 76

Blake Griffin had 16 points, Chris Paul added 15 points and had 8 assists

OkC Thunder 106 Cleveland Cavaliers 91

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 53 points

LA Lakers 103 Sacramento Kings 90

Dwight Howard tallied 23 points and 18 rebounds, Kobe Bryant scored 20.  The Lakers announced that Mike D’Antoni would be their new head coach, surprising everyone, including Phil Jackson, who apparently was under the impression that the job was his.

TODAY’S GAMES IN THE NBA

Miami Heat @ Houston Rockets 8:00 pm Sun Sports

Utah Jazz @ Toronto Raptors 7:00 pm

Milwaukee Bucks @ Philadelphia 76ers 7:00 pm

OkC Thunder @ Detroit Pistons 7:30 pm

Boston Celtics @ Chicago Bulls                 8:00 pm

Minnesota T-Wolves @ Dallas Mavericks 8:30 pm

Denver Nuggets @ Phoenix Suns 9:00 pm

Atlanta Hawks @ Portland Trailblazers 10:00 pm

In major league baseball, the Boston Red Sox signed catcher David Ross to a two-year contract worth $6.2 million.  Ross was the backup in Atlanta, where he has performed admirably behind Brian McCann the last four years.  Boston has been shopping last year’s catcher Jarod Saltalamacchia the last few weeks.  

The Colorado Rockies hired former shortstop Walt Weiss as their new manager.  Weiss was the AL Rookie of the Year with the Oakland A’s in 1988, and was the Marlins’ first shortstop in 1993 before going to the Rockies from 1994 to 1997, and then to Atlanta from 1998-2000.  The Washington Nationals and their manager Davey Johnson agreed to terms on a one-year deal.  Johnson, who turns 70 years old in January, will assume a consulting role with the team starting in 2014.

The AL and NL Rookie of the Year awards will be announced later today.  The finalists in the American League are LA Angels outfielder Mike Trout, Cuban-born outfielder Yoenis Cespedes of the Oakland A’s, and Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers.  In any other year, both Cespedes and Darvish would have a chance.  Not this year.  Mike Trout will win the award.  In the National League, Washington outfielder Bryce Harper, Cincinnati’s Todd Frazier, and Diamondback’s starter Wade Miley are the finalists.  My vote would go to Frazier, who filled in for the injured Joey Votto at first base and for third baseman Scott Rolen as well, while putting up great offensive numbers.  Tomorrow, the managers of the year will take center stage; on Wednesday, the AL and NL Cy Young Award winners, and on Thursday, the MVP’s will be named.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The 1972 Miami Dolphins are, of course, the only NFL teams to finish an entire season (including postseason) unbeaten and untied.  Three other teams finished their regular seasons undefeated and untied, but lost in the NFL Championship game or in the Super Bowl.  Who are these almost-perfect teams? 

In college football, a huge change in the BCS standings this week.  After top-ranked Alabama lost to Texas A&M on Saturday, Kansas State is the new number one team, followed by Oregon, putting the Wildcats and the Ducks on a collision course to meet in the BCS National Championship game.  Notre Dame is #3, but they will need a loss by Oregon or Kansas State to reach the title game January 7th here in Miami at the Seven Names Stadium.  Alabama fell to fourth, and five other SEC teams follow the Crimson Tide in the standings: Georgia is #5, Florida #6, LSU #7, Texas A&M #8, and South Carolina #9.  Florida State rounds out the Top Ten.    

The University of Miami Hurricanes lost to Virginia in the last few seconds of the game, 41-40.  Another heart-breaking, gut-wrenching loss for the Canes, who host the South Florida Bulls this Saturday at the Seven Names Stadium at 3:00 pm.  No TV for that one, you’ll have to go to the stadium if you want to see the contest.

After their bye week, the FIU Panthers return to the field this Friday, in Boca Raton, to take on Florida Atlantic.  Game time will be 8:00 pm.  Remember, you can catch the FIU game broadcasts (in English, no less) on your smartphone or on the computer at www.fiusports.com.  I will be handling the play-by-play, and Pete Pelegrin will be handling the color analysis. 

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The 1972 Miami Dolphins are, of course, the only NFL teams to finish an entire season (including postseason) unbeaten and untied.  Three other teams finished their regular seasons undefeated and untied, but lost in the NFL Championship game or in the Super Bowl.  Who are these almost-perfect teams?  The 1934 Chicago Bears finished 13-0, but lost to the New York Giants 30-13 in their conference championship game.  The 1942 Bears went 11-0 in the regular season, but lost the championship game 14-6 to the Washington Redskins.  More recently, the 2007 New England Patriots finished the regular season 16-0, won two playoff games, but lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants, 17-14.    

Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com. 

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.