"Re-grouping" at Halftime

[ForksPhin]

Yeah, lets just throw 8 o-linemen out there because we're stuck with Jonathan martin and Tyson Clabo, we'll just play with 1 receiver, 1 Rb and a QB. What could go wrong with that plan? Or lets just stop attempting to go deep because our QB can't take advantage of our $60 million one trick pony's only trick.

If somebody told you before last season that we'd be 8-6 with just Buffalo and the Jets at home standing in our way of the playoffs in spite of:
-below average QB play
-losing Dustin Keller before the season
-losing Brandon Gibson early in the season
-half of our o-line evaporating due to a scandal. (Are any of the guys we finished the season with playing anywhere in the league right now?)
-no running game
-horrible LB play
-our field goal kicker got hurt and went to ****
-basically a red shirted draft class including the guy we traded up to 3 for
-and not the greatest offensive coordinator

You wouldn't just yes to 8-6 but you would say HELL YES I'LL TAKE IT!!

In spite of all of that the system got us in position to make it to the playoffs. The system almost prevailed in spite of worst case scenarios almost across the board. Its almost impossible for pretty much any system to overcome poor QB play, with a horrendous GM on top of it, but ours was close. And if Tannehill just gave us two mediocre performances week 16 and 17 I'm pretty sure we win one of those games.

I think the system is solid. I think if Tannehill and Wilson traded places we'd be the team with the 22-10 record and Seattle would have the fans questioning their head coach. Solid system + good game manager + cool under pressure = SuperBowl capable Head Coach.

Here's what people need to understand, outside of a few outliers on the top and bottom most coaches are in the middle. Most are capable of winning SuperBowls with great QBs. What separates guys like McCarthy, Mike Tomlin, Rex Ryan, Pete Carroll and Marvin Lewis is little more than talent on the team, and more specifically QB talent in most cases. Those guys aren't anything special, just average coaches. Is Mike McCarhty a great coach or does he just happen to have one of the great QBs of our generation? Everybody likes to slag off Rex Ryan but pair him with Aaron Rodgers and he's amazing all of a sudden.

Terrible coaches like Tony Sparano or Dave Wannstedt are actually not as common as we Dolphin fans would tend to believe. Throw Jeff Ireland in there and we just ran really bad in hiring morons. Thanks a lot Bill ****ing Parcells.

Joe Philbin is not the problem but, his window is closing. Once a team starts to lose faith in the system its like trying to reverse a freight train, you can do it but its going to take a long time. Nick Saban realized that and thats probably why he cut and ran, he ****ed up with the QB decisions and he realized it was over, and I kind of respect his decision.

If I were Ross I would probably give Philbin and his system another shot with a new QB assuming Tannehill doesn't work out, but it may also be best for both Philbin and the team to start fresh.

I think this is all about how you view the season - as a whole where the only important factor is "8-6 with two games remaining" or do you actually look at how the season progressed. Yes, most people would have gladly accepted 8-6 with two games remaining. But, we started the season 3-0, beating Atlanta and Indianapolis. So, 8-6 with two games remaining was a result of a 5-6 stretch with the stench of the bullying nonsense all over it. Some may give Philbin credit for keeping the team together during that period. I choose to hold him partially responsible for the situation, rather than giving him credit. So, yes, 8-6 with two games remaining sounds pretty acceptable. But the potential for a much better season was there before it spiraled out of control...especially in a season where some of the perennial playoff teams in the AFC (Pittsburgh, Baltimore) had terrible seasons. I can't look at 8-6 in a vacuum.

Personally, I would never give Philbin the opportunity with a new quarterback. He had significant input in drafting Tannehill, and was responsible for his development. If this year ends with Tannehill playing at his current level, and the Dolphins not making the playoffs, Philbin has to go.

 

[ForksPhin]

There has been a lot of discussion relating to Philbin's decision to run out the clock with 2:21 left in the half against Buffalo on Sunday. I have been amazed by the number of fans who are supporting Philbin's decision and talking about getting to halftime and "re-grouping" vs. taking the chance of something going wrong. Obviously, I think giving away a possession like Philbin did was a horrible coaching decision. But, the support for Philbin got me wondering why everyone seems to see "re-grouping" at halftime as an important aspect of Philbin's coaching. My initial response was if we had played a good half of football, scored some points, and maybe had a lead, "re-grouping" wouldn't be so important.

So I decided to look back at some recent Dolphins games to see how the team played in the first half. Here are the last 10 games played and the Dolphins first half performances:

@ Buffalo (9/14/14) - 0 points (trailing)
NE (9/7/14) - 10 points (trailing)

NYJ (12/29/13) - 7 points (trailing)
@ Buffalo (12/22/13) - 0 points (trailing)
NE (12/15/13) - 7 points (trailing)
@ Pittsburgh (12/8/13) - 10 points (leading)
@ NYJ (12/1/13) - 6 points (leading)
Carolina (11/24/13) - 16 points (leading)
San Diego (11/17/13) - 10 points (tied)
@ Tampa Bay (11/11/13) - 7 points (trailing)

A few observations:

- The Dolphins have only 2 scoring drives in the first half this season...and the only TD drive came after the blocked punt vs. NE when the Dolphins gained possession at the NE 15 yard line.
- The Dolphins have scored more than 10 points in the first half only once in their last 10 games. They have scored 7 points or less 6 times in their last 10 games.
- In 9 of their last 10 games, the Dolphins have had TWO OR FEWER scoring drives in the first half. In 5 of their last 10 games, the Dolphins have had ONE OR FEWER scoring drives in the first half.
- The Dolphins have been trailing at halftime in 5 consecutive games dating back to last season.

So, now I understand why a lot of fans think that "re-grouping" at halftime is the normal course of action - because the Dolphins under Joe Philbin's leadership and Ryan Tannehill's quarterbacking rarely play well in the first half, particularly over the past 10 games. To me, this is mainly about preparation and game-planning. It seems like the Dolphins under Philbin are reactive. They don't plan well to attack their opponents, or to understand how their opponents are going to attack them, which means they are constantly back on their heels early in games. They have only had a halftime lead in 3 of their last 10 games - and their largest halftime lead was 10 points against Carolina. They went on to lose the Carolina game after being SHUTOUT IN THE SECOND HALF.

Something is amiss with this team under this head coach.

We can add another game to this disgraceful list...

KC (9/21/14) - 3 points (trailing)

Another first half with only one scoring drive - this one coming after 28 minutes. Another first half with ZERO touchdowns. Dating back to last season, the Dolphins have been trailing at halftime in 6 consecutive games. The Dolphins only touchdown drive in the first half this season was 15 yards.

I don't understand how this is not a larger issue. I noticed that some beat writers have started picking up on the horrendous first half performances of Philbin's team. But still, this should be a huge story. This team is not prepared when the games start.