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Rigel Spikes
@MF13SS
4s5 seconds ago
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Since the merger, the #Dolphins have given up 290+ rushing yards only 3 times. Last night was the 3rd most (via @pfref): http://pfref.com/tiny/GLMe3
stanger,
I don’t think we need to get rid of Gase. I actually like him. But we need better players and better schemes. I think team could have been a playoffs contender with tanny and a better oline.
But better OL is the rub there….we weren’t walking in with one of those even when the season started. And then came the injuries.
The reason we got our asses kicked last night was because the Panthers have a great ground game. cam newton is inaccurate, he surely didn’t beat us with his arm but he looked like a superstar because as a defense we had to respect their running ability.
shouldn’t that give Gase a clue?
His team ran when he was with the Broncos
yes they did, he wasnt the HC, and he was the QB whisperer, what does that tell you
the worst thing we could have done is hire a pass happy offensive coordinator as our HC
Joe SchadVerified account
@schadjoe
7m7 minutes ago
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It’s time to question every Miami Dolphins player, coach and scheme
http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2017/11/14/these-miami-dolphins-are-baffled-lost-and-shamed-and-its-time-to-question-everything/
Look at McAdoo in NY. His team is atrocious, and he’s still around. Gase is losing a little credibility, no doubt, but he can still win it back.
he’s still around because it’s a smart move to contiue with him, no one is available now and the best that could happen is the #1 pick in next years draft, you can bet he will be gone on the first monday after the league year
Gruden knows he has to run the ball, as basic as that sounds who we have now doesn’t understand that
No kidding, I could see some team throwing a ton of money at Gruden, and if he did accept, he’d probably stay one season and quit. I don’t think he wants to get back to that grind again.
I think Harbaugh would be a great choice
The problem is we can’t run the ball consistently with anyone. Ajayi had more lackluster performances then good ones yet Gase kept giving it to him. We have too many negative runs or for minimal gain. That starts up front.
we were 4-2 with him, what are we without him? it was not about his success it was more about the threat. teams had to game plan for him. that left other areas open. now they game plan against the pass.
4-3 but we wouldn’t have won last night with him. He doesn’t play defense.
Does anyone here think it was a smart move to get rid of Ajayi? would you call that move questionable?
http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/2573300/jay-ajayi
Our woes really aren’t about Ajayi.
That’s a good point: Ajayi wasn’t the problem, so why trade him?
Do we really need to rehash this all over again?
Don’t think it was a smart move in terms of winning games this year, but was a reasonable choice given how bad the offensive line has been. I took at as a sign that our chances for the playoffs are slim and Gase accepted that and started planning for the future.
Ken says:
November 14, 2017 at 6:20 am
The defense quit on the team when Cutler gets picked at the end of the half. Up until that the D was playing okay. Once that happened it was as if the D said this offense sucks and stopped playing.
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^^^ This
There are always momentum swings in a game and that was it. We should have run out the clock down 10-7 at the half. Instead it’s 17-7 at the half. Big swing in momentum there.
Joe SchadVerified account
@schadjoe
8m8 minutes ago
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Xavien Howard was targeted 7 times, allowing 5 receptions for 87 yards and 3 touchdowns per @PFF_Miami #MiamiDolphins
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Time to draft Tarvarus McFadden, CB, FSU
Howard had a bad game as did many on defense. But it’s a little early for draft talk.
It’s NEVER too early for Draft talk!!! 😀
i do think we need to draft a CB early to add competition, a CB is a high value pick, Drafting a guard or center is low value.
Some of you guys keep posting like expectations for this year were supposed to be high after the offseason we had. I mean, did you not see most of this coming?
Not all these blowout performances. Tough losses are one thing, not being competitive is another.
Vegas had us at like 7…..and not like most of us didn’t watch the Ravens or Saints game either. I was going for 9, but than was before the O went south and I always add a homer +1 in anyhow.
So we need an OG, OC, OT, CB, TE, RB early . . .
How many 1st RD picks do we have?
dont worry about early picks according to gase we can get herschel walker in the 4th
I do think you can get can get RB talent in the 4th RD, it happens all the time. Jordan Howard, one of the leading rushers was a 5th RD pick
sure but unlikely, the best are 1st rounders, we got Ajayi in the 5th due to knee issues but he was 2nd rnd talent.
i dont think we need a great rb we need a guy who can get the tough yards and occasionally break one, like stewart last night.
Tim Knight says:
November 14, 2017 at 12:40 pm
4-3 but we wouldn’t have won last night with him. He doesn’t play defense.
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i disagree, he does play defense, he keeps teams guessing, he opens up others to make plays and keeps the defense on the bench
He was here when our offense was horrible and our defense was on the field all day.
I was a fan of Ajayi and I didn’t want him to be traded. But his impact was not what you’re saying he was. This team’s issues are well beyond Ajayi. I can’t wrap my head around why we look so bad at times in all phases, but it’s more than a RB.
it’s because we are one dimensional, it affects the entire team on both sides of the ball
Then how do you explain the Jets, Saints and Ravens losses?
The Saints are one of the best Teams in the league! and it’s not like we had home field advantage. the Jets are very tough at home, did you see them trounce Buffalo? The Ravens have always been a tough head to head match up for us.
That’s all fair, but the point was that Ajayi’s presence didn’t have any effect in those games. Our issues are deeper than that.
Gotta admit one thing – We were all excited about our D-line, but they have been extremely disappointing, especially considering almost every team is double teaming Suh, WTF is Phillips doing besides collecting paychecks? I think he’s done in MIA. Sometimes guys live up to the NEGATIVES in their scouting reports, and he’s one of them. Time to jettison yet another high draft pick. 😦
http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2017/11/14/what-miami-dolphins-adam-gase-said-in-the-wake-of-another-prime-time-debacle/
On lack of explosive plays: “That team last night, that’s a tough team to throw the ball down the field on.” Cites good pass rush and DBs playing off for Panthers, making you drive down field.
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I agree Adam, especially when they know you’re going to throw
If I’m GM, I trade or dump Suh. Not worth the money we pay him, IMO. Sorry Son..
That goes for most of this team. The FO needs to recognize that they are overpaying guys that produce average or below average results. I’d rather have a team full of young, unproven guys than pay a bunch of vets that quit when things go poorly. I’m not even convinced Wake is much of leader although I love having him on the team. The big deals we gave out to Branch, Stills, Alonso, and Jones are looking really bad right now. I don’t mind the idea of paying your guys, but if they produce like this it sets a franchise back a couple years.
Until you are convinced your team is a contender, I prefer to let guys walk and collect compensatory picks or trade them for picks. I guess there were serious locker room issues with Ajayi, but that was poor management to give up 1 1/2 years of cheap labor for only a 4th rounder. We would have likely received a compensatory pick had we just let him walk in FA.
I feel like we have an owner who is willing to be patient with his coach. We don’t have to win immediately. Hoard draft assets, play the young and hungry (and cheap) guys, and sign bargain vets late in FA.
Gase has lost some of his shine, but I still think he is a good coach and would prefer he be given several years to develop something. Seems like the guys he sticks up for aren’t returning the favor with their play and effort.
After last night and some of our other dreadful performances, it’s really hard to figure out why these guys can’t play better. But if it continues, some of what you’re saying will probably happen.
Suh will be here for the next 2 years minimum, his contract says so, he’s double teamed most of the time, i don’t think he’s an issue on this team, there is a cap floor so we do have to pay someone. we were fine in cap space prior to signing Cutler.
Suh up until last night was playing real strong….so strong that the Panthers were putting in OL guys in as to TEs so they could let of the two guys in the middle just concentrate on him. And heck yeah that worked, but they still game-planned to stop him in a special way.
For sure they might decide he isn’t worth the price, he’s on the books for…..and no doubting that is a big one. Given his contract, they won’t be cutting him though.
And am right with you on being patient, but to my mind that includes keeping guys on the team you have trust in after having seen them. In that way, have always been a fan of how the Steelers deal with things.
Sigh… another school shooting in California.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/three-killed-shooter-dead-attack-california-school-local-182238179.html
Fuck man, I don’t even know what to say anymore
Yeah man, so sad. It wasn’t just a school, it started at a home and other locations ending at an elementary school. Sounds like the shooter who was killed went on a killing spree.
So now it’s time to get rid of Gase? So…..let’s follow Cleveland’s model of excellence. Lol
Jason LieserVerified account
@JasonLieser
1m1 minute ago
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Adam Gase says Dolphins are constantly evaluating their own personnel and available free agents, but he’s not going to cut someone simply “to just drop a bomb on everybody.”
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But Gase WILL just trade someone (Ajayi), just to drop a bomb on everybody.
There was more going on than we will ever know.
The offense looks better with him gone to me…..
Barry JacksonVerified account
@flasportsbuzz
1m1 minute ago
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New: Dolphins’ Gase defends Xavien Howard, who is ranked 115th among 116 cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus, plus more Dolphins notes:
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article184575253.html
This team doesn’t deserve the dedication and loyalty it has received from the fans over the years since Shula retired. I’ve been a fan of the Dolphins since the early 70’s and even when the team struggled when Shula was the coach we never saw them quit.
It’s amazing to see the bunch of underachievers who wear that uniform today.
i dont know if i have just reached a point of fuck it i dont give a crap as far as what im seeing game to game, or if i have just settled into a realization that i somewhat already had earlier in the year, which is, losing Tanny for the year was going to make it very hard for us to have a season with any consistency.
I will make this point about this game. The offense wasn’t that bad. I mean it definitely wasn’t good, Cutler would have a good throw followed by a bad one back to a good, over and over. Landry and Stills were dropping passes, Thomas looked like one of the treants from Lord of the Rings as he plodded through his routes, and despite the score, he played awful. The OL has one dude who was still adjusting to LG who is not being asked to adjust to RT, a former LT, turned LG, who is not learning the speed of the game as a LT in the NFL, a LG spot that has had 3 different people manning it at different times of the year, the current one who was supposed to be the first one, who is knocking rust off of a half the year hiatus. It was a mess but the game got away from us more because the defense could not shut down that offense at all.
These stats really show how poorly our D let us down. 548 total yards, 7.7 yard per snap average, 45 points off just 10 drives, 30 first downs of 10 drives, 11-14 on third downs therefore 19 1st downs without having to get to 3rd down, 8.2 yards per rush, totaling almost 300 rushing yards, 4 rushers averaged more than 4.6 yards a carry, 3 averaged more than 6.5 per carry. They were 4-4 in the red-zone with TD’s, they had 6 total TD’s, meaning 2 of those scores were off greater than 20 yard plays.
Offense actually didnt have horrible stats. 2-2 with TD’s in the red-zone, 100yards rushing (not great but not as bad as we have been) with a 5.9 YPC average. 1 long distance rushing TD. Couple passing TD’s, 200+ yards passing. 17 first downs on 10 drives, 7-12 on third downs, 10 first downs made before 3rd down, TOP was around 10 minutes difference but we have been worse. These arent great stats but it says that if we had more help from our defense, we probably would have likely at least had a shot with the offense we had last night. Special teams didnt really help us or hurt us last night, starting field position for either team was pretty average, outside of the two turnovers, the int and the on downs, that resulted in them starting on our side of the field, neither of which can be blamed on the ST.
I think we will see in the long run how much we blow things up, but i have a feeling on defense it wont be a lot of changes, after all this is really the only real stinkfest they put up, even the Baltimore game, the only thing that looks bad on them is the score, they really didn’t give up a ton of yards and it was the offense and the turnovers that killed us there. Offense is a different story, i dont think its a matter of if there will be significant changes, its just how many, i could see several player, including some that just signed new contracts or that we thought were locks for new contracts, being part of those changes.
I’m at the point where I don’t care who stays and who goes or who we add. Can we put a team out there that at least plays entertaining competitive football? That’s what it’s all about. It’s really tiresome when halfway through a game you know it’s over. You stop rooting because it’s worthless. No excitement needing to make play here. You’re just watching the clock until it’s over or you already bailed. It sucks!
This
ElephantRider says:
November 14, 2017 at 3:19 pm
There was more going on than we will ever know.
The offense looks better with him gone to me…..
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Im with ya on that one man. Not saying he isnt a good back, but obviously he wanted to zig when Gase wanted him to zag and it didnt work out well for either of them. The offense seems better able to run deeper into the play book now. I feel like if we had the right TE we would look even better.
Me too. Ajayi started at Wembley in his coming home party. He did squat. The Saints were there for the taking that day. We didn’t turn up. I love Ajayi’s yards after contact but he isn’t the reason we aren’t winning now. He’s the reason we weren’t winning then. There seems to be a malaise hanging over the Fins. To continue the LoTR theme, we seem like Théoden after Grima has been talking to us for a few millennia. Gase will either shake us out of this or lose his job trying. I can see steel in him. I just hope the task isn’t too big.
We do have a sort of malaise over us for sure.
stangerx says:
November 14, 2017 at 2:18 pm
Suh up until last night was playing real strong….so strong that the Panthers were putting in OL guys in as to TEs so they could let of the two guys in the middle just concentrate on him. And heck yeah that worked, but they still game-planned to stop him in a special way.
For sure they might decide he isn’t worth the price, he’s on the books for…..and no doubting that is a big one. Given his contract, they won’t be cutting him though.
And am right with you on being patient, but to my mind that includes keeping guys on the team you have trust in after having seen them. In that way, have always been a fan of how the Steelers deal with things.
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You think Suh’s performance was bad last night? He might not have been as dominant, their double-team’s were definitely more effective than we have seen other teams be against him, but he still was really solid, he created more pressure from DT than we got from DE’s all night. There is no way you can replace him and the money is absolutely on par with what that kind of player should make. He probably will restructure again to help us out, which he already has done once, so not only is he playing well he is trying to make sure there is room to keep some of these other guys too. Suh is absolutely our best player on both sides of the ball, and our defense would be completely lost without him. The LB’s were the problem last night. That was the worst performance for all three of them all year, and the worst i have seen Alonzo since he has been with us.
Wake to me was one of the most surprising disappointments, he couldnt get anything going, he whiffed on some tackles too that were at the LOS but his miss led to like a 7-8 yard gain.
Keep in mind that was in response to dump Suh now or something like that. Main thing I took away was the game planned to shut him out like some teams do against Gronk. To my mind that was a sign of how good he has been…and he has been. Did he impact as much last night…..no, but then do swarm on Gronk and you can take him out of the game too.
But then that should have opened others up, but it did not. So right with you the problems lay elsewhere. They basically put a beat down on the DL. And it worked, but then they have a special kind of running QB too that adds some beat-down smacks of his own.
Mike E. says:
November 14, 2017 at 1:44 pm
Gotta admit one thing – We were all excited about our D-line, but they have been extremely disappointing, especially considering almost every team is double teaming Suh, WTF is Phillips doing besides collecting paychecks? I think he’s done in MIA. Sometimes guys live up to the NEGATIVES in their scouting reports, and he’s one of them. Time to jettison yet another high draft pick. 😦
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Mike, the DL wasnt that bad, the LB’s were very bad though. They missed so many tackles, over ran the plays, etc, they couldnt cover, they really struggled. The worst part of our DL was no pressure on Cam. That is the difference in beating the Panthers or losing to them. You have to make Cam feel pressure. If he does he unravels, we had nothing in pass rush to account for, outside of maybe 2 times, i think once was Timmons on a blitz and the other was Branch off the edge. Wake did nothing in that game. Hayes was actually more effective than Wake.
The narrative on Phillips was “he takes plays off”. Seems to me the entire defense takes plays off. Can you honestly dump on one guy on the defense?
As far as Suh is concerned, whether or not he’s getting doubled means nothing to me. He’s getting paid $115M, He knows he’s going to get doubled. Other DT’s know they’re going to get doubled. It’s part of the game. Make plays. That’s why he gets paid the big bucks.
IMO, we should try and trade him to a team like Cleveland that’s got a ton of cap space. I could actually see the Browns go for it because he beefs up their d line. That gets rid of his contract. If not, cut him with a post June 1 designation. Trade Tannehill, cut or trade Pouncey and cut or trade James.
I’d rather go 5-11 or 6-10 for a reason and if we’re going in the right direction with new acquisitions and you could see that then it’s better than having a team that’s going to be stagnant and go nowhere for the next 10 years. It’s the same thing every year where we go into a season with hope and optimism and it doesn’t work out and the reason it doesn’t work out is because this team’s front office hasn’t a clue as to what it takes to assemble a competitive NFL franchise. And that’s what they get paid very well to do. Boggles the mind.
I think a lot of the problems on offense were Larsen too, he was horrible in run blocking and his pass pro was shaky as well. I think it was a little early for him to be back but we really needed to insert him right off. Im hoping he settles out some, but he had all kind of problems with Short.
And, the narrative the season was lost when Tannehill went down is way off the mark. The guy has shown little to this point to make anyone think that his play would have lifted this team to a point of being the slightest bit more competitive than what it’s been to date.
I highly doubt we’d be looking at anything better than the 4-5 mark we’re looking at right now.
Suh was the right guy at the wrong time. If the team needed that one guy who could put you over the top then he’s the guy you go after but the team wasn’t anywhere near being that competitive when he was signed so, yeah, maybe he played well but it’s a waste of money when the remainder of your defense sucks.
I agree with this, sorta. He’s both that guy, who puts your already good defense into the excellent range, but i think he also is the guy, that when you are rebooting a defense he is also the cornerstone player you want to get to start yourself off int he right direction. You might be right about some of the other guys, but i think we just had a really bad game, the guys we have are all better than average to good players, some are still developing im not disappointed with that side of the ball right now, Im just disappointed with this one performance by them.
Lou, Suh has been making plays….all year and hell even this game he had more pressures on the QB than the DE’s did, he penetrated into the backfield even with the double-teams, this is one game and it wasn’t even bad, it just wasn’t his normal monster performance. If you cant justify paying a once in a decade type player that kind of money, they you shouldnt have any on your team, and you cant expct to have at least one spot of dominance to build around. You cant hang what happened last night on Suh, and you really cant use it to justify trading or cutting him. If its about the money, fine, call it that, but you cant say he isnt worth what he is paid because he certainly is. In fact that’s the only reason that i agree with you that some team woud be willing to take on his salary in a trade.
Its a moot point though, even with a trade, you cant get out of the cap hit he would be, in fact we wouldn’t have the cap space right just to do it, much less eat the dead money hit if we wanted to. We would have to cut people to clear up the money to trade him, and then we would be back at 0 cap space and no way to replace him, nor the people we we cut so we could trade him.
Just to make my point, you and i were in agreement we have roughly 17.7 mil in cap space to start 2018, Suh’s dead money hit if we traded him is 22.2mil, we would have to cut a guy like Thomas just to break even lol. No way he is getting traded, you can hope for him to re-structure and move some of the cap hit around, but he wont get cut or traded, we cant afford that.
professorloumiamidolphinsblog says:
November 14, 2017 at 4:36 pm
And, the narrative the season was lost when Tannehill went down is way off the mark. The guy has shown little to this point to make anyone think that his play would have lifted this team to a point of being the slightest bit more competitive than what it’s been to date.
I highly doubt we’d be looking at anything better than the 4-5 mark we’re looking at right now.
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So you are telling me that ANY team, can just pick up a QB that has never been with the team, and roll with him in place of their starter, the guy who has chemistry with all the other players on the team and not miss a beat? I dont care how ya feel about Tanny, you cant tell me they wouldnt have been more familiaty, less regular season adjustments to make if it hadnt been him playing. I have been critical of Tanny’s misgivings, i dont hate on him quite as hard because i see the good with the bad, but im not saying that to say he would have us playing perfect football. I cant though discount what losing your team leader on offense does to team synergy, route timing, etc. Even you have to be reasonable enough to admit that starting a season off like that would fuck up some things.
The way this season has gone and how the offense has played most of the season so far, Tannehill will no doubt be the starter in 2018. Cutler will not be back unless he’s cool with a backup role. Yes this is my opinion but I think I’ll be right. 🙂
I don’t think we’re hitting restart, but there will be some significant changes made in 2018. There has to be.
I still think the Tanny decision hinges on him re-structuring, and like i said a few days ago, thats not a slight against him and its actually in his best interest if he does it because he can get more guarantees if he does it. Restructures aren’t losing any money, money around and they can flip some of the money into guarantees. If i were him id actually be hoping they asked me to because that would put him in the driver seat for more security.
Agreed.
If Tannehill is the starter in ’18 it will only go to show one thing; this organization is a shit show. There is absolutely no way you can make changes to improve the team and send it off in a different direction and keep him as the starter. No way.
First, When did Tannehill become the team leader on offense because I must have missed that.
Second, when you look at the play of this offensive line and the lack of a running game thru the first 9 games of the season it’s hard to imagine that a quarterback who is incapable of making something happen on his own would make all that much of a difference. He plays within the system and isn’t capable of seeing any mismatches there may be between our guys and the players on defense. Maybe we would have been a bit more competitive in some of the games we’ve played but I would agree with another post that says MAYBE we win one more game.
You know darn well we still aren’t winning that game vs Baltimore. Just isn’t happening. So, yeah, we may be a little more competitive with Tannehill because he would have had a full off-season unlike Cutler and he’s more familiar with our guys on offense but it’s not like we’re going from Cutler to Rodgers.
You build around Suh. Time to run whatever defense he says! Lol
Defense had their worst game of the year. Not the end of the world. The offense has outdone them every other week in putridity
And I’ll add….
RT17 going down was much bigger than most here want to admit. Basically same personnel….look at the difference in output.
Yeah you cant discount what losing him did as far as affecting us. I don’t know that id go so far to say we wouldn’t be in a similar place, we would have lost this game just the same for example, but i do think we would have had more offensive rhythm and we could have spent more time fine tuning instead of learning anew, we probably would have a slightly better record, like i feel we surely would have beat the Jets the first time, we likely beat the Saints, or at least it would have been way more competitive. Id like to think we would have beaten Baltimore but they just seem to have our number so i really cant call that. I could see 6-3 with Tanny right now, dont know that anything more wouldn’t be crazy talk though.
As bad and as up and down as Cutler has been, our season results are not all because of him. So RT would have had some struggles too. But he would have been throwing the ball a lot better. Cutler isn’t the same gunslinger he used to be. His arm is not what it used to be and that was always what he relied on, superior arm strength.
This team has issues in all phases so the team needs to figure it out and decide what needs to be upgraded in the offseason.
D
What has Phillips done all season though? He’s supposed to be getting better, and I haven’t seen any impact from him. The guy makes one really athletic play every 8 games, enough to make you think he can do it more, but he never does. I know stats for an interior defensive lineman don’t tell the whole story, but he’s right next to Suh who is occupying 2 OL, so he should be winning more than he does. 2 tackles, 5 assists, no sacks. That’s just nothing.
He’s been disappointing and not getting any better from what I’ve seen.
Earlier, he was pretty dominant, but he has really faded out as the year has gone along. He has never been consistent for us. The proof is in the pudding with him, when you look at how good Godchaux has been at the same spot and without the same physicality as Phillips.
I have a hard time understanding people Phillips because personality wise im pretty anti-phillips. I have never had to have other people motivate me to achieve what i want to, i also have never shied away from competition no matter the level of who im competing with. Maybe its because i really didnt get people patting me on the back for everything i did so i always felt i just had to max effort the hell out of things so i could get recognition.
I think Phillips though is very OK with his level of effort. i think he also just accepts that Suh is a pro-bowl player and he isnt on that level so he doesnt let Suh’s work ethic and dominance push him to try to be his equal. He just accepts he isnt. Thats the only way to describe a guy with as many physical gifts as he has and as much power and quickness and yet more size than even Suh has, to be such a low achiever. Unfortunately its likely we never see the guy reach his, and though he’s not a Jordan like flop/waste of talent, its not too far off to make the comparison.
Work ethic, drive, determination, self-motivation, etc is all dying in the world. You so see some who still have it, (im glad to see at least my oldest daughter has it, the rest are too young to really know yet) but for the most part its getting very few and far between.
Before we get to the skill positions on offense in the offseason, we have to address the OL or it will be more of the same. We can’t keep going with the same group of guys and having the same issues. We’ve got to get more physical up front.
We’ve got some pieces to work with but in the grand scheme of things guys like Larsen and Davis are probably best suited as game day backups because of their versatility. Bushrod probably won’t be back and the team has to decide if Pouncey can be the same level player he once was because they could release him with only a $2M cap hit. Then where do they stand with James? Tunsil should get better with time but we do need to start adding some premier talent here because the low end guys we keep rolling with aren’t getting it done.
We can add all the skill in the world, if we can’t block the plays it won’t matter.
Then there is the defense. I’m lost here because I thought we were trending upwards but in recent games they’ve struggled quite a bit. We have some youth and new guys on defense so the young guys need some time, but overall we have enough vets that should keep it together and they haven’t been of late.
I had said to watch for the collapse of the defense if the offense doesn’t get it’s shit together and that’s exactly what’s happening. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some struggling vs TB even though they are a shit show.
Skill position to me really depends on some of the other moves before the draft. If we dont resign Landry for example, that makes WR, especially in this shallow WR draft class, a pretty big deal to replace. Id probably still do it with a trade back so i could get one OL, possibly 2 in day 2 of the draft, but i dont know that it wouldnt have to be a WR day 1. As we all know a lot of needs change before you get to the draft, so its really hard to speculate much further. I agree with you though, id put some real effort into drafting at the OL position, maybe a double to triple dip by the end of our last 4th round selection.
Might have to go into FA for OL as well. But we likely need to target a couple in the draft.
Tannehill MAY have gotten us one more win, but I think that’s just wishful thinking. He’s not and has never been that sort of player. He doesn’t make players around him better. Cutler actually makes his OL better than Tanny ever has. The reality is that almost ALL of the offensive players have sucked this year. Tannehill being gone has very little to do with that. People are overreacting to his absence because we suck so bad. There’s really no way to know for certain either way. My opinion is it has had very little actual impact. Surprise! Lol
What are your thoughts on Jordan Phillips?
Mike i replied to you above about Phillips, when i talk positively about our DL it mostly Godchaux im thinking of at the other DT spot, so im not really praising Phillips.
MikeE,
I agree on Phillips too. I mentioned it last night to M13 when I talked about Suh and Wake. Phillips has way too many physical gifts to not be taking advantage of the single blocking he gets with all the attention Suh gets….same with Wake. Those two positions should be making more impact plays.
Wake has been, this was the first bad game.
And if folks haven’t noticed, we’ve looked bad against teams who ran unbalanced lines on us all year. It’s been a trend.
D,
I would disagree. Wake has a splash play or series and then disappears for a long time. He only has 6 sacks…and 2 1/2 were against the Jets. It’s a matter of degree, but I think he should be doing more playing alongside Suh.
Colts from Luck to Tolzien/Brissett
Texans from Watson to Savage
Dolphins from Tannehill to Cutler
From playoff teams to tire fires.
It’s not rocket science, guys.
SORRY, but it IS rocket science if your name is Steve Ross.
My sentiments exactly.
WAY,WAY up the page Mike E. asked me if I “had an alarm that went off every time the Dolphins have a losing record…??”
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Mike, if that were true, my alarm would be going off ABOUT 90 PER CENT OF THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!—-with ONE winning season in the last 7/8 years, there’s just NOT ENOUGH DAYS to complain when the Ross Fins have a winning record! But, rest assured, I HAVE ripped Ross to shreds for his idiotic moves, even on the few days they DO HAVE A WINNING RECORD!! WHY?? Because Ross is, by any standard or measure, THE WORST OWNER IN FINS’ HISTORY AND THE ONLY OWNER WHO HAS NEVER WON A PLAYOFF GAME (hasn’t even come close–TWO blowout losses to Ravens and Steelers)!!
—————–
ROSS IS 74 AND LOOKS 95!! And, speaking of “95,” Ross should take I-95 North to New York and permanently sit his bony ass down in a real estate board room and ponder his next land deal. Shit, maybe he’ll SELL THE DOLPINS to a fellow New York real estate mogul who actually has A CLUE ABOUT HOW TO RUN A WINNING, I SAID “WINNING,” NFL franchise that can win playoff games and compete for a Super Bowl victory!!
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BRING ON THE NEW OWNER!!!!!!!!
When does the new owner get here? LOL…
Did we not lose our starting QB before the season even started? Did we not go 10-6 and finally break the playoff drought last season?
I’m not happy with the team’s play, but I think it’s knee jerk to be calling for Gase’s job. But then again, I’m always the last one to call for a coach’s firing so…I get that….
TWO POINTS: 1) I haven’t yet called for Gase’s job.
2) WE did NOT break our playoff drought for playoff wins last season or any season since Ross has had a hand in running the Dolphins. A good season is not just making the playoffs (hell, the 7-9 Seahawks MADE the playoffs one season). A GOOD SEASON IS WINNING A PLAYOFF GAME (which those same 7-9 Seahawks did accomplish).
CORRECT me if I’m wrong but I believe it’s true that NO head coach signed by Ross has ever left Miami after the inevitable firing and WON a playoff game as head coach of another NFL team. NOW THAT’S some record of futility!!!
D – Thanks man, I saw your response. I’m not blaming everything on Phillips, far from it, I just think he’s a huge disappointment. I know I hoped/expected he’d make strides, I haven’t seen anything positive at all so far.
That last TD run by Carolina was actually on Suh based on my one watch of it (and replays), he gambled and didn’t maintain gap penetration and the running back ran in the gap he left open.
I love Suh, and I forgive him for it. LOL..but that’s what I thought I saw.
Yeah, and I tawt I taw a puddy tat!
JAHN: In case you missed it, I predicted a day or two ago that Ross will sell the team in the next 4 years. HELP is on the way!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Tannehill makes that big of a difference then why were we so successful after he got hurt late last season? We actually increased our offensive output without him.
For 2 games
But the 3rd? I don’t remember the output? But I do remember the Offensive part!
the biggest part of our success last season was because we found a running game. but, let’s be realistic here. we were also playing a last place schedule. like it or not, we were exposed this year because we’re still not good enough to play with the big boys.
Same old discussions I see.
Groundhog day for the Fin Fan!!!!!!!!!!!!
Busy day at work
What did I miss
Did everyone post how happy they are???
Maybe Gase will get into the kitchen and bake up a storm!
Wyoming,
Well, there is that. Lol
I knew the day would come when we would finally acknowledge that Tannehill was pretty good and important to this team’s success. Well except for Randy
Ken,
It’s a matter of degree, and you guys are assuming a lot. But, I expected this if we didn’t play well after he went down. It fits people’s narrative whether or not it’s actually true. This was a .500 team with or without him. He’s not “pretty good”. He’s average by any objective evaluation.
He is not elite but he is above average and I think the team misses him. He doesn’t transform into Super Bowl contenders but I also think we would have won more games and we would not have been shut out 2x (almost 3) with Tannehill
Ken,
whatever he is. It hasn’t been good enough. I wish he’d been able to play this year, but I don’t see him as a big difference maker. Pretty much everybody ranked him as a mid tier player last year. We don’t win games on his arm. But of course the team misses him. He had history and rapport with everyone. He’s been working with these guys for years. That is always gonna trump pulling some guy in off the street.
I think if Tannehill did play today – we would at least know how close or far we are instead of just guessing where we are with him
Tannnehill doesn’t play defense and we’ve been getting torched on D the last 3 games. Just sayin 🐕
Oh and Oink 🐷
Ross doesn’t play the game.. I think he is doing and investing everything we need to be successful. We are just not good at executing on both sides of the ball. Takes a few years for a head coach to build his team .. everyone wants instant gratification now but reality sets in and we are a damaged team with a shit ton of bad things that happened in preseason. But it’s easy to blame the owner. At least we are not the browns. 😎🖕
Funny thing about those Browns is if they get themselves a quarterback and a couple of other missing pieces they look like they could be more competitive next year than we will be. They may not have won a single game yet but they are besting us in several categories on offense and still have the 4th ranked defense vs the run while we’ve dropped from 7th to 20th in that category.
If only Ross would make some blocks and tackle people…..
Well, the point differential between Miami and Cleveland is now only ten points; not 20 like it was when I wrote my last piece for my blog.
Cleveland is still besting us in several categories despite being a winless team and, like I said, we’re in danger of going in two different directions here. They’ve got plenty of cap and plenty of draft picks and it could be one of those things where they get the players they need and we don’t and the next thing you know we’re still competing for 3rd or 4th in our division while they’re looking at possible playoffs.
I’m not rooting for them, I’m just saying that’s how little difference there is right now between us and a winless team. Not much and if this team doesn’t realize how piss poor they’ve been then there’s going to be some issues going forward.
$54M in cap and 12 draft picks in ’18 including 2 in the first and 3 in the 2nd. That’s a lot of firepower right there. They’re going to get their qb, possibly a rb and some offensive line help in this next draft plus with what they’ve got to spend with the cap they can shore up some areas of need.
Again, this team could be loaded for bear starting next season and turn it’s fortunes around.
Right now you’ve got a head coach who looks like he doesn’t have any answers. You’ve got players on the team who are quitting on him. He traded away one of the best players on offense because he couldn’t deal with him.
Does this sound familiar? I’m not saying he should be fired but I am saying that, to me, it looks like Gase is in that gray area right now where he needs to start turning things around or he may be in danger of going down the same path as some of our other coaches.
The entire team outright quit on Sporano and there were quite a few players who quit on Philbin and you can go ahead and say Gase is a better head coach than either of team but at 4-5 it doesn’t look like it and he’s got more talent on this team than either of the other two guys did.
Cleveland will be a contender when it finds the phone number to the league office
Can we hear more about the Browns? This is great!
Stealing a quote from Sam Wyche “You don’t live in Cleveland you live in Miami”
Has Cleveland ever appeared in a Superbowl? I don’t recall they did.
No
Never
the closest they got was the AFC championship v Denver
They won championships before there was an NFL merger and a Super Bowl existed in the Jim Brown days
The Ernest Byner Fumble! LOL
Yes….and the drive
painful losses for the Browns to Denver
Cleveland rocks!
Lou
There is little difference between 0-9 and 4-5?
Come on…seriously
I remember 1-15 and that Ravens game where Greg Camirillo caught the winning TD
The Owner cried…
That’s quite a difference
The Browns have a chance of being only the 2nd team in NFL history to go 0-16 this year
0-9 follows a 1-15 year
They are 1-24 in their last 25 games
They drafted 6 WRS in he 2016 draft which lead to them waiving Taylor Garbriel who became a starting WR on the Super Bowl highest scoring offense in the NFL Falcons
They botched a trade deadline for AJ McCarron because they forgot to call it into the NFL
There is quite a monumental difference between the Browns and the Dolphins
Grab the closest object to you to get yourself grounded and keep some perspective…you are losing it!
we might have our work cut out for us – but we are comparable to the Browns…no one is
NEW BLOG UP!
IMO you will get a real good idea of where we are when we play the Bills twice
Between the Bills, Jets and Dolphins, I don’t know who will finish 2, 3 and 4 in the division
but we may very well end up sweeping them again this year despite all the statistics anomalies out there
We’ve been REALLY bad in many games this year
but sometimes when it rains it hails
and that is usually the case in blowouts
Its still a new game every week
I’m not buying that we are similar to a team that has gone 1-24 in the last 2 years…wow…