WEMBLEY, England (AP) -The Miami Dolphins traveled halfway around the world to play the New York Giants. They leave London halfway toward the NFL’s first winless season.
The Dolphins, the only NFL team to complete a perfect season in the Super Bowl era, dropped to 0-8 this year after losing to the Giants 13-10 Sunday in the league’s first regular-season game in Europe.
“This group’s got a lot of football left this season,” Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said. “There’s eight games staring at us.”
A bye week following the long trip to British capital could come in handy for the Dolphins, who were the official home team at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium and repeatedly paid homage to the undefeated 1972 team on the video screen.
The players on the field Sunday didn’t quite resemble the past greats, but the persistent drizzle didn’t help make things any easier.
“The field was like ice,” said Dolphins kicker Jay Feely, who missed a long field goal in the first quarter and then sent an onside kick late in the game out of bounds. “I just tried to hit it low and try to create a scrum and it just skipped right out of bounds.”
The most comical play of the game came from Dolphins quarterback Cleo Lemon, who pulled back his arm in a throwing motion but lost the ball totally. The Giants recovered the fumble.
“It was raining pretty tough. My whole body was wet,” Lemon said. “It was a deal where I went to throw it and when I cocked my arm it just flew out.”
The Dolphins weren’t all bad, though. A late touchdown got them within three points. A successful onside kick would have taken this game to the wire. But these are the Dolphins – and Feely’s kick never had a chance.
“The effort was there,” Cameron said in describing the loss. “Execution wasn’t.”
Despite the poor weather and the sloppy game, the Dolphins fans made their presence known. Too bad they couldn’t have seen a better game.
“When you’re on a world stage, you want to be representative of what the best the NFL has to offer,” Feely said. “You didn’t the see the aerial game that the NFL provides on a weekly basis because of the conditions.”
Up next for the Dolphins, after the long flight back to Miami, is a Nov. 11 game against the visiting Buffalo Bills, who beat the New York Jets on Sunday to improve to 3-4. Many think it could be one of Miami’s best chances to win this year. Another candidate is a Dec. 2 home game against the New York Jets.
But this loss might take more out of Miami than the jet lag they’ll experience on the trip home.
“You prepare all week, and you come out and you give your all on Sunday and things don’t work out, it takes that much more energy out of you,” Lemon said.
Jason Taylor said the bye week will give the team a chance to forget about its awful record and come back for a fresh start.
“The last thing I’m going to think about when I get out of this chair is football,” Taylor said. “I’m going back home, and I won’t think about football until we come back and play, whoever the heck we’re playing.
“We’ve got to regroup, and you’ve got to remove yourself as much as you can from the situation.”
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