SO, our disappointing season continues as we host the hapless Denver Broncos, who oddly enough, are in worse shape than our Dolphins at 3-8. This game is meaningless for us the fans, but to players, the games still matter, because they get paid, and they have a job to do, and for some, they are looking to make a positive impression on the coaches to earn a spot on the roster. In the big picture, it would probably be better for us to lose out, and finish the season 4-12, and end up with a top 5 pick, but Coach Gase and probably the majority of the players don’t want to see that.
I’m not even sure what to expect from our team this week. Denver is hurting in the secondary with the 1 game suspension of Aqib Talib, so one might think Devante Parker should feast. The reality is, even with Jay Cutler at QB, who loves Parker, they just can’t seem to have a big game together. His best game this season was probably game 1 against the Chargers where he caught 4 passes for 85 yards, but he scored his ONLY TD in Week 2 in the final second of a 20-6 loss against the Jets. Remember before the season all the talk about what a great year Parker is going to have, he was tearing it up in training camp, practice and even the preseason? BLAH BLAH BLAH, he’s completely underperformed again, along with the rest of the team. Broken record.
Some here will be rooting for a loss, some for a win, and others don’t even care anymore and won’t bother to watch. I’ll watch, I have to, but if it wasn’t for FF, I might find other things to do on Sundays at this point. I think when I sit down to watch, I just hope I can see something that gives me hope that we can be a good team. Show me some good play in all phases and beat the Broncos 34-3. I’d rather lose than have us win a slopfest 13-10 or something, and I really mean that. That win, to me at least is meaningless. If we’re going to win, at least give us something to watch.
Finsmob Unleashed 
I am hoping that the performance by X yesterday is a sign of things to come. He has been a liability in many games this year, but he was balling yesterday. I hope he and Tank can become a top CB unit next year. He only allowed a 1.4 passer rating against him yesterday.
He at least showed why we drafted him…..dude reacts to the ball well with instincts, but will bet you Emmanuel Sanders and Thomas at least are blaming their QBs and not our coverage. Brady is next.
McCain has been great this year. I dogged him last season when I thought he played poorly, and maybe early on this season too, but he has played very well. Slot CB’s are easily as important as outside CB’s, because so many teams do damage with their slot receivers these days.
FWIW the local radio crew (Cefalo et al.) was gushing about mccain yesterday saying he’s had an incredible season. It wasn’t a debate, they were unanimous in their assessment of him. Bokamper chimed in on it too.
I agree with that. I thought he was bad, sometimes awful last year, but I think he’s a very good slot DB right now. That has huge value, as you really need 4-5 quality DB’s, besides your safeties. I’m thinking next year, when Lippett comes back, and T.J. McDonald and Reshad are together all season, our secondary will be a lot better, regardless of whether we add more talent to it either through the draft or FA.
Rob, like I’ve been saying Gase will commit to the run when it’s working and if the scoreboard allows it. Denver’s offense is so bad that there was no reason not to keep running it. Was glad to see Drake meet the challenge.
You see it all over the league, even teams with stud RB’s, like Fournette. When they get him going, if the game allows it, they do it, if they’re down or the run game just sin’t happening, instead of 20-25 carries, he’ll get maybe 10-15, and that’s it. The game sometimes dictates what you can do with the run game. It was the same when Ajayi was here too. He had some monster games, and other times he was a total non-factor. It wasn’t that Gase forgot the run game, or didn’t want to run.
Agreed.
Committing to the run when it works or when it fits the scenario isn’t committing to the run. You establish your running game early by running it even when it’s not working or not convenient. Sure, if you’re down by 2 scores late in the game, you may not have time to run the ball, but that is situational football….not an offensive philosophy. Gase has shown a tendency to go away from the run early in games when it’s not producing. I’m not crucifying the guy for it, and he may even feel it’s justified. But, that isn’t committing to running the ball. You want to be able to run the ball when YOU want to….not when it’s dictated by situation or opponent. Maybe Gase just feels differently. Shit happens.
***
Feels good beating a bad 3 win team. I wonder if this is how fans of other teams feel when they beat us. Woohoo!
Seems to me you’re caught up with semantics. Commit, stick with it, do it, whatever. LOL
C’mon Randy, they played a good game. Isn’t that we want when we turn on the TV? Sure, I’d love them to win every week, but you want to see the team play well. They did that this week, in every facet of the game, and the score bore that out. It’s not like we were the juggernauts out there at 4-7. lol
I get where you’re coming from Randy, but I don’t think it’s so simple as that in todays game. I think in some schemes, (like the WC type schemes) situational IS a philosophy. You take what the defense gives you. Which means, if you’ve got a defense loading up the box on 3rd and 4, you throw it.
Sure it’d be nice to run it and succeed and therefore “impose your will” but in todays NFL with these players being so athletic and well versed on their schemes, your odds of success are extremely low.
Same goes for situations where teams are stacking the box on 1st and 2nd downs to try and shut the run down. You have to throw it from time to time to make em pay.
We all know I’m biased towards the passing game though, so take that all with a grain of salt.
There’s a decent chance Gronk will be suspended this week for his dirty play in Sunday’s game. I was curious to see if T.J. was the guy to cover Gronk, and if he could/would have success, but we may not get to see it. I think we all know Alonso can’t cover him, but really, I don’t know if any one NFL player can really cover him.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21656816/buffalo-bills-condemn-rob-gronkowski-dirty-play-cb-tredavious-white
Geez, all I said is there is a difference between actually committing to a running philosophy and just running when it’s working or one game here or there. Each week is different. Gase is the HC and can do as he likes, but it’s something that needs to be done week in and week out if you’re committing to it. And, it does make a difference to the OL. You can’t play nasty if you’re constantly pass protecting. The running game is where you can impose your will and inflict pain on your opponent as an OL. Ya cranky bastards. Lol
I get that Randy, but we’re a finesse O-line, it’s just how we built it. If we want to be one of those nasty mauling O-line, we probably have to draft a few different players on the O-line.
And we tried the physical with Sparano/Parcells….maybe with the light quick Ds there to stop the Rodgers and Bradys the three yards and dust will be the new way to go. Not with Gase there though.
You all know me. I love physical, tough football. I think they have removed most of it from football at this point. But, that hit by Gronk was ridiculous. He should have been ejected. It was flagrant, unnecessary and malicious. He should get 3 or 4 games, but he’ll probably end up getting suspended for 1 or 2. Those are the hits that need to be taken out of football. But, he’s an offensive player, a superstar and a Patriot, so he’ll probably get a slap on the wrist.
Brady on his work wife’s latest hissy fit.
———————-
“I think for him it is frustrating. He’s 270 pounds, so when they put a 190-pound player on him, any time there’s any contact, just by inertia the other defender is going to move. You basically limit it to a non-contact play and it’s just try to out-quick someone, which obviously those guys are a lot quicker.”
“Gronk tries to get as close as he can to use his size, but the refs, they throw a lot of flags on him. He’s tried to change his style of play a little bit, but I think he obviously gets grabbed and held all day long. I’d say it is very frustrating for him to get these pass interference calls and he’s getting held the whole game and he doesn’t get a call. I can see why he’s very frustrated. It’s frustrating for everybody.”
There was a problem with the onside kick? If Cheatriots did it, it would be genius…..I had no issue with it. It’s frickin football….. man up.
And I can enjoy the win. Don’t care what Den record is.
Eagles have only beat one team with winning record and everyone is slobbing all over them…. so who cares!
I cannot take the patriots victim complex. Every other team and there fans in the league see the special treatment / favorable calls that the Pats get, but man do they bitch like it is the opposite.
“I’d say it is very frustrating for him to get these pass interference calls and he’s getting held the whole game and he doesn’t get a call.” Go fuck yourself Tom, your Oline flagrantly holds every play and your WR’s run pick patterns on every passing down and they get called maybe 5% of the time.
Oh and if someone contacts you during a play? Well you just turn to the Ref and the flag comes out for roughing the passer. Fuck you crybaby.
At least the dark lord is on video saying it was bull shit. Hope they suspend the he’ll out of that fuck and take big $$. He could ended the guys career and even his life.
If Cheatriots did it, it would be genius…..I had no issue with it.
Kind of like the fake punt last week from inside their own 20? Yeah, genius….if it works.
That is a bit different. If you don’t get onside ball was at midfield. Punt failure would have been closer to the 20….but yeah. Can’t cry over getting smacked in the mouth, it’s football
I can see why he’s very frustrated. It’s frustrating for everybody.
So you excuse his flagrantly late hit aimed at injuring the player because his big girl panties were bunched up because he was very frustrated? Fucktard.
With Howard’s two interceptions (including one for a touchdown) and the two safeties against Denver, Miami became only the third team in NFL history with two safeties and a pick-six in the same game, according to Elias.
The Giants did that in a pair of shutout wins, against the Pottsville Maroons in 1927 and against the Redskins in 1961.
Pottsville Marooons?????? POTTSVILLE MOROONS??? There was an NFL team from Pottsville????? and their name was the Maroons????
I wonder whey they didn’t hang on?
Huge fan of the Maroons!
Go Maroons!
We are #145
We are #145
Yeah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLplWo
Stanger
I never said I wanted Riggo, or the hogs for that matter. I just don’t like that we can’t dominate a game by blowing people off the line. I guess no offense can do that all the time, but I always get the impression that our O-line is soft and more of a collection of finesse blockers. Too often, our RB’s are forced to create yardage before or at the LOS, rather than beyond it, because our guys aren’t moving people back. I wanted a couple of those guys in the last few drafts, guys like Gabe Jackson and Dion Dawkins. I definitely want a balanced offense, you have to be able to throw the ball in the NFL too, and we have the receivers, even if Parker isn’t what we hoped he could be. We have loads more talent at WR than we’ve had in a long time.
He OD do remember the Pottsville Maroons?
Stanger
We had a physical O-line w/Sparano, but we didn’t have the QB or WR’s to go with it. At least that’s how I remember it.
We won the division with that after Brady going down and Pennington having a magical year even though that he couldn’t stretch the field meant what happened after.
My main point is that there are multiple ways to win games…..but our team is set up like the team is setup. You want the Hogs and Riggins then time to blow it up and bring the next Joe GIbbs in. Gase….he is in the Bellicheck mode.
Drake had 106yds after contact and forced 7 missed tackles. Sounds like another back that uses to be here…..
I never lost faith in Good Ole Bobby McCain
Dooo Dooo Dooo
(Piggy dances a little)
LOL go figure. They still sell shirts for a team that hasn’t existed for 88 years.
I think I want to buy one….lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottsville_Maroons
The Maroons should have won the 1925 championship if it weren’t for that no good commissioner!
Hmmmm, seems I cannot post pictures. I was going to post a picture of the Potsville Maroons’ 1925 NFL championship ring (which the NFL subsequently does not recognize) but I cannot post any pictures.
You can’t post pictures….
What a Maroon!
Forever Maroon!
https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B8%2F6%2F9%2F8%2F8698637%5D%2Csizedata%5B850x600%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D
this one may work better
Adam SchefterVerified account
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2h2 hours ago
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Giants are going back to Eli Manning as their starting quarterback, per @JordanRaanan.
Lol.
Bye bye McAdoo
So ownership said they were on board with benching Eli ending his streak then fire the HC and GM after the game and now Eli will start again. Giants you really handled that in the dumbest way possible. SMH
Well there it is! One F’n game?
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#Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski has been suspended 1 game.
Gronk suspended 1 game….that’s it. Wow. Fucking hate them
It is our game though. 🙂
Well we don’t have to deal with him now. 🙂
Think owe you a bee for that one….lol
Interesting!
OH I don’t know!
Gronk will appeal so it may not be our game?????????
Stanger
I never said I wanted Riggo, or the hogs for that matter. I just don’t like that we can’t dominate a game by blowing people off the line. I guess no offense can do that all the time, but I always get the impression that our O-line is soft and more of a collection of finesse blockers. Too often, our RB’s are forced to create yardage before or at the LOS, rather than beyond it, because our guys aren’t moving people back. I wanted a couple of those guys in the last few drafts, guys like Gabe Jackson and Dion Dawkins. I definitely want a balanced offense, you have to be able to throw the ball in the NFL too, and we have the receivers, even if Parker isn’t what we hoped he could be. We have loads more talent at WR than we’ve had in a long time.
And I’m right with you….man does it make me wish the days of people just talking instead of typing though. By “you” meant that seems ORob, Randy and some others want us to go the Riggo and Hogs way. But for us going that way after we got rid of J-train would mean blow-up, or at least getting rid of Gase. He’s flexible, but not that flexible.
Think he want to be the genius behind movable parts that let him game plan for each opponent like chowder head Bellicheck does. And maybe that would include changing OL schemes, but not sure how that happens without more talent on it. If anything, think Gase might have gotten on O what he wants to happen before we were ready for it.
Reese’s Senior Bowlc
Reese’s Senior Bowl
@seniorbowl
RB Rashaad Penny @pennyhendrixx from @Aztec_Football has accepted his invitation to the 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl! #CompeteAndConnect #SeniorBowl #Reeses
Good, I want to take a look at him, both in the drills, and in the game.
CollegeFootball 24/7
@NFL_CFB
Four quarterbacks, FBS leader in rushing among 26 prospects added to @seniorbowl roster.
(link: http://on.nfl.com/hSqCAc) on.nfl.com/hSqCAc
What you think about this one MF13?
Reese’s Senior BowlVerified account
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S Armani Watts @ggpr_banger5 from @AggieFootball has accepted his invitation to the 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl! #CompeteAndConnect #SeniorBowl #Reeses
NICE!
wyoming85 says:
December 4, 2017 at 3:49 pm
OH I don’t know!
Gronk will appeal so it may not be our game?????????
Reply
Just saved myself a beer. I was about to reply the same thing and then saw your post.
Tim
People bitch about Ross? The Giants just fucked it up worse than I can remember an organization doing it, leaving Cleveland out as usual….Lol.
So you are saying bench Eli for Geno, then lose 1 game and fire everybody. LMAO. Wtf
It’s was so poorly done and that’s not usually the Giants way.
I think they don’t appeal Gronk’s suspension. This way it’s 1 game against us. If it gets pushed back a week it’s the Steelers. The week after the Bills. I think they’d rather be without him vs us this week. 🤔
I’m not sure that we’re in that same mode we were under Philbin with smaller more athletic OL as opposed to big strong guys who can maul more. I do think they want athletic guys but I wouldn’t be surprised if we looked for bigger OL. Asiata is on the bigger more physical side even though he’s not ready yet.
I think we mix up our blocking scheme enough we need a hybrid between the two, or a guy who is at least string in one and capable as the other. I think Asiata is being brought along the way Gase likes to. Its not as if we have desperately needed him. I do hope though if we hit a point where we are out of playoff consideration, that he puts him in and gets him game time experience.
I disagre about McCain. Im with Ken that he is limited. He has had some good games and soem really good individual efforst, btu he has had some really bad fuck ups too. Id grade him out in the 70’s personally, as far as a “season to this point” kind of evaluation. probably mid 70’s to high 70’s.
Fede probably in the same boat for me, maybe more mid to lower 70’s. What opportunity he has had has definitely been taken advantage of, but i also just don’t see irreplaceable or standout. If he or McCain wanted to come back at backup/rotational player money id be all over offering it, but i also don’t think that they are so standout that we couldn’t replace them with a draftee or FA that may fit us a little better. Fede is also a pretty good St players so that also helps his team value.
I’ve thought McCain has been developing nicely as a slot corner which is a tough position to play and he’s gotten better and has had a good year. I’ve also seen him make tackles away from his assignment and bail some other guys out. I like the way he plays. He’s also good on STs.
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Baker Mayfield among 3 finalists for 2017 #Heisman Trophy.
http://on.nfl.com/AMUm65
That’s some BS that Saquon Barkley isn’t a finalist. 😡
Totally agree. He should be neck and neck with Mayfield imo
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#Dolphins released WR Kolby Listenbee from their practice squad.
That’s it fire Tannenbaum!
😆
Ken: Perhaps you meant to say “Fire Tannenbaum, again?” The Jets have already fired T-Bomb the first time. If you’re a proven loser, Ross just might hire you!
stanger,
I don’t want a Hog-type offense. My preference is a balanced offense. Any NFL OL should be able to do both because all teams run both sorts of plays. I just want to run effectively when I WANT to…not when an opponent drops guys out of the box.
I think Herd is right, the Patriots probably won’t appeal Gronk’s suspension at all, but if they do, they won’t do it this week against us.
The Pats win a lot when Gronk is out anyway. I think they may win more without him.
FWIW
I thought Grant had his best game of the season yesterday. He was moving straight ahead on his returns and worked out well.
I second that, ER. He stood out to me as well. Hopefully he just gets better and better with time.
They even gave him a couple carries as a RB. That was nice to see as he cant seem to crack in as a WR.
Mike E. says:
December 4, 2017 at 7:51 pm (Edit)
I think Herd is right, the Patriots probably won’t appeal Gronk’s suspension at all, but if they do, they won’t do it this week against us.
Duh!!! Of course I’m right! Always! Lmao and j/k if there was a doubt.
OD : big game coming upSaturday between #1 and #2 in the NHL .. yeah thats right Winnipeg Jets are currently #2 in the League
GOOD LUCK to your Jets, Manitoba!! They are having one helluva season so far! Maybe a Canadian based franchise will make it to the Finals this year??
OD. Only Canadian team i like is Winnipeg.. after that it’s Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Tampa
Bobby McCain really disappointed me last year and I felt that Desmond King would be a no-brainer to replace him via the Draft (but, it didn’t happen). But to McCain’s credit, he’s been playing well this year.
McCain’s size is very good for the slot (5’10”, 192) in that we like CBs who can tackle. He’s not yet a ‘standout’ on our Defense, but he’s coming along on time (3 to 4 years to master the CB position in the NFL). I think he’s going to be a keeper if he continues to progress.
On that list of senior bowl prospects
I’m kind of curious about Luke Falk
I’m not nearly as sour on DeVante as many/most have become. Why?
1) He’s been battling injury (I know, I know… AGAIN! SUCKS)
2) He’s our deep-ball/jump-ball cat… and Cutler rarely throws deep this year
3) He’s not going to have Madden stats when we spread the ball to him, Jarvis, Stills, TEs, and RBs
4) He just started his 20th career game yesterday: that’s 1 1/4 seasons under his belt in only his 3rd year (generally 3-4 years to master the WR position)
5) His 4th year on his rookie contract next season isn’t going to break the bank
6) We’ve seen what he’s capable of doing… and it is VERY nice
7) He clearly hasn’t built a rapport with Cutler this year between both of them missing games
JMO, but I think DeVante is a keeper. If he under-performs next year, we can try to trade him before the deadline for ’19 Draft ammo.
It is a good point that maybe he and Cutler don’t have a good report. It he definitely seems to have a better report with Tannehill. But there have been some plays were you don’t see effort from him. There was one deep ball that was under thrown yesterday but he made such a piss poor effort at coming back for it and allowing the defender to break it up. That’s what bothered me was the lack of effort that I saw.
That’s nearly every throw to him.. too many targets turn into interceptions.
Preseason him and Cutler looked very much on same page , figured Parker was gonna explode this year.. lately he has been giving Wallacelike efforts on any contested balls, which was supposed to be his strong point
Pre season with Cutler was essentially a little over one quarter of football. He looked good in the game against the Eagles but it was pre season
I want to see tangible GROWTH from both Howard and Tankersley in the last 1/4 of this season. Yes, Howard had himself a GAME yesterday… props! But I want to see him have a game(s) against a contender(s). Same for Tankersley… show some life against a contender.
I LOVE the fact that we’re getting cheap labor out of the CB position as a whole… that frees up a LOT of money in other areas. These two are difficult to assess being Howard only has 18 starts in 2 seasons while Tankersley has 10 starts as a rook this season.
If it generally takes 3 to 4 years to develop an NFL CB, they’d better start balling soon for us to reap the benefits of rookie contract$. Otherwise, we may as well pay a proven stud who is looking for his second contract. Either that, or draft a CB early who can ball from day 1 (RARE feat).
DILLY DILLY
Parker‘s inability to stay on the field is disappointing, but it’s too early to give up on him.
I agree it’s too early to pull the plug on Parker, just hope we see more effort and health going forward ..
It’s way too early
Frankly I don’t even get why it’s being discussed
Parker isn’t hurting us offensively
Not that I am saying give up on him but I do think he hurt us on the field. He has failed to fight for contested balls. I think he has been responsible for some interceptions in particular the one at the end of the first half against the Pats comes to mind. You are right that we shouldn’t give up on him yet but he needs to start showing effort
I get the disappointment in Parker. He has never lived up to the hope of a first round pick. We fans are accustomed to first round disappointments. I can’t think of a completely “clean” first round pick in the last 10 years.
2008 1 Jake Long * Offensive tackle Michigan
good player, injury prone, broke down
2009 25 Vontae Davis Cornerback Illinois
good player, partied too much, didn’t have a work ethic
2010 28 Jared Odrick Defensive tackle Penn State [r]
Meh
2011 15 Mike Pouncey Center Florida
good player, was a problem off the field when younger, can’t stay healty
2012 8 Ryan Tannehill Quarterback Texas A&M
talk among your selves – the most debated player since he was drafted
2013 3 Dion Jordan Defensive end Oregon [s]
colossal bust
2014 19 Ja’Wuan James Offensive tackle Tennessee
ok player, reach for a first round pick, not consistent
2015 14 DeVante Parker Wide receiver University of Louisville
can’t stay healthy, underachiever
2016 13 Laremy Tunsil Tackle Mississippi
too be seen
2017 22 Charles Harris Defensive end Missouri
hasn’t set the world on fire, but tbs
Honestly that list just has one huge bust on it
There aren’t any great players though
Long was really good for a short time
Davis has a very good couple of years with The colts that didn’t do us any good
Pouncey has been a top center But not anymore
Just a lot of guys who have some good years on that list
But not any major misses except for fuckface
Parker is keeping Carroo of the field
So What does that say about Carroo?
that he isn’t a first round pick that “looks good” in practice and then disappears in games?
You nailed it. I guess they are just waiting and hoping he comes around. I don’t think he will. He doesn’t seem to have the passion. Just think if you could bottle some juice from Juice….in that body would be unstoppable
This is classic. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this happening in the NFL in my lifetime; a team needing to use the silent snap count at home because the opponents’ fans outnumber the home fans!
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/mcvay-might-prepare-rams-for-silent-snap-counts-because-l-a-fans-are-outnumbered/
For the Travis Kelce fans:
I would be more than happy if we landed this guy in the 1st rdhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq71tBCYwd4
December 4, 2017 at 12:18 pm
Committing to the run when it works or when it fits the scenario isn’t committing to the run. You establish your running game early by running it even when it’s not working or not convenient. Sure, if you’re down by 2 scores late in the game, you may not have time to run the ball, but that is situational football….not an offensive philosophy.
__________________________________________________________
Right on Randy, You should practice running the ball, you walk thru blocking schemes, game plan the touches your RB will get, it should be your priority to run the ball. it hasn’t looked as if that’s one of Gase’s priority.
Mike E. says:
December 4, 2017 at 12:50 pm
I get that Randy, but we’re a finesse O-line, it’s just how we built it. If we want to be one of those nasty mauling O-line, we probably have to draft a few different players on the O-line.
____________________________________________________
I disagree with that, we have NFL level talent offensive lineman they should be required to do both pass pro and run blocking. it’s not the players it’s the coaching.
Totally agree with Lou on Fumagali. He is on my man crush list
Would love to land two TE’s in this next draft.
hoping this guy declares:
Jahndoh30 says:
December 4, 2017 at 12:34 pm
I get where you’re coming from Randy, but I don’t think it’s so simple as that in todays game. I think in some schemes, (like the WC type schemes) situational IS a philosophy. You take what the defense gives you. Which means, if you’ve got a defense loading up the box on 3rd and 4, you throw it.
_____________________________________________________
If the Defense is loading the box it’s quite obvious that you’re having success running the ball, which is not the case in S FL. Opposing D’s play to your strengths and make you beat them with your weaknesses, if you have a philosophy of passing 40 times per game and running 15 times the defense is going to play to stop your passing game and give less attention to your running game.
you have to have to keep opposing D’s honest with a balanced attack/philosophy which we haven’t in all of our losses.
And i do believe that this offensive unbalanced attack has an affect on our defense as well, when your D is always on the field due to 3 and outs, turnovers,poor field position after punts, falling behind in the score, it takes its toll on your defensive players moral.
so not running the ball causes a total team collapse as witnessed in 7 out of 12 games this year, the running stats/ amount of touches of each game tell the true story.
running equates to winning
It’s nice to have a great passing attack but your priority should be running the ball,
look at Seattle, they have 2 bruiser backs, look at N.O.’s, look at L.A., look at Philly even NE has a balanced attack, and what do all these teams have in common? they win and they run the ball
Funny, all those teams have great QB’s too. You think that might have something to do with it? Goff was not that great last year but they had Gurley last year, and ran plenty, and weren’t too successful. The Saints had Ingram, but didn’t blow open the offense until they got Kamara, who makes more plays in the passing game. Philly doesn’t run the ball that much, but Wentz has thrown for over 3000 yards
Wentz himself has about a 1/3 of the Eagles rushing yards too.
Philly ran 15 times passed 45 times in a loss to seattle, ran 20 times against the bears and 36 passing against the bears. ran 20 times against the cowboys passed 27 in a blow out win, against denver passed 27 times ran 20 times.
when you have RBs like philly the threat is there, it seems their magic number is 20 rushing attempts.
I get it, you’re not buying the balanced offense philosophy and i’m not going to try to convince you, It’s already too late this year but i just hope Gase gets it and moves to make our running game better next year.
I dont have the time to analyze every team, i know new orleans runs a whole lot more this year than last year, peyton said so himself, look at seattle, they have been on top of the NFL for quite sometime. have you ever heard of Marshawn Lynch? look who they have this year, Monsters at the rb position, as for the rams Gurley is tearing it up.
we need these types of rbs to be successful
Well, now that I’ve come down off my pedestal maybe Gase IS the next Belichik and maybe he knows his offense is going to work and all they need to do is just keep working at it and working at it to get it right and
maybe he knows that once they get it right they’ll be able to dictate to the defense rather than just taking what the defense gives them. who knows?
if you have an offensive philosophy that you feel strongly about do you just abandon your entire philosophy and re-write your entire playbook? you have to go with what you know. Bill Walsh once thought he was a failure and thought about jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge.
In other words, if your SYSTEM works no matter what, you are golden. Get it to work and you can pretty much plug in whomever and win.
you have to match your system to proven winning systems, if your system doesn’t match the proven ones and you continue to lose maybe it’s time to re-evaluate
maybe we just need to be patient for a bit longer to see it work. he’s going to be around another year anyway so we may as well be patient and see what happens.
The Flying Pig says:
December 4, 2017 at 8:36 pm
On that list of senior bowl prospects
I’m kind of curious about Luke Falk
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He and Thornson are two QB’s id be interested in taking, 2nd to third round, which is why im hoping for a trade back to pick up an additional 2nd-3rd.
Give me a bunch of picks in the range from 25-80 and I’m very happy
Trade down and trade up to get in that range would be awesome
Do you guys remember Josh Heupel?
We drafted him a long time ago. He never made it in the NFL but he was the OC at Missouri.
He was just named the new Head Coach at UCF.
I remember him. Was it around 2007 or so?
Ha, I was way off, it was 2001. Time flies!
New Orleans averages approximately 25.3 attempts a game in 2016, and roughly 28.5 attempts per game this year. so about 3 attempts more a game, and you think that makes the difference in how they are playing. Isn’t it more likely that the defense really improving, specifically against the pass has helped them more, and also allowed the rushing game to have a couple more calls a game? I am sure having the ability to run and not playing from behind has opened Payton up to calling more runs, as a time management thing. It all plays off one another, but i think their defense has had more effect on all of this than the play calls, because it looks like Payton always wanted to run more, he just didn’t have the ability to. That small of a change doesn’t say to me he changed his position on committing to the run.
Its similar to the Rams situation, and Philly. Philly incidentally rushed 27.6 tims a game in 2016, and 31.2 this year, so again, not much difference in the per game amount, its playing ahead, and likely better complimentary football to allow for more rushing success. The offensive philosophy didn’t change, they were always a running team, they are running more because of other factors, and not running more leading them to the other successes.
Hell we averaged 25.3 last year, and 22.9 this year, again, not much of a difference, but look at this statistic. In games we had carried a lead, or were at least only trailing by a little, some of them comeback wins and some of them not, we ran the ball on average 29.8 times. The games we were behind from the start and got to where we were deeply behind, we averaged 17.6 rushes a game. Those same games we had only 17.6 rushes, we also averaged under 4 YPC, some of the games significantly below 3 YPC. The wins, or the ones where we really came close to winning, we averaged over 4, and many times over 5. One abnormality was the Panthers game, because Drake got loose on a 66 yarder that did screw with the YPC, etc.
This all says to me, not a matter of us choosing not to run, the run game wasnt working, we were already in a hole and had to make up ground. The way you are using those stats doesn’t paint the real picture because it only shows part of the problem. The fact is, we weren’t playing well, and that didnt allow us to go to what Gase wants to, it went to what Gase had to do. IMO you can put a good bit of that on Ajayi too because Gase clearly stated as much.
Rob – You got me all wrong. I agree you need balance, but you have to have a threat in both, that you can throw and you run. If you can’t do either or both well, you’re dead. My point was all those teams have great QB’s, so it’s not just because they run that they win. The Patriots very rarely run much, but they proved they can win with a run heavy offense last week, but I think a lot of that is due to the success they have throwing the ball. Teams have to respect both facets, rushing and passing, and that’s when you get close to being elite.
Yes, you can argue Brady is a great qb but NE’s system is what wins games. They can beat you no matter who’s in there and they don’t have the greatest supporting cast. Their offensive line isn’t the best in the business and neither are their rb’s or wr’s. It’s their system that beats you.
As far as balance is concerned I don’t know so much that it’s something you need every week or are going to want to have every week. Some teams have a weaker run D and others have a weaker pass D. So, wouldn’t you lean more on the part of your offense that exploits the weakness of the D a bit more?
That’s a fact. NE definitely is a machine with a bunch of interchangeable parts. No team like them. Belichick is great at finding players to match his system.
Yes, that’s why you have to be able to run and pass, not just be a great rushing team.
Jahndoh30 says:
December 4, 2017 at 10:31 pm
This is classic. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this happening in the NFL in my lifetime; a team needing to use the silent snap count at home because the opponents’ fans outnumber the home fans!
Jahn… I hope that fire is not near you. Stay safe !!
Just score more points. Pretty simple. Lol
Did you guys watch the Steelers game last night? I saw it live, and I thought it looked like a legal block (Juju’s block on Vont-daze)
It looked to me like he blasted him in the head. The exact thing the league is trying to get rid of.
Like Son is saying, they have made rules, even for RB to not lead with the crown of their heads to protect players, so i think if he brought his head down and used the crown of his head to execute the block, then it should be a penalty. You dont block with your eyes pointed at your feet, that’s dangerous to the person you are blocking (if you have a good head of steam) and to you as well as it could lead to a neck injury.
I think Brady is as much a part of that NE system being elite as anything. I think they had 4 games that went pretty well last year without Brady, and it for sure can be managed by other QB’s but Brady brings more to that group than any of the rest are capable of with any sort of sustainability. There is 0 chance any of those other QB’s could have held up to Brady’s normal level of play for an entire season much less the number of seasons he has. I not trying to sound like a fan, because im not, but you do have to give credit where its due, and he deserves a lot more than we give to him, simply because we hate the team and the person lol. Same for Belichick, same reasons he doesnt get credit here, same result, the guy is good at what he does and thats due to him as well.
It’s not their system constantly winning games late it’s Brady.
He just happens to operate the system to near perfection, because he knows it inside and out, and there really isn’t a defensive scheme that will surprise him.
Talk about a Jersey I wish I wanted to buy……but they kept giving him one-year contracts.
“Long snapper John Denney crossed the 200-game mark last month to become the third, longest-tenured player in Miami Dolphins history.”
The other two are hall of famers, so……
Yellow jacket for Denney!!!!!!
At the very least they should get him a golden members only jacket, that should commerate things way past their expiration date that are still hanging around somehow.
Denney is also the 3rd longest tenured current play it seems. Only Jason Witten and Shane Lechler are longer tenured of the current NFL players.
Mike, Belichick plays a “whatever works” he starts out with a game plan, and he constantly modifies as he goes and its wholly dependent on whats working and what has been set up by other plays. Brady does a good job getting the D to give up thier formation/assignments too so on top of that he has serveral options he can audible to that exploit that, and they all run from the same formation. Belichick’s offense is a very simple, but extremely complex system, and thats why i think he ranks somewhere in the top 3 best coaches all time, if not the best. I have a hard time not putting Schula above him, but as far as modern NFL coaches i thin he is. Old school coaching, im sure Landry, Schula, etc are all better.
I wouldnt at all shocked to see NE have a balanced game, followed by a 90% passing game, followed by a 90% running game. Their game plan is one of least resistance.
I might have to rank him the highest, because he does it with a lot of roster turnover every year, where the coaches who were predominantly in the 70’s and 80’s didn’t have to deal with that. He’s also the GM for all intents and purposes, and continues to draft players that fit his system well. It’s pretty impressive, if not sickening as a Dolphins fan
Stanger, if you keep not buying the jersey and they keep giving him 1 year contracts, keep not buying the jersey, you dont want to jinx it.
Will just wait till he retires then…..some jersey like Warfield, Marino, Fields, and Thomas are always good to wear.
I take it back, that block looked pretty clean. He had his head on the outside, and Burfict’s head hit JuJu’s after it snapped down from the impact to his chest. That was just a hard hit on a guy who wasnt aware of his surroundings, and probably less ware of it after that hit.
The one thing i can say that should be completely without argument….if JuJu gets a1 game suspension for that, Gronk shouldn’t play the rest of the regular season at least, for his hit on White.
The taunting after the hit though… i mean that shit happens all the time but i wish they would just play instead of constantly goad each other
I thought it was clean too, and as far as the taunting, if anyone probably deserves it, it would be Vontaze, who does it all the time.
It was close to being a blow to the head though
Yeah at first, ie without a chance to really kind of slow it down, it looked almost like he led with the crown of his head right into Vontaze, but when i looked back he lead with his shoulder and he put it into his chest, Vontaze head snapped down and the follow through had their helmets colliding, but the target spot and the point of impact was shoulder to chest.
BTW – Gronk did appeal his suspension, and LOST. I’m surprised he appealed, they should have tacked on another 2 or 3 for even asking
Well least for sure we don’t have him to worry about. And is he ever someone to worry about.
You weren’t curious to see if T.J. could handle covering him?
Big a hitter as he is, TJ still small enough to leave Gronk frustrated as the flags drop……have a heart man. 🙂
Man this sucks!
Yeah, I hope the best for the kid
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Bills placed DE Shaq Lawson & WR Jordan Matthews on IR.
Woop woop and oink
MF-13: Looking down the rosters of North Texas and FAU as listed in the C-USA Championship Game program, we saw two very interesting people. #1, Monte Kiffin, Lane Kiffin’s 77 year old dad, is listed as a defensive “analyst” coach for FAU. He was the D-Coordinator on Tampa Bay’s only Super Bowl Championship team and a possible HOFER 5 years after he retires. –On the North Texas staff, a guy you and I liked very much when he came out of college, the Red Raider Rifle, Mr. Graham Harrell, the all-time Big-12 Touchdown passing leader when he graduated from Texas Tech, is now the O-Coordinator for the Mean Green of North Texas! Don’t be surprised if he surfaces as a head coach in the next 3-4 years. Me and Mrs. OD were also impressed by the SIZE of both of these teams. PLENTY of 300-LB linemen on both sides of the ball for both teams. I expect some of the big boys from both squads will get a shot to play on Sunday. It was confirmed to me by a reporter for one of the 3 south Florida newspapers that 11 or 12 NFL teams had scouts at this championship game. The Dolphins were NOT one of them, according to this reporter.
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JUST took a peek at NEXT YEAR’s FAU football schedule.
SAT., Sept. 1 at OKLAHOMA
SAT., Sept. 8, Home VS AIR FORCE
SAT., Sept. 22, at UCF–SON-OF-A-SON, Let’s try to do the FAU-UCF game!!
Most interesting, Old Dolfan! I was wondering what ever came of Graham Harrell… that’s great to hear. And FAU is certainly a program on the RISE!
Wow, D, I couldn’t disagree more. That’s the classic block made famous by Hines Ward that was outlawed.
From the NFL via pittsburgh post gazzette:
“The blocking rule makes illegal a blindside block if it comes from the blocker’s helmet, forearm or shoulder and lands to the head or neck area of the defender.”
It was textbook blindside and the helmet to helmet is unquestionable. Not a single part of that block was legal, or clean.
I’m going to rant for a minute about the NFL and it’s head injury issues (not ranting toward any board posters here…I want to be very clear about that)
Head injuries quite simply are ruining the game. Parents are no longer allowing their children to play the game for fear their kids will get long term brain damage. I see this first hand in my peer group as my daughter is just about to enter High School.
The NFL has been overtly accused of covering up information that these head injuries have indeed been causing long term impairment. In the wake of the movie “Concussion” the NFL implemented many rules in the name of player safety in an effort (ostensibly) to A) Clear their own reputation and B) prevent more player head injuries.
This weekend I saw 3 really ugly things having to do with head injuries, and I’m sure I missed a few. Last night there was the Smith Shuster blindside block which he then taunted (also illegal) the player after laying him out. There was also the clear helmet to helmet hit by Iloka on Antonio Brown which reminded me of the hit against Chris Chambers by the Bronco DB (forget his name) many years back. Chambers was never the same player afterward..
Both players mentioned last night received 1 game suspensions. In my mind there was a difference in the two infractions, both were illegal, but one was malicious, and the taunt afterward proved it. The Iloka hit was a penalty and that was evidenced by every referee in the vicinity throwing their flags, however it came in a moment when both players were fixated on the football. If that’s a 1 game suspension, then Smith Shusters is at least a 2 gamer.
But here’s where I’m going to rant. You have a player who is not only defenseless as he’s lying face first on the ground, AFTER THE WHISTLE HAS BEEN BLOWN. Gronkowski stopped running, took a second to gather his thoughts and proceeded to jump UP into the air focusing all his mass (60+ pounds more of it than the player he was targeting) into a forearm shiver to the BACK (absolutely most dangerous place to get hit in the head) of Tradavious White’s head, landing him in the concussion protocol. He could quite simply have killed the kid, and he’s lucky it wasn’t so much worse.
That my friends is targeted violence with an intent to seriously injure a player AFTER the whistle. How the fuck does that merit a single game suspension given thats the same punishment Iloka got?
NFL is fucking this up. The president is doing everything he can to ruin the NFL (as a vendetta IMHO, but it doesn’t matter, the president puts you in his crosshairs, you’re vulnerable), and the NFL is letting actions like Gronks’ go with a slap on the hand? I’m disgusted.
100% agreed, Jahndoh! Great post. And it was Kennoy Kennedy who took Chris Chambers out… I’ll NEVER forget that, man.
That’s right Kenoy Kennedy. That was brutal.
LOL @ myself… +100000 to you for spelling Kenoy correctly! I flubbed that one.
PS, While I disagree on the Juju block with you D, clearly your comment on the comparison to the Gronk hit triggered a rant in me, and I couldn’t agree more with your assesment.
Wishing Ryan Shazier all the best.
Same here. While he’s not out of the woods just yet, it’s looking very hopeful for him at the moment.
Yeah I heard that. He should retire. Don’t even chance it. Quality of life.
OD, definitely meet up for the FAU- UCF game next year.
Did you see UCF hired former Dolphin draft pick from Oklahoma and was last serving as OC for Missouri – Josh Heupel.
They expect to maintain the high powered offense Frost brought here.
There was a lot a speculation that Kevin Sumlin might come here but it didn’t materialize.
Agree with Jahndoh rant.
It’s been a horrible year for the league in so many ways.
^
Bad injuries, poor play overall, bad officiating, unprofessional violence on the field, social issues and dealing with the repercussions, and a lot of bad PR decisions by teams across the league. It’s not a good product right now and something has to change because this game the way it’s being played is losing me and some have already said fuck off.
The NFL will be left with the FF peeps and not the real fanbase they need. They’re still making money but it’s not going to last at this rate of decline. It’s a shame.
The commissioner sucks
We’ve been oinking that for years on that blog
But the Gronk suspension is nothing compared to what happened to the 1925 Maroons😝
Yeah Goodell is bad with PR. He makes the league money negotiating contracts, but I feel the owners greed is the cause behind the decline in the game more than any one person.
DILLY DILLY
Speaking of the 1925 Maroons, I was NOT, I repeat, was NOT, a season ticket holder for them OR the Pottstown team that lost the very first NFL Championship Game to the Chicago Bears 9-0. That game featured a touchdown pass from Bronko Nagurski to Red Grange. It was played indoors on an 80 yard field laid over the ice at Chicago Stadium, home of the NHL’s Black Hawks for over half a century.
OOPS!!–That’s the PORTSMOUTH, OHIO, team that lost the very first NFL Championship Game!
I bought the new iphone X today
It’s weird – you swipe up
😮
What is that about?
I look forward to D’s rebuttal to Jahns 752 post
Should take about 2 page turns
Gronks hit was bordering assault, he should be charged and prosecuted as such.
been a screwed up year for sure with all of our distractions not to mention the Kneeling thing, poor ratings and all these illegal hits/injuries, I hope Shazier recovers.
will the NFL survive??
SON– I hope Heupel’s a better coach for UCF than he was a player for the Fins! But, hey, Heupel was a key player in Bob Stoop’s ONLY National Championship at Oklahoma. Seems to me that they beat a highly favored Florida State team by the odd score of 10-2 in that game???–By the way, could FAU borrow about 6-7 of UCF’s best players for the lid-lifter against the Sooners??–We’re gonna need some help!!
RIP THESE TWO GUYS AT YOUR OWN RISK. Got that?????
I’m pretty sure everyone here only has praise for them
OH how I wish that were true.
WANTED to make a few comments about Gronk’s egregious hit on White. FIRST OF ALL, I, TOO, hope the civil authorities prosecute his felonious ass!! Just because Goodell lacks the cajones to give one of Bob Krap’s boys what he truly deserves doesn’t mean the civli authorities also have to roll over!! –JAHN, if you or I did what Gronk did IN THE REAL WORLD, we’d be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and deservedly so. Here’s hoping ADDITIONAL PUNISHMENT IS COMING GRONKOWSKI’S WAY, AND SOON!
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What does this say for the phrase “The Patriot Way?” To me, “The Patriot Way” means unprecedented cheating at a level that has NEVER been approached by any other franchise. Half a million dollars fine to the head coach. The taking away of multiple draft picks. The huge fines to the Patriots organization. “Deflategate!” And, of course, the butchering murders performed by one Aaron Hernandez, who hanged himself instead of paying his proper punishment for taking who knows how many lives. It is my firmly held belief that this litany of shame is but the tip of the iceberg in Bob Krap Land. For every misdeed caught, 10-20, or more go undetected and are free of any punishment of any kind. Should this form of behavior be tolerated?? Of course not! But I predict that both Belicheat and Brady, some day, will be elected to the Hall of Fame. Krap, too, will find a way to buy his way in, despite his status as the “enabler” for the biggest cheating ring this side of the Soviet Winter Olympic team. The New England Patriots are a pariah on American professional sports and deserve NO HONORS at all. Their’s is an ill-gotten record of fame, or, should I say, record of infamy.
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I have to give Kenny Stills credit. Every week we get releases and info on Dolphins events in the community. Stills seems to be at every one of them. On his day off. Impressive work in giving his time.
He’s a “stand up” guy.