FanHouse KeithTraylor

As FanHouser Ryan Wilson told you last week, the Miami Dolphins kicked Keith Traylor off the team over a fight on the team plane. The fight led to an all-out argument with head coach Cam Cameron who then banished him from the team (he was on the roster for the last game of the season).

Now we know what the fight was all about: dominoes:

Last week's argument on the team plane that led to Keith Traylor's banishment began over a game of dominoes, with Vernon Carey and Rex Hadnot ribbing Traylor (and vice versa) before tempers flared. Carey and Hadnot sat down when Cameron asked them to, but Traylor initially refused. Some players were amused when they heard Traylor yelling and cursing in a meeting with Cameron the next day.

To steal a quote from Ryan: 'This seems like a fitting end to a one-win campaign." It was a game of dominoes that started this mess. Imagine if they were playing Hungry Hungry Hippos! It would've gotten out of hand!

Now, Traylor was probably done as a Dolphin anyways - Bill Parcells most likely would've purged him. But this looks bad for Cameron. Not only does he have to act like daddy on the team plane by telling the kids to sit down and shut up on a trip ... but the fact that the players were laughing about the whole thing doesn't say much for his credibility.

Cam. The Tuna needs to see you. And bring your playbook.

This seems like a fitting end to a one-win campaign. Dolphins' first-year head coach Cam Cameron suspended Keith Traylor for the season finale because the 340-pound defensive tackle can't play nicely with others. Specifically, Traylor got in a fight on the team plane after the Week 16 loss to the Patriots.

According to two sources, the fight was with offensive linemen Rex Hadnot and Vernon Carey. Traylor, 38, did not practice last week, and the team listed him on its injury report with an ankle ailment.

Cam Cameron met with Traylor on Monday, they argued, and the coach kicked him off the team, one of the sources said.

I don't know if this qualifies as "thugs and hoodlums"-type behavior, but Traylor's inability to keep his hands to himself and the fact that he's 38 could mean that his Dolphins career is over.

And although Cameron is neither a thug nor a hoodlum (if anything, Cameron's the anti-thug), he could be looking for work soon too.

According to the Sun-Sentinel's Ethan Skolnick, Miami kept Traylor on the roster for yesterday's game to avoid a public-relations problem and to keep Traylor from signing with another team. Teammate Vonnie Holliday stuck up for his soon-to-be former teammate:

After not winning a game for the first four months of the season, I think if you're the Dolphins, anything goes. Which is why I fully support head coach Cam Cameron busting a move during the post-game locker room celebration. Yep, that's Joey Porter leading "We Ride," a staple during his years in Pittsburgh, and apparently one of the few things he remembered to bring with him to Miami. (That's a joke, people.)

Two other notes: I love that Keith Traylor is high-fiving fans underneath the stadium like Miami just won the Super Bowl (in a sense, they have ... which explains why somebody yells, "Super Bowl!" in the locker room). Also, it's good to see Jason Taylor hasn't let Smoothie-gate ruin his relationship with Cameron; the Dolphins Pro Bowler gives the first-year head coach the game ball. See, winning solves a lot of problems.

Hat tip to reader JB

We all are waiting to see what the line is for next week's meeting between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots. Most likely, the Pats will enter that game at 14-0 ... and the Dolphins will be 0-14. However, Miami will share the field with a 17-0 team this week: the 1972 Dolphins.

Yes sir! The '72 Dolphins will be honored at halftime of this week's game against the Ravens:

For the 2007 Dolphins, the glorious past of 1972 has added to the growing embarrassment of the present. And the Dolphins know it's only going to get worse this weekend.

Starting with a golf tournament Friday -- and capped by an on-field tribute at halftime Sunday -- the organization has arranged a weekend celebration to honor the 35th anniversary of Miami's Perfect Season. Nearly the entire 1972 team will be represented.

Could the timing for a celebration of the aqua and orange seem any stranger?

''I just look at it like it's a whole different scene between 1972 and 2007,'' rookie wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. said. ``I respect them, and every time I get a chance, I meet them. But we've got a different thing that floats our boat right now.''

Of the current Dolphins, only Keith Traylor was alive when the Dolphins beat Washington in Super Bowl VII, capping their perfect 17-0 season.

Earlier this week, Dolphins defensive tackle Keith Traylor said he wouldn't lose any sleep if head coach Cam Cameron got canned. He also said not everybody on the team is "out to get a victory," which explains the 0-12 start. Traylor's comments led to speculation that Cameron had lost his team, but apparently, there's nothing to worry about. Except, well, maybe there is:

Asked if he has seen any dissension from his players, Cameron said, ``I don't sense any of that.'' That might be true. Cameron might not yet sense it. But it certainly appears to be brewing -- and it was obvious for the first time in the locker room after Sunday's loss...

Whether Cameron wants to believe it or not, all of his players aren't buying into his message. In the locker room after Sunday's game, cornerback Will Allen made it clear that he doesn't.

"When it boils down to it, they say `team game, team game, team game,' but this really is an individual game,'' Allen said. ``I worry about myself. I don't worry about [Cameron's job security] much.''

Huh, that sounds like a variation on Taylor's comments. This isn't shocking, I guess. The Dolphins are a dreadful outfit, under the direction of a first-year coach, and many of the veteran players aren't buying into Cameron's "system." Twelve losses later, and there's a little dissension in the locker room. Winning solves a lot of problems, but who knows if Cameron will be around to get that chance.

The Chiefs' offense comes into the game on quite a roll. Ever since mustering up next to nothing against Pittsburgh, the Chiefs have averaged 32 points a game. Through the efficiency of Damon Huard and the relentlessness of Larry Johnson, the offense looks like it is on the same kind of roll it was on around this point last season.

The Dolphins' defense came to life last week against the Chicago Bears. The defense forced turnovers, was in the backfield far more often than the Bears wanted to see, and created scoring opportunities for their offense.

When the Chiefs run the ball

It has never been a secret that Herm Edwards wants Larry Johnson to run the ball, and to run it a lot. Mike Solari struggled with that notion at first, unsure of when to give LJ the ball, but knowing that he needed to get it. In recent weeks, Solari has not struggled with that notion at all, and LJ has responded with 460 yards in his last 3 games. Credit the offensive line-- much like last year, the big guys started off slowly, but became a dominant unit by midseason. The loss of Brian Waters could affect Johnson's ability to run up the middle somewhat, but he has also become extremely adept at waiting for the blocks to develop. With veteran Chris Bober taking over for Waters, Johnson can have that same confidence in letting the blocks develop.

Miami's defense has actually exceeded expectations this year. They are not the elite unit they were several years ago, but they have played solid, if unspectacular, defense in six of their eight games. Part of it is that their defensive line has come together nicely. Keith Traylor and Dan Wilkinson take up a lot of room and clog up the middle, allowing the linebackers to roam a bit more freely. Although Miami gives up over 100 yards rushing per game, Larry Johnson will have to earn his yards this week.