By STEVEN WINE
AP Sports Writer
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) -- Brandon Marshall says blame the offense.
The Miami Dolphins' statistics say the same thing.
For the eighth time in nine years, Miami has fallen shy of the playoffs -- although this season it was more like a headfirst flop. And the primary culprit is easy to identify.
The Dolphins (7-7) are last in the AFC in scoring, their productivity in decline. They've scored 34 points in the past three games overall and 24 in the past three at home, where they're an astounding 1-6.
After a 17-14 loss to last-place Buffalo eliminated Miami from the playoff race Sunday, Marshall fingered the offense as the season's scapegoat. On Monday, coach Tony Sparano said the disappointing year was a collective failure that also involved the defense and special teams.
"You win and lose games as a team," Sparano said. "It hasn't been losing just one way the entire season."
Then he added: "Is 14 points enough in this league? Fourteen points isn't enough. We need to score more."
Sunday was the seventh time the Dolphins have been held to 14 points or less. With games left against Detroit and New England, Miami likely will finish last in the conference in scoring for the first time in franchise history, according to STATS LLC.
The Dolphins rank fourth in the league in yards allowed but only 23rd in yards gained.
"I want to apologize to the defensive guys," Marshall said. "All year they played their hearts out. They played together. They played like a unit's supposed to play. Offensively all year we didn't get the job done. We didn't make enough plays."
The persistent ineptitude means big changes are likely, with the future of quarterback Chad Henne and coordinator Dan Henning in doubt.
Sparano finds himself increasingly on the hot seat, too. For the first time in his three seasons as coach, he was asked at his weekly Monday news conference about his job security.
"I just need to get my team ready to play this week," Sparano said. "That's all I need to do. That's my concern. Everything else is out of my control. Let somebody else deal with it."
Somebody else would be owner Stephen Ross, who said before the season he expected the Dolphins to reach the Super Bowl. Ross hasn't commented publicly on the disappointing season.
Ross was in attendance for Henne's third consecutive lackluster performance Sunday. He threw a costly interception, took three sacks and looked shaky in the hurry-up offense.
Henne's passer rating of 77.6 ranks 25th in the league, and he has 28 interceptions and only 25 scoring passes in 28 career starts.
Then again, he has had little help this year from a supposedly stout ground game. Neither Ronnie Brown nor Ricky Williams has had a 100-yard game, and the Dolphins are averaging only 3.7 yards per carry, next to last in the league.
That's a big step backward for a team that ranked fourth in rushing a year ago.
The Dolphins had 48 pass plays and only 19 rushes against Buffalo, and pass plays have outnumbered running plays by 115 snaps this season. Are they still a running team in the Bill Parcells mode?
"We hang our hat on the run, but sometimes out of necessity we get away from that," tight end Anthony Fasano said. "We haven't played consistent enough to define ourselves and put a label on what type of offense we are."
The pass-run imbalance has raised questions about Henning's play-calling, as has his persistent fondness for the wildcat, which has been stuffed most of the season. But Henning was also the coordinator when Miami made its surprising run to the AFC East title in 2008.
"Dan Henning for Tony Sparano has been tremendous," Sparano said. "The guy has done a wonderful job here. I look at the entire body of work."
Rather than fault an assistant, Sparano said: "I need to do a better job."
He and his sputtering offense now have two mostly meaningless games to show improvement.
Received 12/21/10 03:37 am ET
